So you wanna write SMEX?: One-Shot

The easiest way to plot an Erotic Story is to decide on what you want for your climactic smex scene – then build a story and characters around it to make it VITAL for that scene to happen. Once you know who and roughly what you want to happen… Then what?

 

HOW do you get what's in your imagination down on Paper?

 

Writing Smex is easier than you might think because it's formulaic. I don't mean the story plots, I mean the smexual actions themselves:

Action A > triggers Reaction B, which triggers > Reaction C...

Once you know what you want to happen, the rest is practically Plug & Play.

 

Porn

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I recommend watching porn -- real porn, as in, live-action movies with people actually doing it. NOT anime porn! While extremely pretty, anime leaves out a LOT of important details such as what’s actually getting wet (sweat, drool, other fluids…) when and how lube is used, and the actual physical reactions that occur, (shudders, flinches, goose-bumps, moans, writhing…)

 

Be CHOOSY about what you watch. Some of that stuff is NASTY…!

Erotica

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An easier though less accurate method is by digging out your favorite erotic stories and highlighting the sex scenes you liked best.

 

Once you have your favorite scenes highlighted, break down what happened and how, then rewrite the whole scene in your own words. You don’t ever want to use exactly the same words, especially not the dialogue, that’s plagiarism. Paraphrasing, on the other hand, is perfectly acceptable.

However…!

-- Be aware that the authors you are borrowing from may have missed something or gotten something totally WRONG. This is especially true if you are borrowing from Fan-fiction. A little back-up research on using that particular position or toy might turn out to be physically impossible or might reveal a few exciting tidbits you can use.

My Recommendations:

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Porn:

-- Anything by Ninn Workx (Google is your friend!) The participants are actually attractive, the sets are very high class, and their genre selections go from sweet & sensual all the way to hard-core kink.

For Het Erotica:

-- Books by Angela Knight & Laurell K. Hamilton. They write detailed smex that doesn’t make you wanna hurl.

Slash/Yaoi:
Read these for ALL the technical details:

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http://www.squidge.org/~minotaur/classic/eroc.html

http://www.squidge.org/~minotaur/mqa/index.html

http://www.alltrees.org/anime/abetteridea/fic.realitycheck.php

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- From: Minatour's Sex Tips for Slash Writers

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If lube is not used, how much pain there really is? Could it come to real injuries, as in requiring medical treatment? I've read some slash in which it did, but it's mostly women that write slash, so they could be wrong.

-- Madwoman

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Well, it depends on the guy and the circumstances. If the catcher is experienced, and relaxed, it can actually be possible to have non-lubricated anal sex without too much damage or pain. There would probably be some tearing of the anal ring tissue, and some bleeding, but not so much as to require medical attention. On the other hand, if the pitcher is rough, or the catcher inexperienced (or the situation is a rape or non-consensual), there could be substantial bleeding requiring a trip to the ER and maybe some stitches (though I don't actually know if stitches would be the best treatment for a tear in that area).

 

The real danger in anal sex is the possibility of tearing the inner membrane of the anal canal, which can lead to peritonitis, but that is VERY rare in normal sex. It's more likely to happen from rape or inexperienced fisters (fingernails can be sharp).

 

For the most part, non-lubed anal sex is a no-go. The catcher wouldn't be able to stand the pain, though there are guys who are able to relax the muscles enough to do it.

-- Minotaur

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In Short:

-- If the Uke is extremely excited and EXPERIENCED enough to know how to relax their muscles voluntarily enough to allow comfortable penetration, then lube isn't needed. If they're not that experienced then Lube is definitely a necessity.

Okay, so now that you know what you want to happen...
 

How do you Write it?
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Writing Smex is easy because it's formulaic - not the stories, the way the smex scenes are written.

 

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A smex scene is nothing more than an ACTION Scene, with emotional bits tossed in for flavor, and all Action sequences MUST be written in the Order in which they happen - Chronologically! If you want the reader to SEE the actions that you are trying to portray as a movie in their minds, Chronological Order is the ONLY way to do it.

 

 

1. The Character knee-jerk REACTS - Physically...

2. AND they feel the physical sensations of the Happening -- suffering a Physical Reaction.

3. AND THEN they have an Emotional Reaction reflected in their Thoughts and/or Dialogue about what just happened.

4. AND THEN they Do Something in Retaliation.

 

This Retaliation Action incites the Other character to do something NEW -- starting the whole Chain of Reactions again.

Violating Chronological Order is Bad.

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Incorrect:

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The flash of pain exploded in my cheek as her hand lashed out to slap me.

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Correct:

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Her hand lashed out in a slap. [action]

My cheek exploded with a flash of pain. [reaction]

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If you knock the actions out of order, the Reader's Mental Movie STOPS and the Reader has to STOP READING to mentally rearrange what they just read into the correct order to get the movie back. Do it too many times and reading become a chore rather than a pleasure. Never forget, if your story is too hard to read, the reader can always find another story.

Watch for the word 'AS'.

-- Nine times out of ten, ‘as’ in a sentence means that your Actions and Reactions have been reversed.

-- Quick Test : Replace the word ‘ as’ with the word ‘ and’. If ‘ and’ doesn’t read right in the sentence, you can pretty much guarantee that it’s because your Reactions came before the Action that caused it.

 

 

1.Stimulus

- Something happened TO the main POV character

 

2.Reaction

- Their immediate physical reaction (jerk, twitch, kick, punch, groan, shout...) >

 

3.Perception

- What they sensed physically (saw, smelled, tasted, felt, heard) >

 

4.Emotion

- How they felt Emotionally >

 

5.Response

- What they Did or Said* because of what just happened. (*Dialogue is an ACTION!) >

 

 

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External Action

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1. Physical Act/ what was done TO the main POV character >

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Viewpoint Character’s Reaction

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2. Physical Reaction / Did they: shudder? flinch? writhe? Shout? Kick? Punch? >

3. Sensory Reaction / What it felt like physically >

4. Emotional Reaction / Internal dialogue or Vocal Comment >

5. Deliberate Reaction / What they did or said in retaliation >

 

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External Reaction

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6. Next Character’s Physical Action and/or Dialogue. > (No Internal Narration! Putting Internal Narration here means you’ve just head-hopped!)

Begin whole thing again:

 

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Viewpoint Character’s Reaction

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1. Physical Reaction / Did they shudder? flinch? writhe? >

2. Sensory Reaction / What it felt like >

3. Emotional Reaction / Internal dialogue or Vocal Comment >

4. Deliberate Reaction / What they did or said in retaliation >

 

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Partner’s (External) Reaction

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5. Physical Action/Action or dialogue or Action & then Dialogue. >

Begin whole thing again.

-- Are we having fun yet?

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Partner’s External Action

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Physical Act/ what was done >

-- In a sudden rush, Seiki grabbed Ryu's wrist and shoved him back against the wall. His lips came down and covered Ryu's.

 

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Viewpoint Character’s Reaction

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Physical Reaction / Did they shudder? flinch? writhe? >

-- Ryu stiffened in shock.

Sensory Reaction / What it felt like >

-- The firm lips covering his mouth were surprisingly soft, and moist. He could feel a tongue sweeping against his bottom lip.

Emotional Reaction/ Internal or Vocal Comment >

-- Seiki was kissing him? Seiki was kissing him? Seiki was kissing him!

Deliberate Reaction / What they did or said in retaliation >

-- He closed his eyes tight and tried to pull back, but the wall was right against the back of his head. Seiki's arms blocked him from moving to either side. His wrist was trapped, pinned by Seiki's hand, so he couldn’t punch some sense into him either. He opened his mouth to shout at the big brute.

 

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Partner’s External Reaction

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Physical Action/Action or dialogue or Action & then Dialogue. >

-- Seiki's tongue swept into Ryu's open mouth to engage Ryu's tongue in a warm wet duel.

On the Page...

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In a sudden rush, Seiki grabbed Ryu's wrist and shoved him back against the wall. His lips came down and covered Ryu's.

 

Ryu stiffened in shock. The firm lips covering his mouth were surprisingly soft, and moist. He could feel a tongue sweeping against his bottom lip. Seiki was kissing him? Seiki was kissing him? Seiki was kissing him! He closed his eyes tight and tried to pull back, but the wall was right against the back of his head. Seiki's arms blocked him from moving to either side. His wrist was trapped, pinned by Seiki's hand, so he couldn’t punch some sense into him either. He opened his mouth to shout at the big brute.
 

Seiki's tongue swept into Ryu's open mouth and engaged Ryu's tongue in a warm wet duel.

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Grammar Keys:
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ACTION goes BEFORE Thoughts & Comments.

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-- The body reacts faster than thought. Ask any martial artist. On the other hand, a reactionary comment such as "Ouch!" can go first as it plays the part of an ACTION, rather than a thought.

 

It has been brought to my attention that someone has been telling the internet writers that Dialogue always comes before Actions in a paragraph, that paragraphs should Begin with dialogue. This is WRONG. Not one grammar book I own supports this in any way. I also brought this little ‘rule’ to two of my publication editors. They laughed their asses off, then told me that if they ever caught me doing it, they’d kick my ass.

Watch for the word 'AS'.

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-- Nine times out of ten, if you see the word 'As' you've reversed your Actions with your Reactions.

ONE Point of View per Scene!

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-- Or it gets really confusing as to who is feeling & doing what.

NO SHARING!
-- Separate each character’s actions & dialogue from the next.

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-- Characters do NOT share Sentences or Paragraphs - EVER. Having two people doing stuff in one paragraph makes the Reader's visuals muddy. The Reader's mental movie - your story - comes to a screeching halt while they try to figure out what the hell just happened.

 

Put each individual character’s Actions -- AND the Dialogue that goes with those actions -- in a new Paragraph**. It may look choppy on the page, but the reader has absolutely no doubt as to who is doing what. The Reader's perceptions are more important than whether or not your type looks tidy.

(Yes, the dialogue AND the Actions of one character go in the SAME paragraph TOGETHER.)

 

When describing Sensations & Emotions, Adjectives are your Friend.

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-- THIS is where you use all your purple prose. Make every adjective highly opinionated to get the reader right into the action as though THEY are feeling it.

In Conclusion:

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AFTER figuring all this out the hard way, I discovered that this whole routine (Action / Reaction) is explained in exquisite detail in the Writer’s Digest book: Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham

 

Enjoy! 

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DISCLAIMER: As with all advice, take what you can use and throw out the rest. As a multi-published author, I have been taught some fairly rigid rules on what is publishable and what is not. If my rather straight-laced (and occasionally snotty,) advice does not suit your creative style, by all means, IGNORE IT.

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Ookami Kasumi 

http://ookami-kasumi.livejournal.com/