should men write lesbian stories?

[Belegon]

Well, this is a question I need to answer for myself. Some of the feedback I have received on A Beautiful Friendship is the request for the two girls to get a little more, shall we say, intimate. The idea of whether or not I can pull it off intriques me. Luckily, I have resources that I will exploit to "proofread", but I am still nervous about it. I guess time will tell.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Well, this is a question I need to answer for myself. Some of the feedback I have received on A Beautiful Friendship is the request for the two girls to get a little more, shall we say, intimate. The idea of whether or not I can pull it off intriques me. Luckily, I have resources that I will exploit to "proofread", but I am still nervous about it. I guess time will tell.

No need to be nervous Bel, you will do great. you have a deft touch and care about what you are writing. The passion and the talent are there. I have faith in you

-colly

 

[Seattle Zack]

Lawrence Block, one of the best crime novelists in the business, spent his first ten years writing lesbians stories for 'Pulp Fiction' type magazines. Of course, a man can write lesbian stories. As a woman can write gay homosexual stories.

The artistry is evident, no matter what the genre.

A shitty lesbian writer can spew out reams of copy that no one will read. Just as a gay man can.

Personally, I've sold lesbian stories (ostensibly written by a woman). As I'm sure women have sold stories under a male nom-de-plum.

What's the fucking difference? As long as you sell your copy, I don't see how it's important if you're man or woman or green or alien.......

 

[Belegon]

No need to be nervous Bel, you will do great. you have a deft touch and care about what you are writing. The passion and the talent are there. I have faith in you

-colly

OK, serious blushing going on. Of all the people to talk about another writer having passion, the only person on Lit who has ever made me cry while reading does it...

 

[killallhippies]

Kill: hope you find something of use in the how to.

-Colly

i did. i built up the back story a bit more and have moved the drug use up and allowed the stress of the situation and the mutual attraction between the characters to be the driving force in their sexual encounter. they'll still get high, but only afterwards.

i encountered other problems during my rewrite that will probably require me to write either a longer story or a shorter one with a second part to fill in some holes that i feel need filling. i don't think they take too much away from the story, but they're bugging me.

it's a very helpful how to. reminded me of some things i should've already known but have gleefully ignored.

 

[sweetnpetite]

Not if they have to ask permission.

lol.

You should write whatever you have the balls (no pun intended) to write, whatever you feel compelled to write, and whatever you wish to write. If it will hurt your feelings that someone says you shouldn't be writing that, I would say no. But if you can proudly say, if you don't like it don't read it, then write away-- right away!!

 

[killallhippies]

Re: Re: should men write lesbian stories?

Not if they have to ask permission.

lol.

You should write whatever you have the balls (no pun intended) to write, whatever you feel compelled to write, and whatever you wish to write. If it will hurt your feelings that someone says you shouldn't be writing that, I would say no. But if you can proudly say, if you don't like it don't read it, then write away-- right away!!

no one has ever told me i shouldn't, but i have read comments on the subject in general that suggest some lesbians don't exactly dig the idea of men writing lesbian stories. also, the vote thing.

i have never recieved a piece of feedback telling me to stop writing anything. usually the worst i get is someone telling me my grammar sucks. i can deal with that.

 

[Pure]

perd: the great dyke novel cannot be written by a man.

Apparently it's a matter of 'core dyke gaze' being found--surprise--only in dykes.

There seem to be some odd consequences. I hope the readers will indulge my flights or imagination, no matter how inaccurate or gaze-challenged.

Pat Califia was a woman until about 2000, when she was FTM gender reassigned. She identifed until then as lesbian.

So she would know intimately the "core dyke gaze," giving it all the time to whatever women she found attractive.

She could therefore write (could have written) a great dyke novel, I presume, being steeped in that dyke experience. (I admired her writings, of that period, a lot.)

Now, after hormone treatments (ca 2000), there is Patrick Califia self- labeling as a man. No doubt still a fine writer.

He would have a man's gaze, not a 'core dyke one.' Maybe silicone testicles help with that.

So wouldn't it be the case that this very same writer--in one sense-- would be unable, post 2000, to write the 'great dyke novel', not being woman or dyke? (in particular, not having the 'core dyke gaze).

Maybe, if he could remember enough of what the 'core dyke gaze' was like, that would be enough? (Though he would now look on the 'core dyke gaze' as a man would, not as a dyke would, if that matters.)

BUT WAIT, Patrick recalls thinking of himself, as a kid, as a boy in a girl's body. Later he would have become a man in a woman's body, till ca. 2000 when he acquired a man's body more or less. This is a common way of conceiving things among transsexuals.

So couldn't we more accurately say that, as a man (inwardly) he'd be unable, prior to 2000, really, to be giving any 'core dyke gazes.' Wouldn't he be as much in the dark as the rest of us dyke-gaze-challenged men? (Iow, he was essentially looking on 'hot' woman as a man would.)

HOLD ON. Patrick now calls himself a 'bisexual transman'. Maybe that gives him understanding of both genders?

But since he was--there's some reason to say--always BIsexual wouldn't that prevent his (pre 2000) access to the 'core dyke gaze.'

I'm deeply perplexed now about Pat and Patrick's access to the 'core dyke gaze.' Perhaps someone can enlighten me.

 

[Guest]

Pure, I responded to you earlier. I am not going to comment on Califia, I will only remember her fondly. P.

 

[hotchkiss]

I agree with Virtual about diversity, and esp. like Colly's formulation:

Your gender isn't the question, your talent and passion are. If you have them, the only limits you face are those you put on yourself.

Well said.

Got to agree with you whole heartedly here. I write a lot of "lesbian" for want of a better name stories, most of which are of a Vampiric nature. I write them for my own pleasure (take that anyway you like!) they are fantasies and like any good fantasy they are unreachable, Im a bloke so I could never be a lesbian.

Most my tales revolve around a central female vampiric creature and her immediate associates/carers/brood some lales are M/F but most are F/F as I enjoy these more.

As I said my stories are written by me for me and I post them here to see what others think of them and hope someone enjoys them.

hotchkiss

T.T.F.N.

 

[Ann Vremont]

Originally posted by killallhippies
...anyway, do you believe it's ok? is it even possible for a man regardless of their sexuality to capture the essence of sex with a woman from a woman's point of view? ...or should i say is it likely ...

What do you want to do...do you want to perfectly capture what lesbian sex is or do you want a good story that satisfies your primary audience (and that doesn't mean high stroke factor per se)? Guys write anal erotica from a woman's POV without necessarily having taken it up...or given it. Guys write from a woman's POV on other items of sex, or other items of life. Vice versa for women writers. I've no answer to what I think you were asking...or I only have one of about 6 billion possible answers, it being subjective on whether you've "captured" what you were seeking.

I was trying to do a gay erotica story...couldn't focus...wasn't turning me on. On the other hand, I'm pretty much POSITIVE you can write a lesbian story that will turn other men on.

Ann
http://www.elfenwood.com

 

[Ann Vremont]

Originally posted by Seattle Zack
What's the fucking difference? As long as you sell your copy, I don't see how it's important if you're man or woman or green or alien.......

Here, here.

DIdn't know that about LB. One of my all time faves. Although I find it so hilarious that I loved his other pen name stories and it took years to find out that it was him.


Ann
http://www.elfenwood.com

 

[killallhippies]

Here, here.

DIdn't know that about LB. One of my all time faves. Although I find it so hilarious that I loved his other pen name stories and it took years to find out that it was him.


Ann
http://www.elfenwood.com

you know you can just copy the code at the bottom of your post and just paste it right in your sigline, right?

http://www.elfenwood.com

quote me and copy the code!! do it!!!

 

[Ann Vremont]

offering a very confused BITE ME right about now

Originally posted by killallhippies
you know you can just copy the code at the bottom of your post and just paste it right in your sigline, right?

http://www.elfenwood.com

quote me and copy the code!! do it!!!

I started coding in html at 6:30 am this morning. I stopped at 9:30pm absent a 1 hour break for two tornado sightings.

So,

No...

And

Bite me... (your choice, hard or soft, breast or thigh, but BITE ME).

Ann
http://www.elfenwood.com

Cuz it's so good, ya gotta say it twice...
|
|
V

 

[killallhippies]

Re: offering a very confused BITE ME right about now

I started coding in html at 6:30 am this morning. I stopped at 9:30pm absent a 1 hour break for two tornado sightings.

So,

No...

And

Bite me... (your choice, hard or soft, breast or thigh, but BITE ME).

Ann
http://www.elfenwood.com

Cuz it's so good, ya gotta say it twice...
|
|
V

wow. just trying to be helpful. guess i won't be talking to you again. see ya around, spook.

 

[killallhippies]

since posting this i have again run into this problem. apparently this is an issue. some women really do hate the fact that men right lesbian stories. i even read some stories on this site where a woman commented that she loved the story and thought it was great until she realized the story was written by a man and then she suddenly realized it sucked. one person sent me feedback stating that it didn't matter to them if i was a man, but only because they were bisexual. i really don't get this at all. WHY DOES IT MATTER!?!?

 

[Colleen Thomas]

since posting this i have again run into this problem. apparently this is an issue. some women really do hate the fact that men right lesbian stories. i even read some stories on this site where a woman commented that she loved the story and thought it was great until she realized the story was written by a man and then she suddenly realized it sucked. one person sent me feedback stating that it didn't matter to them if i was a man, but only because they were bisexual. i really don't get this at all. WHY DOES IT MATTER!?!?

There is a political dynamic to being gay, kil. Many gay women, who are politically active, will take exception to a man writing lesbian themed erotic, simply because they see it as furhter intrusion of men where they have no bussiness.

My stories do well, and I would like to think that has nothing to do with my gender, but truth be told, I seriouly doubt I would have the readership I do if I were a man.

Always remember this, no story you write will have universal appeal. The very best you can do, may be considered rubbish by some readers, just as the works you think are rubbish or not up to your normal standards may be someone's favorite on the site. There is no accounting for personal taste. For anyone you turn on with a story there may well be someone you turn off just as strongly. The reasons can range from something as simple as a spelling error that is that person's pet peeve to an overall lack of the "feeling" they expect.

Some women may dislike your work based on your gender, with no reguard to the technical merit of the piece. A lot of guys don't like many of mine because I generally don't protray men in a good light. Same same.

You realize now that you will get some negative feedback onthe work based on nothing but your gender. That kind of negative feedback is easily ignored. It isn't an indictment of your writing, as much as it is a statement of that person's personal politics. Write for yourself and for those who enjoy your work. You will always have detractors as you will always have fans, that's the paradoxx of being an author.

-Colly

 

[killallhippies]

it just boggles my mind that some people want to ruin something as pure and simple as masturbating with bullshit politics.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

it just boggles my mind that some people want to ruin something as pure and simple as masturbating with bullshit politics.

Take a look around, this country at least has become obsessed with what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms. From Gay marriage, to birth control, who has had an abortion, who can get one, what should our kids be taught about sex, to what politician is sleeping with whom.

If the curent crop of mentally deficient morons stays in control, you may well find innocnet masturbation is a capital offense before they are done.

-Colly

 

[killallhippies]

Take a look around, this country at least has become obsessed with what people do in the privacy of their bedrooms. From Gay marriage, to birth control, how has had an abortion, who can get one, what should our kids be taught about sex, to what politician is sleeping with whom.

If the curent drop of mentally deficient morons stays in control, you may well find innocnet masturbation is a capital offense before they are done.

-Colly

i know, i know. this country sucks. we're a bunch of nosey, know-it-all bastards. we have been since the pilgrims landed.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

i know, i know. this country sucks. we're a bunch of nosey, know-it-all bastards. we have been since the pilgrims landed.

I never once intimated the country sucks. I do happen to think the current administration is filled with and too heavily influenced by, fundamentalist Christians who are every bit as scary and fanatical as the fundamantalist muslims whom they rail against.

-Colly

 

[killallhippies]

I never once intimated the country sucks. I do happen to think the current administration is filled with and too heavily influenced by, fundamentalist Christians who are every bit as scary and fanatical as the fundamantalist muslims whom they rail against.

-Colly

maybe not, but i did. the fundamentalist christians have been here forever. they aren't going away.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Far from going away, they seem to be growing in power & influence. I suspect it will be far worse after another four years of them.

-Colly

 

[Joe Wordsworth]

Originally posted by Colleen Thomas
Far from going away, they seem to be growing in power & influence. I suspect it will be far worse after another four years of them.

-Colly

Or closer to perfection.

 

[killallhippies]

Or closer to perfection.

perfection? i don't know you so i have to ask: are you being sarcastic?