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What Words are You not a Fan of?
You are so right, Diana. As a writer and avid reader of smutty fiction, I'm really not a fan of 'hole'. It just sounds crass.
Jenycka wrote: "You are so right, Diana. As a writer and avid reader of smutty fiction, I'm really not a fan of 'hole'. It just sounds crass."Thinking about it since I wrote the post above, I think it comes across as depersonalizing.
Never thought about it that way, but you're right.
Mod
I think many words need to fit in the context of the story.
A word like 'hole' needs to fit (giggle). If the book is about your long hair flowing in the wind as the man with the shirt that has been torn open by the act of him flexing his pectoral muscles ravishes you good and proper... then the word hole isn't appropriate.
If the ninth acrobat in the circus troop switches off with the third strongman to pound your already well used big-top while the lion tamer holds you down, then the word hole will fill the need (Giggle).
This really goes for almost all stories. If your teenage werewolf smirks, then well yes - okay. If your teenage werewolf pontificates then no - not okay.
CB, you're about the one person on this board whose mind may actually be dirtier than mine.
Mod
I will take that as a... no wait... I will accept that as a compliment! :D
I think there's something about living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains that just brings out the smuttier side of a person's brain. I've lived all over the Great White North and the biggest pervs I've ever met have been from AB and BC... well, and Newfoundland but it's basically a rule out there.
CB and Jenycka...you are cracking me up!
C.B. wrote: "Oh this suddenly got smutty! Neat. :DI think many words need to fit in the context of the story.
A word like 'hole' needs to fit (giggle). If the book is about your long hair flowing in the wind..."
And I can't stand "smirk" because too many characters (including werewolves) do it in love scenes.
C.B. wrote: "Jenycka wrote: "CB, you're about the one person on this board whose mind may actually be dirtier than mine."I will take that as a... no wait... I will accept that as a compliment! :D"
Can I join the club?
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Not that I know of... but give it a week or so, it is the internet after all.
C.B. wrote: "Diana wrote: "You make me want to read circus erotica, if there is such a thing."Not that I know of... but give it a week or so, it is the internet after all."
I'll put it on my calendar to check. No circus erotica genre. I'm so sad.
C. B., Want to write the first book in that genre? You have a start already.
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Riley, that is just silly! Why would you do that when you could...
Let him listen to the song ..."
HaHa
Diana wrote: Can I join the club? "Dirty minds club? Diana, you're in!
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C. B., Want to write the first book in that genre? You have a start already. "
I certainly did paint a scene didn't I? Oh dear!
Diana wrote: "Can I join the club?"
Of course. I will laminate your member card shortly!
Mod
I think it is because the mountains reflect alien messages downwards, to the minds of the people due to their high nickle deposits. It makes people a bit odd.... Fortunately though, I have my tinfoil hat!
C.B. wrote: "I think it is because the mountains reflect alien messages downwards, to the minds of the people due to their high nickle deposits. It makes people a bit odd.... Fortunately though, I have my tinfoil hat! "If you wear the hat, how did you get so pervy?
C.B. wrote: "Jenycka wrote: "I think there's something about living in the shadow of the Rocky Mountains that just brings out the smuttier side of a person's brain. I've lived all over the Great White North and..."C.B., I did get the impression that aliens are pretty smutty from the last few sci-fi romances I read. I'm leaving the tin-foil off on purpose.
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I don't recall saying the hat blocks out anything! Wooooo! Amplify me Alien message hat!
Diana is right, they are filthy and wonderful. My next book might need to be Elves in Space!
C.B. wrote: "Jenycka wrote: "If you wear the hat, how did you get so pervy? "I don't recall saying the hat blocks out anything! Wooooo! Amplify me Alien message hat!
Diana is right, they are filthy and wonde..."
Will we get another cover with an elfbutt?
Wouldn't we all be shocked if the aliens showed up and they were total prudes?Oh, to keep things on-topic I also hate reading the phrase "made for a man's pleasure" in reference to a woman. Come on! She's her own person.
Mod
We don't want people to think that we hate the words 'On Topic'.
I dislike it when people mix genders to prove a point.
'She has big manly arms.' - No she has big womanly arms.
'He had a little girlish waist.' - No, no he didn't!
The main chalkboard on nails for me is something NSFW, but I hate it when they mix incorrect gender bits to prove their 'point' that a guy is girly or a woman is tough.
True, gender binaries are very strict in much of the fictional universe. And if the codes aren't followed, then it's still presented in terms of the strict binaries themselves. Can't a woman be tough and muscular and still be a lovely woman? Can't a man be small of frame and still be a wonderfully masculine studmuffin of a man? I also hate in romances how the female must always be tiny and dainty compared to the male. (OK I'm writing one of those right now, but the next in the series is going to be different!)
Don't like cliches: 'at the end of the day', '24/7', 'it's a done deal', 'think outside the box'.Although I do like a couple: 'let sleeping dogs lie' and 'he's a piece of work'. LOL
C.B. wrote: "...I dislike it when people mix genders to prove a point. 'She has big manly arms.' - No she has big womanly arms...."
I'm with you. I don't like those descriptions. They are literally wrong.
It also could cause the reader to picture them wrong. If it says she has manly arms, am I supposed to think her arm-hair is more prominent, like many men's are? (I totally don't know what verb tense to use there). And if the author means muscular, cut, etc., saying manly doesn't do it. Many men are not muscular.
Here is another hate word-- "literally" used to mean "sort of like"
Diana wrote: " People in romance and erotica books are crazy flexible. "Well I guess the one thing I'm doing right is putting in some of the weird awkward problems of their height difference.
I've actually had people ask me if I've done all of the 'stuff' that I've written about.
Umm, no, I haven't actually made love to four dudes at the same time while some of them were making love to each other. Have you?
Oh, another one! I get really mad I see the word 'retard' to mean stupid. It's a nasty slur to describe someone with an intellectual disability, and as far as I'm concerned should not be used at all. Ever. Unless you mean to 'slow down' an engine as in "the engine retarder breaks".
Jenycka wrote: "Diana wrote: " People in romance and erotica books are crazy flexible. "Well I guess the one thing I'm doing right is putting in some of the weird awkward problems of their height difference...."
I'm so glad someone else knows the actual meaning of the word "retard." I've never seen it in a book.
Diana wrote: "Jenycka wrote: "Diana wrote: " Here I thought authors did research, I guess writing erotica is no longer my dream job. LOL.."I guess I'm lazy that way. But if men as hot as my Wildlanders offered to try that out with me, I wouldn't say no....
I've seen the perjorative use of the word 'retard' in books, and it bothers me. It's unneccessary and cruel. I work with teenagers who have intellectual disabilities, and they find that word so incredibly hurtful.
In my very short life as an erotic romance writer, I've never had anything said to me that was truly horrible. A few semi-rude things, but I can usually laugh that off. And constructive criticism is always good.
On-topic... "ha ha" drives me nuts. I don't mind it once in a blue moon, but I read this one book where this one character literally (and I mean that literally) said it at the end of every line of dialogue. I get that she was supposed to have a nervous laugh. But it got sooo annoying to read.
I've always thought it would be fun to write erotica would be fun, but not sure how to start..... any suggestions????
Diana, that's a good thought - I think I'll start doing some research via Amazon, not sure about the personal research..........
Mod
With thrusting? :D
Okay, serious now. There are so many kinds of erotica, or other literature for that matter, that you need to decide what you want to write about.
This really works for any kind of writing, not just erotica.
What are your interests, what are your passions? You need to write about what you find interesting otherwise you will not be interested in the writing, and the reader will not be either!
There are so many genres out there, erotica has many many sub-cultures and it would be good to know where your ideas fit!
The most important thing I can think of is deciding this: Is your story going to be a story that happens to have sex in it, or is your sex going to happen to have some story in it. In other words, is there a plot that happens to have a sex scene every once and a while, or is it just sex scene after sex scene. There are calls for both in all sub-genres so decide which you like.
I couldn't just write a sex and nothing else book. I personally know this about myself, I love foreshadowing just too much to give it up. My book only ended up as an erotica because that was what the story dictated it needed to be. (and I was in an odd mood at the time)
Good luck Susan! Let us know what ends up on the page! :)
C.B. wrote: "Susan wrote: "I've always thought it would be fun to write erotica would be fun, but not sure how to start..... any suggestions???? "With thrusting? :D
Okay, serious now. There are so many kind..."
you're right this is something to thing about - currently writing mysteries. But I've always enjoyed reading short story erotica. It would have to have a story that happens not just one sex scene after another, that could get boring to read & write, I like a plot. You have given me a place to start - sex plots - thanks!!
Ok, I am in the middle of a book that shows against the genre Erotic Mystery. It is called "The Devil's Eyes" and it is a serial. I only put it aside because I promised to review some ARCs, and do some proofreading. I was really enjoying it.So, Susan, you can use your mystery expertise, but make it nice and hot for people like me.
I'm not keen on Belly either Melissa :(
Linda wrote: "I'm not keen on Belly either Melissa :("I like belly better than calling it "stomach" -- that is such an ugly word and it means a specific organ. Abdomen is better than both, and we always talk about men's abdominals in erotica, when the guy gets his shirt off. So women can have an abdomen, too.
oh, I shall look for erotic mysteries to read - good place to start, had no idea there was such a genre - intriguing! Could be just what I'm looking to read & write - thanks!! going to check it out now.
Mod
That sounds mysterious and interesting! If the characters need to find clues to solve the mystery by having sex in obscure ways with ancient artifacts and locations, oh my god I would lose it. Title Suggestion: The Da Vinci Cock
I love it C.B. I think sitting down over a few drinks with you could be quite entertaining as well as a learning experience!!
C.B. wrote: "Title Suggestion: The Da Vinci Cock ..."
Now I have a mess to clean!
I put down a sticky note on my screen: Don't read C.B. while drinking. :P
Guys, as interesting as this is, may I suggest a separate topic for they how-tos of getting into penning erotica? We don't mind a little deviation (double meaning intended), but this jas strayed to an entirely different subject. :)
C.B. wrote: "If the characters need to find clues to solve the mystery by having sex in obscure ways with ancient artifacts and locations, oh my god I would lose it...."Following the topic--I actually can't stand the word "penetration" in erotica. It is too clinical.
Did someone add smirk earlier? Maybe me. I just read a book where the hero and heroine smirked at each other. Too Much!
Do men who write erotica use the same words for people parts as women do? I think some of my least favorite words are fine, but just used too much in that genre.
Diana wrote: "Following the topic--I actually can't stand the word "penetration" in erotica. It is too clinical..."Not only that but it also sounds painful for some reasons. :P
okay, soooo is it any different to get into writing erotica than any other topic? All topics/categories would need research as well as an interest, right?
Mod
But yes, *ahem* On topic. *blushes*
I don't like it when people make up their own word for something that is obviously something that already exists. This happens in Fantasy novels all the time!
No, that mystical foreign bean caffeine drink you brew is not called Kaaffee. It is Coffee.
No, that odd mouthed dessert animal with a hump is not a Shammek, it is a Camel!
If you are that close, just use the real word. If it is mystical caffeine drink made from crushed beetles, then okay, it can be Kaaffee, I will let you.
I was just thinking about words used from common slang by the younger crowd. I recently read a book that used terms that you only find the meaning of in the urban dictionary, and the author had a great way of having the term explained to a clueless person in the novel (thus explaining it to my 55 year old self).But, I think it is important to use appropriate, common slang in writing, or the writing comes across wrong in some genres. But, if your readership doesn't know the right meaning of the phrase, or its origin, I think it can sound false and end up on our hated words list.
Like Jenycka's example above, "gates of paradise." Maybe that was a reference to song lyrics. Bruno Mars has a song "locked out of heaven" that could have been referring to. I don't know what book it was from, or the author's intention in using that phrase, but if it was a reference to lyrics, maybe there is a way to make that clear. Readers can be from different genders, age groups, economic or religious groups, musical preferences, nations. That causes misunderstandings.
From AZ lyrics.com:
"Locked Out Of Heaven" ("ooh" and "oh, yeah" excluded from below a lot)
Never had much faith in love or miracles
Never wanna put my heart on the line
But swimming in your water is something spiritual
I'm born again every time you spend the night
'Cause your sex takes me to paradise
Yeah, your sex takes me to paradise
And it shows, yeah, yeah, yeah
'Cause you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long
Yeah, you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long
You bring me to my knees, you make me testify
You can make a sinner change his ways
Open up your gates 'cause I can't wait to see the light
And right there is where I wanna stay
'Cause your sex takes me to paradise
Yeah, your sex takes me to paradise
And it shows, yeah, yeah, yeah
'Cause you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long
Yeah, you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long
Can I just stay here?
Spend the rest of my days here?
Can't I just stay here?
Spend the rest of my days here?
'Cause you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long
Yeah, you make me feel like I've been locked out of heaven
For too long, for too long
Mod
I think we should bring this into another topic. :D We will happily talk about your smutty ideas there. ;)
C.B. wrote: I don't like it when people make up their own word for something that is obviously something that already exists. This..."
I agree, I don't like the almost fake words. I have seen in done right in some sci-fi, though. Someone wakes up in the future and is offered Kaffee, and it takes nothing like coffee, but people think it is the same thing we drank way back in the 21st century. I've also seen it used because at some point in the past the English language officially got simplified spelling (and that is explained somehow).
OK, I'm going off the wall here. I hope I don't offend anyone, but there is a certain use of the word "hole" I can't get over. There has to be a better way to say vagina. Even "opening" is better. It almost ruins otherwise lovely scenes for me.