What Do You Think of Sex in Stories?

I remember the first time I ever thought about including sex in a story, even just alluding to it--I was in seventh grade. I specifically remember using the phrase "tangled in the sheets and each other".

I wrote my first sex scene when I was twelve. It was awful. I still have no idea what one of the words I used was.

I'm just hopping in here-

Writing, in my opinion, can have no boundaries. It's raw, uncensored emotion. There are so many taboo subjects that you can never really talk about in everyday life, that can be vividly described with little criticism in writing. Mibba is a place to express yourself, so if you feel it necessary to write about hot, kinky sex then go for it. There is one current author that this makes me immediately think of, Ellen Hopkins. She writes beautiful stories with sex in them, and like I said before, taboo subjects such as incest. She is a pretty well known author in some genres.

And, adding onto the comments above, I wrote my first sex scene a few months ago. I deleted it five minutes later because it was shit.

summer teeth.:

I remember the first time I ever thought about including sex in a story, even just alluding to it--I was in seventh grade. I specifically remember using the phrase "tangled in the sheets and each other".

I actually think that's a pretty good phrase

I used to write a LOT of it back in mid school, but I haven't really recently for some reason But now that I'm getting back into bandfiction, I seem to be writing/thinking up more of it. I dunno why that is though.

Lately I've been trying to practice my sex writing I think I'm getting better at it.

Isa and I actually had no intention of writing sex when we began Idioglossia Between Strangers. In fact, we'd said we wouldn't write it. But as the story progressed, it happened naturally. Why would it not belong in the story if that's where it lead us? It shows so much of the characters relating.

For some reason lately, writing at least one legit sex scene without any sort of cop-out or extreme fail is my mission. Working up to it is fun, but after that...

I think there's a special place in my heart for stories that pretty much center around sex but teach you so much about the characters. Sex is not something "dirty". It's a perfectly valid means of communication that sheds light where other forms of communication fall short.

^ I completely agree with that.

I used to write sex scenes a lot more a couple years ago, but I've stopped when I stopped writing chaptered stories. Sex is still always a big part of my one-shots usually, but I never really go into detail anymore with sex scenes. I just don't think I'd be very good at it anymore, which is strange because I'm more experienced now than I was then.

And it's not like I'm uncomfortable with being sexual, I have a part in my one-shot that's a masturbation scene, I'm clearly okay with sexual things, I just never seem to write out sex scenes. Usually, you just know that they happened.

^
I think the acknowledgment of sex is important, too. Even if it's not explicit, just the acknowledgment of knowing two characters have just fucked or the one is thinking about it can add a whole other layer to a story. I absolutely detest and cannot stand stories that do not even acknowledge sexuality. Because they seem dry and unrealistic.

I believe sex has its importance in every story but I don't think sex scenes are always needed.

I like them when it's a special moment that shows more of the characters than the rest of the story does.

Now, if it's sex like 'oh nothing's happening so let's make them fuck to kill time and gain a few words', it doesn't interest me at all. I don't need anatomy lessons.

I think there's also a difference between sex in oneshots and sex in chaptered stories. Just because of the way the two are told.

Chaptered stories involving relationships and such probably don't need sex every chapter, but definitely need an acknowledgment of it somewhere.

I'm going to be starting a chaptered story soon that's pretty much entirely about sex but won't be straight up sex scene after sex scene.

I think it depends and writers should ask questions such as:

Is this a major part of the story? Does it have any meaning behind it? If the answer is no, I don't bother going into detail.

Is it necessary to go into a lot of detail or can I simplify it and still have the same effect for the reader? When I have a hard time deciding, I tend to do both and after I read the two, I can decide which one I like better.

I don't think they should be banned from Mibba, because we have the rating system. The writer warns the reader and it's up to the reader to chose. You know what could be in it, so why read it if you don't like it?

I do think that people shouldn't write them just for a filler. It ruins the story and it should be relevant to the writer's message.

^
On the same note though, the reader may think it's just filler and unnecessary, which just means they don't "get" the story and not that the writer has written sex as filler. Also, sex as filler can add to stories if you're showing a character's relationship or something. And sometimes the lack of meaning behind the sex is the meaning behind the sex, if that makes sense.

Also, just because something isn't a major part of the story doesn't mean it shouldn't be there, sex or not. There are sometimes conversations in stories or exchanges between characters that aren't major parts of the story. But that doesn't mean they shouldn't be there. The smaller parts that aren't "major" tend to create the background on the painting that helps everything come together.

Nothing is pissing me off more right now than people telling me one of my kinkier fics is nothing but straight up porn. It is definitely a story featuring hardcore sexual kinks, but there is storytelling, characterization, vocabulary choice more appropriate for literature than porno.

Anyone else ever dealt with that?

Sex sells, as someone else pointed out. And apparently, gay sex sells even more. But on a serious note, I think it's fine, especially since not everyone on here is going to get published. Some of these people are here to just pass the time and obsess over their favorite bands, actors, etc. when most can't really do that around their friends. So, sex and graphic sex are fine a site like this. It should really be fine on any fan fiction site. After all, this is a place where I not only like to show off my own creativity, but also my fantasies.

dru's hammer.:

Nothing is pissing me off more right now than people telling me one of my kinkier fics is nothing but straight up porn. It is definitely a story featuring hardcore sexual kinks, but there is storytelling, characterization, vocabulary choice more appropriate for literature than porno.

Anyone else ever dealt with that?

I think if people go into a story looking for sex or kink, then that's just all they're going to see. And at the end of the day, if they miss any deeper nuances of the story, it's really just their loss.

I think that as a writer, you can only do your best to get your point across. And when people get it, that's always a great thing, but there's probably always going to be more people who don't.

You can't make everyone see exactly what you want them to see - though you can sure as hell try - without overriding your need (or want) to tell a story a specific way. And as a writer, I think you have to resign yourself to that.

Literature is constantly being misunderstood and misinterpreted. I'm sure there would be lots of classic writers turning over in their graves if they could see/hear how some people are twisting their words right now.

Going off what everyone else says, I really love sex in stories because of what it shows about the two people having sex. And honestly, even a PWP can tell me a lot about the relationship if it's done well. For example, I just wrote something in response to a photoshoot Ruki did, but it ended up being this entire thing that had me at least thinking about what their relationship would be like if i expanded on the story. And the way that the characters do it means a lot.

Does the top wait for the bottom to give that little nod to show he's ready? Do they know exactly what the other person needs, even if they're not always comfortable giving it to them? Are they willing to try new things and deal with something new in the bedroom because their partner wants to experiment? I love playing on intimacy and trust between characters a lot, and even though I write slash, I still feel like I've accomplished something at the end of the day.

dru's hammer.:

Just out of curiosities sakes: why do people think writing a sex scene is so incredibly difficult?

Because I don't and I'm always curious . . .

Well, in my case, I find it difficult only because I'm still very inexperienced when it comes to writing it. I've written one (minor) sex scene in a story because I felt it was necessary at that point in the plot. Even though I've been writing since I was in the sixth grade or so, that scene was only written a month or two ago. Once I get the hang of it I'm sure that'll change. I've been cruising Literotica to get some better ideas of how to write it without it sounding...painful.

Regardless, like everyone has said, I think sex can add so much to a story even if it's not explicit. Even if it's just something like "Character A is waiting until he/she is married to have sex." That alone says so much about the character and there's nothing explicit about it. Sex is such an integral part of human nature even if you're not having it. It's everywhere. If stories are meant to mimic real life, I feel like sex goes along with that.

Quite frankly, I don't read non-gen stories that don't include sex in some way.

If the characters are of age to be having sex (or even if they're saving sex for marriage or something), I feel like sex should play some role because I do feel that it provides a great tool as far as characterization and relationship dynamics go, and I honestly feel like it's unrealistic to pretend as if sex doesn't exist and never mention it at all. I feel like there are certain things about a couple and how they interact that can really only be shown through sex.