Percentage of Sex

You know what, I don't even think of percentages, I think it's very old fashion, and robotic in writing, I also think it stilts the person as a writer to have a percentage of something; I've heard this before with action as the genre, a lot.

I'm going to personally say don't look for a percentage, and if you must, write first, tally percentage later. Some books need a lot of sex scenes, some don't; I've read stories where I was bored out of my mind waiting for the sex to come, I've read others where I was sick of seeing the sex, each with various percentages.

I think it depends on the story, and how you write it; if the story is developing relationships, sex shouldn't come in until that time where you're ready to get rid of the drama of "sexual tension". Something like two people who hate each other, end up banging each other in the end, or just two childhood friends that don't admit they like each other yet; those story may be limited in sex, and only happens during the climax of the story. However, if it's a rather smutty story, but still have a storyline outside of erotica, I say you should check your genre (let's say you're writing about drama, action, romance, and erotica); you should make a "line", do some drama points, then some action points, then the romance points, then BAM erotica, then restart and repeat. Of course, this can cause some stilted draw back too, but that way you should be able to tell when the reader might be ready for another love scene.

Until you get "perfect" at it, you'll know when it's time to throw in the sexy, and when it's time to write the plot.

Now, are you saying how much should you put erotica inside of a story of erotica: 100%! You can have sexiness right from the beginning of the book, to the end, and it's up to you rather you cool it down or heat it up. Sex scenes may very, but I think a good erotica book should have sexy things happening all the time, or at least a hefty percentage.

*chuckle* I'd never thought about it. I do get kinda disappointed if there's less than, oh say, a quarter sex in an erotic short story, but it doesn't matter as much in a novel.

SilverDragon said:

Do you aim for a certian percentage of sex in your stories? If so what percentage?

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No. I let the scenes happen when they should. I couldn't do this if I had to stretch or squeeze it to fit a particular percentage.

Just quickly glancing at my two published books and my wip, it works out something like:
Book A: About 10%
Book B: About 30%
Wip: About 40% (approx, but more than Book B)

This reflects my improving ability to insert more sex into my stories while still retaining a strong plot line and characterization.

For my WIP, I'd say that about 60-80% is some sort of "juicy" bit (my story is an M/M prison nonon sex slave story, so by juicy I mean sex/violence). The other quarter or so is character development and atmosphere.

Never a strict percentage, but I have some idea of the erotica density various publisher want so I can match the right story to them.

With Loose Id, I already know I'll have to increase the sex scenes and sexual tension far beyond what I'd normally write. (Trained in fade-to-black SFF genres, alas.) It's good training for my future writing.

I don't even pay attention to percentages. I look at the work scene-by-scene, and figure out where I can ease in more action or tension.

SilverDragon said:

Do you aim for a certian percentage of sex in your stories? If so what percentage?

Click to expand...

I don't think of percents. I write the story and let the sex happen as it will. I've got one novel, billed as erotic, where the sex kept taking a back seat to the action plot. Another novel, wall to wall sex. I didn't plan either of them that way.

Length of sex scene and degree of explicitness are other things to think about. I have a sex scene in one novel that goes on for two chapters. In other places, the scene pretty much ends with the bedroom door closing. It's whatever seems right for the occasion, but I can't think of a set of rules to pin down why I do it this way or that.

EDIT: I already wrote this answer in this thread two years ago!

as an occasional reader I prefer ~30% to be honest
more than that and the story gets lost
the characters too
just my own opinion

No I just remember I'm writing something erotic, so while I'm focusing on plot, and depth of characters, I make sure to come back to making the story sexual as often as possible, without losing focus on creating a story and characters with depth.

In the novel I just finished...it's erotic paranormal romance... I bring it back to the sex scenes regularly, but in the third quarter I'm very focused on kind of a suspense/paranormal plot-line in there, so I do pull back from the sex scenes for that third quarter then back to the focus on sex in the final quarter. It's 78,000 words so I think there is room for that.

I certainly never think in terms of percentages, I think in terms of eroticism pervading the overall work.

Good point, Gingerwoman. That’s how I approach it, too. The eroticism should pervade the work. It's tricky when the book is as much action/adventure as erotic romance, so I keep finding ways to inject sexual tension into the scenes that will support it.

With my erotica, if there is no sexy times going on, then there is a lot of sexual tension going on. Since my characters develop through the sex, it is always the forefront of the plot or, at least, the most important element. I don't really worry about percentages, but I do spend a lot of time figuring out what kind of scene I want to convey. Since the sex is part of the plot, I have to decide what kind of sex is going on, how the characters are feeling, what the consequences of said encounter is going to entail, and (biggest two questions) how much? and how long? After all, that much sex can get pretty overwhelming (and pretty boring for me as the writer) so I always want to make sure I'm adding something new or different so it stays fresh and relevant and therefore keeps the reader interested.

I'm about 20% erotic and 20% teasing. Want to up the erotic a bit.

What percentage constitutes erotica?

That's not really how it works. It is erotica if it is about sexual themes and tropes. That can be anything from 0-100% actual sexual intercourse.

Sorry. Trying to clearly understand genres. The public library is fiction and non. I don't visit book stores often.
Ps: it amuses me to think of a story about sex having oh, say, 3% intercourse. Don't mind me. I'm silly.

Maryn's explanation of erotica is a good and simple one. It clearly divides erotica from other stories that happen to have sex in them. (Even other stories with a lot of sex—say, for instance, you had a novel where a couple solves cases together, and their best insights into these cases tend to come in the afterglow of a good boink; it might be sexy and fun, but it wouldn't be erotica, even if we get to see the boinks, because it could just as easily be written so the insight scenes start as they're catching their breaths afterward.)

Zoe, who thought rainboots had become trendy all-weather footwear four or five years ago (and if not, then hey! she was ahead of the trend! But damn those rainboots are comfortable footwear).