[sindohte]

Just some late night musing that I wanted to share. OSA is geared to be an archive that accepts het fanfic rated from G to NC-17. What I am curious to know from everyone is - when you are trying to decide what story to read, do you try to find something that will appeal to your head or something that will appeal to your crotch?

I enjoy reading smut stories due in part to the subject matter, but also because I can read one of them in ten minutes and be done with it. Yet I also like reading longer stories that are more character driven and where sex, even if it does occur, is not the raison d'etre of the story. It gives me the chance to connect with the characters on a deeper level. These non-smut stories require more of a time investment because they tend to be multi-chaptered vs. the typical single chapter length of a PWP.

So what factors motivate your reading choices here at OSA?

And let me be blatantly honest, I am trying to prove the point that there is a contingent of people at OSA who are interested in non-smut.

[Vulgarweed]

Well, I tend to choose using both my head and my crotch -- they aren't quite as separate as maybe they should be.

Seriously, I love all sorts of stories, explicit and not. But I think smut should also be character-driven. It shouldn't always be something you can read in ten minutes. It certainly shouldn't be something where you can switch any old names and have it still work. Good smut should reveal as much about the characters in how they have sex as in how they fight battles or have conversations--it is NOT all the same all the time between all people, I can assure you.

Sex does after all have buildup, climax, and resolution, as we learn about in Creative Writing 101. Often there is conflict too. Often it must be negotiated. There can be power struggles, serious or playful. There can be many deeper issues coming into play. And there's the whole issue of the relationship-- is it eternal love, casual, friends-with-benefits, on a dare, in the heat of the moment, longed-for, just business, anonymous, even antagonistic? Does it mean the same thing to both people involved, or is there an imbalance or a misunderstanding? Is there curiosity, fear, hope? Does wartime factor in? Cultural differences? Radical differences in experience levels? Technical difficulties? Good smut works multiple threads like this in and keeps them true while still being hot.

I like gen and other non-smut just fine. But I disagree strongly with the equation of "smut" with brainlessness, and it seems all too common to me.

Also, I disagree with the equation of length with depth (Get your mind out of the gutter, I mean in PROSE. ). I've read many short things that haunted me for months and still do, that I'm still thinking about, and many long things that I thought were basically just soap operas. And of course there are great long things and superficial short ones too, but form is, after all, only form, and a story should just be exactly as long as it needs to be.

[Ania]

I generally prefer to stick with more serious fics, but ones that I particularly enjoy are ones that have the smut written into into wih a particular significance for the characters, and a realistic development. Saying that, some smut is really good to read if it is written well and the characters are well developed, if they're slightly naughtier I occassionally find it amusing , but I normally prefer a longer fic with a well-developed storyline and characters.

[BittenBuggy]

Regardless of what the rest of the OSA population believes, I do read stuff other than smut

I have read several long novel-lengths (My favoriate still be 'The Bond' by Maira...) where yes, there is smut, but it is far and few between.

It depends on what kind of mood I'm in really and how much time I have. If I can sit down at the computer and read for 4 hours, then I will read a longer story. I can't start reading, and then stop! I can't do it, I have to finish. Which is why ZeeDrippyVessel's 'Empty Vessel' almost did me in at 450 some odd pages.

Weed *cackles because she gets to say 'weed'* I totally agree with you, smut shouldn't be 'mindless.' Not good smut anyway!

I shall return with more comments!

[sindohte]

[BittenBuggy]

[sindohte]

[sindohte]

[BittenBuggy]

[Andreth]

When my aunt was trying to talk me into reading her romance novels she equated smut stories with Twinkies. She said they're like junk food for the mind and fun to indulge in at times, but after a while you start getting hungry for something more substantial.

I enjoy smut stories, but a total diet of them would get very old after a while. I more enjoy the stories that bring you into the characters' lives and lets you get to know them before being introduced to their sex lives. It just adds an entirely different dimension to the smut for me and makes it more enjoyable to read.

I like most stories, smut centered or no smut at all, that are thought provocative and written well. But I REALLY enjoy a story that is well written, thought provocative, AND is laced with smut here and there where applicable to the storyline. Anything that draws you deeper into the characters' lives and furthers the storyline is a good thing when used properly.

Anna

[sindohte]

To put it in really simple terms BB gun, I want my character to figure out if the fact that she likes down and dirty sex is wrong.

[Andreth]

[sindohte]

[sindohte]

[BittenBuggy]