Haven't done this in a while.
Jun. 16th, 2004 09:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lierdumoaI've written a post about porn. No, I'm not going to do annoying shit like ask people what their kinks/pet peeves are. Frankly, unless I'm writing specifically for someone, I don't care about anyone's kinks/pet peeves but my own. Reading them makes me way too self-conscious about my own writing. Rather, I've written an essay on the subject.
I'm attempting to be somewhat literary here. Pay attention.
As most of you know, I've been writing a *lot* of porn lately. And, because I am lazy and hate working, I have been complaining about writing to anyone who will listen. But this post is not about my whining. Rather, this is about how porn is written and read.
Over the past week I've had about five people tell me something to the effect of "it just gets repetitive after a while. I mean, how many different ways can you take off clothes and insert cock?" My response to that is -- does angst get repetitive? Does hurt/comfort? Why is it that when we get bored reading fic that starts out interesting we blame it on bad writing, but when we get bored reading porn that starts out interesting we blame it on the fact that it's porn?
It's my opinion that most writers don't know how to write really good porn. Even great writers usually don't know how to write great porn. How many sex scenes have you read that have actually made you gape in wonder? I'm guessing, not too many. Almost anyone can write mediocre porn. A lot of people can write decent and even good porn. Really good porn is pretty rare. That takes talent.
Not only does it take talent, but it takes a different kind of talent than regular writing. An author who consistenly comes up with original plot ideas may not necessairily know how to consistently come up with original porn ideas. Well, just because you can't come up with an original porn idea doesn't mean that the world has run out of original ideas. Porn doesn't naturally become repetitive. We make it repetitive. It's easy to be repetitive.
I've probably put far more thought into this subject than the average fanfiction writer. Then again, I don't think I write porn in the same was as the average fanfiction writer. I approach it the same way I approach regular fic. A brilliant idea comes to me and I develop that into a fairly complex sequence of events, outline those events, and then write it all out.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
seperis's leather!Brian PWP has a pretty extensive outline -- around 900 words. The actual story should be three to four times that length.
Of course, I don't always write porn like this. Much of my recent stuff has involved far less forethought. This isn't necessairily a bad thing for me or for other writers. After all, sex is pretty instinctual, so it makes sense that writing it would also be pretty instinctual. However, I never write porn as if I'm just going though the motions. Sex can be great when it's planned, or when it's spontaneous, but it can be really bad when it's uninspired.
A sex scene usually doesn't need a lot to be enjoyable. It doesn't need much characterization. It usually doesn't require much plot either, beyond an initial scenario. It can just be mindless fun. However, if you're going to write a 3,000+ word PWP, or a 20+ chapter epic with sex in every installment, you're going to have to try a bit harder than that, or things will get boring. You can't just keep rewriting the same thing over and over. It doesn't work with regular fic. It certainly doesn't work with porn.
Another thing I feel is important to note, is that just because porn doesn't need much characterization or plot to be enjoyable doesn't mean it can't have both of those things. Writers can reveal a lot about their characters through sex. It seems to me that most writers don't try. They'd rather use other methods for character development.
As for plot -- I wrote a PWP once that traced the development of a relationship through a series of sex scenes (pease excuse the self pimp -- it's the best example I can think of at the moment). Virtually all the action taking place in the story was either sex or foreplay. However, a few details of the settings for the various sex scenes showed passage of time, and alterations in the sexual behavior and dialogue showed how the relationship was gradually evolving. You could say that sex was the text and plot was the subtext. (Chicago fandom; Roxie/Velma femslash if anyone's interested -- read here).
Oh! I thought of another example. Seeker does something similar to what I just described in A Perfect Plan (HP fandom; Harry/Snape slash). It's not a PWP, but a good deal of the plot development does take place though various sex scenes.
But back to my original point about sex getting repetitive. People say sex gets repetitive because it's basically the same all the time. Well, love is pretty much the same all the time. It's also pretty different every time. It depends on how you look at it. Certainly all anal sex boils down to removing clothing, applying lube, inserting a cock, and thrusting. But even if the general principle is the same, there are immeasurable distinctions when one looks at the details. There are varying depths and types of emotion.
I don't know how coherent I was in all that. My basic point? The next time good porn goes bad, blame the writing.
Of course, anyone who read this can feel free to disagree in the comments. I like to try to keep things democratic.
P.S. HP fans should check outgreen_queen's post. She has some nice pics of Sean Biggerstaff.
*giggles like a sixth grader at his porn star name*
I'm attempting to be somewhat literary here. Pay attention.
As most of you know, I've been writing a *lot* of porn lately. And, because I am lazy and hate working, I have been complaining about writing to anyone who will listen. But this post is not about my whining. Rather, this is about how porn is written and read.
Over the past week I've had about five people tell me something to the effect of "it just gets repetitive after a while. I mean, how many different ways can you take off clothes and insert cock?" My response to that is -- does angst get repetitive? Does hurt/comfort? Why is it that when we get bored reading fic that starts out interesting we blame it on bad writing, but when we get bored reading porn that starts out interesting we blame it on the fact that it's porn?
It's my opinion that most writers don't know how to write really good porn. Even great writers usually don't know how to write great porn. How many sex scenes have you read that have actually made you gape in wonder? I'm guessing, not too many. Almost anyone can write mediocre porn. A lot of people can write decent and even good porn. Really good porn is pretty rare. That takes talent.
Not only does it take talent, but it takes a different kind of talent than regular writing. An author who consistenly comes up with original plot ideas may not necessairily know how to consistently come up with original porn ideas. Well, just because you can't come up with an original porn idea doesn't mean that the world has run out of original ideas. Porn doesn't naturally become repetitive. We make it repetitive. It's easy to be repetitive.
I've probably put far more thought into this subject than the average fanfiction writer. Then again, I don't think I write porn in the same was as the average fanfiction writer. I approach it the same way I approach regular fic. A brilliant idea comes to me and I develop that into a fairly complex sequence of events, outline those events, and then write it all out.
seperis's leather!Brian PWP has a pretty extensive outline -- around 900 words. The actual story should be three to four times that length.Of course, I don't always write porn like this. Much of my recent stuff has involved far less forethought. This isn't necessairily a bad thing for me or for other writers. After all, sex is pretty instinctual, so it makes sense that writing it would also be pretty instinctual. However, I never write porn as if I'm just going though the motions. Sex can be great when it's planned, or when it's spontaneous, but it can be really bad when it's uninspired.
A sex scene usually doesn't need a lot to be enjoyable. It doesn't need much characterization. It usually doesn't require much plot either, beyond an initial scenario. It can just be mindless fun. However, if you're going to write a 3,000+ word PWP, or a 20+ chapter epic with sex in every installment, you're going to have to try a bit harder than that, or things will get boring. You can't just keep rewriting the same thing over and over. It doesn't work with regular fic. It certainly doesn't work with porn.
Another thing I feel is important to note, is that just because porn doesn't need much characterization or plot to be enjoyable doesn't mean it can't have both of those things. Writers can reveal a lot about their characters through sex. It seems to me that most writers don't try. They'd rather use other methods for character development.
As for plot -- I wrote a PWP once that traced the development of a relationship through a series of sex scenes (pease excuse the self pimp -- it's the best example I can think of at the moment). Virtually all the action taking place in the story was either sex or foreplay. However, a few details of the settings for the various sex scenes showed passage of time, and alterations in the sexual behavior and dialogue showed how the relationship was gradually evolving. You could say that sex was the text and plot was the subtext. (Chicago fandom; Roxie/Velma femslash if anyone's interested -- read here).
Oh! I thought of another example. Seeker does something similar to what I just described in A Perfect Plan (HP fandom; Harry/Snape slash). It's not a PWP, but a good deal of the plot development does take place though various sex scenes.
But back to my original point about sex getting repetitive. People say sex gets repetitive because it's basically the same all the time. Well, love is pretty much the same all the time. It's also pretty different every time. It depends on how you look at it. Certainly all anal sex boils down to removing clothing, applying lube, inserting a cock, and thrusting. But even if the general principle is the same, there are immeasurable distinctions when one looks at the details. There are varying depths and types of emotion.
I don't know how coherent I was in all that. My basic point? The next time good porn goes bad, blame the writing.
Of course, anyone who read this can feel free to disagree in the comments. I like to try to keep things democratic.
P.S. HP fans should check out
green_queen's post. She has some nice pics of Sean Biggerstaff.*giggles like a sixth grader at his porn star name*
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no subject
Date: 2004-06-17 01:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-17 11:14 am (UTC)Thanks for reading!
no subject
Date: 2004-06-17 05:55 am (UTC)Over the past week I've had about five people tell me something to the effect of "it just gets repetitive after a while.
... uh.... sorry? I wasn't talking about your porn!
Another thing I feel is important to note, is that just because porn doesn't need much characterization or plot to be enjoyable doesn't mean it can't have both of those things.
I love it when there is. Makes it so much better. :)
no subject
Date: 2004-06-17 11:13 am (UTC)I got the impression that you were saying porn naturally becomes repititious, with a few exceptions. The truth is, all writing naturally becomes repititious unless the writer has the imagination and the skill to keep things interesting.
I guess I just hold porn up to a higher standard than most people. If it gets boring, I blame the writer. If my porn gets boring, I blame myself -- not the fact that it's porn.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-17 07:57 am (UTC)But maybe my porn sucks lol. That would be the difference. :D.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-17 11:03 am (UTC)I don't think there's anything wrong with that, nor do I think there's anything wrong with writing porn just for fun. I mean, I like your porn. I always enjoy reading it.
There have been times I just wrote porn for the fun of it, without putting much in effort. I can't say I was particularly proud of it at those times, or I considered it art, or it helped me grow as a writer.
But then, there are times when I did put in the effort. There have even been a few times where I used a sex scene as a turning point in my plot, and characterization and plot development were higher priorities for me than the hotness factor. I wasn't just writing for fun. Of course I was proud of it, because I worked really hard at it. In those particular instances it was art to me, and it helped me grow as a writer.
And of course I don't expect other people to do that. I wouldn't necessairily want them to either. Some totally mindless fun is always good.
I'm not asking people to write more in depth porn. I just wanted to show that there are different standards for porn, just like any other type of writing. Just because a lot of the porn that is written is pretty artless doesn't mean it has to be that way. There's nothing inherently artless about writing a sex scene.
Forgive me for my verbosity. Sometimes my opinions run away with me.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-17 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-06-18 12:46 am (UTC)I mean, there are an *infinite* number you can write sex. The basic mechanics may be the same, but that doesn't in any way limit how many ways you can write it.
My point was that the only thing limiting porn is the agency of the people who write it.
no subject
Date: 2004-06-20 12:20 am (UTC)Sorry, I was actually responding to this part of your essay. I agree there are an infinite number of ways to write sex, but that is, as you said, usually found in the "great" porn. Not many writers take the time to do this. Then, of course, you have to decide what is indeed great porn, which will vary from person to person, and would be en entirely different essay. Sorry if I wasn't clear before. ;)