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Three is Company, but Four is a Party.


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So, I stepped out of my creative comfort zone, and have been writing a story that has more sex scenes in it. I think I've done a good job with the erotica in it, not like what you find in some Nifty stories, but not shying away from saying head bobbing on someone's shaft either. Now, one scene has four guys doing an orgy. First time I ever wrote one, and it got me thinking. How often do other writers write scenes with multiple partners at the same time?

So, how about it? How many have you written about doing the nasty at the same time?

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One issue I have with writing sex scenes is that it ends up saying a lot more about the author than the characters.  After proving I could write them, my intention going forward is to have a mostly 'fade to black' approach.

But that's me.  lol

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2 hours ago, Myr said:

One issue I have with writing sex scenes is that it ends up saying a lot more about the author than the characters.  After proving I could write them, my intention going forward is to have a mostly 'fade to black' approach.

But that's me.  lol

I applaud you!  With my imagination, I need no more fuel!  Just a hint or a tease and I'm good to go!  Besides, most of us, (hopefully) are aware of how those situations play out.  Too many authors confine their readers to only the words written on the page.

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Just now, Hstrychsr said:

I applaud you!  With my imagination, I need no more fuel!  Just a hint or a tease and I'm good to go!  Besides, most of us, (hopefully) are aware of how those situations play out.  Too many authors confine their readers to only the words written on the page.

There is a lot to be said for allowing room for the reader to fill in the blank as well.  The "blank canvas" concept.  When done correctly, it can forge a stronger emotional connection with a story. 

That's not to say there isn't room in the other direction as well, of course.  It does come done to personal preference, which for me, might change heavily depending on my mood. 

@Brayon, this also about where the lines are for you as a writer and for the audience you have (or want).  Mileage varies greatly.  By all means, explore the field to figure out where you're comfortable.  Trying new things outside our comfort zone is how we do it. :)

 

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I agree!  There is a place and time for (almost) everything!  If the goal is a story that will keep my blood pressure up, then, come on Author!  Kick down those barriers and make me sweat just by reading.  All too often, the book in my hands seems as if I get to a part where someone saw the "insert sex scene here" tag.  It breaks the flow, knocking me right back into the real world.

Balance is not always easy.  Personally, I lean toward this: ...when in doubt, be classy.

Too many stories adhere to the formal recipe of writing.  I don't buy those.  Take me off trail, or use that giant slingshot and send me flying off into the unknown.  I get bored with OCD authors following protocol.  From what I have learned, people want a break from reality and their rigid ruts.  GIVE IT TO 'EM!  But you can be crazy, or dangerous, or raunchy, or just about anything else and still have a modicum of class.  ...unless the goal is to scare with with someone who has none at all!

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12 hours ago, Brayon said:

So, I stepped out of my creative comfort zone, and have been writing a story that has more sex scenes in it. I think I've done a good job with the erotica in it, not like what you find in some Nifty stories, but not shying away from saying head bobbing on someone's shaft either. Now, one scene has four guys doing an orgy. First time I ever wrote one, and it got me thinking. How often do other writers write scenes with multiple partners at the same time?

So, how about it? How many have you written about doing the nasty at the same time?

At the risk of answering the actual question being posed :P, the most characters involved in a sex scene I have written have been three.  I think four would be a bit much for me, too many limbs to keep up with. ;)  

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Fade to black, and allusion is what I often do, especially in the stories I've posted here on GA and then reposted them on Nifty. In my opinion a more detailed sex scene could enhance the characters and story.

For example, In my Tampa Chronicles series I have a couple, Travis who is Gay and Jeremy who is Asexual (with a bit of autism). So, actually describing what happens there would enhance the story. In the coming fourth, and final installment, Travis gets aroused at the sight of a naked Jeremy, however, Jeremy doesn't when seeing Travis in all his glory. Later, Jeremy wants to do something sexual for Travis, and gives him a handjob. I wrote the scene in a clinical detached sort of way. Third-person PoV, so it's easy to show that Travis is loving it, and Jeremy is just going through the motions to make his boyfriend happy, all the while not being aroused at all.

Now in my Freedom Station story, that I'm almost to the point of releasing, has a lot more sexual descriptions involved. This is one I've stepped out of my comfort zone on, and there is a lot more description than what I've done in the past. Even still, it's not as prevalent as what some find in other stories here on GA or Nifty.

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2 hours ago, CassieQ said:

At the risk of answering the actual question being posed :P, the most characters involved in a sex scene I have written have been three.  I think four would be a bit much for me, too many limbs to keep up with. ;)  

 

1 hour ago, Brayon said:

Third-person PoV, so it's easy to show that Travis is loving it, and Jeremy is just going through the motions to make his boyfriend happy, all the while not being aroused at all.

Now in my Freedom Station story, that I'm almost to the point of releasing, has a lot more sexual descriptions involved. This is one I've stepped out of my comfort zone on, and there is a lot more description than what I've done in the past. Even still, it's not as prevalent as what some find in other stories here on GA or Nifty.

And I'm right there with @CassieQ.   Too many limbs to keep track of, even in the "other" environment.  And you may have answered your own question - it's not that hard in third person - but if writing a first-person story for the first time happens to be part of  stepping out of your comfort zone, it could be a definite struggle.

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15 hours ago, Myr said:

One issue I have with writing sex scenes is that it ends up saying a lot more about the author than the characters.  After proving I could write them, my intention going forward is to have a mostly 'fade to black' approach.

But that's me.  lol

Personally, this is one of my biggest hurdles. I just got over the stage fright of allowing people I actually know to read my work. It's been going really well and as friends we are pretty open with giving advise and feedback... I cannot IMAGINE giving them a sex scene to read. I would rather be buried alive, haha. 

They're all straight too, so maybe that's where the hesitation is coming from. 

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I've written a story with polyamory but didn't write long full on sex scenes for that story as they weren't necessary.  Thinking about it now, I don't think I'd change it. Too much.... and A grabbed B's now hard ... and C did whatever to D. I'd not enjoy writing it or reading that.

And frankly, too much just becomes dull porn and adds nothing to the story.  Multiple partners may be fun but descriptions of what they get up to are not.

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I've written a three-way just once, I think, and that's the most I've had at once... It's in the Hubris story for Devon. I think I pulled it off pretty well. I think the clue is not to get too hung up on who did what to whom, which can easily end up a little bit mechanical, and focus more on feelings and sensory impressions. If you're actually in a situation like that, you're not gonna be thinking too much about what exactly your partners are doing to each other and more about what you're doing and what's being done to you (this assuming a limited third person or first person POV).

I want to write more polyamory, which may mean more multiple partner sex scenes, but I also find myself writing fewer sex scenes than I used to. 

On 2/16/2020 at 2:41 PM, Myr said:

One issue I have with writing sex scenes is that it ends up saying a lot more about the author than the characters.

Hah! This reminds me of Sykes' Law (as written by the author Sam Sykes, world's greatest shitposter, in a blog post many many years ago, and now paraphrased by yours truly).

'If you read closely enough, you'll be able to spot the exact point in the prose where the author started touching themself.'

Edited by Thorn Wilde
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Silverwolf had a three-way, and then a fourgy. That story really broke my rules for when to use sex - there were essentially no rules except make it steamy and retain a plot.

Fleeting Eternity had a few loving three-way scenes. Yet, the tone between those two stories could not have been more different.

It's rare that I write scenes with more than two sexual participants. Frankly, it's work! You have to spend more time, and you have to evaluate if your reader will be interested enough in the sex to stick around, rather than skip ahead. So ... when you do it, either fade to black or make it smoking hot.

Edited by Wayne Gray
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  • 2 weeks later...

I think you've perhaps only touched on sex as a threesome or foursome. What about one person watching, or simply touching whilst two make love? What about one guy getting turned on by one of the three, but making love with the other? What about two couples having sex in the same room glancing at each other, but sticking to their individual partners. The permutations are quite broad and I haven't touched upon anonymous sex in a black room with multiple unknown partners.

How far you get into describing the sex is a balance the author has to make and there are external factors that come into play, namely who are your audience and where are you publishing.

Like watching porn videos, not too many are any good (speak for yourself, I hear you saying as your mind wonders), but really I think it's a small percentage. The same with stories, only a few do it well, which means it might be a better choice to fade to black. In any event, if there is sex in every, or every other chapter, it's diminishing returns, unless you're writing erotica, then it's obligatory.

And to answer the question, I would write a threesome or a foursome or an orgy, if it fit the story, but I'd have a delicate hand in describing the sex, just a soupçon of spice or it might be inedible.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I'm very boring at 2. :P And I feel awkward at times writing those. Practice makes perfect though, with the right criticism and editing you may master the technique for literary orgies. 

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