Point of View: The Beatles Made Me Do It – Dirtyboy
I’ve always had a definite preference for first person narrative when reading erotica. I often find the style irritating in mainstream fiction, but when reading smut I feel far more drawn into the story when the narrator is a part of the events. It feels somehow more voyeuristic to me, enhancing my arousal: as though I’m right there next to the narrator as she (I only ever read erotica written by women) describes her adventures. I want to be right there next to her, want to at least imagine that she might have experienced the sex that she’s describing so delightfully.
This preference guided my voice when I began to write my own erotica. I’ve never felt the need to write the kind of confessional sex that is available to read on many blogs, but I did feel that if I was going to be writing fiction, then it would be more exciting to the reader if I (as the narrator) was within the stories. I hoped that they, too, would experience that feeling of being a part of events, of being right next to me there on the bed (or wherever I happen to be). It’s certainly seemed to have worked in the Sophie stories, in which I play the narrator and am very much at the centre of the sex in the stories. My readers have expressed to me time and time again that they wish they were Sophie, which is precisely the reaction I’d hoped for. That immediate audience identification with the characters, feeling a part of the sex taking place.
With my other erotica I take that a step further, writing much of it in second person (basically using “I” and “you”). This can go horribly wrong when attempted without care, but if you can get the balance right and resist being the voice of god, describing simply your own feelings and reactions (and not those of your reader) then I’ve found that it can result in some particularly powerful smut. At it’s best, the reader is right there in the story with you, experiencing it directly, and also experiencing the writer vicariously. At its most basic, I fuck the reader as the reader fucks me. I’ve been writing this way for some years now, and it does seem to be very popular with my readers.
I got the idea for thiis technique from an article I read some years ago about the Beatles. The theory suggested in the article was that because the band used second person in their songs (Love Me Do, Please Please Me, I Wanna Hold Your Hand etc) it brought their fans much closer to them, and made it feel as though the band were singing directly to them, expressing desire for them in person – hence the screaming hordes of young girls at their concerts. I felt there was some mileage in this with erotica, and it’s a really fun way to write.
Take care though – the minute you begin to assume emotional reactions from your readers, or even the most basic physical reactions, you risk the reader disagreeing with you, and the story fails immediately. Be careful out there, the waters can be choppy!
That’s interesting. I find it curious that so many people are drawn to writing in the first person, which seems like such an intimate — confessional, as you say — method of doing things. I have never felt the urge to write in the first person. Every story that occurs to me goes in the third person. As I said in my post, the drawback for erotica (to me) with that POV is that I feel like a voyeur to an extent. Still, I couldn’t do it in first person, so good for you.
My least favorite POV is second person. I don’t want to read about things happening to me. Maybe I am a voyeur.
I think a lot of sex bloggers use first person in a very confessional way, though that’s never interested me. As a fictional conceit, though, and as a means to draw the reader closer to the sensuality of the sex scenes, I find it works very well. I think ultimately it comes down to personal preference and what arouses you. Second person is a whole other ball game and I wouldn’t recommend it as a technique, but when it’s done well it can be a whole bunch of fun
I’m a voyeur too though, so I completely understand your point of view – as a reader second person erotica doesn’t interest me in the slightest, but my blog readers seem to really love it, so I’m very happy to entertain them that way 