What is Literotica?

Literotica: is it just a fancy name for a porn site or is there a greater depth to the name?

If you happen to stumble across the forums attached to this site (did you even know there were forums?), you might see someone promote the concept that this site is above "mere porn" and even above plain erotica -- there is meant to be a literary component to it, why else would the site be called "Literotica"?

Did the owners of the site mean to set a line in the sand with their name? Did they intend to set a bar of literary standard or were they simply alluding to the fact that the site is designed as a place for written porn/erotica, as opposed to the myriad sites dedicated to visual porn?

If you wander through the category listings, it shouldn't take long to make up your mind on that one. I'm not saying there's not some damned fine writing hiding out there. There most certainly is, but that's definitely only a small proportion of the writing here.

The vast majority of the hundreds of thousands of stories, the millions of words posted to this site, are not going to turn up any time soon on the curriculum of an English Literature course. Nor would their writers expect them to. They have been written for pure carnal pleasure, nothing more, nothing less.

They are the much down valued "stroke" stories and yet they make up large swaths of the most popular categories. Readers flock to these tales, with all their clunky sentence construction, improbable scenarios and total lack of coherent plot.

Do the readers care that the writing isn't beautiful, that the word choice isn't pristine? Of course they don't. As long as the sex is there, and the story is understandable that's all they're looking for -- they're not after high art, they're looking for masturbatory aids.

Is there any other reason to read this stuff?

Does anyone really come here looking for literature? I suppose a few might, but to most it would be a bonus rather than an aim.

This brings us to the subject of "erotica" as somewhat higher form of art than "porn".

There are some here who claim not to write porn at all. That sex is not the point of the story, it is incidental to it and this distinction marks their work as "erotica".

I'm not so sure about that. If the aim is other than erotic, how can the story be considered "erotica"? A detective story is a detective story, regardless of whether he beds the damsel in distress or not.

No, I don't believe a tale is erotica because it has a sex scene. I've seen stories here that seem to have the mandatory sex scene thrown in so it will pass muster to go in a category other than "Non-Erotic".

Haven't you seen them? The story is bubbling along very nicely, and suddenly there's a change. The two main characters suddenly decide to jump each other's bones. The act does nothing to move the story along; in fact, it interrupts the flow and can be skipped over without any loss to the storyline.

If the sex is incidental, it's not erotica. That's my belief anyway.

A story must revolve around the sexual to be erotica, the sex, or sexual tension, between characters must be a pivotal part of the story. So what is the difference between "porn" and "erotica"?

For me, it comes down to style of story.

The submissions here that some critics call "vignettes" that are purely sex scenes with little or no introduction before the act -- these are porn. Sometimes we don't even know the names of the participants. It isn't important to know who they are; the act is all.

The implausibly plotted are usually porn as well. You know what I mean -- the boss suddenly calls the well stacked secretary into his office, closes the door and has his way with her on the desk; dad looks at his daughter and suddenly realises she's a woman and damn he'd like a bit of that; the strangers that meet in a supermarket and get straight to it in the middle of the fruit and veg section. These are all porn.

Erotica requires a plot, a plausible plot. It requires character development and, more than anything, it requires a reason for these people to get together. And the sex, when they get down to it, has to have meaning and purpose.

Erotica, in my opinion, doesn't need a fully-fledged sex act to be erotic. Well-written erotica can be about the chase, without there ever being a consummation on the page. I can't do it. My writing skills aren't good enough, but I've seen it done. Some of the sexiest, most arousing copy I've read has been written about fully clothed people in mundane daily situations -- not a cock, pussy or wet anything in sight.

All of these styles of writing have a place in Literotica. They're all here. They all have readers and fans. It is not "merely" a porn site; nor is it a literature site. It is a site for all forms of sexy writing to get together, rub shoulders (and other more interesting places) and jostle for readership.

And that's the beauty of it. What turns me on won't turn you on and what you find arousing I might find either really boring or almost offensive. But we can all find a story to our liking, and our kink, if we look hard enough, hidden in this great library called Literotica. The only problem is remembering to bookmark that last great read.

Now, if you'd excuse me, there's a story about a man and this girl, see, and they meet at a library (or was it the Laundromat?). Anyway, it's really hot stuff and I've just got to find it again...