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Plot Structure

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Certified Mind Reader
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A discussion with another Lush writer prompted this post, but I think it's a helpful review for those who slept through English Lit 101.

Here is the basic plot structure for most fiction.



1) Opening exposition - Introduce your characters and setting, establish some sense of normal day to day affairs.

Tim and Tim's wife Wendy lived in a quiet little suburban home with a cat and no children. They used to have sex a lot but the passion had gone out of their marriage, and they were lucky if they had sex once a month.

2) Conflict - A problem or challenge. Something that shakes the characters out of their normal daily existences, and motivates the action of the story.

One day, a young horny sexpot named Daria was hired at Tim's job. Tim felt an immediate attraction to the girl. She signaled that she was interested in him, too.

3) Rising Action - A build-up of tension and suspense as characters struggle and work and often fail to resolve the conflict. THIS should be the majority of the story.

Tim was tormented. He wanted to screw his new coworker's brains out, but he also felt loyal to his wife. Daria's flirtations were getting harder to resist, but he just couldn't betray Wendy. One day Wendy met Daria at the grocery store, and learning that she was new in town invited her to dinner. Daria accepted, eager to be closer to Tim. Tim spent the entire night trying to fend off Daria's advances and keep his attraction to her secret from his wife, creating several tense interactions.

4) Climax - The resolution of the tension. The more tension that has been built, the greater the climax when it arrives (yeah, this true of writing as well). Given that we're writing erotic fiction, this is usually going to be a sex scene.

Daria finally succeeds in getting Tim alone - and they begin making out. Wendy discovers them. Tim thinks he's headed for divorce, but Wendy surprisingly suggests a threesome. They all have really wild, mind blowing sex.

5) Denouement (or falling action) and resolution - Post climax, the loose ends are all tied up (or maybe a sequel is hinted at) and the story comes to a conclusion. Generally, but not always, there will be some kind of development with the characters or the status of their situation, rather than a total return to the old normal.

As Tim wraps his arms around the women on either side of them, he realizes that the passion between his wife and him had always been there all along, it just needed to be re-awoken.

***

Here is the plot structure for a lot of fiction on Lush.



1) Opening exposition - The character is introduced in terms of age, physical measurements (the bigger the better), wardrobe (the smaller the better), hairstyle, and horniness (always very high). There is no establishment of any kind of personality or normal day to day life - This is who they are! This is their life!

2) Conflict - Without establishing what 'normal' is for this character, there's not really anyway to disrupt it. Okay, they see someone they're attracted to.

3) Rising tension - Fuck that! Let's get to fucking!

4) Climax - Pretty much the entire story, right here. But without any of the other parts, I don't really care about this as a reader. It doesn't do much for me. This is basically the literary equivalent of a dribbling premature ejaculation. Sure, you came, but meh. No one's impressed.

5) Denouement - Was it good for you, baby? Yeah, whatever...

***

So a few words of advice about plot for people who care about such things.

1) Take your time to get to your really know your characters, and let the reader get to know them as well - not just in bed, but also what they're like out of bed. Otherwise they come off as mindlessly horny fuck-machines.

2) Pretty much everyone who writes for this site can write a sex scene. Many of them are actually pretty decent sex scenes. But the sex scene is nearly the last part of the story, and without everything else before it, is actually really boring. Why do I care what these two (or three or four) mindless horny fuck-machines are doing with their body parts? Work on developing the other parts of the story, and the sex scene will be a much bigger pay-off. I'll be cheering them on, because I've been witness to their journey to get to this point. As I said earlier the Rising Action should be the main focus of any story.

3) This is erotic fiction. You know they're going to have sex. I know they're going to have sex. Really, it's no secret. And it's not really interesting in itself. But, the story lies in how they got to this point - that's what makes the sex interesting. Think this through carefully so you as a writer at least have some kind of mental road map of the plot in mind as you write (but always stay open to unexpected twists, turns, and detours that can make the adventure even more exciting).

4) Don't treat your characters the way an over-indulgent parent treats their spoiled brats, instantly granting them everything that their little hearts desire. Your job as an author is to be horrible to your characters, frustrate them, torture them, make them work for what they want, so when they get it, the reader knows they actually deserve it. Every good story is a story of some character(s) overcoming great challenges in a journey of one sort or another. Too often, writers are starting their characters next door to the destination, and simply walking over (on a warm day with a gentle breeze and not a single challenge is sight). No! Put some thunder and lightning in there, and a jealous spouse with a meat cleaver, release some werewolves, strike your character down with a runaway bus. Give them something to do in order to earn his/her rewards by the time they get to the destination (the climax).

5) If you can manage it, work in some kind of moral to the story. What important thing did your character(s) learn from all this - about sex, the opposite sex, or life in general?
A single sperm contains 37.5 MB of data, and the average ejaculation is equivalent to almost 1600 GB. -- I'm feeling pretty industrious today.
Certified Mind Reader
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Addendum:

When I say make your characters work for what they want, I don't mean that they literally need to fight a werewolf in order to get laid. In the example story I wrote, Tim was challenged by the conflict between his fidelity to his marriage and his attraction to his co-worker- that was his werewolf he needed to fight. In other stories it might be overcoming social expectations, or shyness, or the initial disinterest of the seducee. As long as it's a formidable adversary for your character, it will be interesting.
A single sperm contains 37.5 MB of data, and the average ejaculation is equivalent to almost 1600 GB. -- I'm feeling pretty industrious today.
English Gentleman
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interesting, some points to take in mind. thank you.
Devil's Advocate
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Some really good advice here. Thanks for posting.
My latest story is a racy little piece about what happens when someone cute from work invites you over to watch Netflix and Chill.
In-House Sapiosexual
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Quote by Just_A_Guy_You_Know

4) Don't treat your characters the way an over-indulgent parent treats their spoiled brats, instantly granting them everything that their little hearts desire. Your job as an author is to be horrible to your characters, frustrate them, torture them, make them work for what they want, so when they get it, the reader knows they actually deserve it. Every good story is a story of some character(s) overcoming great challenges in a journey of one sort or another. Too often, writers are starting their characters next door to the destination, and simply walking over (on a warm day with a gentle breeze and not a single challenge is sight). No! Put some thunder and lightning in there, and a jealous spouse with a meat cleaver, release some werewolves, strike your character down with a runaway bus. Give them something to do in order to earn his/her rewards by the time they get to the destination (the climax).



I love point number four. Excellent point.
? A True Story ?
Certified Mind Reader
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The late great Mr. Vonnegut on some other ways to think about plot. Short, entertaining, and informative.

A single sperm contains 37.5 MB of data, and the average ejaculation is equivalent to almost 1600 GB. -- I'm feeling pretty industrious today.