Too much sex?

K. Marshall

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Is there like a loose guideline of how many scenes are best? I just realized that at 5000-ish words, I have three sex scenes. And I'm not done writing yet. Thinking maybe I need to cut one out. Or was my ex correct when he said you can never have too much sex? (of course, he was talking about real life, not books)
 

Zoombie

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If you ask me, it depends on the story.

Remember, a scene can be erotic without actually having the mechanics. So to speak.
 

veinglory

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Erotica can be anywhere from 0% to 100% actual sex acts. Actual frequency and type is a more market-by-market thing.

It sounds like your actual sex scenes are rather short. That will limit you from markets that want fully developed scenarios that people can, um, play along with.
 
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Maryn

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(Splurt!) Nicely phrased, veinglory.
 

K. Marshall

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It sounds like your actual sex scenes are rather short. That will limit you from markets that want fully developed scenarios that people can, um, play along with.

This is a very good point. When I used to write short erotica for a client, he basically wanted the story to be sex. He told me to get right into it and don't worry about developing the characters. This is most likely my problem. I'm going to guess this is maybe the difference between writing porn and writing erotica. I'm not entirely sure what I'm writing I guess.

I may need to backtrack and develop my story a bit more. Now I'm wishing I had a writing coach of some kind because I suddenly feel like I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing. I assumed I had the ability to do this since I was getting paid pretty well for it. Now I'm not so sure.
 

ElaineA

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I may need to backtrack and develop my story a bit more. Now I'm wishing I had a writing coach of some kind because I suddenly feel like I don't know where I'm going or what I'm doing. I assumed I had the ability to do this since I was getting paid pretty well for it. Now I'm not so sure.

*thinky face* Hmm, you sound like a writer or something. :tongue

I'm positive you know what you're doing, but branching out always brings out the insecurity imps. If you'd like to describe a bit about what the project is you're undertaking, people here might be able to provide some generalized coaching. Don't tell the story, necessarily, but are you trying to write a short? A novella? For a specific call or market? Or are you just exercising your writing muscles to keep in shape?

No matter what, hang in there. You've got a history of cash to prove you can do it.
 

K. Marshall

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The client I wrote for wanted very short, 2000-ish word stories. I found that difficult because you can't really develop a story with so few words, but I did it anyhow. And I was paid pretty well for it. Now I'm trying to write something longer that I can self publish. I don't have a particular word count in mind because, quite honestly, I'm a little confused about the market. I've been trying to read up on how to do it but most of what I am finding was from when it was trendy to write those really short stories and sell them for $.99 on Amazon.

I don't see me putting together a 20,000 word novel. I was thinking 7500 - 10,000 words. I don't really know. I'm just writing. My friends who are also writers do not write this genre so I don't have anyone to bounce things off of.

I thought about compiling my short stories into a "grab bag" of quickies and then continue working on the story I'm doing now. I have never used outlines, so maybe I should try that. :) My stories go where they want to go so outlines are difficult.
 

EmSalah29

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I honestly think it depends of the story line. If these two (or more) characters already have an established relationship or they're in a place that doesn't need them to be in any sort of relationship, then you don't need as much build-up as say an erotic romantic story. I would finish writing it first and see how it reads as a whole and whether or not the sex scenes are just too much or if they work well or not.
 

CaliforniaMelanie

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How long is...long enough?

Serious question.

I suppose I could test drive mine?

Sorry...injecting a li'l humor but I am curious about this...as this may be sort of my goal with my tale.
 

c.m.n.

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How long is...long enough?

Serious question.

I suppose I could test drive mine?

Sorry...injecting a li'l humor but I am curious about this...as this may be sort of my goal with my tale.

Long as in sex scene length? I'd say as long as you need to get from point A to point B. Point A: both characters are heated but not yet undressed and the scene hasn't quite started yet. Point B: both characters are sated and ready to continue with the story.

I've written scenes as short as 500 words to as much as 4,000 words, depending on the story.
 

Maryn

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My range is probably similar to c.n.m.'s (which I had to type three times to get right!), sex scenes ranging from the mid- to high hundred words into four or five thousand, maybe more. Some activities require more description and explanation than others (they did what?), and of course some POV characters are downright chatty inside their own heads while the deeds are being done.

Maryn, wondering when it's time to open the wine
 

CaliforniaMelanie

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Okay, this makes sense. So, in other words, longer and more descriptive than a few breathless kisses and then a fade-out on the doorknob. (Anybody remember that old saying? LOL.)
 

thethinker42

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Echoing C.M.N. here, my sex scenes range from a few hundred words to several thousand. Just depends on how much is happening, how much needs to be described, etc. If the scene doesn't need to be shown, I'll fade to black and leave it to the reader's imagination.

Basically "how much sex?" or "how long should a sex scene be?" is asking how long is a piece of rope. Every book is different, and every sex scene is different. Trying to expand or condense a scene to fill an arbitrary parameter is a good way to compromise the story/scene (it can be done, but it's not ideal). Write the story/scene how they need to be written.
 

Cindyt

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I once read a historical that had sex on every page. I didn't know to begin with that it was erotica, and I was shocked. So I bought the sequel. :roll: I don't think there's a limit. Write however much you want.
 

Maryn

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"So I bought the sequel" for the win!
 

Melty

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One of my top selling stories has no sex in it. However, it does satisfy the fetish it involves, which is why it is popular.
 

Bardot1990

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I'm a newbie here. Where are the erotic story samples? I've written a few. I want to read what others have written before submitting mine for consideration.
 

Maryn

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The work our members post for critique can be found at Share Your Work - Erotica, which requires a special password. There's more about it here. (<--that's blue because it's a link you can click on. Not every new person knows that.)

A little additional information:
  • You'll get the faster reply by asking AW Admin for the password in a private message, since the administrator is able to be here more often than the owner.
  • You must be 21 to access the password-protected parts of the Erotica board, for the legal protection of the site owner. Yes, we know 18 is legal adulthood in a lot of places.
  • To post your own work for critique, you need to have fifty posts. One great way to get some of them is to critique the work of others.


Maryn, pleased to meet you
 

KathleenParker

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I've read quite different solutions to this, so to speak. Some stories have one sex-scene blending over into the next. Some regular fantasy novels even are filled with erotic scenes. And some fetish porn stories have no actual sex, but plenty of erotic activites (could possibly be considered sex since they cater to soecific fetishes).
My current WIP is interesting in ths regard. There's 8 sex cenes in it, and 7 of them includes elements that's critical to the main plot. So I don't mind if they go beyond 2-3K words each.
And in other places, as mentioned, 500 words may be just what the doctor ordered.
So write the scenes as you think they should be, and as many as the story needs, and see what you get. If the scenes are good, then your not failing yet.
 

veinglory

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I have been reviewing erotica on Netgalley and it really does show the variation. For novels listed as erotica I have seen has as little as 2% of total prose being very vanilla sex, to about 50% and kinky sex. They all seem to be mainstream successful books from publishers with experience in the genre.
 

triceretops

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I was confused about the length of the scenes themselves. I had two new strangers meet so I had to do the whole emotional binding first, then the hesitant touching, and then insufferably long teasing and foreplay acts, until I arrived at any type of release or quenching, but sometimes I just hung it up and kept them, uh, dry and unfulfilled. I knew that I had to bring the reader to the edge of their seat, tempt, tease and frustrate them until they were white-knuckled and spitting curse words. So that meant some long scenes that built.
 

Pencrafter

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there’s probably no such thing as “too much sex.” Yet there maybe stories which are sex-heavy relative to the other stuff that should be going on. We take who we are to bed with a lover, so if we don’t know much about the characters, then it’s really a bunch of juice and genitals - which are great - but if that’s all there is, it leaves us holding two slices of bread and wondering where the meat went.
 

Maryn

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Pun intended?

Maryn, unable to resist