At first glance, the idea I am about to put forward may appear a bit silly. This isn’t about using the subtlety and nuance of the written word or leaving more to the imagination. It is explicitly about themes and subjects that authors should stay away from. I will argue that authors of erotic fiction should exercise greater restraint than is typical in mainstream media.
Madness.
Before I continue, I need to state the obvious: I don't imagine myself to be an arbiter of taste nor seek to tell others what to do. These are simply my thoughts and opinions, not things I want to see imposed as rules or guidelines.
Also, these ideas are really only meant to apply to a particular kind of long-form, narrative-driven erotica. There are so many different kinds of online stories that trying to say something that would encompass all of them would be an exercise in futility.
Furthermore, we need to agree on what constitutes “erotica,” to begin with. This is something I could spend several thousand words on and still not get anywhere. For the purposes of this post, let’s agree that the kind of stories I am referring to are those where the primary aim is to impart sexual excitement to readers. In other words, in contrast to stories that might include explicit or erotic depictions of sex scenes within a broader narrative.
So what am I talking about?
Death, severe violence as well as rape are topics that I often see appear in stories. My argument is simple: if a story is primarily intended to deliver sexual titillation, authors should stay away from these themes even if they intend to treat them seriously and with due care.
By the way, I am not talking about NC elements that are intended to be sexually gratifying. We live in an age where we are not meant to “kink shame” anyone. Still, I haven’t the slightest hesitation in turning my face away from people who enjoy that kind of thing.
I’ve no doubt that many will not agree with my point of view. They might point to storylines where rape happens offscreen, and the act and its consequences are not intended by the author to be gratifying to readers.
The argument I have seen made against such objections is that the “drama” and the “storyline” are what readers are most invested in and that authors should be free to “tackle” hard issues.
Firstly, if people wish to see serious subjects tackled seriously, then they should go read a book. Online erotica, it seems to me, is hardly an appropriate medium for such things.
I think the reason many of us think of big dramatic events like murders and rapes as appropriate fodder for narrative “drama” is that we have become desensitised to their impact. Their copious inclusion in everything from films to daytime soap operas has lessened their impact like cartoon violence. An author should be able to draw readers in and make virtually anything characters are experiencing dramatic. If a character’s “problem” is that he needs a bicycle and can’t get one, then that’s the drama. You don’t need to resort to storylines about their younger sister getting raped.
In my opinion, gunfights, murders and such are often a crutch for poor storytelling or a tool to prolong things when the author is struggling. More often than not, it is nothing more than a cheap trick to inject dramatic tension which could have been achieved some other way.
I really think we should dispense with the notion that erotic fiction is an appropriate medium for “tackling” anything of significance at all. I call this the “Lethal Weapon” fallacy.
“Lethal Weapon” is a great film, don’t get me wrong. For those who don’t recall, the film depicts characters experiencing the trauma of violence, the aftermath of loss and the consequence of sexual exploitation. But the film doesn’t “tackle” anything whatsoever. It’s Hollywood entertainment, and such things are simply there to be used to progress the plot line.
Any notion that mainstream entertainment should be a little more circumspect about handling such issues was lost long ago. However, strangely enough, in the otherwise free for all land of amateur online fiction, there are still many who feel a bit queasy about mixing erotic fiction with violence and rape. I would go as far as saying there is a kind of taboo about it.
Perhaps, when it comes to including plot lines involving death and sexual violence with stories otherwise intended to provide sexual titillation, there are some taboos we should keep a hold of.