Welcome to the last article of this series. In part 4 I cover a few things that didn't fit in any of the other topics.

Small Touches of Realness

You can write wish-fulfillment porn that is fantasy, where things are perfect. There's nothing wrong with that. But if you're not doing that, then little things that make it not-perfect can add real life to your sex scenes, enhancing the experience. If the characters are in an apartment, the neighbor could pound on the wall/ceiling/floor for them to pipe down. He slip out and have to put himself back in. The PoV's partner could have a funny o-face, or semen ends up somewhere comical. Furniture could break and it disrupts things for a few moments. Something silly or gross or just odd happens and it either ruins everything, adds tension/conflict, or it breaks the mood in another way to let the couple relax and be intimate in new ways. It can also break the monotony of sexual descriptive action.

Now be aware that this may break the tone or flow. Something funny happening in a Very Serious scene could ruin it, so only do that if it's intentional. It's an atmosphere effect.

Fetish Considerations

In part 2 I mentioned that if you are going to write about a certain kink you need to understand how it works. But there's a flip side to this coin. If you know this kink in and out, and you are writing a story with it in it, then you need to make a decision: is this story only for people with this fetish? Are they the only people who will "get it"? Other fiction is similar to this in that you can write a story where only people who are well versed in x will get it, but by doing this you are severely limiting your audience. You are often better served by writing it so that someone unfamiliar with the topic can still follow what's going on and not become lost.

That doesn't mean you should change your story, the subject matter, or to go to great lengths to explain everything. But let's say your story is about shoes. If you do nothing but describe the shoes, and nothing else is going on, then the only people who could enjoy it are people into those shoes. You might end up doing this by accident. You can check yourself by handing the story to a beta-reader who does not have this fetish, and see if they get lost.The more accessible you make it to readers, the more potential readers you can have, and you might just introduce people to this fetish.

Reader Expectations

Back in part one I mentioned some stories will fade to black just before sex scenes. In the romance genre, this is called "closed door sex", where the characters close the door on the reader. Apparently this makes many romance readers upset. They feel cheated about not getting the sex.

This is a good place to talk about readers, what they expect and how that impacts your writing.

Readers will expect certain things. If I turn on an action movie, I expect some action. This is why for instance I get irritated if a book is mislabeled or marketed as one genre when really it's another; my expectations were violated. So being up front about what the story may contain never hurts. At the same time, do not feel bound to deliver certain things purely because of those expectations - we've discussed that not all erotic stories have full on hardcore sex.

IMO the issue here is to be mindful of the reader, but to not cater to them. Unless you are writing only for yourself and plan on showing no one, then how the reader will take the story is pretty important. This is why you explain things in stories, so you are sure the reader will understand them. You have content in the story to evoke emotional reactions. So you will have an audience for your fiction, never forget that. However, doing things for the reader at the expense of the story is never good. If the story works better with a fade-to-black, then do that and damn the consequences. Because if you just force it in there, people will notice. That may satisfy some people, and others it won't. You can't please everyone. Try to please yourself first, and your readers second, but be mindful.

The above message really contradicts the 'upset at no sex in romance'. That situation is sad. Another genre convention is that to be published, Romance novels have to have a happy ending; this is why I don't try to get Romance published. No other genre I can think of is so strict in convention expectations and following a formula.


That's the end of this series. Thanks for reading all those words, and I hope it's helped in some way!