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/lit/ - Literature

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444444 No.444444 [Reply] [Original]

When writing a novel or short story, how much detail should you go into for a sex scene? Is it better to just imply that it happened? How graphic can you get away with without crossing into smut with Fabio on the cover territory?

>> No.444447
File: 16 KB, 410x307, mr_garrison.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
444447

WOMEN WANT TO HEAR ABOUT HOT SCHLONGS!

>> No.444454

uh,

highbrow: imply what is goig to happen and skip the scene entirely

medium-brow: just describe it

maggot-brow:hyper-erotic secks straight outta a porno

>> No.444456

Read The Godfather.

>> No.444459
File: 19 KB, 250x378, barth-funhouse.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
444459

It really depends on the tone you want to set; this is a fairly arbitrary thing and you can go anywhere you want to justify how much you do or do not describe.

My thoughts? When my authors get sexy I usually hope for some kind of intellectual mettle to counter-balance it. I watch porn to get off, not read.

>> No.444462

Diana had never slept with another woman before, but it was an erotic thought she often fantasized about. (aside to Mr. Hat) Oh, yeah, Mr. Hat! Hot lesbo scene comin' up! And as Rebecca's naked body lay before her, Diana couldn't help but feel aroused. "Go on," Rebecca said softly. "Touch me." Diana leaned down slowly and brushed Rebecca's bare stomach with her fingertips. It felt good. Like a penis. A soft, but sturdy penis that felt warm to the touch. In Rebecca's mind, she suddenly felt like she was surrounded by penises. They were all around her, flopping all around and slapping her face. It was as if she were in a redwood forest of penises. They presented themselves, tall and mighty, all around her, wi- (Mr. Hat slowly slides under the desk) Mr. Hat, what the hell are you doing? …oh, Mr. Hat!

>> No.444466

>>444456

Pretty sure I fapped to that as a young teenager.

>> No.444467

Personally I'd say a mid-ground between >>444454's medium and high brow would probably be best.

Ultimately I think it'd depend on genre and the audience you're going for.

>> No.444468

As much detail as is humanly possible.

>> No.444472 [DELETED] 

>how much detail should you go into for a sex scene?

Short answer: Enough.

Longer answer: Consider the context and what the audience needs to know. What will you accomplish by developing the sex scene? Can implying sex suit your purposes, or does the drama of the situation need to be shown?

A first encounter might have a bit of detail, to illuminate the changing nature of a relationship, or maybe the first step in a love affair, but unless how it happens matters, you're usually better off just moving on to the next dramatic scene.

>> No.444476

Nabokov's Ada gets pretty graphic at times, but somehow doesn't get trashy.
If you're a good writer, even your smut will be classy.

>> No.444478

>Her recipe called for no onions, two cloves of garlic minced and sauteed for three minutes (no more, no less; that was the magic) in heated oil, plenty of sugar to counteract acidity, a single grated carrot, more pepper than salf; but the teaspoon of crumbled basil is what catered to virility, and the dash of belladonna provided the release without which virility is merely a murderous congestion.

>> No.444486

>>444444
GET

>> No.444496

sebastian faulks got filthy in one of his novels - i think birdsong, and is still regarded as a serious author

>> No.444500

>>444486
No. No we will not start that shit. No.

>> No.444523

>>444500
DOUBLES!

>> No.444532

Nice GET OP.

imho, it just depends on what you're trying to write. If it focused on romance and there's been plenty of buildup, go for a good length, but not full-blown erotica or anything. If you are reaching a broad audience, an implication should be enough.

>> No.444553

OP here, not sure if the quality of my writing is really clever or sententious enough to be considered as high brow but (hopefully) it's not a fluff piece or anything. The scene is rather important for the development of my protagonist but it's not really intended to be erotic. So should I just attempt to write it as unsexy as possible (no 'her most private place was moist in anticipation for his throbbing member' type of nonsense) or just omit the details all together?

>> No.444556

As long as the sex scene is an integral part of the story...

I hate it when some author just plops in a sex scene to spice things up.

>> No.444596

Do a sex scene like in The Outsider.

"Went to movies. Went home, made love to girlfriend. Fondled her breast..."

>> No.444642

>>444556
+1

>> No.444655

>>444556
>I hate it when some author just plops in a sex scene to spice things up.

Or in the case of Ballard, just to splice things up.

>> No.444661

>>444454
>imply what is goig to happen and skip the scene entirely
This.

>> No.445045
File: 173 KB, 800x600, gwar.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
445045

>>444655

I think Crash made even Ballard cringe.

GREAT sci-fi sex scene? In Brian Lumley's Necroscope series, one of the last of the main series, maybe The Source, the protagonist (who is now a vampire) and his vampire lover have page after page of hot deviant metamorphic MONSTER VAMPIRE SEX. Her vagina expands and swallows him up, her clitty fucks his urethra... just tons of tawdry over-the-top literary fuck-fic, cheesily - but enthusiastically - written.

Way beyond /d/.

The next time you're in a bookstore, try and find those pages and read it. I GUARANTEE you will be entertained. The books are shit, otherwise.

>> No.445066 [DELETED] 

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>> No.445084

>>444444
GET

>> No.445107

>>445045

Gwar is cool.

>> No.445112

>>445045

This sounds like the worst shit ever.

>> No.445134

>>445045
>look at necroscope wikipedia article
>wtfamilookingat.jpg

Jesus christ this is the kind of shit those kids I went to school with must have been dreaming about. The ones who wore patchwork leather jackets and smelled like shit.

>> No.445135

Find a middle way between Jane Austen and Donatien Alphonse de Sade.

>> No.445137

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>> No.445139

>>444655
Brb, getting film shears, hot glue film press, girlfriends nipples and labia.

>> No.445145

>>444556
What I hate most are excuse plots for a raunchy fuck like in Lolita.

>> No.445152

Hard mode: describe it...without making it jarring or overblown

>> No.445157
File: 78 KB, 389x310, h west.gif [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
445157

>>445045

The sex scene is in Deadspawn.

I am really embarrassed that I read those books.

No, not really. Lumley is one of the writers in the Lovecraft cycle.

>> No.445167
File: 41 KB, 350x540, for_whom_the_bell_tolls.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
445167

tactfully

pic related

>> No.446594

Unless there's something particularly unique about the sex scene, I think ambiguity goes a long way, perhaps coupled with a first-person reflection rather than a direct description of the scene itself.

>> No.447797 [DELETED] 

Her vulva was opposite my face. The small lips protruded slightly from the pale, domed flesh. This sex was watching at me, spying on me, like a Gorgon's head, like a motionless Cyclops whose single eye never blinks. Little by little this silent gaze penetrated me to the marrow. My breath sped up and I stretched out my hand to hide it: I no longer saw it, but it still saw me and stripped me bare (whereas I was already naked). If only I could still get hard, I thought, I could use my prick like a stake hardened in the fire, and blind this Polyphemus who made me Nobody. But my cock remained inert, I seemed turned to stone. I stretched out my arm and buried my middle finger into this boundless eye. The hips moved slightly, but that was all. Far from piercing it, I had on the contrary opened it wide, freeing the gaze of the eye still hiding behind it. Then I had an idea: I took out my finger and, dragging myself forward on my forearms, I pushed my forehead against this vulva, pressing my scar against the hole. Now I was the one looking inside, searching the depths of this body with my radiant third eye, as her own single eye irradiated me and we blinded each other mutually: without moving, I came in an immense splash of white light, as she cried out: 'What are you doing, what are you doing?' and I laughed out loud, sperm still gushing in huge spurts from my penis, jubilant, I bit deep into her vulva to swallow it whole, and my eyes finally opened, cleared, and saw everything.

>> No.447923

Implying what has happened can be almost as sexy a a fully detailed, graphic description of sex.

You don't even have to directly say that's what they did. In fact, it should not be directly said if the genre isn't erotic fiction. Unless you really are passionate about sex writing, don't do it. You won't get it right without a lot of practice and the first attempt is often clumsy.

If it's an appropriate climax to the overarching character design and/or love story backdrop, and your audience isn't puritan, go for it. It's risky but worth it sometimes.

>> No.447928

>college
pff, screw college

>> No.447947

>>445145
>excuse plots for a fucking amazing prose style and enough literary references to make an English major cream his pants more than he did over the sex scenes, like in Lolita.

I think this is what you meant?