P. O. V. in Erotica

What is P.O.V. and why does it matter?

[This is a transcript of Prof. Dumbledore's lecture.]

So you have some hot ideas and want to write erotica. This is what you come up with:

1. The first approach:

[Me and my roommate (yes, some of you teenage writers write this way) walked into a bar and saw a hot red head coed sitting in the corner all by herself. The neckline of her shirt was so low that her tits were almost jutting out of the fabric. The nipples were protruding like grapes under the silky shirt. So my friend told me, "Go check her out." And I walked over.

"What's cooking, good looking?" I smiled proudly at the girl, rubbing my hard-on.

She gave me a quizzical look. She used the cocktail stirrer to stab at her nipples, making them even harder. She must be very aroused by my good looks. I hooked my thumb and asked her to follow me out to the rear exit of the bar. Once outside, I pulled down her pink panties and stuck my 12-inch salami into her gaping, dripping wet pussy.

"It feels so good," I muttered to myself.

I quickened my pace. She frowned and moaned. A series of hot contractions emitted from the base of my cock. I came all over her whore hole. I cleaned myself up and went back to finish the beer with my friend Beavis.]

Granted, there are lots of things to fix in this story, if you can call it that. But what I want to focus on today in this lecture is Point of View. The author is telling the story through his eyes. So he can only describe what he sees and hears around him. He cannot go into the girl's mind and add a line like this:

["Oh, I have to go home and tell all my friends how wonderful this fucker is," the girl thought to herself.]

The author is using a mixture of first person point of view and third person point of view. Let's call this 1+3.

2. The second approach:

[My friend Beavis and I walk into the bar. (So you fixed one grammar problem. Good.) I see you are all by yourself in the corner. You look so hot. I love your cleavage. The small tight silk shirt can barely contain your massive boobs. They are so big that they look like honey dew melons. Your long slender legs are crossed, seemingly hiding a vibrator in your rosy triangle.

I think you will like me. So I saunter over, and point at my crotch, and ask you: "Do you want a piece of this?"

You look confused, biting your lower lip. I bet your pussy lips are swollen by now, because of my masculine appeal. I hook a thumb and lead you out of the bar. Pulling down your mini-skirt brutally, I start pumping into you doggy style like there is no tomorrow. Your tight pussy grabs my monster cock, wanting to suck all the semen out of my sac.

"I know you want it, bitch!" I slap your butt cheeks till they are flaming red.

You frown and moan. I feel so proud that you like it. Once I finish, I tell you to be here same time tomorrow night. And I go back to the bar to look for another slut to fuck.]

This is a story told from the Point of View of the male character, and it is written in a conversational style as if he were talking to the audience directly. Now this approach works well in this case if you are a male reader and can step into his shoes, so to speak. Especially if you are an egotistical jerk, this appeals to you a lot.

The same scenario can be told from the female character's point of view.

[You and your pimpled-faced friend walk into the bar. The two of you whisper a bit and then you walk up to me. You brag about the size of your package. I yawn loudly, covering my mouth in a polite way, but also to prevent your hideous body odor from invading my nostrils.

You continue to mumble about how big your cock is, and how many girls you can fuck in a night. I look blankly into the distance, trying to shoo you away with my disinterested look.

Without asking if I am willing, you drag me out to the rear alley. Without any foreplay, you drop your pants, take out your shriveled penis and start intercourse with me.

I am saying to myself, "Oh god, I still have the outline of the sociology chapter to finish and now I am stuck with this guy." I have seen hot dog wieners bigger than your cock. But I keep my mouth shut anyway. I frown and moan, and decide to fake it and get you out of my skin.

Once you are done, you tell me how good a job you have done. Why do I care?]

Here, from the two examples, you can see how the same sequence of events can be retold through two sets of eyes and have markedly different effect. The most important part is that the author is engaging you as if you were really there. In the world of erotica, there are many similar examples of this technique.

Anyone knows what 900 numbers are? This is before webcam and cybersex. 900 numbers are for sex talk. You pay 99 cents a minute and a sex-worker (male or female, depending on your choice) will pretend to have sex with you over the phone. This is one example of the first person point of view plus the second person point of view. The voice on the phone will probably say something like, "Are you lonesome, tonight? Let me be your Valentine."

Many of the audio stories on the website called Literotica are recordings made by men and women, engaging in first person and second person point of view sex talk. This is another example.

Thirdly, a lot of porn flicks are produced with this technique, where the woman in the video talks into the camera. The camera man often serves as the recipient of the sex act. If this guy has a huge dick, then the viewer can imagine himself to be that guy.

In summary, the 1+2 technique is highly engaging, but make sure you do not pretend to know what the other person thinks.

3. The third approach

Here is a writing sample of a technique that employs the omnipotent point of view:

[Two guys, with their baseball caps worn backwards, walked nervously into a bar. They just flashed their fake IDs to gain entrance to this watering hole. The pimple-faced one elbowed his friend, the one who had a disproportionately long neck, and said "See? Told you. The IDs are worth every bit of the $100."

The bouncer who let them pass thought to himself, "I guess they will be spending the work-study checks here tonight. I am not going to bother kicking them out. Business is slow and we can use some cash."

Long neck spotted a young woman sitting in the corner all by herself. She wore a low cut dress, revealing a lot of cleavage. The long slender legs were stunning.

Pimple face challenged his friend, "If you can talk her into letting you fuck her, I will buy you a beer."

Long neck thought for a moment, "Hey, I have nothing to lose." So he walked to the woman and said, "You want a piece of this?" He pointed to his crotch. Before he came out of the dorm room, he had stuck a tube sock inside his jeans, to project an illusion of bigness.

The woman was really not interested. But long neck grabbed her by the shoulder and led her out of the back door to the rear alley.

The woman thought to herself, "Oh my, this is my lucky night. My date didn't show up and I ended up with this guy." She mumbled, "What a dick."

"Hey, you know my name is Richard?" Long neck giggled. "And my friend Beavis is inside."

The woman rolled her eyes, and said, "Whatever. Just get it over with."

Within a minute or two, the intercourse was over. The girl thought to herself, "Now I can get back to do my term paper on Human Sexuality. And I have some first-hand experience to write about."

Long Neck nervously pulled up his jeans, after wiping his shrinking dick with the tube sock. Then he stuck his footwear in his back pocket. Suddenly he realized he forgot to wear socks when he came out in a hurry. His feet were bare, inside the sneakers. But he was so proud that he had the foresight to use the sock as an enhancement to his manhood. Now it would serve a second function. But he only brought one sock. And in the darkness of the alley he could not tell whether it was the right one or the left one. He hated it when he mixed up the left sock with the right sock. His mother always punished him for that when he was a kid. Hence his low self-esteem. He learned this in Psych 101. Freud said people could blame all their sexual inadequacies on their childhood experience.

Finally he decided to put the sock on his right foot. If for no special reason, he was right handed.

Long neck then realized that the girl had long gone. And he had stood there for over ten minutes, holding a semen stained sock, pondering the meaning of his miserable life.

"Now I could tell Beavis that I spent 12 minutes fucking the brains out of that bitch. And she was begging me to stop," Long Neck thought to himself.

He felt good about this story to tell Beavis once he went back to join his friend.]

As a demonstration, this piece was constructed to show how the 3+3 (third person plus third person) approach is effective in showing the readers what went on inside the characters' mind. The author could jump freely from one person to another, inspecting their thoughts and motivations.

Now, the first plus third person (1+3) point of view is probably the most common technique. Why? Because a lot of fantasies originates in an individual's mind and when the person picks up a pen to start writing, that is the most direct route to take. On the other hand, the first plus second person (1+2) point of view approach sounds very intimate, and it is popular as well.

However, the third person point of view (3+3) -- the omnipotent perspective -- is usually the tool of choice for the pros. It gives the writers more flexibility to be everywhere, following every character in the story, examining their thoughts and feelings. Which method can cause the most arousal? It is hard to determine. To date, there is no scientific research measuring the intensity of any self-induced erotic play (masturbation, or jerking off) and the connection with P.O.V. Perhaps I can collaborate on a project with my colleagues, Dr. Stan Deviation in the Statistics Department and Ms. Ova Moldova in the Biology Department. But I digress.

Now in closing, I am going to give you a short quiz. Start reviewing this lecture and determine which P.O.V. I used. Regardless of which technique I used, you should not be aroused by the examples I provided. If you are, then you need to have your brain checked out.

Next week, the lecture is called "Character development is like peeling an onion." See you then.