Writing Spanking Science Fiction and Fantasy
Posted by Haron on 23 Apr 2007 at 09:13 am | Tagged as: Other Stuff
Over the weekend I sat at a lecture by a well-respected Russian writer of fantasy. He said many useful and wonderful things about writing: nothing I didn’t know, exactly, but plenty I could do with hearing again. About fantasy and SF he said that if it’s good, it needs to be constantly surprising. Bad fantasy is based on recognition (ooh look, another elf!), good fantasy keeps you amazed.
Many people may disagree, but if he’s right, I may have just figured out why it’s so bloody hard to write good spanking fiction (or any erotica) set in a fantasy world.
I’m convinced that a good spanking story, if it is to appeal to your id, mustn’t be surprising. We have our kinky buttons. We like them pushed in a particular way, just so. There’s only so much room for maneuvre before a piece of erotica becomes too surprising, too creative, too vaguely connected with your particular brand of kink.
This isn’t to say spanking stories have to be boring: just that there shouldn’t be so much extraneous stuff that you get distracted from having a finger jabbed at your buttons.
Where good fantasy fiction must surprise and amaze, erotica must provide enough familiarity to still get you off.
When you try to mix them in together, well… Chances are, one side will suffer: either the fantasy element will be weak and cliche, or you’ll get so excited by the magicky gadgets that the spanking side of the story will limp along, as though it was put there as an afterthought.
One or the other will sound jarring. One or the other will seem extraneous. “Why did you put all this spanking into a good space opera, huh?” “Why did you mix in all this complicated geekery and spoil my spanking story?” Well, see, I really tried to make it work, but…
I’m still convinced you can do fantasy erotica well. I am, in fact, convinced that some of my own fantasy erotica is pretty good, you know? But it’s hard work. I’ve noticed before how hard it was to keep the balance. I guess, now I know why.
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Dear Haron,
I find this post interesting. I do write a lot but mostly I write the things I want to read myself and had not really thought about pleasing an audience. Forgive me if that sounds arrogant, I am new to this and most things I have put up on my blog was written for myself. It is, intriguing, however, to think about how to present a theme so it becomes interesting for the reader and I think I agree that too much surprising things in a spanking story detracts from the important triggers. But there should be some suspense, I believe, to make it interesting but that is, perhaps, not the surprises you were talking about. However, I found it very interesting to read.
yours
Janice
Granted, I don’t read a lot of sci-fi or fantasy to compare, but John Benson seems like a good example of erotica that can push the buttons but remain surprising (well, most of the time at least).
I agree that it is a precarious balance at times, even with conventional spanking fiction. I’ve found myself reading and writing less spanking fiction because, well, I’m kind of bored with it. It’s hard to hit the buttons in a way that’s original.
The ground between fantasy and fiction is a really interesting place, and the comments show how hard it can be to create and surprise in writing. Things either work or do not in writing, and the elements described from the lecture highlight that!