Same old Sex?

Same old, same old...SEX?

----- Original Message -----
...I've reviewed three erotica anthologies in the past few months, published by well-known houses, full of tales by well-known authors... They all used the same sentence structures, the same imagery, the same tone, as a million other stories I'd read before.
--Bored with Erotica

The key phrase here is:

"They all used the same sentence structures, the same imagery, the same tone..."

That is definitely the sign of authors using only Erotic Literature and porn movies for inspiration. That can make for extremely DRY and Repetitive stories because both Erotic Lit and porn movies have the same Tone, use the same types of Characters, and happen in the same Settings.

The cold hard truth is: 

SEX is an extremely simple and repetitive action

and anything repetitive gets Boring.

So, if you wanna jazz up your Sex--

Change:

WHERE sex happens,

WHY sex happens, and

WHO wants to have it.

So, how do you do that? 

The easiest way is by--

Genre REMIX

Add Sex to another Genre at a 50/50 ratio.

50% genre-specific Story and 50% Sex.

• Romantic Erotica: "I love you! Let's f*ck!"
• Glam Erotica: "He was rich, she was famous, they f*cked."
• Mystery Erotica: "Who f*cked them?"
• Crime Erotica: "Oh my god! Someone's been f*cked!"
• Suspense Erotica: "Oh no! I'm going to be f*cked!"
• Humor / Satire Erotica: "You call that f*cking?"
• Sci-Fi Erotica: "They f*cked where no one has f*cked before!"
• Horror Erotica: "Oh my God! It's f*cking me!"
• Fantasy Erotica: "They f*cked and it was Magic!"
• Paranormal Erotica: "What the hell am I f*cking?"
• Fetish Erotica: "Mmmm-mmm f*ck! Mmm-mmmm!" (Ball gag.)
• Literary Erotica: "They came together in a glorious explosion of glittering climax. The roses painted on the battered wallpaper of their silent room watched them in the approaching twilight, a reminder of how fragile pleasure is..."

Another way to do this is through--

Pure REMIX.

1) Change WHERE Sex Happens:

Pick an exotic Location or Time period.

• Deep Space, 
• A Forgotten Temple, 
• An Egyptian Pyramid, 
• The Wild West, 
• The Regency period, 
• The Middle Ages, 
• A Tattoo Parlor... 
• Anyplace that ISN'T a bedroom. 

Don't be afraid to use a favorite movie for visual references, but make damned sure you change all the place names and don't use anything that's easily recognizable -- such as a 'light-saber'.

2) Change WHY Sex Happens:

Love and physical attraction are common reasons for sex, but they're not the only ones. Sex can be used:

• To learn a secret
• To stop a transformation or induce a transformation
• Out of pity or gratitude
• To comfort someone
• To express anger
• As a form of control
• As a form of worship
• In reaction to a life-threatening experience
• To relieve boredom
• To generate physical warmth when cold

In short, sex can happen for pretty much any reason at all. All you need is a half-way decent EXCUSE.



 

1) Change the WHO wants to have Sex:

Pick two favorite characters from two vastly different movies or TV shows and put them in bed together. Just make damned sure you change their names!

Not Original enough for you?

That's fine because the truth is; Nothing is Original.
Everything is a REMIX.

To quote my friend The Gray Mouser:

"Originality is merely the Arte of Concealing Your Sources."

Enjoy!

You Are what you READ

You ARE what you READ.

 by Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy.

Years ago I was talking to a fellow novelist whom I’d just met and I asked him what his Top Five favorite novels were. This is a question I ask writers a lot. I’m always looking for great books, and one place to find them is on the Top Five list of another writer.

He said, “I don’t read fiction.”

This guy’s answer just about knocked me over. I couldn’t believe it. I asked him if he meant he didn’t read much fiction.

No, he didn’t read any. He was a nonfiction kind of a guy.

He wrote fiction, but he didn’t read it.

That was years ago, and I haven’t seen anything from him recently.

To put it bluntly, I don’t see that as a recipe for success. If you’re a novelist, you need to be reading fiction.

There’s a saying that “you are what you read,” and I think this is partially true.

If you read great fiction, you’ll absorb some of it, and you’ll become a better writer. You’ll learn what’s possible to do in writing, and it can’t help but expand you as a writer. But I think it goes beyond that.

I recommend reading widely, even if it isn’t great fiction. Because the fact is that--

--you are MORE than what you read. 

What you read is fuel for your mind—it’s necessary, but it’s not sufficient.

Novelists need to read Fiction.

A lot of fiction. Not just the bestsellers. Obscure stuff. Good fiction. Great fiction. Horrible fiction (not too much of this—if you do manuscript reviews at a writing conference, you’ll see more than you need).

When you read other people’s fiction, you learn things that you couldn’t learn any other way because when it comes to the craft of writing--

--you don’t know what you Don’t Know. 

The only way to Learn

 what you don’t know is by 

Reading other people’s work.

For starters, you should read widely in your category. You need to know the rules of your genre—which ones are ironclad and which ones can be bent, but that’s not enough.

Read widely outside your Genre. 

Read outside your Demographic. 

Read outside your Worldview.

Read Romance fiction. 

Most novels have a romance thread in them, no matter what their category. If you can improve that thread, your story will improve.

Read Suspense fiction. 

Most novels have some element of fear in them. Learn how to do that better and your novel will be better.

Read Fantasy. 

Even if you, personally, would never want to read a vampire or werewolf story, it’s quite possible that one of your characters would. If you understand that character better, then you’ll do a better job writing that character.

Read Mysteries. 

Even if you hate mysteries. Most novels have an element of mystery to them—some secret that needs to be uncovered. If you know how to unwrap that secret, one layer at a time, then your story can only get better.

Read a Spy novel. 

One of your characters is reading a spy novel right now. Do you know what he likes about it?

Read a Historical novel. 

The better you understand history, the better you understand the present.

Read Science Fiction. 

You might learn a bit of science, if it’s a hard science fiction novel. But for sure, you’ll expand your universe a bit. Never hurts.

Read YA fiction. 

It’ll give you insights into your younger characters. It might give you some insights into a few young adults in your life.

Read Women’s fiction. 

If you’re a guy, you’ll understand women better, which is good all by itself. If you’re a guy writing fiction, you’ll understand your readers better, because the odds are that the majority of your readers are women.

Read fiction that features characters with wildly different Beliefs from yours. 

I understand hyper-capitalists better after reading Ayn Rand. I understand Jews better after reading Chaim Potok. I understand Wiccans better after reading S.M. Stirling’s apocalyptic series that begins with Dies the Fire. I understand Muslims better after reading Khaled Hosseini’s book The Kite Runner. I understand fundamentalists better after reading the first book in the Left Behind series.

The better you understand your characters, the better your novel will be.

Read Bad fiction. 

Yes, really. If you find a particularly bad piece of writing, read it all the way to the end. Figure out why it’s so awful. Resolve never to do the things that the author is doing.

I confess that I have a favorite bad novel, written by a high-school kid who graduated a couple of years behind me. This thing is fearsomely, wonderfully, amazingly awful. It’s bad on every possible level.

No, I won’t tell you the title. Find your own dreck. I’m keeping mine a secret.

My family knows which book I’m talking about, and they’ve all read it. We sometimes quote particularly horrible lines at the dinner table.

There are a billion ways to write great fiction, but only about a dozen ways to write truly horrible fiction. 

Good writing starts by learning to avoid that dirty dozen of Desperately Horrible Writing Follies.

If you’ve read some really awful fiction, I guarantee it’ll improve your writing. But there IS such a thing as too much of a bad thing, so stop when you’re had enough. A little goes a long way.

Read a little bad fiction and a ton of good fiction.

Reading Fiction

is the foundation of Writing fiction. 

Make your foundation

broad and strong.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Reprinted with permission of the author.

Award-winning novelist Randy Ingermanson, "the Snowflake Guy," publishes the free monthly Advanced Fiction Writing E-zine, with more than 9,000 readers. If you want to learn the craft and marketing of fiction, AND make your writing more valuable to editors, AND have FUN doing it, visit www.AdvancedFictionWriting.com.

Strong Characters but a Weak Plot?

 Secret Place by Dawn Elaine Darkwood

----- Original Message -----
...I have very strong characters, but a very weak plot. While my story is primarily character driven, I feel I feel I put them in a place where there's not much plot, or that the plot itself is uninteresting. How do make my plot stronger? Furthermore, how do I find a balance between plot and characters? Or is it okay that my plot isn't gripping, as long as I have strong, well-developed characters?

 -- Wanna Write it Right!

 

What should you do when you have
Strong Characters but a Weak Plot?

 

First, I think we should clarify what Character-Driven means. 

 

Character-Driven does NOT mean:

A story that focuses on the characters.

Character-Driven means: 

A story's events happen because the Characters choose (or refuse) to make things happen. In other words; the story's Plot is Driven by the events caused by the characters.

Examples of Character-Driven stories: 

Stories where the characters make events happen, such as: Iron Man, Batman, How to Train your Dragon, and most Romance stories such as; Miss Congeniality, Secretary, Pride & Prejudice.

In comparison:

Plot-Driven means: 

A story's events happen to the characters, and the characters struggle to deal with them.

Examples of Plot-Driven stories: 

Stories where a chracter is pushed into being a hero whether they want to or not, such as; Spiderman, Pitch Black, and Dr. Strange. Also, most broad-range fantasy stories such as; the Harry Potter series, The Sandman graphic novel series, The Wheel of Time, The Sword of Shannara, Lord of the Rings books and movies, and most Science-Fiction such as Brave New World, Equilibrium, The Matrix, Soylant Green, Star Trek, Babylon 5, Battlestar Galactica.

To simplify:

• If the Characters make Events happen to each other and/or the World around them it's Character-Driven.
• If the Events make things happen to the Characters and/or the World around them it's Plot-Driven. 

Now that we have that straight, on with your questions! 

Let's start with this: 

 

"Is it okay that my plot isn't gripping, as long as I have strong, well-developed characters?"

NO. It's Not Okay.

No matter how interesting your characters are, if they're in a boring story your characters will seem boring too. To show off interesting characters, they have to DO interesting things. A cool back-story is Not Enough.

Example: 

Batman, Robin, Superman, and Deadpool were fishing on the bank of a river. As a result of the smart-assed comments passed around between them, an argument broke out over whose superpower was best. To decide, each one one caught a fish using their superpowers. Still unable to decide, they went home.

Boring.

Why? Even though we had four interesting and engaging superheroes, they didn't really do anything but fish. Sure, the dialogue between them was probably pretty awesome, but honestly? You could have told the same story with 4 old men, 4 little kids, or 4 grannies. 

 

In fact it actually would have been a better story if the 4 old men, 4 little kids, or 4 grannies had used superpowers to fish.

Those four superheroes were WASTED on this story.

To put it bluntly:

If you're going to use super characters,

you need a super Story to show them off.

Next question...

"How do make my plot stronger? Furthermore, how do I find a balance between plot and characters?"

To Make a PLOT Stronger:
Add More Problems 

for the Characters to Solve.
AKA: Add More CONFLICTS.

 

What's the Worst Thing that could happen? 

Make that happen! 

AKA: Murphy's Law. 

Where do you get this Worse Thing that could happen?

 

From your Characters.

Begin here...

Who are your

3 Main Characters?

• The Main Character whose adventures the story tends to focus on.
  
• The Villain or Trouble-maker character.
• The Ally character that supports one or both. 

This doesn't mean you can't have a huge cast of characters! Simply that these are the 3 that the main story focuses on.

 

 Examples from Anime:

In Hellsing (Plot-Driven) the 3 characters are thus:

• Main Character: Sir Integra Hellsing
• Ally: Seres Victoria
• Villain or Trouble-maker character: Alucard

Until an actual Villain is added, then the cast changes to:

• Main Character: Alucard
  
• Ally: Either Sir Integra OR Seres Victoria; depending on the scene they're in. 
• Villain or Trouble-maker: Guest Villain 

In Full Metal Alchemist (sometimes Plot-driven, sometimes Character-driven depending on the episode,) the 3 characters are thus:

• Main Character: Edward Elric
• Ally: Alphonse Elric
• Villain or Trouble-maker: Colonel Mustang

Until an actual Villain is added, then the cast changes to:

• Main Character: Edward Elric
• Ally: Alphonse Elric, Colonel Mustang, or guest Victim
• Villain or Trouble-maker: Guest Villain

Keep in mind that Hellsing and Full Metal Alchemist are both Series stories so new characters are constantly being introduced as Victims (Ally characters) and as Villains to expand the story.

The idea behind this technique is:

The better you know your Characters' Problems,
the easier it is to make MORE Problems for them to solve. 

 

The Hawk and the Dove 

A very popular bodice-ripper. 

In a Romance story, 

the roles change drastically. 

In a Traditional Romance, the 3 Main Characters look like thus:

• Main Character: Heroine
• Villain or Trouble-maker: Hero
• Ally: his best friend and/or her closest relative, (brother, mother, great aunt, grandfather...)

These Romances are traditionally told from the Female point of view and the Heroine does Not initiate the romance --or hardly anything else-- the Male character does. 

 

This is because these stories were invented (and codified) during the 1700's and 1800's where a female that was 'forward' about her affections was considered to be 'impolite', 'pushy' and low-class. Since most of these stories featured high-society females; lost princesses, impoverished Ladies, and down-trodden heiresses, being 'pushy' was not something they would do. Only female Villains acted that way.

Keep in mind that the original romances were written by 18th and 19th century middle-class authors Fantasizing about how they thought high-class noble ladies would act. It proved so popular an 'ideal' that this fantasy of nobility persists today.

But, if the Heroine never initiated the first move,
How did Romance happen?

It started with some sort of Event where the two crossed paths, and the Hero decided that he wanted the Heroine, usually because she was pretty. (Think: Cinderella.) 

 

The following 3/4s of the story consists of the many ways the Hero seduces the Heroine in increasingly racy scenes, while the Heroine seeks to 'escape his clutches.' 

 

Eventually, the Hero rescues the Heroine from some sort of mortal peril, and confesses his love. 

 

She confesses that she loves him too. 

 

The very next scene is where the Hero fixes the story's main conflict -- usually the Heroine's conflict.

 

Cue: Wedding and Happily Ever After.

Traditional Romance 

in detail:

1) They cross paths during an Event.
-- Could be at a party, could be on a battlefield, could be on a ship at sea, he could be in the coach she's trying to rob at pistol-point...

• She's there because she has a Problem she's trying to fix.
  
• He's there as an invited guest.
  

2) He  decides he wants her, and interferes in whatever she was trying to accomplish. 

• Ruining whatever plan she had going on.
  

3) She wants nothing to do with him. 

• She's too busy trying to deal with her Problem.

4) He either actively pursues her to seduce her, or keeps running into her while minding his own business, and simply can't resist making a grab for her.  

• The first time he catches her, he gives her a less-than-consensual kiss. 

5) She escapes. 

• In common Romances, she escapes before he can get into her panties.
• In bodice-rippers and Erotic Romances, she does not. 
  

Repeat 4) and 5) for the next 80k words, or 30 chapters.  

• Insert increasingly racy Seduction scenes.
• Insert decreasing amounts of resistance to letting him have his way with her.
  

If there's an actual plot going on during this, that plot gets increasingly dangerous for the Heroine. The Hero is much too powerful for anything to really affect him. 

6) She falls into mortal peril. 

• While attempting to fix her own problem.

7) He rescues her and confesses his love. 

• May happen up to 3 times, saving the Confession for the last Rescue. 

8) She confesses that she's in love too, and tells him about the Problem she is trying to fix.  

• Insert: Consensual Love Scene.

9) He voluntarily fixes her problem for her, and proposes marriage.

10) Big Wedding scene and Happily Ever After.

Unfortunately, I am not exaggerating, the plots really were this simple, and that sexist. The Heroine did not fix her own problems, the Hero did all the heavy-lifting. (Apparently, that's what husbands were for.)

Art by Luis Royo

Modern Romances 

A tad bit different. 

Modern Romances have the Heroine rescue the Hero (or they rescue each other) from some sort of mortal peril at the center of the story, and during this, she discovers that she loves him. 

 

Even so, she still runs from his 'clutches' for quite a bit until he admits that he loves her. 

 

Deciding to fight together, they solve the story's major conflicts. 

 

Cue: Happily Ever After.

Modern Romance 

in detail:

1) They cross paths during an Event.
-- Could be at a party, could be on a battlefield, could be on a ship at sea, he could be in the coach she's trying to rob at pistol-point...

• She's there because she has a Problem she's trying to fix.
  
• He's there because he has his own problem to fix. 

2) Plans go awry.

• Sometimes she interferes in whatever he was trying to accomplish. 
• Sometime he interferes with her plans. 

2b) They end up in a Compromising Position and become mutually attracted.

• Insert less-than-consensual kiss.
  

3) She admits to herself that he's damned good looking, and very good at kissing, but wants nothing to do with him. 

• She's too busy trying to deal with her Problem.

4) He either actively pursues her to seduce her, or keeps running into her while minding his own business, and simply can't resist making a grab for her.  

• Insert racy less-than-consensual Seduction Scene.

5) As soon as he falls asleep, she escapes.

Repeat 4) and 5) for the next 80k words, or 30 chapters.  

• Insert: increasingly racy less-than-consensual Seduction Scenes.
• Insert decreasing amounts of resistance to letting him have his way with her.

Modern Romances do tend to have actual plot going on, so things get increasingly dangerous for both the Heroine and the Hero. 

6) They both fall into mortal peril while attempting to fix their own problems.

• Sometimes they fall into peril together, sometimes separately.

7) She rescues Him, or they rescue Each Other.

• Insert: Major Love Scene.
• May happen up to 3 times -- including the love scene. 
  

8) She decides that she's in love, or that she's been in love since their first encounter, but still runs from him. 

9) At next encounter, he admits that he's in Love. 

•  Cue: Double Confession 

10) They find a way to fix their problems Together. 

11) Happily Ever After or Happily For Now.

 

Yaoi M/M Romances 

 

First of all, do not confuse Yaoi with mainstream M/M Gay fiction. They are Not The Same -- at all. 

Mainstream M/M Gay fiction is far more realistic in how male-male relationships are portrayed -- with very little romance, and a lot of hardcore hook-ups where names are not even mentioned. They also tend to feature domestic violence, domestic rape, drug abuse, alcoholism, and frequently suicide. 

 

The theme of these stories is more often than not: Unrequited Love that will never be reciprocated. In these stories, Happy ending are few and far between.

 

Yaoi stories are M/M Fantasy Romances 

written by women for female romance readers.

 

Don't get me wrong! I have tons of gay male friends who adore these stories, but they also make a point to say that they are nothing like the reality of a gay relationship -- which is why they like them. 

 

Now, on to the good stuff! 

 

Yaoi Romances tend to have a bit a lot in common with Bodice-Ripper Romances.

 

Both the character tropes and the plot lines in Yaoi stories and Bodice-Rippers are damned near identical.

• The Main Character is usually if not always, lovely in appearance, kind in nature, and in some kind of trouble -- the Heroine's trope. 
• Their Pursuer is handsome, aggressive, rich, and occupies a powerful position -- the Villain's trope.

There can be other villains, or even a Hero or two, but they are all defeated by the MC's powerful Pursuer. 

 

As for the plot-- 

 

Yaoi Romances generally start with some sort of Event where the two cross paths, and both are immediately attracted to each other. One decides that they will do anything to have the other. 

 

The next part of the of the story consists of the many ways the Pursued seeks to 'escape his Pursuer's clutches'. 

 

At the center of the story, The Pursuer rescues the Pursued from some sort of peril and takes that chance to reinstate his attraction, usually forcefully. 

 

During this time the Pursued admits to themselves that it might be more than mere attraction. It might be love. (Oh Noes!) 

 

Cue more running from 'clutches' until their Pursuer admits that they're in Love. 

 

Insert Double Confession. 

 

Deciding to fight side by side, they solve the story's major conflicts.

 

Cue: Tropical Vacation scene and Happily Ever After.

Yaoi Romance 

in detail:

1) They cross paths.
-- Could be at a party, could be on a battlefield, could be on a ship at sea, one could be in the coach the other trying to rob at pistol-point...

• Each is attempting to deal with their own Problem. 
• Or One is trying to fix their problem, while the other is an invited guest.
  

2) One decides he wants the other, and promptly demonstrates this. 

• By pulling them into a dark corner and stealing a Kiss. 
• This sometimes develops into a full-blown hardcore seduction scene against the wall.
• Ruining whatever plans the other has going on. 

3) The Pursued he admits to himself that his Pursuer is damned good looking, and very good at kissing, but wants nothing to do with his Pursuer. 

• The Pursued is too busy trying to deal with his Problem. 

4) The Pursuer literally stalks his interest until he corners and/or traps his Prey in a situation his Prey can't get himself out of. 

• This, more frequently than not, involves some form of Bondage. 
• Insert less-than-consensual Seduction scene. 
  
• In many cases, the Pursuer offers to assist his trapped Prey with their personal problem in trade for sexual favors.
• The Prey usually disagrees, they want to fix their own problem. 
•  Insert less-than-consensual Seduction scene.
• If they agree, they are treated like a Housewife, or a human Pet. 
• The Prey may also suffer days, weeks, or months of erotic captivity.
  

5) The Pursued escapes. 

 

Repeat 4) and 5) for the next 3/4s of the story, manga, anime, fan-fic... 

• Insert: increasingly graphic less-than-consensual Seduction Scenes.
• Insert: decreasing amounts of resistance to letting his Pursuer have his way.

If there's an actual plot going on during this, that plot gets increasingly dangerous for both the Pursued and the Pursuer.

 

6) They both fall into mortal peril while attempting to fix their own problems.

• Sometimes they fall into peril together. 
• Insert Captivity seduction scene. 
• Followed by daring escape together.
  
• More often they fall into peril separately. 
• The Pursuer escapes. 
• The Pursued fails his escape.
  
• If the Pursuer falls into peril, and their Pursued has not -- 
  
• The Pursued will try to rescue their Pursuer. 
• The Pursued often succeeds in the rescue, but is captured. 
  

7) The Pursuer rushes off to rescue his Prey. 

 

7b) Sometimes the Pursuer doesn't get there in time -- because the Pursuer was grievously, but not mortally, wounded.​

• When this happens, the Pursued is seduced by the Pursuer's blindingly handsome, and filthy rich enemy.
  • Insert several captivity seduction scenes between Prey and handsome Enemy.
  • Insert decreasing amounts of resistance to letting him have his way.

7c) Eventually, the Pursuer succeeds in stealing his Prey back from the clutches of his enemy.

• Insert: Consensual Love Scene. 
• May happen up to 3 time with 3 different handsome Enemies. 

 

8) The Pursued decides that they're in love, or that they've been in love since the first encounter, but still runs from their Pursuer. 

• They don't want to look weak by admitting that they have feelings.

9) At next encounter, the Pursuer:

• Admits that he's in Love.
  • Cue: Double Confession
  • The Pursuer may then propose marriage.
• Seduces their Prey into admitting their feelings.
  • Then confesses his own and may propose marriage.

10) Deciding to fight side by side, they solve the story's major conflicts.

11) Final scene is a Tropical Vacation scene implying: Happily Ever After.

• or a Big Wedding

A Quick and Dirty way to Build a Plot
from your Characters!

 
Once you decide who your 3 Main Characters are:

• Main character:
• Ally: 
• Villain or Trouble-maker:

Ask EACH character these 3 questions:

1. Who am I, and what do I do?
2. What do I want?
3. What is the Worst thing that could happen to me?

Once you know the answers to these three questions, you pretty much have your whole story.

By combining the 1's you have the Opening scene to your story. 

By combining the 2's you have your External Conflicts scenes (what the character DO and what happens TO the characters,) and your Internal Conflict scenes (how they Feel about what's happening.) 

By combining the 3's you have your Main Character's Ordeal/Self-Sacrifice scene; the one thing they don't want to do, but have to (often to survive,) and your potential Climax scene. 

 

Do not be afraid to change things around or adjust things to suit the story you want to tell. 

Do Not Forget....!

A story cannot END until 

ALL the Main characters' problems have been Solved!

Morgan Hawke