Up In Smokey: On Writing Lesfic

Story Info
Some frank insight on the art of writing women loving women.
6.3k words
4.2k
5
Share this Story

Font Size

Default Font Size

Font Spacing

Default Font Spacing

Font Face

Default Font Face

Reading Theme

Default Theme (White)
You need to Log In or Sign Up to have your customization saved in your Literotica profile.
PUBLIC BETA

Note: You can change font size, font face, and turn on dark mode by clicking the "A" icon tab in the Story Info Box.

You can temporarily switch back to a Classic Literotica® experience during our ongoing public Beta testing. Please consider leaving feedback on issues you experience or suggest improvements.

Click here
Smokey125
Smokey125
616 Followers

This Essay Was Begun—

Thursday, September 27th, 2018, 6:14 p.m.

Well then, and good day, friends! Yes, 'twould appear it's essay time again, would't not. The topic: writing lesbian fiction. I realize there've already been done a number of essays, treatises, theses and tutorials on the subject at hand. But now...there's one more.

What got me into writing lesfic? Well, the heterocentric nature of entertainment and daily life, for but one. As did the body of work that's been done on gay male fiction, in A-list media. Erotica may not equate to A-list entertainment, but this takes nothing from the value placed on it by its fans. Nonetheless, the gay male community's been explored in TV and film on and off for decades. But the lesbian community? ...The surface has been...tickled, shall we say. But our work remains cut out for us. And all of this is brought to you from the mind of a gay chick at heart, by the way. An extremely femmy lipstick lesbian. But not nearly enough about me.

Another factor in my quest to write grand Sapphic fiction is, logically, my intense affection for the female sex. And the fun, playful, impish, mischievous things they enjoy doing to one another. A lot of my favorite traits to give my girls come from shades of humor, quirkiness, cuteness and whimsy. They truly are my bread and butter. I adore women, as a collective. Individually? That's a bit of a different story. I too have a platonic fondness for many gentlemen, as do more lesbians than the stereotype demons would have you believe. We like men as friends, just...y'know, not in that way. It's kind of what makes us lesbians. More on that later.

When both genders were created and shaped in their own way, the X chromosome, it seems to me, was given the pulchritude and sex appeal. Which, I as well believe, is the reason women have two and men have one. If you're an androphile—person who (genuinely) likes men, and only men—that's awesome. They simply don't happen to be the study or centerpiece of my work, my material or this essay. If you're a gynephile—person who likes only women—then you know that the only thing better than a woman iiiiiiiiiiis...?

That's right—two women! ...Heck, why stop there??

Gay men will likely prefer material with all-male sex scenes, but may also appreciate a hetero experience. Maybe. I would not know. Women who identify as straight seem most partial to hetero stories. Some ride the bisexuality line, some blur it past recognition, and some do not go near it. I believe it takes a very special woman to truly appreciate gay male sex. I...am simply not her. I am a hundred percent lesbian. Now, I'm aware what you may be thinking: oh, everyone's got a little yin and yang. Not I. In order for me to be absolutely into it, I must have women and only women in the picture. The second a dude pops up, speaks, pokes in a body part, anything, I'm out. That is what I mean by totally 100% gay. That's not to say there's anything wrong with guys in general. Some of my best friends are guys. But as a wise Sapph whisper once said, "I like my men like I like my coffee: nowhere near my pussy."

This is not to discount the presence of dudes altogether, however. Believe it or not, I frankly feel they get a crap rap in most forms of pop culture. And so when I let them slip into my stories, I normally make them nice and personable. In fact, I like to give a lot of my gay gals platonic guy pals, which is a friendship and a dynamic more common in reality than meets the eye. Most fellows I've met have been quite nice men...if perhaps a bit simplistic in their feelings. When they meet lesbians, however, they do need to drop the word "threesome" from their vocabulary. Otherwise, they're cool to hang out and chase girls with.

If you are a tried and true gynephile, then you're aware just how potent a comely lady's allure is. Woman is designed and engineered to appeal to their admirers—your straight dudes, your lesbians, your bisexuals—such that whether during intimacy on her own or with someone, one woman is acceptable. Simple logic will extrapolate that two of them is twice as nice! It's rare to see two girls who sincerely enjoy each other's company not having great fun. That, chicks and chums, is what we thrive on. Strive for. Drive on. ...Live for. Think about that. If you're really into someone, their happiness is going to rank high in your list of priorities. And so seeing them happy will in turn make us happy, and ratchet it all up a notch. Just basic fundamentals, really. Elementary, my dear Readers.

So, this is all fine and good for just admiring women, but how to approach the challenges of writing about them, and their love for each other? Well, I'm glad you asked. Now, I'm going to be saying some things throughout the course of this essay that certain folks will not love very much. That's okay. You have a perfect right to disagree, and I have a perfect right to disagree right back. But in all seriousness, I stand by my statements. There're those who will maintain that there are hard and fast rules to the art of lesbian erotica, and those who'll tell you there are no rules. Me, I fall somewhere in the middle. I believe that anyone is capable of sitting down and penning a lesbian love story. Now, whether it has merit, whether it'll resonate with your target audience...whether it'll hit the right notes, strike a chord, and other musical metaphors, that's a piano of a different color.

If you want to write anything, I feel a healthy background in general reading will be a boost. Remember, in addition to the author's art, published books are proofed and edited by professionals, to give you the optimum experience. And for heaven's sakes, do your research. If you're reading this, you have an internet connection. And the world at your fingertips. Put it the frig to use! Don't be lazy or rush. These habits invite errors. Anyone reasonable understands that fine art takes time to produce.

Now then, lesbian material. You might still find this something of a novelty—even towards the end of decade two in the twenty-first century. If you are a woman who enjoys other women, your research can be garnered firsthand. And be FUN! For those without this luxury, your research is out there if you know where to look. And no, I'm not speaking about porn. Some porn is more "tastefully" done than other porn, and we are writing erotica, but the translation doesn't quite track. The parallel is inequal. Porn can generate ideas and inspiration, but basing your entire writing foundation on it is not a good idea. First of all, it's embarrassingly unrealistic. (Not that our stories are grounded entirely in realism, mind you, but even so.) Second, it's HOR-ri-bly written. And "acted." Third, it's a different craft: they're doing shoots. We're writing stories.

You see, typical stories have a little something called an "arc." And a "plot." To what degree the sex works itself into the arc and plot is in the hands of the writer. But it's simple logic that lovers of literature will be intrigued by your story arc, not just by hot babes doing the nasty. Everyone's got their own tastes, there's going to be overlap and all that. But integrate some substance! Lend the characters that semi-elusive third dimension, let your Readers get to know them. They'll thank you for it. (The characters will, I mean. The Readers might thank you too, but don't demand it.) Give your girls a human side. They are, after all, *ahem* human. Crying out loud, they're characters; give them characteristics! Give them feelings to express, desires to reach for, battles to fight, conflicts to conquer, struggles to overcome, lessons to learn...and yes, maybe even a tear or two to shed. Not necessarily all in the same story. But indeed, give them their dignity as persons having found their way to the page and screen. And if you're stuck for traits, just go autobiographical. What you write is your own design, so design it! And when you finally, inevitably reach the intimacy...bring it all home! Interpret her feelings and emotions in the sexual moment according to the journey you've taken her on.

I'm not saying you have to put the sex on pause for an entire page to take the girl(s) through a massive reverie of reflection. Keep in mind, the more thorough Reader will peruse closely, dissecting perhaps every single paragraph. The more casual Reader may skim down to the spicy passages. Try not to make it feel like a chore for either. They are here for a reason, after all, to read meaningful stories with a delightful erotic twist. So when your character is rewarded with her sexual encounter, give it to her good! Relish it, milk it, lay it on a bit thick. You can always tie up any loose ends in a resolution segment or an epilogue.

Now...I am beating a bit about the, eh...bush, so to speak. Writing is like creating any other form of art, in that once you do enough of it, you'll find your unique style. And if your writing has some merit to be mined, you'll accumulate a fanbase. Very slowly and gradually, I can almost guarantee...but if you feel writing is for you, keep at it. You'll also start to determine your target audience. This doesn't mean you should try to decide specifically what they like and cater to them, individually or as a whole. Don't do this. You'll drive yourself crazy. But once in a while, take a step back, reflect, and revert to basics. At times, remind yourself why you wanted to start writing in the first place. Maybe you truly love it, maybe you enjoy entertaining people with your words...heck, maybe you just revel in the feeling of your fingers dancing across the keys.

If you write and put lesfic out there, your target audience will be made up mostly of straight men, lesbians and bisexuals. Logically, while one demographic isn't more "important" than another, if you want to appeal to everyone, here's my advice: dial it back. Slow your role. You're never going to appeal to everybody. Sorry to be blunt, but the sooner you accept it the better. Do not go near that nonsense as a goal. If, however, you'd like to appeal to as many Readers as possible—a much more reasonable and feasible goal—one tip is to try your hand at different genres. Vary your elements, and brave a foray into a new category now and again. Put your girls into a number of different situations, and see how they deal with them. Don't stay in the narrow, stationary little box. Instead, switch it up, shake up the box and see what pops out. Be adventurous, and try not to close your mind off to too many things.

That being said, trying new things does not equal changing or compromising your style. Don't get taken with a new idea at the expense of your integrity as a writer. Readers, particularly astute ones, have a way of detecting that. If you try out an idea or category and it just doesn't work for you, that's okay; there's no shortage of them. Occasionally you'll get a ways along a new story and realize it's not going anywhere. Or that you just can't pull off the unique genre/concept twist. I know how frustrating that is, believe me, putting equally valuable time into a project only to have to start back at square one. Try not to let it discourage you, but simply to move on to your next idea. With enough time and new stories written, that one that stopped dead in its tracks won't matter as much. And you can always go back and try it again, with a new angle and a fresh perspective.

Now returning to what I was saying about straight guys and gay girls mostly as your Readers, you'll probably—probably—have an easier time "winning over" the guys with your hot chick-on-chick action. Overall. Lesbians read the stories in their section because, let's face it, there are tons of girl-girl stories here, and in your average bookstore...not nearly so much. This doesn't necessarily mean lesbians have higher standards. One might, another might not. We're all human. Everyone's got their own kinks on the ol' spice palette. And here's the part of this essay that may cause some controversy. While you might attract anyone with your writing, man or woman, a number of how-to essays dealing in lesbian sex will try to indicate to you, basically, what women/lesbians like in their Sapphic erotica. Ah, the elusive female psyche! Right? What appeals to women? What are the ingredients in a woman's proverbial cup of erotic tea? ...'S a big question, is it not? Well yes, it's a big question, 'cause guess what, folks??...

EVERY, WOMAN, IS, DIFFERENT!!

Gasp! I know! How shocking! How scandalous! How dare I say such a thing! How do I dare point out the truth that each woman has her own point of view! That no two women on Earth possess the exact same set of preferences, likes, dislikes, tastes, fancies, desires, kinks, fetishes, what have you! That different women enjoy different types of erotic stories! Gasp! Oh my gosh, did I just say that??

Yes I did. And I'm going to take it a step further. Again, mayhaps controversial words, but you know something?

You can't speak for all women. NO ONE can speak for all women, in terms of preferences, likes, dislikes, the above. In fact, on those subjects, no one person can speak for any entire group. Read me out. The truth, folks? There is one thing—one thing—that every woman on this planet has in common. And it's called a pussy.

...'Kay, clinically, it's called a vagina, but that word just...makes me feel weird. And "cunt" tends to overly upset or startle people. As much as I love "cunt" as a word, I love "pussy" too. And it really is the only thing you'll find present within the being of every female you'll ever meet. Breasts? Mostly, though some women aren't as well-endowed as others. Some dudes have big boobs too. But it's the pussy that's really the essential womanhood. And you know what?

Every pussy likes a different assortment of things! Each has different "sexcessories!" Some pussies like what their hearts like, some what their brains like, some are just totally out there on their own. Hey, you can disagree, you can disbelieve me, you can tell me I'm dead wrong to my face—er, screen. But as I said, I stand by my statements. I've conversed directly with dozens of female Readers and lesbians—a little overlap in between—who enjoy ALL different sorts of stuff in their stories. Some enjoy the BDSM. Some prefer the tender sweet romance. Some like both. Some have fetishes you can't imagine, just like men. We're all human, and we're all different!

(Warning: tangent.) Did we forget that somewhere along the line? Where did these gender stereotypes—95% of which are utter baloney—come from? Some deal directly with sex, thus affecting our judgment in someone's erotic preferences. While in many cases wrong, stereotypes are still at least...supposed to be based in truth, aren't they? "Oh, women like sex, but men can't live without it!" ...No...some women like sex, and some women can't live without it. Some men like sex, and some men can't live without it. "Oh, women're so much smarter than men! They remember everything, and they're never wrong!" Dead wrong again. And this is not hate speech, by the by; just truth. It is not misogynistic to say that women are just as flawed as men are because they're human. It's not homophobic to point out that lesbians and gay men are as far from perfection as hets. Just human. Pure and simple, misogyny means you hate women. Homophobia means you hate gay people. Just for being who they are. It does NOT mean you're telling them things they don't like hearing. Do remember, this essay is coming from the point of view of a lesbian. (End tangent.)

My friends, people are going to like what they're going to like. And that's fine. In fact, it's wonderful. Who wants us to all be the same? Everyone likes different erotic literature. Just like some Readers will comment on stories and some won't. Some will favorite stories and some won't. Select stories at random, go to their lists of favorites and see if the profiles reveal the demographic. Look at the members' favorites lists. Get a sense of it. All that being said, I encourage you to write what you want, and what you know. And definitely what you like. And if you've come to read this essay, what you most likely like is lesbian material, so let's get back to it.

Again, every lesbian's different. The one thing they all have in common is—well, two things: they all have pussies, and—they all court, date and have sex with other women and not men. Now, when you come up with the idea for your lesbian story, you have the option of making your girl(s) completely gay, bisexual, or either. Or, interesting variation, a girl who honestly believes she's straight, but hasn't learned she can actually like girls yet. This is a more common phenom than many realize. That X-tra chromosome has a lot of swaying power. There's usually more gray area in a girl than a guy as to whether they'd try being with the same sex. Especially then if a factor like alcohol drops into the picture. So as the author, you have a number of options to draw from. Here's your next tip.

Gay stereotypes—particularly lesbi ones—tend to "hang" (i.e., be true) more than others. Of course, there'll never be a lesbian who fits every one. But there're many: lesbians love sports. They idolize figures like Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King. They rock Doc Martens and "plannel." They have Flock Of Seagulls hair and deep voices. They're handsy—oops; handy, with power tools and can fix things. They move in together quick after falling in love (hence the term "U-Haul lesbians"). They're connected in the cosmos and eventually all date each other because of the disproportionately small community. They're good at writing folksy songs about philosophy and stuff. They're funnier than straight women (hence the lot of successful lesbi comedians). They fall somewhere among the labels of butch/masculine, fem/lipstick, or "futch." They all have a favorite L Word character. Okay, that last one is true. Or these days, a favorite Orange/Black character. Because those are still a couple of the only sources of real representation we have on TV.

If you wish to utilize these stereotypes—or any others I may have missed—I'd advise sticking to one or two per character. Depending how you shape any major character trait, it's a good idea to work it into the story and build part of the arc around it. I've explored most of those above-mentioned generalizations, because I've written dozens of stories and created so many different gay girls to *ahem* "play" with. One of them becomes a softball player. Clearly, not all lesbians play softball, and not all softballers are lesbians. But they're out there. Some lebbis like softball, just as one example, because they enjoy handling larger spherical objects, and because it's a good physical outlet to let off steam. Some like working with power tools for similar reasons.

I belong to the lipstick variety, and so, therefore, do most—not all, but most—of my characters. When you create a lesbian character, you're faced with a hostess of questions like this. Some will be answered by the nature of the story you build around her. Bear in mind, though, that while slipping in stereotypes might speak or appeal to some of your Sapphic Readers, again, it's never good at the expense of your protagonist's integrity. Once more, don't compromise her to placate anyone; it won't work. Sometimes, though, you can come up with a plot so bare-bones and stripped of outside elements, you can stuff it with a massive conversation between the m.c.s hitting lots of these bases. I did this in my story "Rerouted." Such big conversations and back-and-forth dialogue are good for character exposition, showing colors of emotion, and too for hanging on to a Reader's attention. On a site like this, many Readers can lose interest faced with lots of large narrative paragraphs. (Unless those paragraphs compose sex scenes.) Switching things up to quick one-line dialogue exchanges will psychologically relax such Readers, who will enjoy the brisk interplay.

Smokey125
Smokey125
616 Followers
12