Is writing porn easy?

[damppanties]

Thank you, Lou. A fine post.

 

[Alex De Kok]

I enjoy writing smut, so it comes (!) fairly easily. I find writing non-erotic more difficult, although I enjoy it. That said, I haven't written much non-erotic outside my creative-writing class (Yes, me too . . .)

Bending the subject slightly, a reader said in feedback to me that the stories (s)he liked reading most were those which still had a plot/story when the smut was taken out. I don't know how well I succeed, but that's the way I try to write my erotic tales.

Alex

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Silly question:

Is there a difference between writing passable porn and passable erotica?

Is it a grey area or a blurred line or a distinct difference?

~A~

ps. Lou, nice pic.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Ok, ok, the question changes.

Is writing passable porn easier than writing passable non-erotic stuff?

If by porn you mean written material that is intnded to sexually arouse the reader, then porn is much easier to write. Anyone who can't put together some sentences that are sexually stimulating is either functionally illiterate or pathologically repressed.

I'm not saying that everyone can do it. After all, there are people who can't even tell a joke five minutes after they've heard it. But porn is a formula. The theme has already been handed to you, and a major part of the action has already been determined. What's more, the sexual act itself already has built into it all the elements of a story: an introduction, development, climax and resolution. How hard is it to hang enough words on that to make it arousing? Especially if you're writing for men, to whom a picture of a brassiere in a catalog is already enough to make them hot.

Sexual arousal is probably the easiest emotion to evoke in humans, at least in men. Think of it this way: is it easier to make a sexually arousing movie than it is to make a dramatic one? Of course it is. All you have to do is show people "doing it". The same is true in a porn story.

---dr.M.

 

[Black Tulip]

My question: Do you find that writing porn is easier than writing non-erotic stuff?

I know you added 'passable'.

Dampy,

Your question really made me laugh. Have a look at my bio.

I really was trying to write non-erotic stories, but got stuck because I kept getting images of my characters 'doing it'.
I had my brother editing for me, and that was taking it a bit too far.

Ever since I started at Lit the stories keep coming (LOL), but the original ones are sadly left behind. Maybe someday I'll pay attention to them, but right now my imagination does better if I can invent a story and have sex in it too.

That is what I am trying to do: write stories, where I do not have to leave the sex out of it.

 

[Weird Harold]

Alright. Everybody here has their own standards. According to the standards you measure yourself by, which is easier to write.

Neither.

I sometimes have trouble with stories that are intended as Porn making the Sex fit into the story logically -- The non-sexual elements just take over the story.

On the other hand, I sometimes have trouble keeping characters in what was intended as a non-sexual story out of bed.

By my standards, there is no real difference between a porn story and a non-erotic story -- everything has to fit together and make sense whether it has sex in it or not.

However, the plot requirements are simpler for erotica or porn than for a mystery or science fiction epic. As Dr. Mab pointed out, Sex has built-in motivations and an easily identifiable resolutions, so it's easier to write a vignette that is just Sex. It's when I try to expand the vignette into a real story that the distinctions between porn and other genres surface.

 

[pop_54]

Recently I enrolled in a creative writing class. The 'big' project, which accounts for 6 credits out of a total of 24, is that I have to write a mix of stories and poems. Well, okay. All is well till I go through the study material and prepare for exams for the other credits. When I sit down to write my 6 stories, I realise that they don't have sex. And they cannot have sex. Some 50 year old, conservative guy is going to read them and I don't want him reading my smut. It might start a stupid controversy.

Well, anyway, my point is that I had to write something non-sexual and I found it was more difficult than I thought. It was certainly doable, but more difficult since I knew I could not fall back on a sex scene. I had to get serious and drive myself. The sex stuff just comes too easily, when compared to it. Have I got into the habit of writing porn?

My question: Do you find that writing porn is easier than writing non-erotic stuff?

I can only write three categories, erotic, technical, or insane comedy/parody. If I were to try to partake in a writing class I feel I'd be well and truly f****d or they would be well and truly offended, but hey, who gives a s**t.

I see your dilema though, and it must have been harder work, porno/erotic is about the easiest of the cat's I write. It all just falls into place, excuse the pun.

 

[Boota]

The only porn I have written is the story I posted on Lit and I found it difficult to write. It actually felt like work. I'm pretty happy with the end result, but I felt like I was fighting myself all the way through it. I generally write comedy and dark horror. I wrote erotica as a challenge from someone. And it was a challenge. I think that maybe doing anything outside of your own tested boundaries would be difficult, though.

In my other work I tend to leave descriptions of the sexual situations out because it's not necessary to my story. But, after having written some erotica, if it is called for I know I can do it.

 

[snooper]

Is writing porn is easy?

It must be - I'm making a living at it so it's got to be easy.

 

[Guest]

Porn is easy; just write down what you have done.

If you need a new story line, go out to a dancer bar throw down some cash and tell the gals you need something wild to write about.

The next day just describe what happened in detail, and boom a new story is born.

Jmt

 

[SensualCealy]

LMAO jmt!!

Im sure the guys in my area would be thrilled to have me show up at the local peel club and watch whats going on!

Most would be running home to tell hubby and the rest , the guys he works with would be scared Id tell their wives they were there! lol

I think Ill keep my dirty imagination working for me for a while- when I do venture out to the peel club Ill let you know!

Now to get back to my writing,
Cealy

 

[every_horizon]

I write for a living, though erotica is a long way off the track of what I do to pay the bills.

My feeling is that porn is probably the easiest thing to write, but that erotica can be very difficult.

I know, one person's porn is another person's erotica, but to me, the latter involves a texture and layering of thoughts and descriptions and (usually) a credible idea to get the scene started.

Porn, on the other hand, is normally a fast, frantic sequence of sex, credibility and grammar be damned.

I might be a hundred miles off the mark on this one, but then, it wouldn't be the first time...

 

[damppanties]

A few people have tried to point out the difference between porn and erotica. It is not what I meant to be discussed. When I posed my question, I just mean to ask whether it is easier to write a story which contains sex or one which doesn't have sex in it.

My writing for literotica has been somewhat easy as I *know* that somewhere within the story, there has to be some sex. That everything else will either revolve around that, lead to that or arise out of that. The central point is decided. Therefore I don't have to work a lot.

When I was forced to write non-sexual stories for my project, my mind was a complete blank for a few days. I was like 'What am I supposed to write about?' I know that sounds pathetic but maybe my mind was so used to turning out sex stories that it couldn't come up with anything without sex in it.

I've finished 5 out of the 6 stories I was supposed to write for the project now. They came out okay. I really like the 6th, incomplete one though. It's turning out to be really good with a different kind of a plot and terrific imagery. (yep, I'm not modest. I can't help liking it )

 

[every_horizon]

Have you been able to draw upon personal experience, or use a little non-fiction background to write these stories? Or have they been crafted totally from scratch? THAT can be one huge challenge...

 

[damppanties]

All of my work, sexual/non-sexual is fiction. Yet there are bits of me in them.

If you're asking me about my project stories, all of them had to be written to different parameters. Some were stream-of-consciousness bits, some stressed on atmosphere... etc. A part of my project proposal goes like this -

1. A Bit of Sunshine: An account of how a mother copes with the frustration and struggle involved with raising her autistic child until an everyday incident gives her a fresh perspective and the will to go on.
2. Drop Dead Gorgeous: A young man is irresistibly attracted to a stranger. A better acquaintance between the two leads to a surprise.
3. Regret (Working title): A simple misunderstanding followed by a drastic action concludes in a deeply regretful ending.
4. Married Strangers (Working title): a sad romantic tale of a married couple who lose each other somewhere along the long walk of wedded life. The tale is told both from the husband’s and wife’s point of view to highlight the unbridgeable gap which stretches between them.
5. End Life (Working title): young, teenage girl decides to end her life but is saved. A trace of what goes on in her detached mind among all the action.

Of these, I had to do a lot of research for 'A Bit of Sunshine' as I needed to understand how an autistic child behaves. It was easy though because I have a psychology background.
2,3 and 4 are totally born out of my mind.
5 -- well, 5 is weird. It's not me, but it could have been.

 

[every_horizon]

Challenging projects, to say the least. I had been a writer of non-erotic material for years before a couple of friends wondered aloud whether my work was transferable to the erotic. I've tried my hand at it, principally writing for others, but I find the genre a wonderful change of pace from my other work. It's fun, it's arousing, and it's a community that's populated by some pretty special people. And I've found that erotic writing has sharpened my sense for describing detail and mood, something that was often lacking in my non-erotic. Always learning, I guess.

 

[damppanties]

Yep, challenging it was, but I'm glad I did it.

Do you have your erotic work posted here?

I've found that erotic writing has sharpened my sense for describing detail and mood, something that was often lacking in my non-erotic. Always learning, I guess.

That struck a cord. It led me to thinking about myself... and yes, it has sharpened my 'sensory writing'.

I just noticed you have only three posts and this the the first thread you responded to. Welcome to Lit.

 

[every_horizon]

Just two stories posted as of now, both under the name every_horizon:

Bedside Manner, in Erotic Couplings, and Workout Heat, Gay Male, written for a gay friend who drove me mad for nearly a year before I produced it for him. Needless to say, he's already bugging me for the sequel. I haven't a clue about the latter, being seriously out of my element and relying heavily on my imagination.

I see you have a nice library at Lit. I'm intrigued, and will invest some quiet time with it today.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

And I've found that erotic writing has sharpened my sense for describing detail and mood, something that was often lacking in my non-erotic.

Welcome to the club, every_horizon,

Someone here had the wonderful signature line that "We write so that we can taste life twice." One of the reasons I started writing porn way back in my teens was that it's an act of sustained arousal, a way to really get into it. When you write a sex scene you have to hold it in your mind and turn it this way and that, examine it and then find a way to describe it. It's hard to do that without learning a lot about your own sexual attitudes and the attitudes of others.

Maybe it's just me, but one of the most effective ways for me to learn anything is to have to write about it.

---dr.M.

 

[every_horizon]

Profound words from the good doctor, and words to keep in mind. I never want to let my erotica become clinical (excuse the pun, Dr.), but you make a wonderful point about the study. I've not looked at lovemaking quite the same way since I've begun to write about it.

Thanks for the welcome to a very friendly community.

 

[fifty5]

When I was forced to write non-sexual stories for my project, my mind was a complete blank for a few days. I was like 'What am I supposed to write about?' I know that sounds pathetic but

Hey, Dampy, that's been me for my whole life - I wanted to write, but just couldn't think of a story, any story.

It really took that long for the penny to drop that I had been making up stories all the time: in bed with the lights out. (With the lights on, there's other things to do )

I'll never be prolific, but at least something's happened now.

As people have said, with erotic stuff, deciding 'what' is simple, multiple choice stuff (and it's an interesting topic). That leaves a writer free to think about the rest of the stuff - including how to tell the story.

f5

 

[Pure]

DP: When I was forced to write non-sexual stories for my project, my mind was a complete blank for a few days. I was like 'What am I supposed to write about?' I know that sounds pathetic but maybe my mind was so used to turning out sex stories that it couldn't come up with anything without sex in it.

But DP, don't you see this is just a version of the age old conundrum-- at least for males-- Is there ANYTHING worth doing this evening (day, week, month, lifetime) that is NOT connected with sex?




Anyone have an answer? (Don't give me some bs about emptying bedpans for your dying great aunt Matilda.)

 

[sweetnpetite]

I think writing porn is easer- or at least more *compelling* in that porn sort of compells you to its completion, it's self driving. Plus, you've already got at least a part of your idea when you start. When you are just writing a story you've got to come up with something to drive your story, a topic, ect. With porn, your half way there before you pick up the pen. Plus sex and fiction have a natural form, and it's the same. Intro, Buildup, tention, rising action, climax. Sex and writing could be a metephore for one another. I think that makes it easier.

My question: Do you find that writing porn is easier than writing non-erotic stuff?

 

[sweetnpetite]

I have that same problem sometimes. ONly since joining lit though- something in the water perhaps? As soon as I start to try to write a story istead of just a sex scene, it suddenly becomes this *story* and the sex just never seems appropriate.

The thing is, when I joined I was hoping to have a forum for my smut *and* learn to work sex into serious writing as well. I'll keep trying, lol.

Maybe we should say 'porn is easier to write than erotica'

No one could argue with that.

Neither.

I sometimes have trouble with stories that are intended as Porn making the Sex fit into the story logically -- The non-sexual elements just take over the story.

On the other hand, I sometimes have trouble keeping characters in what was intended as a non-sexual story out of bed.

By my standards, there is no real difference between a porn story and a non-erotic story -- everything has to fit together and make sense whether it has sex in it or not.

However, the plot requirements are simpler for erotica or porn than for a mystery or science fiction epic. As Dr. Mab pointed out, Sex has built-in motivations and an easily identifiable resolutions, so it's easier to write a vignette that is just Sex. It's when I try to expand the vignette into a real story that the distinctions between porn and other genres surface.

 

[Black Tulip]

Hm, thinking out loud.

Can it be easier because you take part of the whole and focus on it?
Writing non-erotic resembles writing about the whole but leaving part of it out.
I know I am exaggerating.

And I don't mean writing about the actual fucking, but writing about everything that's erotic, from using all of your senses to experience life.

I know that is why I like writing porn or erotica or whatever you want to call it.