Pretty much since I started writing TG fiction, one thing I've tried to avoid is including anything sexual. This was for a number of reasons. For one thing, there seemed to be a lot of such stories already out there. Another reason was ... well, I just wasn't interested in writing them. Lately, I've been thinking of trying to do something that had a bit more ... I guess intimacy.
I was nervous about this because I was worried the people who usually enjoy what I write might be shocked or upset by that. I decided to take at least a little chance when I wrote All of You, which eventually wound up being the first of five drabbles in an experimental drabble cycle titled All of You ... and More.
So far, I've gotten some great responses, but I still worry a bit how people will react to seeing something so different from what I usually write. I've been wondering, have there been any other authors out there who have changed the way they write stories, or are there any readers who have seen noticeable changes in the ways authors write? I'd really like to hear any thoughts or experiences about how such changes could affect an author's readership.
Comments
It's a funny thing...
... perception I mean. I sometimes wonder just what image people have of me, taken from what I write and comments I make. I assume I am not alone in this. I don't avoid sex but I don't make it central as a rule because quite frankly a whole lot of sex scenes or long drawn out fetishistic clothing scenes are Boring. Sure it's part of things and can be included, looked at, felt maybe... but that to me is not what it's about. I may include sex, violence, a bit of kink, some of my people will swear and some do nasty things, it's all out there somewhere.
It's the feelings and emotions, the reasoning for the actions, that's what matters. If it can't be connected with, well who cares... next story.
As for changing a little I guess everyone that writes more than a few things will progress and change in some ways, try new ideas or explore areas they hadn't previously. Some may love one thing and dislike another, that's just the way it goes. Can't please all the people...
I guess we all have to please ourselves and hope that some will understand and connect. Just do what feels right I suppose.
Kristina
Speaking for myself
I've read stories from tons of different TG writers over the last 15 years or so. Many authors write a variety of story types from G rated to R or X. I thinks it's should be more about what you feel as a writer that you want to say in a story that is most important. I don't like ALL the stories of my favorite authors, but it doesn't stop me from liking the ones I already do.
However you want to express yourself is how I believe you should do it.
Huggles!!
Alexis
Sex? Ummmm.....
Yeah, now there's a subject.
I've written a number of stories, some of which involve explicit sex. Yes I know it goes against the grain with some of you out there, but it also gets the reads.
The one's that I have written that don't contain any explicit sex generally do less well.
Now there could be a number of things that contribute to this, but two I can think of are:
1. It could be that the readers want to get their rocks off.
2. I write sex scenes very well.
I don't nexessarily believe its the latter, so could it be the former?
Take Truth or dare, A fresh start, Bath candy and to a lesser degree Halloween. They've all done very well for me, but others I think are written better have not - because they don't contain sex.
Go figure.
Sex scenes
Doesn't it all depend upon context? I tend to let my stories develop (okay ramble) and the characters do things that seem the next step in that development. At the same time, I don't wish to write about graphic or gratuitous sex, nor do I want to read it, although I appreciate some readers do. I have touched on other taboos like religion and violence but they were in context.
If you want to break new ground or experiment which is how one grows in all dimensions, then you have to take risks. If you don't feel comfortable, then it may be that you are learning something or that it isn't right for you. Only you can decide. I wish you well with the connundrum.
hugs,
Angharad.
Angharad
To add to the confusion ....
No one can really give a relevant answer but yourself. If you are writing for your own amusement and enjoyment then the more different your stories are the better. At least I think so. You may not. For me there would be no point in writing anything like DofC again because it would be a pointless repetition. And it was more than long enough in the first place :)
I have written something else which should see the light of day shortly but I think it is quite different. It has to be. Although perhaps I exaggerate the difference. Perhaps anyone who read the my first would immediately recognise me as the author of the second. Because that is the way I write or even because that is who I am. If my decline into madness should continue and I write yet again, it will have to be because I have thought of something else that is different. Or something I consider different. Otherwise I would be bored .... and just couldn't find the will to do it.
If you are writing for your readers, then they may well want what has given them so much pleasure before. What has in fact made them loyal. Any change may create problems. Those who loved your previous work may well be disappointed. Those who didn't like it may never read your new work because of their preconceived ideas of what it will be like.
As for sex .... well it all depends upon what you mean by sex. And how it is presented. Is sex a kiss or just an atmosphere? Is it physical? Does it involve penetration. Consentually? Non-consentually? Romantic or pornographic? I included sex occasionally in DofC but not much and never when it, in my opinion anyway, was not a requisite part of the story. But it is there. And its degree, its justification, is only my opinion.
I am sure all the above is of no help whatsoever. So perhaps I could finish by saying that I don't think it is anything to worry about. Sex is only offensive in a story when it is overdone. When the story is just a vehicle to present it. And then it is boring, boring, boring. And you are far to good a writer to write anything boring. You just couldn't do it.
Your pen/keyboard would revolt.
Hugs,
Fleurie
Disney Makes Porn!
Sorry, couldn't resist that title.
Heather Rose, you write: "I was worried the people who enjoy what I write
might be shocked or upset ...... seeing something so different from what I usually write."
It's my guess that what people like about your previous work is not it's lack of sexual content
but its positive attitude toward life, its kindness and respect for individuals. And if the All of Me cycle is
any indication of the direction you want to explore, I'd say it's really not that different at all. Not in spirit. Physical intimacy as you've described it seems like a continuation of the themes you've already written about, rather than a radical departure. If you wrote about some amoral hussy out prowling the clubs for the shagging of her life with the first suitable stranger that comes along, or hubby-learns-his-place-as-a-French-maid... then, yes, I think your fans would be shocked. I would defend your right to pen such stories, but personally
I would miss the warmth, the sweetness, the strong & very positive emotions of Classic Heather Rose Brown (although sweetness could in itself become a trap; like if you ever wanted to write something ANGRY, about, say, some great injustice, and hesitated because it wasn't what you felt people expected from your work.)
Be honest, be yourself. I'm pretty sure most people here love you and what you have to say,
and that you say it so cleanly (stylistically I mean) in these appealing tales...
Hugs, Laika
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
It all depends on the context.
In my serial 'Who hates Lola?' I included a couple of sex scenes, one of them very explicit (which did shock/amuse one of my reader/friends quite a lot) but both were needed in the flow of the story. In other words the sex was part of the story rather than the story's being a flimsy structure surrounding the sex.
In my lighter story 'Christmas Fairy Queen' there is also a very heavy sex scene, but it's dealt with in the space between a couple of paragraphs and it's wholly in the mind of the reader. That's because it wasn't a vital part of the story thread and details were unnecessary.
So, you see, like lots of things, it's all depends ...
I'm interested in identity and how it can be confused or even lost. In the context of TG fiction it inevitably means a change of gender but there are other vehicles.
Geoff
Good for you.
I think it's wonderful that you chose to write about it--since you wanted to write about it and it felt natural to you. People who like your stories won't be scared off by some intimate or even erotic writing. I'm sure your readers like or love you for who you are and what you bring to your writing. They'll stick with you through thick and thin--even if you venture out of your normal "genre" every-so-often.
Jodie
xoxo
Which kind of sex?
He came up behind her and placed his fingers on her bare shoulder. She turned and kissed his lips, while he slowly moved his hand down her back. Their embrace became tighter and tighter as he reached beneath her clothes and slowly stroked her thighs. She had opened his shirt and her lips now caressed his neck as she pushed down his pants. At the same time he slowly lowered her to the floor, and one hand reached its goal. She felt his weight on top of her and softly moaned as his chest moved back and forth across her tender breast; she was ready to take him into her self, to truly unite with him, and she began to circle his groin with her fingers. His face was now covered by her hair as he nibbled her ear; the world was now only her taste, her smell, her feel. He entered her, and they dance the eternal two backed dance. They were one in passion and ecstasy.
Or?
He came up behind her and took her by the shoulder. She spun around, and their lips were locked at once; their tongues thrusting deep into the other's mouth. One hand moved down to squeeze her ass, all the time she clung to him as if trying to weld his body to hers. He pushed up her skirt. She pulled open his shirt and began to suck on his neck as she shoved his pants down. As soon as he had two fingers on her clit and one in her shit, he pushed her to the ground. Her tits reacted as he swung his chest back and forth across them; she groaned; she was ready to devour him. She grabbed his dick and jerked her fingers up and down on its firm shaft. His lips pulled on her ear and bit at her throat; all he was aware of was the stink of her hair, the taste of her sweat, and the feel of her skin. He crammed his weapon deep into her scabbard. She squirmed as he undulated on top of her. Up - down. Deeper - deeper. Her love juice coated his tool; he shot his cum into her. The two fluids flowed from her cunt; a single potion of ecstatic passion.
I think they are different things, and, Heather, please don't confuse writing about love with writing about sex. (Although the second is much better in the presence of the first.)
Hugs&Joy
Jan
Harlequin vs. Henry Miller
If I may digress ....... That was an absolutely fascinating demonstration, Jan!
The power of emphasis, vocabulary to paint two different pictures
from the same basic events. You should teach writing! :)
Well shit, I guess it really CAN happen here..,
.
I think she just did
At least, a really cool lesson. :)
But both kinds of writing have their place. Sex scenes qua sex scenes do very little for me and I have trouble writing them. I usually skip over the sex scenes in books or go get popcorn in a movie. :) But some people like that stuff, and that's okay too.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
There really was a point.
Thanks, Erin and Laika, but on rereading this I'm afraid my point was a bit obscure. (That happens to me, and it's not because I get lost in my demonstrations, but because I'm still a bit (a large bit) ADD. (I could use a little more of the H though, I think.).)
But, Heather, I don't think you have written about "sex" yet at all really, and when, and if, you do you will find, among all the possible ways, the right way for you, and for the story, to do it. I'm not at all surprised about All of You, because it is still a very kind, gentle, longing piece, and those are always your hallmarks.
As for the other questions, I haven't a clue.
Hugs&Joy
Jan
Feeling better
After reading everyone's comments, I'm feeling a little better about experimenting with topics I ain't wrote 'bout before. I've written five more drabbles (making a total of *eep* ten?!) featuring the lovers from All of You. One of them I think would count as ... ummm ... kinda explicit.
I'm planning on posting them some time soon, but I'm still a bit nervous. I guess probably what I'm most nervous about is how some of what I've been writing feels like it's comin' from the grown up part of me, and I wonder if people will try to treat me like that grown up part, instead of just treating me like me.
The relationships I've found are like really important to me and I really don't wanna start getting treated different. On the other hand, I kinda feel it's important sometimes to take chances like this. I've learned that if ya play it safe all the time, it's lots harder to learn and grow ... and ya can sometimes miss out on some really amazing experiences.
{{{warm huggs}}}
Heather Rose Brown :)
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Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.
Groucho Marx