how pornographic can a story for gayauthors.org be?

[Howie]

hi

 

i've just written another short story, but it's really pornographic. would gayauthors.org be willing to host it or should i go to somewhere like nifty instead?

 

howie

[Conner]

I think the best approach would be to PM the story to me and I'll make the call.

 

Another approach would be to post the story and see if you get warned or banned.

 

Ok, scratch those ideas.

 

Write Joe (JSmith), the admin dude, he's reasonable and really hunky.

[Graeme]

Write Joe (JSmith), the admin dude, he's reasonable and really hunky.

While the comments are true, Talonrider (Deputy Lead Writer Support Team, Editing Lead) and C James (Writer Support Lead) are probably more appropriate than Joe to review the suitability of the story. Though Joe probably wouldn't mind having a copy.....

[JSmith]

If you send it to me, I probably wouldn't get around to reading it for oh... a couple months. So the other two are your better options at this point

[Howie]

looking at it realistically, if there aren't different categories for stories based on the 'adult nature' of their content, i really can't see the story being accepted. it's quite a lot more gratuitous than the first story i published here :-D

 

if Talonrider or C James wanted to get in touch however, i'd send them a copy

[old bob]

pornography :

"Pornography or porn is the depiction of explicit sexual subject matter for the purpose of sexually exciting the viewer. Pornography makes no claim to artistic merit, unlike erotica which does."(Wiki).

We dont need porn here. First we have minors as readers and this could bring some legal difficulties to the site owners, and second this is a story site, not a porn one.

[Conner]

pornography :

"Pornography or porn is the depiction of explicit sexual subject matter for the purpose of sexually exciting the viewer. Pornography makes no claim to artistic merit, unlike erotica which does."(Wiki).

We dont need porn here. First we have minors as readers and this could bring some legal difficulties to the site owners, and second this is a story site, not a porn one.

 

 

If we're going to get into personal views on what constitutes pornography, erotica, artistic merit and the like, then let's move this thread to the Soapbox. The question posed was a simple one: I have a story that has explicit sexual content, can I post it here?

 

The bottom line, for me at least, is that the GA management team has done an excellent job in managing the "content" of stories published on the this site for several years now. Let's just let them continue to do their job.

[Lugh]

A story can be as "Erotic" as the "Plot" allows, however plots can be tricky beasts. Sex should not be for sex alone but should in some way forward the plot, otherwise, it does become pornographic. This can be fixed with a little judicial editing (adding plot, or subtracting sex scenes). If you think it might be too pornographic for this site, then it probably is, and it should be edited. If you are unsure, contact the mods that you have been pointed to. They are the only ones who can make that decision for you.

[Howie]

yeah, i think i'll send it to nifty instead. thanks for the advice

[old bob]

If we're going to get into personal views on what constitutes pornography, erotica, artistic merit and the like, then let's move this thread to the Soapbox. The question posed was a simple one: I have a story that has explicit sexual content, can I post it here?

The bottom line, for me at least, is that the GA management team has done an excellent job in managing the "content" of stories published on the this site for several years now. Let's just let them continue to do their job.

I'm not going into personal views. Howie himself was using the word "pornography". This word has no place in GA. I quite agree with your appreciation of the work of the management team. The question was :"should I bring here a really pornographic story ?"

My answer is still NO. I remember the legal problems Myr had a few years ago with the same theme.

BTW, your expression "explicit sexual content" doesnt mean pornography. There is a huge difference.

[Conner]

Give it a rest, old bob. Howie's taking his story to Nifty. You win. The membership here at GA is seriously in your debt.

[Mark Arbour]

A story can be as "Erotic" as the "Plot" allows, however plots can be tricky beasts. Sex should not be for sex alone but should in some way forward the plot, otherwise, it does become pornographic.

 

I completely disagree with you. Just because there's gratuitous sex in a story doesn't make it pornographic. But I do understand if that is YOUR view. It's not mine.

[Howie]

I'm not going into personal views. Howie himself was using the word "pornography". This word has no place in GA. I quite agree with your appreciation of the work of the management team. The question was :"should I bring here a really pornographic story ?"

My answer is still NO. I remember the legal problems Myr had a few years ago with the same theme.

BTW, your expression "explicit sexual content" doesnt mean pornography. There is a huge difference.

legal problem? oh no, that doesn't sound good

 

someone told me yesterday that in countries where ip addresses are filtered (probably to protect us from the terrorists) nifty may be banned, so i'll find somewhere else to host my story

 

well, nifty's posted it, but i've asked them to take it down, so i'll see what happens.

[W_L]

Sex is fine, pornography has its own merits for certain guys and girls.

 

Honestly, I understand the legal issues and the minor issues as well, but there is a difference between what we consider pornographic.

 

I have written explicitly pornographic shorts inside my mini-anthology story, but I prefer writing based on a complex plot, where sex comes in as a side area. For me, Gay/alternative fiction themes need not be sexual in nature; they should look into addressing issues of past, present, and future, which sex does come in as just one element.

 

I'd like to look at your story, too, Howie.

[Tiger]

My general thought is this. If the plot is sex then it doesn't belong on GA unless, of course, it is an artistic form (erotica).

[Mark Arbour]

Ah, but there's the rub, deciding what stories are just sex and which ones have some literary merit. It's not objective, it's subjective, which makes for some great arguments.

 

I'm a free-speech zealot, so I'm usually quick to get pissed when debates are squelched or material is banned. I have to say, though, that from what I've seen the moderators on this site err on the side of art, not censorship.

[Howie]

Ah, but there's the rub, deciding what stories are just sex and which ones have some literary merit. It's not objective, it's subjective, which makes for some great arguments.

 

I'm a free-speech zealot, so I'm usually quick to get pissed when debates are squelched or material is banned. I have to say, though, that from what I've seen the moderators on this site err on the side of art, not censorship.

 

 

yeah, i'm a big fan of free speech too. i'd like to think my story has literary merit, though that won't be the first thing you think of when you read it as it is though, if there's the slightest chance someone could get in trouble for it being posted here i'd say it's not worth risking.

[Mark Arbour]

yeah, i'm a big fan of free speech too. i'd like to think my story has literary merit, though that won't be the first thing you think of when you read it as it is though, if there's the slightest chance someone could get in trouble for it being posted here i'd say it's not worth risking.

 

I have found it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

[Rilbur]

I have found it is better to ask for forgiveness than permission.

 

Yeah, well, I've always tried to go in the opposite direction...

 

I have a big enough foot-in-mouth problem without making the situation worse!

[Mark Arbour]

Yeah, well, I've always tried to go in the opposite direction...

 

I have a big enough foot-in-mouth problem without making the situation worse!

 

 

You're not the only one with that problem. I'd say, though, that if you guys post your stories at nifty, at least post a link here. For my part, I'll tell you what I think.

[Rilbur]

As I've said elsewhere, I have done my darndest to try and separate my porno writing from my Rilbur persona... But what the hell.

 

Please note that this story dates right back to my 'resumption' of writing after a several year hiatus / writers block caused by severe depression (parental divorce, being forced to move, sudden internet deprivation, and other generally 'sucky' life changes just had me by the balls...)

[dkstories]

I've written scenes that are fairly sexually explicit, and I've had other stories where all the sex takes place 'off-page'. The defining factor in how to write the scenes is basically defined by the nature of the story and the nature of the characters as well as the needs of the plot.

 

A couple of examples include the differences in Dreams of a Father and Dreams of Humanity. The scenes in Humanity were a lot more explicit. Father had scenes that were less explicit because they didn't fit with the overall story and where the characters were at in the story progression.

 

Another story I've written recently (that has not been posted yet and is still in the editing stage) is a LOT more explicit than either Humanity or Father. There's a reason for it, because the sex is very important to the main character's development and changes in his outlook on life. Every chapter isn't a sex scene, and we don't 'see' every sexual encounter the man has, but the ones we do see are very important to his development as a character.

 

If the work is replete with sex scene after gratuitous sex scene, you'll lose many readers. However, if you use them right, make them important they'll be another part of the story instead of 'porn'.

[Linxe Termoil]

I've written scenes that are fairly sexually explicit, and I've had other stories where all the sex takes place 'off-page'. The defining factor in how to write the scenes is basically defined by the nature of the story and the nature of the characters as well as the needs of the plot.

 

A couple of examples include the differences in Dreams of a Father and Dreams of Humanity. The scenes in Humanity were a lot more explicit. Father had scenes that were less explicit because they didn't fit with the overall story and where the characters were at in the story progression.

 

Another story I've written recently (that has not been posted yet and is still in the editing stage) is a LOT more explicit than either Humanity or Father. There's a reason for it, because the sex is very important to the main character's development and changes in his outlook on life. Every chapter isn't a sex scene, and we don't 'see' every sexual encounter the man has, but the ones we do see are very important to his development as a character.

 

If the work is replete with sex scene after gratuitous sex scene, you'll lose many readers. However, if you use them right, make them important they'll be another part of the story instead of 'porn'.

 

 

Speaking of which, when does Rich Boy book 3 get published for our (at least my) perusal???

 

But no, seriously, when in doubt I always say ask CJ and Talon, they might not get back to you right away but they'll at least look at it when they get a chance. I myself had to use CJ's, hrm, assistance with regards to Sunny's Angel, even though nothing graphic has been posted (yet, it is coming though).

 

and that's the only thing I have to offer.

 

Regards,

 

Linxe

[David McLeod]

So far, Sunny's Angel is an excellent example of how sensuous a story can be without being pornographic. If you're looking for guidelines, try it.

[Duncan Ryder]

I tend to agree with Mark...anticensorship and asking forgiveness rather than permission. It's important to me that there be a safe place to tell and share these stories. And remember, there are people out there (too darned many of them, sadly) who would find ANY of these stories pornographic, just because they have gay characters.

 

Personally, I have my own bars of acceptability for writing explicitly about sex, and I feel they fit really well with this site. What I try for is stories where love happens and gets expressed sexually, and I hope erotically. I try really hard to make the love scenes intense and emotional, rather than really explicitly sexual.

 

I also wanted to say something about Nifty. I still post on Nifty...way behind GA, but my stories are still posted there. I feel a lot of loyalty to my NIfty readers, many of whom have followed me here after first finding the stories on Nifty. When I started writing EW, I had no idea what to do with it but I wanted to put it somewhere...and I did some internet research and found Nifty, and so that's where I started. And I think that's true for a lot of people, writers and readers. Nifty is big, you find it, there's tons of stuff there, good, bad, and... well...badder than bad <G>. I had never heard of this site and was invited here by someone (Sharon actually) who had read my story in Nifty. I also got a HUGE amount of encouragement from a whole pile of other authors when I first started posting on Nifty. Some of them are hosted here...

 

So don't underestimate Nifty readers or paint all nifty posters the same. I've had fascinating emails from very intelligent, articulate people bemoaning how hard it is to find quality writing on Nifty or anywhere. I send them here, of course, but.... there are a lot of people who read nifty for more that JO stuff. They just don't know where else to look yet.