Stories whose central plot is not sex: Afraid to write and post.

[TheExperimentalist]

I have several WIPs that I've been stuck on for a while. It hit me today (while writing yet another new WIP that I started last night) that, at least part of why I never seem to finish so many of them, despite really liking the characters, setting, and challenges they're facing, is because those challenges are not, necessarily, inherently sexual in nature. The main tension could be fear of the unknown, or rekindling a decades-old missed opportunity, or two people who are both trying to start a new life following individual life-upheaving traumas, or a couple worried about being mocked for the circumstances under which they met, or...

You get the idea. Every time I write those, I get really into it for a while, write a whole bunch of intro and backstory, get to the point where I figure out what makes sense as the central theme, and then think "but Lit is basically a site for written-word porn, and readers don't want to read all that boring stuff about not-sex". (I am not interested in arguing over that definition. I know many of the writers here don't see Lit that way, but, whether or not that's what it is for us it's clear that's how the vast majority of readers use it.)

Then I wonder about posting those dramatic works somewhere more mainstream, or even just in the Romance category, before thinking "but romance readers don't want to read graphic, explicit, vulgarity-filled details about kinky (or even in some cases, not kinky) sex."

So I kind of find myself stuck, feeling like there's no real place for the type of explicitly graphic and sexy but also meaningful and realistic stories I want to tell. It might be different if I felt like I could build up a loyal readership, one that would know my style and enjoy both my dramatic and sexy style, but it just feels like most people on this site want to read something that gets them off and then move on.

(This touches on a related point, which is wishing there was somewhere to directly interact with readers, get to know them, their tastes and preferences, etc. It would go a long way towards helping with this and developing a readership as well, I think. The comments system as it exists, without replies or notification features, tends to attract more one-off comments than interaction, and I wish it were more similar to the forum. I honestly can't figure out why they don't transition over to having it use the same system, other than technical legacy reasons. Either way, as it stands now, the comments feel more like a one-off "leave your opinion and run" sort of situation.)

Now I know a lot of writers in AH do write and post more complex stories where sex isn't necessarily the main narrative arc throughout, and have developed a following in the process. I don't understand how you do it. Most of the stories I've seen that have non-sexy central plots also typically (in my experience anyway) have lower ratings, lower viewership, and a ton of comments saying stuff like "the sex was good, but I wish you'd spent less time on [main plot point]".

Am I missing something? Is there really a place here for stories with both actual plot and detailed, graphic depictions of sex to coexist and be appreciated? How do I find that place?

Or perhaps I should just not try to mix the concepts? Post the stories where the main focus is some sex-related challenge here to Lit and otherwise keep the sex to a minimum so I can publish the stories with more dramatic central themes somewhere more mainstream? But I don't want to do that. I like sex. I started writing because I want to write sex specifically. I just often want that sex to feel realistic and have more of a reason to exist than just for sex's own sake. Am I alone in this?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

There is zero sex in this story.

It is only one of a dozen or so that I have published here with no detailed sex scenes, all are doing quite well.

And, I am not alone. Some of the highest rates stories in categories such as Loving Wives contain no sex.

Others will raise their heads out of the gutter to disagree, but there is an audience here for all types of stories.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I have several WIPs that I've been stuck on for a while. It hit me today (while writing yet another new WIP that I started last night) that, at least part of why I never seem to finish so many of them, despite really liking the characters, setting, and challenges they're facing, is because those challenges are not, necessarily, inherently sexual in nature. The main tension could be fear of the unknown, or rekindling a decades-old missed opportunity, or two people who are both trying to start a new life following individual life-upheaving traumas, or a couple worried about being mocked for the circumstances under which they met, or...

You get the idea. Every time I write those, I get really into it for a while, write a whole bunch of intro and backstory, get to the point where I figure out what makes sense as the central theme, and then think "but Lit is basically a site for written-word porn, and readers don't want to read all that boring stuff about not-sex". (I am not interested in arguing over that definition. I know many of the writers here don't see Lit that way, but, whether or not that's what it is for us it's clear that's how the vast majority of readers use it.)

Then I wonder about posting those dramatic works somewhere more mainstream, or even just in the Romance category, before thinking "but romance readers don't want to read graphic, explicit, vulgarity-filled details about kinky (or even in some cases, not kinky) sex."

So I kind of find myself stuck, feeling like there's no real place for the type of explicitly graphic and sexy but also meaningful and realistic stories I want to tell. It might be different if I felt like I could build up a loyal readership, one that would know my style and enjoy both my dramatic and sexy style, but it just feels like most people on this site want to read something that gets them off and then move on.

(This touches on a related point, which is wishing there was somewhere to directly interact with readers, get to know them, their tastes and preferences, etc. It would go a long way towards helping with this and developing a readership as well, I think. The comments system as it exists, without replies or notification features, tends to attract more one-off comments than interaction, and I wish it were more similar to the forum. I honestly can't figure out why they don't transition over to having it use the same system, other than technical legacy reasons. Either way, as it stands now, the comments feel more like a one-off "leave your opinion and run" sort of situation.)

Now I know a lot of writers in AH do write and post more complex stories where sex isn't necessarily the main narrative arc throughout, and have developed a following in the process. I don't understand how you do it. Most of the stories I've seen that have non-sexy central plots also typically (in my experience anyway) have lower ratings, lower viewership, and a ton of comments saying stuff like "the sex was good, but I wish you'd spent less time on [main plot point]".

Am I missing something? Is there really a place here for stories with both actual plot and detailed, graphic depictions of sex to coexist and be appreciated? How do I find that place?

Or perhaps I should just not try to mix the concepts? Post the stories where the main focus is some sex-related challenge here to Lit and otherwise keep the sex to a minimum so I can publish the stories with more dramatic central themes somewhere more mainstream? But I don't want to do that. I like sex. I started writing because I want to write sex specifically. I just often want that sex to feel realistic and have more of a reason to exist than just for sex's own sake. Am I alone in this?

I have multiple stories here where the sex is wholly subservient to the plot and the plot isn’t sexual in nature. I have some where the sex is only obliquely refered to or covered by light brushstrokes in a few sentences.

Of course I also have stories where it’s all about the sex. Both seem to find an audience - sometimes it’s the same people who like both kinds of stories .

 

[AG31]

I have several WIPs that I've been stuck on for a while. It hit me today (while writing yet another new WIP that I started last night) that, at least part of why I never seem to finish so many of them, despite really liking the characters, setting, and challenges they're facing, is because those challenges are not, necessarily, inherently sexual in nature. The main tension could be fear of the unknown, or rekindling a decades-old missed opportunity, or two people who are both trying to start a new life following individual life-upheaving traumas, or a couple worried about being mocked for the circumstances under which they met, or...

You get the idea. Every time I write those, I get really into it for a while, write a whole bunch of intro and backstory, get to the point where I figure out what makes sense as the central theme, and then think "but Lit is basically a site for written-word porn, and readers don't want to read all that boring stuff about not-sex". (I am not interested in arguing over that definition. I know many of the writers here don't see Lit that way, but, whether or not that's what it is for us it's clear that's how the vast majority of readers use it.)

Then I wonder about posting those dramatic works somewhere more mainstream, or even just in the Romance category, before thinking "but romance readers don't want to read graphic, explicit, vulgarity-filled details about kinky (or even in some cases, not kinky) sex."

So I kind of find myself stuck, feeling like there's no real place for the type of explicitly graphic and sexy but also meaningful and realistic stories I want to tell. It might be different if I felt like I could build up a loyal readership, one that would know my style and enjoy both my dramatic and sexy style, but it just feels like most people on this site want to read something that gets them off and then move on.

(This touches on a related point, which is wishing there was somewhere to directly interact with readers, get to know them, their tastes and preferences, etc. It would go a long way towards helping with this and developing a readership as well, I think. The comments system as it exists, without replies or notification features, tends to attract more one-off comments than interaction, and I wish it were more similar to the forum. I honestly can't figure out why they don't transition over to having it use the same system, other than technical legacy reasons. Either way, as it stands now, the comments feel more like a one-off "leave your opinion and run" sort of situation.)

Now I know a lot of writers in AH do write and post more complex stories where sex isn't necessarily the main narrative arc throughout, and have developed a following in the process. I don't understand how you do it. Most of the stories I've seen that have non-sexy central plots also typically (in my experience anyway) have lower ratings, lower viewership, and a ton of comments saying stuff like "the sex was good, but I wish you'd spent less time on [main plot point]".

Am I missing something? Is there really a place here for stories with both actual plot and detailed, graphic depictions of sex to coexist and be appreciated? How do I find that place?

Or perhaps I should just not try to mix the concepts? Post the stories where the main focus is some sex-related challenge here to Lit and otherwise keep the sex to a minimum so I can publish the stories with more dramatic central themes somewhere more mainstream? But I don't want to do that. I like sex. I started writing because I want to write sex specifically. I just often want that sex to feel realistic and have more of a reason to exist than just for sex's own sake. Am I alone in this?

Get unstuck!!!! Lit is loaded with stories where sex just appears now and then, or even never (there's a category for that - non-erotic). All my stories are purely about sex, and it took me a while to understand that AH is mostly full of writers who like to include sex in their stories.

Happy writing!!!

 

[BeechLeaf]

I wish this was overtly a literary site where the object is to write good stories. And unlike some others, they don't object to sexual content: you can put in as much as you like, if you want, but it's not needed. For the most part, I treat it that way. In some I've included a small amount of sexual matter where it would be neater not to.

 

[PennyThompson]

I say go for it, plenty of successful stories on Lit are sex-light or at least not sex-forward!

Maybe one consideration is category? Category readers of Group Sex or Erotic Couplings or what have you are probably looking for steamy sex scenes, and might score a story more harshly if there's no money shot.

Lesbian and Romance categories can definitely enjoy and reward stories that are light on the sex scenes, as long as the relationship arcs are satisfying.

Loving Wives cares more about karmic justice than about depictions of sex

 

[TheExperimentalist]

There is zero sex in this story.
View attachment 2641566
It is only one of a dozen or so that I have published here with no detailed sex scenes, all are doing quite well.

And, I am not alone. Some of the highest rates stories in categories such as Loving Wives contain no sex.

Others will raise their heads out of the gutter to disagree, but there is an audience here for all types of stories.

I have multiple stories here where the sex is wholly subservient to the plot and the plot isn’t sexual in nature. I have some where the sex is only obliquely refered to or covered by light brushstrokes in a few sentences.

Of course I also have stories where it’s all about the sex. Both seem to find an audience - sometimes it’s the same people who like both kinds of stories .

Get unstuck!!!! Lit is loaded with stories where sex just appears now and then, or even never (there's a category for that - non-erotic). All my stories are purely about sex, and it took me a while to understand that AH is mostly full of writers who like to include sex in their stories.

Happy writing!!!

Thank you all for the replies, and I appreciate the encouragement, but I think I may not have made my question clear. I'm not asking about stories where the sex is light or oblique or only touched upon. I'm interested in writing stories where both sex AND plot are strong. Stories where the heavy sex is directly driven by a not-necessarily-sexual plot. Are those two things just not able to emulsify in the same story?

I say go for it, plenty of successful stories on Lit are sex-light or at least not sex-forward!

Maybe one consideration is category? Category readers of Group Sex or Erotic Couplings or what have you are probably looking for steamy sex scenes, and might score a story more harshly if there's no money shot.

Lesbian and Romance categories can definitely enjoy and reward stories that are light on the sex scenes, as long as the relationship arcs are satisfying.

Loving Wives cares more about karmic justice than about depictions of sex

There's the problem. I want the steamy, graphic, kinky, "money shot" scenes in the same stories as the ones with satisfying arcs. It seems like the categories break down along lines that expect either one or the other.

Thanks everyone!

 

[AG31]

I'm interested in writing stories where both sex AND plot are strong. Stories where the heavy sex is directly driven by a not-necessarily-sexual plot. Are those two things just not able to emulsify in the same story?

Sounds like a perfect story to me!!!! Emulsify away!!!

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Sounds like a perfect story to me!!!! Emulsify away!!!

So how do I get over the fear of "most readers won't like it"? (Yes, I know, the classic advice that not everyone will like you and that's okay and find the people who do and don't bother with the rest and all that, I know, I know, but that advice is easier to give than to live...)

 

[PennyThompson]

I'm not asking about stories where the sex is light or oblique or only touched upon. I'm interested in writing stories where both sex AND plot are strong. Stories where the heavy sex is directly driven by a not-necessarily-sexual plot. Are those two things just not able to emulsify in the same story?

There's the problem. I want the steamy, graphic, kinky, "money shot" scenes in the same stories as the ones with satisfying arcs. It seems like the categories break down along lines that expect either one or the other.

I don't think I see the conflict, here

Plenty of wonderful stories here have well written, satisfying character arcs and plots AND lots of fuckin' and suckin'

Some people only like short strokers that get right to the action, they are just simply not going to bother with a 6+ page story or whatever. That's fine, there are plenty of stories for them! But from what I've seen, longer literary stories will find their audience here if they're well written and engaging.

 

[StillStunned]

You get the idea. Every time I write those, I get really into it for a while, write a whole bunch of intro and backstory, get to the point where I figure out what makes sense as the central theme, and then think "but Lit is basically a site for written-word porn, and readers don't want to read all that boring stuff about not-sex". (I am not interested in arguing over that definition. I know many of the writers here don't see Lit that way, but, whether or not that's what it is for us it's clear that's how the vast majority of readers use it.)

This is probably where the rub is. You might not want to argue about the definition, but the experiences of plenty of writers show that readers are quite happy to read stories where the sex is of secondary importance, or even absent entirely.

Adding to this after reading your reply above: readers in fact often respond better to "a story with sex" than "sex with a story as an excuse". I have dozens of stories (and not just sci-fi and fantasy) that combine plot and sex, or a psychological journey and sex. And they generally do better than stories that are just framing devices for sex scenes.

Readers like sex, but they love a story that leaves them feeling emotionally satisfied as well.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Thank you all for the replies, and I appreciate the encouragement, but I think I may not have made my question clear. I'm not asking about stories where the sex is light or oblique or only touched upon. I'm interested in writing stories where both sex AND plot are strong. Stories where the heavy sex is directly driven by a not-necessarily-sexual plot. Are those two things just not able to emulsify in the same story?

What it seems that you want are stories where the hot and heavy sex scenes are incidental to the story, not the theme of the story. Is that correct?

 

[Venefica]

LOL I have no stories published yet.
I have have several fragments and to be honest, writing porn is now almost boring for me. I am now in stories with a little meaning at least and have started a project for a real novel. And working on it is much more satisfactoring than every porn story.

 

[SmilingLez]

Non erotic category. Great stories, BTW. IMO, A well-written story doesn't need to rely on sex, unless of course you want high ratings and a little red hot tag. YMMV

 

[TheExperimentalist]

This is probably where the rub is. You might not want to argue about the definition, but the experiences of plenty of writers show that readers are quite happy to read stories where the sex is of secondary importance, or even absent entirely.

Adding to this after reading your reply above: readers in fact often respond better to "a story with sex" than "sex with a story as an excuse". I have dozens of stories (and not just sci-fi and fantasy) that combine plot and sex, or a psychological journey and sex. And they generally do better than stories that are just framing devices for sex scenes.

Readers like sex, but they love a story that leaves them feeling emotionally satisfied as well.

So I'm not talking about "story with sex" vs. "sex with story as an excuse". I hate the latter and try never to write those. It's more "story about [other thing] that contains sex" vs. "story about sex". Sex can be a powerful story motivator, in and of itself, but often it's not the main one. I don't know, I guess it feels like in any story that ISN'T about sex as the driving motivation or conflict, graphic sex scenes just end up feeling superfluous? Like... why not just "fade to black" there? Does anything that happens during the scene REALLY affect the rest of the story if the sex itself isn't the satisfying ending that drives the story?

 

[TheExperimentalist]

Some people only like short strokers that get right to the action, they are just simply not going to bother with a 6+ page story or whatever.

What if I want my story to have some other theme driving it, yet still keep it relatively short? So people think "a nice three-page read to get off with" and then it doesn't get right into the action?

 

[TheExperimentalist]

What it seems that you want are stories where the hot and heavy sex scenes are incidental to the story, not the theme of the story. Is that correct?

"Incidental" is a bit too disconnected, I think. I don't want it to be "here's a story about all this other stuff, and oh, also, here's a sex scene that has nothing to do with the plot," but I also want the natural moments where sex would occur to neither fade out to a "the following morning" before the clothes come off, nor describe the action only indirectly and euphemistically, if you get my meaning.

 

[PennyThompson]

What if I want my story to have some other theme driving it, yet still keep it relatively short? So people think "a nice three-page read to get off with" and then it doesn't get right into the action?

Personally speaking, 2 to 4 pages with a good plot PLUS steamy sex is my favorite of all worlds

@THBGato, @WaxPhilosophic, @Eosphorus, @FrancesScott all have some wonderful stories in this range!

 

[Venefica]

I published the first 8 of 38 pages of a story on a German forum to test whether my writing style is appreciated. I received the comment '8 pages and no fucking, how boring'. The story is about a couple who start a new sex life by trying many things. In this story, they are introduced to a group and a party by their MMF co-fucxxxxx. Although there is lots of sex in the 40 pages, it starts slowly in order to build up the psychological background in a realistic way.

 

[StillStunned]

Does anything that happens during the scene REALLY affect the rest of the story if the sex itself isn't the satisfying ending that drives the story?

It can. Write a fantasy story about lust demons, and find out. Or a psychological revenge story. Or a story about watching a beaten wife break free from her domineering husband. Or a story about someone with sexual anxiety.

Sex is a big part of human life. It releases emotions and reveals people's character. A lot of things can happen during a sex scene that wouldn't happen without the sex.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm interested in writing stories where both sex AND plot are strong. Stories where the heavy sex is directly driven by a not-necessarily-sexual plot. Are those two things just not able to emulsify in the same story?

Yes I’ve had success with exactly that type of story and so have many others. I’ve written a neonoir police procedural novella where there is (I hope) heavy sex but only as a result of the broader non-sexual plot. Sex is an undercurrent of my novel, but it’s not what drives the plot. I’ve written trauma recovery stories where sex has a role to play. I’ve written romances as where the only sex is a final consummation. You can be successful on Lit with this type of story.

 

[TheExperimentalist]

I published the first 8 of 38 pages of a story on a German forum to test whether my writing style is appreciated. I received the comment '8 pages and no fucking, how boring'. The story is about a couple who start a new sex life by trying many things. In this story, they are introduced to a group and a party by their MMF co-fucxxxxx. Although there is lots of sex in the 40 pages, it starts slowly in order to build up the psychological background in a realistic way.

See, this is the kind of response I mean, but I may just need to develop the self-confidence to get over it and say "some people will just think so and that's okay".

 

[NotWise]

I'm not sure I've ever written a story about sex. For my WIP, I conceived of three couples on a cross-country train, sketched the story out and then stopped for a week to ask myself what the story was about. I wasn't going to put down a word of the first draft without knowing the story.

Recently, as I neared the end of the WIP, I realized that what I'm writing is little more than an interlude between two novels. I have no intention of writing either of the novels.

Looking back now, my last two published stories are actually about the end of life. One gets there, one is diverted first. I wrote a more lighthearted story between those two, but it missed a contest deadline and won't be posted 'til November.

Anyway, you can post your stories and they can be well-accepted. Some categories will be more accepting than others.

 

[EmilyMiller]

See, this is the kind of response I mean, but I may just need to develop the self-confidence to get over it and say "some people will just think so and that's okay".

It’s category specific. If you post a slowburn with little or no sex in LS you are fine, in Festish not so much. Categories that are welcoming of stories driven by something other than sex include: Romance, Lesbian, Novels & Novellas; SciFi & Fantasy.

 

[crookedletter]

In my opinion it comes down to putting the onus on the reader to choose the story that's right for them. Tag it, give it a fitting title and description. They'll see the word count. People who want quick release strokers should see themselves out. Those that don't, well, that's on them. They may give you a nasty comment and bad rating on their way out, but such is life. Hopefully the many people who are looking for such a thing should keep your story from tanking entirely.

The opposite is the case as well. Those who want a well developed character-driven story should stay away from the 1200-word Fucking in the Bushes Behind My Neighbors' House. But some of them won't, and they'll tell you why your story is not for them, whether you want to hear it or not.

It can be tough, caring about what people think of your work. But if all the readers here wanted the same thing this would be a much less interesting place.