50 Shades of Grey trilogy goes from fan fiction to Random House

Status
Not open for further replies.

Amadan

Banned
Joined
Apr 27, 2010
Messages
8,649
Reaction score
1,623
Which part of the article was bullshit evpsych theory about how your brain evolved to enjoy badly-written erotica?

Just like any narrative language, erotic fiction is transporting. It just happens to transport you into experiencing sights and sounds that are emotionally charged and sexually arousing. If you were Anastasia Steele in flagrante delicto, your pulse would race, you'd start sweating and blood would flush your sexual organs. Reading about Anastasia Steele in such a state leads you to actually experience a little of the same.

Consequently, reading smut is arousing.


There is no "big deal," per se.

You are suggesting that everything the writer says in that blog is common knowledge.

Thinking about sex turns people on! THIS IS NEW INFORMATION!!!!
 

Putputt

permanently suctioned to Buz's leg
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Jul 10, 2012
Messages
5,448
Reaction score
2,980
But you don't have to be a trained psychologist or perform studies to know this. This is plain common sense. Every reader knows it. And every writer. We all know that we read to identify with the MC. I don't need a penile plethysmograph or a vaginal photoplethysmograph to tell me that some people get aroused when they read erotica or porn. I don't need studies to tell me that people who want to get aroused, read erotica in order to identify with the MC and, well, get aroused.
What's the big deal?

There's no big deal. I was just pointing out that the article IMO does not qualify as "bullshit evpsych theories".

Thinking about sex turns people on! THIS IS NEW INFORMATION!!!!

Since when does information that isn't new to you become "bullshit evpsych theories"?
 

Alitriona

Attends The School of AW
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 1, 2009
Messages
958
Reaction score
96
Location
Ireland
Website
www.caroloates.com
I dunno. "Giving people what they want" no matter what is not what I aim for. What if they want... um, let me see... (racks brain for the most disgusting, greasy, sugar-laden junk food I can think of)? Should I aim to give them that?

(Not referring to 50shades as junk. It's just a general analogy, to go with your above statement. I haven't read 50shades and don't intend to, and I don't form opinions on stuff I haven't read.)

People can read what they want, and want what they like, as far as I'm concerned; their choice. But I will only give them -- to continue the anaology -- food that I consider healthy. My choice. That's just who I am. I need to be true to myself in what I cook (write). I don't care if nobody wants it. Some might; and therein lies the joy of writing, not in numbers. But what extra joy if it turns out that people, surprise surprise, do like what you cook (write)!

I didn't say you have to aim for it or that anyone that doesn't want to should. I do say in a commercial environment, like publishing, that someone will. I see absolutely nothing wrong with being that someone. You do and that's all grand and dandy. No one is asking you to write the next 50 shades. Stick with what you are comfortable with. Leave writing 50 shades type books to those who want to. If they sell, good for them. If they don't, hopefully the writers will learn from the experience.

Likewise with junk food. You want to keep eating healthy, great. But other people are still going to work at McDonalds because people eat there, some even enjoy working there. I won't look down my nose at them because I personally prefer homemade food.
 

kkbe

Huh.
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 23, 2011
Messages
5,773
Reaction score
1,687
Location
Left of center
Website
kkelliewriteme.wordpress.com
Thinking about sex turns people on! THIS IS NEW INFORMATION!!!!

It is?

:)

Bergen says, "Your mind on smut is very much like your mind on any other type of narrative." He offers scientific evidence, being as he's a cognitive scientist and everything. You might find that uninteresting. You might not agree with him. You might think he's full of hockey beans. You might not give a crap.

Oh, wait, apparently you do, otherwise you wouldn't have posted, right? Or am I all wet? Which brings us back to. . .

Nah, ain't going there. :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.