Now that I have your attention... no, not really, I AM going to talk about sex.
Not the sex you actually have, but sex in books, in stories, in poems, in any kind of writing.
How much is too much? Are there some genres which just shouldn't have sex in them? Should sex, at least explicit sex be relegated to romance and erotica? What makes it explicit and what kind of sex is considered OK in any old book, if any?
I would love to hear some opinions on this, but I know I have a very small audience lol but feel free to make your comments!! I would love to hear them.
There is the age old adage that 'sex sells', is this simply in TV, movies, advertising, music, primarily visual things - or does this count for the written word as well?
Romance/erotica have some very big markets in the world, massive, which would suggest that there is definitely a market for sex/love. But does this extend beyond?
Is sex still dirty?
I guess the reason why this springs to mind is because a lot of my stories have sex in them. Not all, but a lot, and even if it's not actually written sometimes it's implied. I don't consider it to be over the top, or explicit, or unnecessary, it just happens, much as it happens in the real world.
My characters are people, with real relationships and couples who have sex, teenagers who are experimenting and learning about their bodies and the opposite sex.
I'd like to think that I don't just write it in just to spice things up, I'd like to believe that this is just how my stories turn out sometimes. I don't know if that says something about me, or nothing at all, but it's interesting to think about.
So I guess an interesting experiment would be for me to take a story with sex and rewrite it without and see how they differ. I think that is something I'll do, though obviously not until after my assignments are all done, and I even think I'll post it here and see if I can get some feedback on it.
Sex probably isn't necessary in a lot of stories, but I think the kind of stories I like to tell are about characters who have connections, and sometimes those connections need to be expressed in other ways. Sometimes a hug, or a gaze, or a peck on the cheek simply doesn't fulfill the requirements I have. It's never what the story is about, it's just something that happens along the way. And I don't see a problem with that, to me it's much the same as someone going to the toilet, or having a shower, or taking out the garbage. It's something humans do, and I include a wide spectrum of what humans do in the things I write.
I do sometimes wonder whether this will affect my ability to get published. Does it decrease my chances? What percentage of a book is it ok to write about that kind of stuff in?
I'd think it takes up maybe.... 5% in my last nano, which isn't much, but it's still there. And my SoCNoC... well, there is no sex as yet, but there is a connection which will probably lead to an encounter in the second half of the book, and I have no idea what will happen with that. I wouldn't want to take that out though, I feel like it would change the essence of the story, it would lessen the impact of these characters relationships.
So, next month, I'll complete this challenge. Write a story with sex and rewrite it without and see how it changes things.
And if all else fails, take up writing romance.
Not the sex you actually have, but sex in books, in stories, in poems, in any kind of writing.
How much is too much? Are there some genres which just shouldn't have sex in them? Should sex, at least explicit sex be relegated to romance and erotica? What makes it explicit and what kind of sex is considered OK in any old book, if any?
I would love to hear some opinions on this, but I know I have a very small audience lol but feel free to make your comments!! I would love to hear them.
There is the age old adage that 'sex sells', is this simply in TV, movies, advertising, music, primarily visual things - or does this count for the written word as well?
Romance/erotica have some very big markets in the world, massive, which would suggest that there is definitely a market for sex/love. But does this extend beyond?
Is sex still dirty?
I guess the reason why this springs to mind is because a lot of my stories have sex in them. Not all, but a lot, and even if it's not actually written sometimes it's implied. I don't consider it to be over the top, or explicit, or unnecessary, it just happens, much as it happens in the real world.
My characters are people, with real relationships and couples who have sex, teenagers who are experimenting and learning about their bodies and the opposite sex.
I'd like to think that I don't just write it in just to spice things up, I'd like to believe that this is just how my stories turn out sometimes. I don't know if that says something about me, or nothing at all, but it's interesting to think about.
So I guess an interesting experiment would be for me to take a story with sex and rewrite it without and see how they differ. I think that is something I'll do, though obviously not until after my assignments are all done, and I even think I'll post it here and see if I can get some feedback on it.
Sex probably isn't necessary in a lot of stories, but I think the kind of stories I like to tell are about characters who have connections, and sometimes those connections need to be expressed in other ways. Sometimes a hug, or a gaze, or a peck on the cheek simply doesn't fulfill the requirements I have. It's never what the story is about, it's just something that happens along the way. And I don't see a problem with that, to me it's much the same as someone going to the toilet, or having a shower, or taking out the garbage. It's something humans do, and I include a wide spectrum of what humans do in the things I write.
I do sometimes wonder whether this will affect my ability to get published. Does it decrease my chances? What percentage of a book is it ok to write about that kind of stuff in?
I'd think it takes up maybe.... 5% in my last nano, which isn't much, but it's still there. And my SoCNoC... well, there is no sex as yet, but there is a connection which will probably lead to an encounter in the second half of the book, and I have no idea what will happen with that. I wouldn't want to take that out though, I feel like it would change the essence of the story, it would lessen the impact of these characters relationships.
So, next month, I'll complete this challenge. Write a story with sex and rewrite it without and see how it changes things.
And if all else fails, take up writing romance.
No comments:
Post a Comment