I honestly don't think a lot of sexual detail is necessary or desirable unless the writer is definitely setting out to write a work of porn/erotica. In a story with a proper plot, it just gets in the way. I think it's far better to leave things to the reader's imagination – partly because what appeals to the writer as incredibly erotic may be a total turn-off to the reader, people's tastes are so distinct. Suggestion and subtlety can be far more interesting, and less alienating.
Also, I regard fictional characters as my friends for the duration of the book/film. I do not want to know what my real-world friends' particular kinks and habits are in bed, and do not wish to watch them in action. Ditto with my fictional friends. I like to allow them some privacy, in the same way that I don't want to follow them into the bathroom. When it comes to "naming of parts": again, I relate to characters as a friend, not as their gynæcologist, and the language used tends to be either comically over-flowery or unpleasantly crude.
I tend to skip explicit sex scenes in fiction as a matter of course. In fanfic, there is a tendency for many writers to excess, as if the only reason they can think of to write is to use the characters as sex-toys. I recall a work by a friend of mine that I simply could not read, and I felt bad about this because she was a friend. But every chapter was simply an excuse to get the hero and heroine into another explicit sexual scene, working through all the author's pet fetishes, including use of food. I didn't want to think about this with the characters, or know this much about my friend's particular interests. It also failed as a story, because the actual plot (with war, espionage, & c.) just fizzled out: it was just an excuse for the characters to somehow end up in another sex-scene, and that was all their marriage seemed to consist of.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2007-10-05 05:02 pm (UTC)Also, I regard fictional characters as my friends for the duration of the book/film. I do not want to know what my real-world friends' particular kinks and habits are in bed, and do not wish to watch them in action. Ditto with my fictional friends. I like to allow them some privacy, in the same way that I don't want to follow them into the bathroom. When it comes to "naming of parts": again, I relate to characters as a friend, not as their gynæcologist, and the language used tends to be either comically over-flowery or unpleasantly crude.
I tend to skip explicit sex scenes in fiction as a matter of course. In fanfic, there is a tendency for many writers to excess, as if the only reason they can think of to write is to use the characters as sex-toys. I recall a work by a friend of mine that I simply could not read, and I felt bad about this because she was a friend. But every chapter was simply an excuse to get the hero and heroine into another explicit sexual scene, working through all the author's pet fetishes, including use of food. I didn't want to think about this with the characters, or know this much about my friend's particular interests. It also failed as a story, because the actual plot (with war, espionage, & c.) just fizzled out: it was just an excuse for the characters to somehow end up in another sex-scene, and that was all their marriage seemed to consist of.