Gratuitous Sex in Erotica
Is it Possible?

I just got a critique that got me thinking. The critique was, basically, "You could have skipped this first sex scene."

My first impulse was to start defending it, and I worked up reasons why it had to be there... but then I realized that the critter was right, I could have skipped it. It was gratuitous.

I'm not sure that's a reason to take it out, though. I mean, when you come right down to it, lots of sex scenes we include in our works could be edited out or glossed over... but then it kind of misses the point, eh? What I mean is, when you sit down to write erotica, one of your purposes is to inspire eros! Of course you're going to show the sex when you otherwise wouldn't.

So I don't really feel much impulse to defend the presence of a sex scene in the story. I'm not sure if I'm really asking a question, as much as expressing a thought that has been rattling around in my head, and wondering what your thoughts are on the topic.    —Nobilis

Q:  Good to see you Mr. Bond. Things have been awfully dull around here. I hope we're going to see some gratuitous sex and violence."
James Bond: I certainly hope so too.
     —Never Say Never Again (1983)

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From Lisabet Sarai
If you are writing entirely to titillate—fragments of a story, fantasies or interludes with no attempt at characterization or plot—then you're right. Put in as many sex scenes as you want, whenever the mood strikes you.

If you are trying to create a story, though, a piece of writing that is attempts to do more than simply turn the reader on, then you need to recognize that occasionally a sex scene will get in the way. Sex in the wrong place in the story can interfere with the flow of the plot, can distract the reader, can even bore the reader who is eagerly awaiting the next revelation or crisis. Every sex scene in a story needs to advance the story—as well as turning the reader on. That's one reason why writing erotica is so darned difficult!

A sex scene in the wrong place in your story can hinder rather than inspire eros. Remember that "eros" is a lot more than just interlocking body parts.

You should never feel defensive about your own writing. If you think that the sex scene works, leave it in. But the fact that at least one reader found it a problem should at least give you pause.

From Kathleen Bradean
I believe it's possible to have gratuitous sex in erotica. A well written science fiction story does not have extra robot killer scenes just because they're cool and because people who read science fiction expect a lot of killer robots for their money. Every scene with killer robots needs to be there for a reason - to advance the plot. The same could be said for sex scenes. Don't simply mark time. Move forward.

From Remittance Girl
What an interesting topic this is! My take on gratuitous sex is kind of complicated. Because this is erotica we are discussing, I have a bit of an internal checklist:

1. Does the sex set the scene?
2. Does it illustrate any of the characters better?
3. Does it work to describe their relationship?
4. Does it act to set an event in motion (even if that is more sex?)
5. Does it trigger development in the character or motivate them to some act?
6. Does it just establish the "heat" in the story? If it does any of those things, I'd leave it in.

But then, I'm a sex pig and I think it makes the world go around.

From M. A. Gonzales
With Erotica I think it depends on how erotic you want to go. I mean the purpose of telling any story is based on the characters, but I do agree with Rachel. Usually, people who pick up Erotica are looking for those explicit sex scenes and many of them. There is a difference between the new genre of Romantica and Erotica and mainstream romance.

However I do think you should think about it because you have said to yourself, I don't really need it. Just like in movies, we have to crop and edit and decide what stays and what goes. Ultimately, go with what you feel is right and what you want to convey in your novel, because yes it is the opinion of a reader but it is only the opinion of one reader.

From Amanda Earl
It's all a matter of taste. If you are submitting the story to a call or publisher, you'll want to adapt the story in order to get it accepted. I've had editors ask me to put more sex in and also I've removed some sex from a story to make it fit a call better.

As to paying attention to one reader, you have to trust your instincts. Sometimes your defense may clarify why you are doing something in the first place for you. Other times you're just being a stubborn git. Learning how seriously to take a critique is an acquired skill. As you get to know the various critiquers and their own work, you learn which crits help and which crits serve as demotivators.

You could try removing some of the sex and seeing how the story reads.

From Brenna Lyons
Assuming you don't want to write porn, and I'm assuming you don't... No, there is a major difference. Every scene, sex or not, should advance characterization and/or plot. There should be a reason for the scene. A sex scene just pasted in feels it. It's jarring to many (not all) readers, and other pros will probably notice it as well.

In the same way, "glossing over" the sex scene that serves a purpose weakens the book. There's no denying it.

You're going for a balance. What does the story need? What rightly moves it along? What is extraneous and serves no purpose, except that it was written?

Now, here's the fun part. You can take out the extraneous stuff and use it in other ways...for promo. Want to see more of these characters? Here you go.

From Gary Russell
I only buy erotica for one reason...to get turned on. It doesn't have to be well written, it just needs to press my psychological buttons. In fact, if it's too well written, I start to notice the word craft and lose the mood. If I'm not turned on, the author has failed. I feel cheated, annoyed. The same as if I'm reading horror I expect to be scared, if I'm reading comedy I expect to be amused. That's my criteria for judging erotica- my emotional, or more accurately, a hormonal response.

For me the mark of a good erotic book is one I can read over and over still be turned on by it. Lust of the Borgias, Whiplash Angels, The Image, O, Helen and Desire, Linda's Strange Vacation, or anything written by Emmanuelle Arsan never fail, for example.

I would say, perhaps unfairly, that any writer wondering if they've got gratuitous sex scenes in their novels...I probably wouldn't read them to the end. If you're thinking that your sex scenes get in the way of a good story, then just write the story without the sex and get out of the genre altogether.

From Rose
If I buy or read a book touted for its erotic content, that content is what I'm after. My well-thumbed copies of "The Pearl" and "A Man With A Maid" or even "Librarian's Reward" (really bad writing on that one, but who cares?) stay in my bedstead shelf for one purpose and one purpose alone, and it isn't for any deep story line. Even "The Story of O" and "L'Image," though the stories themselves I find fascinating, when I want to be stimulated, I go to the parts I know will do the trick. I already know the story, it's the erotic passages I'm after.

The fact is that in any book, romance or not, where erotica is not the raison d'etre for the book's existence, then the sex scenes must fit in smoothly and logically. No matter that it is fiction; suspension of disbelief only goes so far. "We hadn't slept for eighteen hours. The sun, white hot and relentless, seared our eyes. We had shared the last drops of water in the canteen at sun up. Our mouths were parched now, our skin was burnt, blisters, coated with dust and sand, festered. The desert, lifeless but for the scorpions, stretched for miles before us. Oddly, we felt like fucking our brains out." Anyone believe that?

Gratuitous sex is like gratuitous anything else. Gratuitous anything is often formulaic, out of context, and doesn't enhance the story, and if the sex doesn't actually further the story, I'm usually glossing over the injected sex scenes saying, "Yeah, yeah...hot and sweaty, hard and wet, pump, thrust, aaahhhh...God I'm coming...can we just get on with the story, please?"

From R. Baron
I spent the summer writing a full-length erotic novel. The publisher who asked to look at it suggested that I read another title from their imprint to get an idea of the kind of thing they are looking for...

I won't name names, but the book I read was boring. I think that if something is published under the claim that it is 'erotica', then it should be heavy on the sex. That is why I read erotica: to escape and get off! At best, the example I read was a mainstream novel with a few widely-scattered and very conventional sexual interludes. In this case, the sex seemed forced in to fit what was really just a female buddy novel. In fact, many times a sexual element was introduced, only for the female main character to say "Eeew-- gross!' and then on with the predictable plot. What was the point of that? If I had purchased this as a consumer for 'erotica', I would not bother with other titles from that house based on the lack of raunch. I want an unapologetic fun ride when I read erotica.

I wonder what they will make of mine? They did know what they were in for, based on my outline and an unrelentingly raunchy sample. So where is the balance? In my case, I have a lot of sex and erotic anticipation and tension as the plot unfolds and the characters grow... but I hope that nothing seems out of place as far as the bonking is concerned.

I guess the trick is to strike a balance. The sex should be frequent, explicit and gloriously so if it is part of, rather than a distraction from, the plot. And the balance is a matter of taste. You cannot please absolutely everyone, and if you try, you will compromise your own self-expression.

I am not even attempting to discuss high literature here. Just commercial, entertaining sexy stuff. That's a whole other argument with different standards.

From J.Z. Sharpe
An interesting post with associated comments from Romancing the Blog, a blog for romance writers:
http://www.romancingtheblog.com/blog/?p=758 

From ADR Forte
From the examples Jordan Summers mentions [see URL above], I think the issue is less about sex scenes in romance and more about badly written sex scenes in romance.

These are writing flaws:

-characters aren't developed enough (there's no real sexual tension or even chemistry between them)
-characters and motivations aren't realistic (the abused heroine jumping into bed with the next conceited jock-strap to come along)
-situations are unrealistic (half-dead characters suddenly getting randy despite severe blood loss)

And the kicker:

-the sex as written is just plain bad

There's an art to writing sex. Word choice is doubly and triply as important in sex scenes as it is otherwise. In one story using "dick" might leave your readers squirming in their seats, in another it might be as sexy as "purple headed manroot."

Speaking of manroots, sometimes a bit of flowery metaphor works. Other times it can be a libido killer. A writer needs to develop that ear not just for the flow of the story, but the flow of the sex scene, to know what sounds right and what doesn't.

I say sure you can have a sex scene in every chapter, but as lots of people have pointed out, the scenes need to move the story forward. And they need to keep the reader hooked.

So if a writer is throwing in sex scenes just to have one; if they haven't done their research, crafted compelling characters and plot conflict and if they haven't learned how to write hot, engaging sex scenes... then yes, they are just inflating wordcount with gratituous sex.

But as a reader, no there are not too many sex scenes in my romance. In fact I wish there were more. And I do wish they were kinkier. But I want them well written.

We've come a long way since the days of heaving bosoms and manroots, but I don't want trashy or emotionless sex either. I would caution writers less about backing off the sex in their romance and more about paying attention to the craft if they do decide to include sex.

Contrary to popular belief, writing sexy is HARD (and not in the good way either...)

From Cervo
As a bearer of a purple-headed manroot, I am here to lodge some complaint about that particular term. It has a sort of extraterrestrial ring to it that does not apply to my manroot in any case. The thing is incredibly earthbound as one might say responding far more to the Rabelaisian than the intergalactic. It likes wiggling.

I will chime in on the thought that there is a horrendous amount of bad writing about sex. I do see that it need not be imbedded in romance, but it is a trifle dull and redundant if it is not the product of some sort of relationship however fleeting. If most of sex is in the mind then that is where it begins. So even in a case where a gay man wants an anonymous blowjob in a glory hole, something has brought him here tonight. Otherwise he is just being hoovered.

Finally, I regard "gratuitous sex" as an oxymoron. Sex is often incidental or seems that way. It is a needed diversion, a redirection, a different place to put your mind (or your purple-headed manroot). What really applies is the notion of superfluous sex in which the author does not know what to do, or is a talentless knothead who just wants to tuck a fuck in here and there of a sort she wishes she was getting.

The key to understanding superfluous sex is simple. It comes out of nowhere and goes nowhere. So again the problem is not the sex. It's the writing. In life sex is never gratuitous however it may seem irrelevant to the moment (even though it probably is not). In fiction, the superfluous is an unwanted embellishment that clouds the narrative or renders it directionless.

The key here is to remember that art is not the thing it reports. It is an image or metaphor of it. So there can be no gratuitous sex in fiction, but much in bad writing, including sex, may very well be superfluous, including the entire piece.

From Diane
I write erotica. My erotica has a lot of sex in it -- usually fairly hardcore, raunchy, down and dirty sex. Is it gratuitous? I don't know, maybe. Could the story or the book work without each and every act? Probably, but it would be, somehow lessened, in my opinion. Will everyone like it? I sincerely doubt it!

What I don't want, is boring sex. Don't you just hate it when you find yourself skimming over the sex in an erotic story? It seems to me, if the sex is boring, you can't quite call it erotica, but if the sex is gratuitous, you probably still can -- and that doesn't necessarily make it porn, but porn isn't a dirty word to me anyway.

Now, Romance, or Romantica are other things altogether. I don't think many would classify my stuff as romance, with a big R, although I think of myself as being fairly romantic and I consider my stories to be pretty romantic -- in a pervy sort of way. I could be wrong, because I don't write for the genre, but I think sex can be considered gratuitous and you're not supposed to have gratuitous sex in Romance. That might be the difference between the genres. Maybe on the sliding scale of sex, gratuitous or otherwise, there is Porn, Erotica, Romantica, and Romance. Well, it's a thought.

From Chris Skilbeck
Aren't we arguing about a bit of a non-issue here? 'Gratuitous', in my understanding of the current usage of the word, means 'given without particular reason or justification' and if we're all understanding that the same way, then ANY gratuitous scene, whether it be sex, a fight, a sudden unexpected visit to the dentist or the dog getting run over, would be a bad thing to include in one's writing.

Most writers agree that every sentence should advance the story - so if a scene, any scene, is gratuitous, then it doesn't belong.

If the story is straight-up erotica, the story is probably: A meets B and they fancy each other, circumstances sooner or later enable them to fuck.

If the story is romance, the story is probably: A meets B and they like each other; circumstances sooner or later make them fall in love.

A sex scene that fits just dandy in the first story might well be totally out of place in the second. The real clincher is: the two types of story have rather different audiences. Some people want a story that'll make them wet (or hard), while some want a story that'll make them feel all weepy - it isn't the same game so the same rules don't apply to both sorts.

I've said this sort of thing before, and I'll say it again: beware of following other people's 'rules' of writing - they quite possibly apply only to a particular genre or style. Of course, if you're writing for a particular publisher and she has rules that she expects you to follow, then follow, or you won't get published.

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