So here be answers to the questions appropriated from and posted in the previous post.
1) Of the body of fic that you’ve read during your time in fandom, roughly what percentage includes sex scenes, and how many of those scenes contribute to plot advancement or character development?
Since I read fanfic mostly for fun, I don’t exactly keep track of percentages. 😉 Before I even try to answer this question, I need to explain my reading habits:
- I am not interested in gen.
- I am not interested in conventional romance
What I go for is fantasy* : romance
*or adventure or mystery or drama…
And if possible, balanced 50 : 50 or at least 60 : 40.
So OF COURSE most of the stories I read contain sex scenes. They’d better!
Concerning plot advancement or character development – actually most stories I’ve read do that.
(Reason: I don’t read bad!fic, so I don’t get to read very many “bad” or pointless sex scenes.)
As a sidenote regarding “pointless”, “plot advancement” and “character development” – a story may contain quite a number of scenes that are not absolutely essential for either “plot advancement” or “character development”. But that doesn’t make them “pointless”. You actually need “breather” scenes to slow down your pace now and again, or to heighten a certain mood.
Actually, the nature of smut in stories is a lot like smut in real life. And probably like your own sex life, too, I guess – or do you only have sex when you’re actively trying to have a child, i.e. when you’re concerned with “plot advancement” in your life? (But of course that’s the striking difference between life and fiction – in fiction, everything must make sense.)
2) If you’re an author, do you ever include sex scenes in your stories? If so (and please be honest), do you always do it strictly to advance your plot? Or do you sometimes do it because it’s what your readers want/expect you to write …
Yes, I am an author.
Yes, I do include sex scenes in my stories.
No, not all of the sex scenes I write advance my plot.
Sometimes, they just fit the mood and they are just there, because the story is about those two persons who love and desire each other, and then those two persons end up doing what two people who love and desire each other do now and again.
Fuck like little bunny wabbits, that is.
If you’re an author, do you ever include toilet scenes in your story? Do your characters ever eat or sleep? And do those scenes always advance your plot?
I LOVE me a tight plot. But if there’s nothing non-essential left to a story, you’re usually looking at a modern literary novel and more often than not that thing will be damn difficult to read.
Basically, I believe that a story meant to entertain needs untidy corners. Scenes that allow me, the reader to simply relax and enjoy. And when I’m reading a story in which one of the main plot lines is the romantic relationship between two characters, then sex scenes in all their variety can be not only vital to the plot, but also simply very enjoyable.
I never write anything because my readers want it or expect it from me.
I write my scenes the way I do because my story requires it of me.
As an aside: I recently read somewhere (forgot where, sorry) a very smart observation on the plot of PWPs. How, even if sex is the only plotline, there IS a plotline. Even if the narrative consists of nothing but the act of sex. Arousal and petting – actual intercourse – the climax – and then the post-climactic afterglow or drifting off. Those ARE plot elements. 😀
3) Do you enjoy writing sex scenes? Or do you struggle for every word …
I enjoy writing erotic scenes very much. And usually they come easily to me. Of course there are exceptions that prove the rule …
4) Do you believe in your heart of hearts that most romantic stories should include sex?
Here I have to quote who posted a splendid and snarky reply to those questions over HERE:
“Do you believe in your heart of hearts that most banquet scenes should include eating?”
If one of the main plots of a story is the development and consummation of a romantic relationship between adults and if this story is aimed at an adult audience, it better had some smut!
5) If you read a story with strong sexual overtones, do you feel cheated if the author does a fade to black? Why or why not?
If I read a story with Strong Sexual Overtones.
If I read a story in which accordingly the sexual, passionate relationship between two characters is supposed to be one of the essential plot elements, and I never get to see more than a chaste kiss … then yes, absolutely, there comes a moment when I can’t suspend my disbelief any longer.
When I will throw the book at the wall.
Or click away and won’t come back.
6) If you’re an author, do you feel a subtle pressure to write smut even if you aren’t really comfortable with it?
Jesus H. Roosevelt Christ and Merlin’s purple knickers on a piece of pizza.
If someone bows to peer pressure such as this, they have a problem. And it’s not being uncomfortable writing smut.
concludes her post with some very interesting questions that I am happy to pass along:
Would these same questions [as the ones about sex scenes] be asked about including an eating scene? A birth scene? A battle scene? A death scene? Why or why not?
