Sex in FanFic (WARNING: MATURE CONTENT)

[Yodaman]

WARNING: THIS THREAD HAS SOME MATURE CONTENT SO PLEASE LEAVE IF THIS MIGHT OFFEND YOU.

I've never written a fan fic with sex in it or even read one, but I've heard of a lot of them. And I'm not talking about slash: I'm talking about guy and girl sex. I'm not thinking about writing a fic with some in it, but I just want to know what you guys think about it. Thanks.

[Tessar]

I think that graphic sex scenes are totally uncalled for and unneeded. People who think that they’re ‘funny’ make me sick. If you're not old enough to know what happens after a subtle cut away, you don't need to know what happened.

There are ways of 'tastefully' doing things like that. How? Something like:

glancing quickly at her, he couldn't help a grin spreading on his face as he began fiddling with his shirt’s top button. "So... shall we get in bed now?"

A little kid probably wouldn't connect that with sex, but an older kid would, and even if the little kid did there's nothing explicit. Right after that sentence you cut straight off to the next chapter or part of the story.


But me personally? I probably wouldn't even hint at anything going on. It's just not in my style.

[Miranda]

Originally posted by Tessar
I think that graphic sex scenes are totally uncalled for and unneeded. People who think that they’re ‘funny’ make me sick. If you're not old enough to know what happens after a subtle cut away, you don't need to know what happened.

There are ways of 'tastefully' doing things like that. How? Something like:



A little kid probably wouldn't connect that with sex, but an older kid would, and even if the little kid did there's nothing explicit. Right after that sentence you cut straight off to the next chapter or part of the story.


But me personally? I probably wouldn't even hint at anything going on. It's just not in my style.

I agree with Tessar, so long as its not vulgar or uncalled for its ok. And there's no need to be explicit either- subtlety adds more mystery and therefore makes it more exciting. Mx

[Elf Girl]

I see nothing wrong with it, although if a fanfic site has no rating system to warn people with, a warning must be included. If you know there's going to be sex, you can just not read it.

[Beruthiel's cat]

There is really nothing wrong with a story of a sexual nature, I suppose, if, as has been stated, there are ratings and warnings as to the explicitness.

I'm a more romantic type and like to leave things to the imagination. I've been told I write like a romance writer, though I've honestly never read anything in that genre. (Well, Diana Gabaldon...but she's not really someone you can put into a genre.)

Things like: "Neither made a move to sit up. They lay in each other's arms, reveling in the closeness. Their mouths found each other once again..." You can see where it's going, but you don't have to mention every detail of every move.

I have a friend who is seriously into Slash. She has shown me some stories (and written some) that have been enough to give me further grey hairs! I was not impressed and really don't read her stuff anymore. In fact, when I mentioned I was trying my own hand at an LOTR fanfic, she asked if there was a romance (yes) and with whom. When I told her it was male/female she was disappointed! Doesn't she know me by now???

Anyhow, I don't think she'll be interested in my story. Her loss!

:p :p :p :D

[Katt_knome_hobbit]

I can't write sex scene's either. I really like the cutoff method, though I am not as "tasteful".

Slash is fun too.

[Fëanén]

I don't think it matters either way. As long as whoever is reading it knows what rating it is, and that they are happy reading something of that rating it is perfectly okay.

After all, novels that are not romantic in genre can still contain sex scenes. I have reads thrillers that do. Why should fan fic be any different? And sometimes there can be something significant brought into such a scene.

But I guess it's up to the reader to decide what they want to read. There's plenty of option available. :)

[Nurvingiel]

I completely can't write about sex. I even have trouble making kissing seem realistic. :D How do you make romance seem realistic?

[Beruthiel's cat]

The best way to make a romance seem realistic is to analyze the characters as you write them and try to understand their motivations. Would character A find character B attractive? Why?

Another thing to remember is that a romance is best unravelled gradulally. It can start with some sexual tension (Character A: "My goodness. She looks so beautiful in the candlelight!" Character B: "I wonder why he never talks to me? Doesn't he like me?"), but nothing ever has to be blatant.

If you aren't comfortable writing romantic scenes, you can always read "romantic" authors and see how they do it. Get a feel for the way interaction between two people is presented. You can even *shudder* read a Harlequin romance or two!

Practice writing until you get more comfortable with outlining emotions and ideas. It's not always easy, but the more you work at it, the more comfortable you'll become.

[Azhag_Nuug]

uhuh. I see a lot of people are interested in this postso what the hell I'll post. Sex in writing is perfectly okay. I personally don't mind, but like Nurvingiel no matter what I do I can't write about it, so I avoid it. Like everything I talk about, Tolkien never mentioned Arwen and Aragorn having a real relationship until the third book or the Appendices. Even where he does in RoTk he doesn't even have them talking to each other. You know that they're in love but he says so little about it that it makes it better.

If you explain every detail about their love, and how they met, and their first dat, then it gets boring, and if you have so many pages about them it's just repulsive. I don't know but I think if your not writing a romance novel you don't even have to mention more than once that someone is in love for it to work. It will resinate that in your mind your thinking, 'Oh God! What will happen if Aragorn dies! Everyone will be crushed, especially Arwen!'

[galadriel]

Generally, I think sex scenes - especially in fan fiction - are gratuitous and not necessary. However, if you feel the sexual content is absolutely necessary for developing the characters or accomplishing a plot point, it's up to you.

I'm not a big slash fan, because most of it is just an excuse for teenage girls to drool over *two* gorgeous guys at once, and get a dose of instant!angst/fluff/etc. while they're at it. (You'll notice that there's very few female slash fics on the net.) But slash does not necessarily mean sexual content, and the better written fics are only as graphic as they need to be.

In my own writing, I generally use the tasteful cutaway. But if you do want to make romance (even just kissing) realistic sounding, I find that paying a lot of attention to character motivations helps. Romantic interactions, like any other, should be personal and significant... not just "an anatomically-correct sex manual", as I've heard bad graphic sex scenes described as.

That's my $0.02. :)

[Arat-Falathion]

I agree with Tessar in this, though it depends what the story lay weight on. If the story is about good and evil and heroism, detailed sex scenes has no place in there. If it is about the romance between two people, one could write in more detail, though still keep on the right side of the line where (on the wrong side) the romance become adult content.

I think the way Lief portrayed romance in his Smartman (http://entmoot.tolkientrail.com/showthread.php?threadid=10487) story, was an excellent approach to a romantic shortstory :p

[IronParrot]

If you can't do it right, don't do it at all. And I've never seen it done right.

[Nurvingiel]

I've read it done right in real books, but not in fanfic. I do avoid sex fanfics like the plague, so that's a biased assumption.

As for regular stories, it can certainly be done well. Not by me though! :D