For the most part, I've avoided writing any graphic sexual content. It's not that I don't think that there is a place for it, just not in my writing. Mostly it's been because I write about kids and that's just icky and wrong. In the past if I wrote anything sexual it was to show the true horrors of sexual abuse and was never intended to be for arousal.
Now I am writing this adult romance story. Part of me thinks I should cut to the curtains when anything sexual is about to happen, but I wonder if that is the wisest thing to do. I don't want to be known as a person who writes erotica and I don't know if sexual content would be accepted by me since all of the other stuff that I write. It would be classy, would use flowery language instead of crudeness, but I still wonder if I should. I am at a spot in my new story where I could, if I chose, have the ftm character have a masturbatory fantasy. It would fit with the story line and show how he is transforming into a guy (cause guys do nothing but masturbate and watch sports). It could even be fun or at least stretch me to new limits. I'm at a loss. I just don't want to be lumped in with "I was turned into a cum guzzling gutter slut and liked it" writers.
Looking for advice, as my writing quota for today is about up.
Comments
I have the same problem
It's not really in my style of writing to write hardcore sex scenes. I love sex more than anybody since my SRS but it's just not something I like writing about because my stories are largely about young people and the self exploration of gender rather than the sexual exploration. Raw sex just doesn't fit, but sometimes to reference it at least is. But sex as an expression of love or as a new aspect of oneself is nothing to be ashamed of writing about. I actually got past this myself to write such a scene for the new Chapter of Alex in Wonderland. It's not a steamy sex scene that references body parts in lewd ways but more about the feelings and experience of it.
I believe that if we write such scenes in ways that reflect the mood and style of our writing without getting down and dirty that they can actually enhance the self exploration aspect of things. So feel free to do it, just in a way that you are comfortable with and that feels consistent with what you're trying to convey through your writing.
I hope this helps
*hugs*
Amethyst
Don't take me too seriously. I'm just kitten around. :3
I went the other way
I started with Ed Miller-style sexcapades, that were pretty explicit. Really, really explicit in some cases. I've toned that down and now do most sex off-camera (if at all) with only occasional explicit scenes. (Note there is a story in work where things will be considerably more explicit, but it's necessary to the plotline to show how a guy is manipulated because he things with the wrong head. But that's the exception.
Except for my recent Halloween submission, I haven't written sex scenes in stories in a long time, and I think readers will agree that the stories don't suffer for it. But if it's necessary for the plot development, then go for it and don't worry. But if it were me, I'd try to keep it to a minimum on-camera, and just describe the buildup and the afterglow and leave the rest to the reader's imagination.
Example - in New Co-Ed, the scene where Tommi first got laid (and in fact, the scene with Erica in the shower), I described the foreplay, focusing on the character's thoughts and feelings. The sex scenes were off-camera, and I don't think it impacted the story at all. It's my personal opinion that the more sex you leave off-camera, the more the reader's imagination gets involved, and the more they'll enjoy it because they insert (bad pun) their own fantasies / illusions of what happened.
Imagination is more important than knowledge
A. Einstein
For what it's worth......
IMHO if it's an adult romance your writing, if you don't include some sex, you'll be limiting your audience. It's like NASCAR races, if they made them so safe that there were no more accidents, nobody would watch them. How you go about the details is where you make the difference! As they say "the devil's in the details"! Good luck with the new book hon! Loving Hugs Talia
Bailey Summers writes good lovemaking scenes
which are not even slightly "smut". On the other hand, I hardly ever write an actual sex scenes, I usually get my characters to where sex will occur, and then jump to after its over, its just the way I write.
Its gonna be your call, hon.
Well....
You KNOW how I solve that problem. :) Unfortunately, that really won't work for you so I don't know what to tell you.
Hugs,
Erin
= Give everyone the benefit of the doubt because certainty is a fragile thing that can be shattered by one overlooked fact.
George R.R. Martin is taking
George R.R. Martin is taking smut to the bank.
You can write sex without writing smut. Your "cum guzzling gutter slut" can be written using other words. Don't ask me what words though, I am asexual and don't get the whole sex thing.
Christmas Fairy Queen ...
... which I wrote some years ago but reposted very recently has a sexual content without being explicit. It's obvious to any adult reader what's happening but the actual blow by blow activity is left to the reader's (dirty? :) ) imagination.
I'm no prude. Details of sexual activity don't shock. I just find them a bit tedious and, in any case, my imagination works pretty well and I find subtle hints to be far sexier. Your "cum guzzling slut" is a boring and uninteresting stereotype and I find the most erogenous zone is the brain. It's a bit like Orwell's Room 101 in 1984 (but more fun) in that Winston Smith knows what's in there as do any of the other victims but the content is different for each of them.
Much as I deride Barbara Cartland's romance fiction, she had a point when her scenes ended at the bedroom door - outside it, that is.
Robi
Interesting choice of words
i
You're as bad with your puns as I am - or worse! LOL!
Was that freudian, or deliberate, though? Inquiring minds want to know.
Imagination is more important than knowledge
A. Einstein
Sady ...
... it was totally Freudian coupled with the fact it's a common expression I use. I really wish it had been deliberate. I must say I do find it slightly odd that fellatio is such a common feature of TG fiction even when the TG character is a heterosexual male. Though as I've used it in a story of my own perhaps I should keep quiet.
Robi
Have you considered
using a different nom de plume for the piece you consider might be more explicit than you're comfortable with? One thing I would think that you don't want, as a blooming and accepted writer, is for one or two explicit works to taint your image as a serious non-pornographic writer. I know of very noted authors that have done so.
Imagination is more important than knowledge
A. Einstein
SMUT
Most sex takes place between the ears.
Writing fiction about fantasy is a tenuous nexus.
Try writing the scene. Put it side for three four weeks until you can read it with perspective. You will know your answer.
Several well known writers have lesser known aliases they use for their smutty writing. Perhaps you could consider doing that?
Jill
Angela Rasch (Jill M I)
Sex usually ...
Sex usually comes with gender and relationships. Sometimes it's justifiable on paper to carry the plot, sometimes it's not. I usually avoid crude vocabulary and expressions unless it's in dialogue to demonstrate an individual's nature or coarseness or crudity.
At 67, I'm pretty much at ease with most justifiable sexual content except for paedophile content. I always draw the line at that.
However, there is a bit of a wrinkle, I am currently writing 'The Angry mermaid' and this deals with Celtic and dark age culture circa ninth or tenth century. (The exact date is not important.)but in those times the age of consent was lower than it is today. Often girls were married off almost as soon as they reached puberty and that could be as low as twelve to fourteen.
Even so I only introduce explicit sex if it helps to carry the story and that's not often. The other strategy is, as you say, to use 'flowery' language and allude to the act. I try to avoid 'flowery' language, there're plain words enough in the English language to convey the idea without being coy.
By the way Katie, I love your stories.
Bev.
Smut scene
A long time ago, back when I was about 14, I used to write lots of erotica and posted it in literotica. I thought people would like it. Sure, some people liked it, but most called me all sorts of names and they told me to go to hell, so I was so angry I deleted everything I wrote and bombed my whole submission so it will not be read again. Ever since then, I have not been able to write erotic scenes anymore. It seems like everytime such a scene arrives, my mind was blocked and I couldn't continue.
If you have no problem like mine, then I suggest that you go for it. It makes you more versatile and prepares you for going mainstream. Lots of people write smut and still accepted in the mainstream world. So I don't think it's much of a problem. I love Teresa Medeiros, she did have erotic scenes, but it wasn't the focus of the book. Erotic scenes were just the flavour that adds to the story, when it's suitable. People love erotic romance, that's why people buy Mills & Boons in droves.
It's even fine if you want to go the Shades of Grey route, like many new authors are going now. It's overused and saturated, but it doesn't mean there is no market for it. Develop your own style and I'm sure people will understand your talent.
He opened the door to the
He opened the door to the bedroom, the soft light glinting off his long manicured nails. He gasped as he saw the fabulously large...
***Begin Smut - those not interested in reading smut should skip to "***End Smut"
Sugarcane smut or Ustilago scitaminea Sydow is caused by the fungus Sporisorium scitamineum; previously known Ustilago scitaminea. The smut 'whip' is a curved black structure which emerges from the leaf whorl, that aids in the spreading of the disease. Sugarcane smut causes significant losses to the economic value of a sugarcane crop. Sugarcane smut has recently been found in the eastern seaboard areas of Australia, one of the world's highest-yielding sugar areas.
For the sugarcane crop to be infected by the disease, large spore concentrations are needed. The fungi uses its smut-whip to ensure that the disease is spread to other plants, which usually occurs over a time period of three months. As the inoculum is spread, the younger sugarcane buds just coming out of the soil will be the most susceptible of all the crops. Because water is necessary for spore germination, irrigation has shown to be a factor in spreading the disease. Therefore special precautions need to be taken when irrigated the areas of the crop to prevent spreading of the smut.
***End Smut
They lay back, sated, on the crumpled bed sheets, their clothes carelessly strewn about the room.
***Thank you very much, I'll be here all week
Kris
{I leave a trail of Kudos as I browse the site. Be careful where you step!}
Those large spore
Those large spore concentrations do it for me every time. Tell me more about those leaf whorls, tell me more!
I'd say take a break and study other writers
I'd say take break from writing and read some of the classier Romance stories and see how others handled the sexual aspect of the stories.
Hugs
Patricia
Happiness is being all dressed up and HAVING some place to go.
Semper in femineo gerunt
Ich bin eine Mann
Write what you like
BUT, I must ask that it be tagged appropriately. There are authors where who once in a while like to indulge their kinky side but do not tag appropriately (eg S/M, femdom scenes not tagged.)
A Suggestion.
Katie,
I actually identify a bit more as a Lesbian than as trans and over the years I have read quite a lot of Lesbian Fiction. One of the characteristics of Women's Fiction is that in most kinds of stories; detective, sports, heroic, etc, there is a secondary but strong emphasis on relationships be they straight or gay.
Yes, lesbians do sometimes write raunch and cum slut stuff but that is the exception. When it comes to sheer powerful loving eroticism in stories that are not about that, I highly recommend that you read a few books by the author, Radcliffe.( www.radfic.com ) Her First Responders books and Provincetown Books especially demonstrate the style of romantic eroticism that I am referencing. Rad is overall one of my all time favorite authors (I think, at last count, I have read 38 of her books) Literate, exciting, tender and human are all good descriptors of her stories. One moment I am figuratively on the edge of my seat and the next, I'm "sitting in a puddle with my hi-beams on" and it's not even raining. You likely will be able to find them in your public library. Meanwhile,darlin, you are doing right well and I thank you.
Joani