Writing Smut And Smut-Lite

[cuddyclothes]

There was an interesting discussion on the WIP Big Bang Discord about writing smut and the challenges therein. Some of us are very uncomfortable writing certain sex acts. Others prefer to describe everything in detail. Still others prefer to vague, especially if they are world-building or writing in a fandom where it's easy to do so.

For my current fic, "Jeeves And The Honeymoon", the sequel to "Jeeves And The Chorus Girl", for the first time ever, I'm having trouble writing smut. It might be the current state of the US, it might be emotional, I don't know. My smut is...utilitarian,for lack of a better word. Usually it's a real blast writing J&W smut. The voices are so distinct, as are the POVs. But right now it feels like shoveling coal.

Some of the advice I was given was to read a lot of smut. Never a chore! But few writers write it like I do, a mixture of smut and farce. Although some exceI!  I like reading all kinds of smut and all emotional tones.

There are some acts I don't enjoy writing. Tops among these are anal sex. Also dub-con, although I love reading any form of bdsm. Reading the fills in this comm have certainly broadened my outlook! Who knew omarashi was so hot?? (Some of you did, obviously.) In terms of writing, some come too close to my real-life triggers. In terms of reading, no.
So if anyone feels like chiming in, please do so. A reminder that this comm is anonymous. No IP addresses logged. Non-members can comment as well!

If no-one feels comfortable talking about this, that's cool. I'm just interested in other writers' perspectives.

Comments

[luthienberen]

I agree with you that writing smut is a varied thing depending on the author and fandom. Like you, while I have read a range of smut not all of it is to my particular taste.

I find that for me, writing smut depends largely on the canon I am writing in. Sometimes I just don't think I can reproduce their voices sufficiently to write smut in detail so I may be vague or give it a miss entirely. Similar to you, there are also acts I'm not keen on, in my case such as BDSM.

I have however explored various kinks for fiction either for myself or as a gift fic for a friend.

Reading kink memes has expanded my knowledge/ interests I admit! Discovering A/B/O was fascinating considering I already liked mpreg lol.

So yes, it really does vary for me depending on the fandom, what characters and pairings I like and if I am comfortable capturing that in a sexual situation. (So far for example, any smut I have written for J&W has been vague using flowery descriptive language; whilst in Holmesian fandom I'm still finding my comfort zone.)

[cuddyclothes]

I agree that different fandoms call for different language. Swiss Army Man has a surreal, romantic quality that was hard to replicate. House is down-to-earth and can take a lot of tone-switching.

J&W for me simply has to be funny. Answering the prompts here has been a fun experiment in different tones!

[quaffanddoff]

Jooster smut is uniquely fun to write. There's such a great combination of humor, power dynamics, characters, and historical quirks to play with. I'm very grateful to cuddyclothes and this comm for helping me discover that. I had such a blast last summer reading all the prompts and fills here and writing as much as I could. I had written a little smut for other fandoms before that, but the kink prompts here inspired me like no other.

[cuddyclothes]

Thank you so much! You have definitely written a lot of inspired fics!