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jajalalaPersonally in the past I've leaned towards making all my long "plotty" works into something teen-rated (with rare exceptions) for general accessibility, especially since I often find the sex itself is not essential to depict in order to tell the story. But I have plenty of horny energy, so I tend to just blast that into oneshots (like 3k-5k).
Recently though, I've been experimenting with longer-form smut works. I tried out a 4 chapter porn-with-plot that ended up being 20k of built up sexual tension and some actual plot. That was really fun, and I enjoyed having space to get into characterizations and to really build things up. I also find that sex scenes can be a great space to explore characterization and relationship, and thus really enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty when it's relevant. I'm now currently writing a longer multi-chapter that's a little more fragmented, with both plotty chapters and smutty chapters... don't know how I feel about it yet, but I posted two plotty chapters in a row and am craving a sexy chapter desperately.
When I'm reading I've been in both short and long camps... sometimes I hop on that "Porn Without Plot" tag and go through the fics crossing out anything above 10k... but there are certain authors that write absolutely riveting multichapters that have me reading in the most delightfully anticipatory manner.
Ultimately those multichapters tend to be more engaging/satisfying... but I don't always have the patience for them! As a writer I've only recently started delving into sexy multichapters, but I'm loving the space and time to develop/build the tension. I worry some SFW-oriented readers might be sad to miss out, but I find that when I actually decide to include smut... it's the whole point of the story, and I can't really cut it out or tell them to skip scenes. If it's not the point, then I'm teen-rated rather than throwing in random smut scenes.
IDK how many folks following this journal are into explicit and gen writing, but I'm curious if anyone else feels similar (or different) about how different work lengths feel in those domains.
Recently though, I've been experimenting with longer-form smut works. I tried out a 4 chapter porn-with-plot that ended up being 20k of built up sexual tension and some actual plot. That was really fun, and I enjoyed having space to get into characterizations and to really build things up. I also find that sex scenes can be a great space to explore characterization and relationship, and thus really enjoy getting into the nitty-gritty when it's relevant. I'm now currently writing a longer multi-chapter that's a little more fragmented, with both plotty chapters and smutty chapters... don't know how I feel about it yet, but I posted two plotty chapters in a row and am craving a sexy chapter desperately.
When I'm reading I've been in both short and long camps... sometimes I hop on that "Porn Without Plot" tag and go through the fics crossing out anything above 10k... but there are certain authors that write absolutely riveting multichapters that have me reading in the most delightfully anticipatory manner.
Ultimately those multichapters tend to be more engaging/satisfying... but I don't always have the patience for them! As a writer I've only recently started delving into sexy multichapters, but I'm loving the space and time to develop/build the tension. I worry some SFW-oriented readers might be sad to miss out, but I find that when I actually decide to include smut... it's the whole point of the story, and I can't really cut it out or tell them to skip scenes. If it's not the point, then I'm teen-rated rather than throwing in random smut scenes.
IDK how many folks following this journal are into explicit and gen writing, but I'm curious if anyone else feels similar (or different) about how different work lengths feel in those domains.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-18 06:46 pm (UTC)I think it really depends on the story. For example, there are some plotty stories which just don't work with the smut cut out (e.g., some of Incase's stories); but at the same time there are lots of stories where they can be skimmed/skipped without losing anything (e.g., most fanfic).
I think 20k is a decent length!
I personally like shorter smut-focused stories and I get tired if, when reading a multichapter, every single chapter has a long sex scene that just reads like the author is mix-and-matching different sex acts...
no subject
Date: 2022-03-18 08:44 pm (UTC)I've written short PWPs <5k, long PWPs with 20k+ words of just smut, longer stories where there might be 1 or 2 smut scenes out of 30 scenes or so. It depends on the story, and I give zero thoughts as to who will self-select out of reading. Some people avoid anything with smut in it while others only read E-rated stories, no matter the amount of smut in it. You're always losing someone.
I have a series where each installement is about 25k words and there are usually 2 sex scenes, one that is difficult to skip because it shows something important characterisation-wise, and a more fun one in the epilogue that could probably be skipped if one wanted. It's more like a little reward for the characters after all of the suffering. But that's how I wanted to tell the story and so I did. The smut isn't "the point" but it's an important part of showing how their relationship works. It was important to me and I wanted to show it.
I think some readers are tired of long fics where the sex scenes feel tacked on without adding much depth, but when they do have some kind of meaning (like it sounds for yours) I wouldn't really worry about it and just tell the stories you want to tell. Readers will always self-select out for whatever reason anyway.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-19 07:40 am (UTC)Totally feel you. Sometimes I'm just in the mood to read smut, so I skip anything too long. Sometimes I'm not in the mood to appreciate anything smutty so I filter out anything rated explicit. Sometimes I'm in the mood for long fic with the occasional smut thrown in.
I have nothing helpful to say when it comes to the actual writing lol. Most of the time I just have a Vibe or an Idea that I want for the fic. Word count, whether or not it's gonna be multichapter, etc. usually just happens while I write. Sometimes that also includes the rating; like, I'd start out thinking, "Okay, this is gonna be an E," but the way the story unfolds as I write doesn't naturally go toward a sex scene so I drop the idea.
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Date: 2022-03-20 01:32 pm (UTC)Also have you heard of kinktobers? Although I'm normally not a huge fan of large fics where each chapter is actually just its own unrelated oneshot, I find the thematic/event joining of those fics and the fact that it's capped at 31 stories (plus an "index" chapter if the author is kind) is really helpful. And ideally they don't have a huge wall of tags clogging AO3 search, but even if they do it's not super hard to navigate to the story I want if the author labeled the chapters (like "[A]/[B], [kink prompt]"). It's an absolute treat to just be able to read each little oneshot whenever you have time, skip around to pairings/kinks you like, or spread them out over a couple of days.
no subject
Date: 2022-03-20 04:42 pm (UTC)Ah yes writing what you want is probably the best move ultimately... AO3 has its robust tag system for a reason!
no subject
Date: 2022-03-20 04:47 pm (UTC)Ahahaha yeah I know the feeling of starting out one way and then the story seems to take a life of its own and decide what it wants to be
no subject
Date: 2022-03-21 01:01 am (UTC)Yeah, prompt collections can be fun :)