Settings in Smut
Are settings in erotica important? Do you really need a sense of place as an integral part of what you’re writing? Will that necessarily add anything to the experience of the reader? For me the answer to all those questions depends very much on what you want from your erotica.
If all you want is to get off, if you’re looking for that orgasm and all you need is a lovely filthy scene to arouse you, with the right amount of dirty words written in just the right order to bring you to exquisite climax… then no, it could be set anywhere. Chances are you’ll skip any scene setting from the author and just head straight for the dirty bit, not really caring one way or another whether they’re in Cairo, Leeds or your grannie’s guest room. It’s all about the sex. And I’m completely okay with that attitude. There’s a great deal of smut on my blog written without so much as a nod towards the setting, where it’s just about the sensations, the words, the sexuality of the scenes, and I think that can work really well. I also think, however, that it can get very tired very quickly.
Erotica is all about engaging the imagination as much as the senses. You want the reader to picture the scene taking place, to be right there enjoying it with you, to feel it in a very specific way. You want them to immerse themselves in the scene, to feel the brush of skin against skin, to hear the sounds of gasps and groans, to be at the very least a voyeur and ideally a participant of the sex you’re describing for them. This involves a little work on your part as the author. How much work depends entirely on your own preferences or the purpose to which you’re working.
I’ve recently called an end to a two month ongoing orgy in my blog, in which the only prerequisite was to get as many readers together as possible, to engage in eager sex with each other. Even something as simple as this needed context. I began the orgy like this:
I’ve hired a lovely big, very expensive hotel suite – there are no bedrooms, just one big, plush room filled with gorgeous velvet curtains, snuggly soft cushions, low lighting, some big comfortable couches, soft furry rugs on the floor, plenty of pillows, a little sexy music, a very well stocked bar, and all the sex toys you might possibly need for a deliciously wild night of intense group sex.
Very simple scene setting, about as basic as you can get, but it established the tone for the entire event, and left enough room for the participants to add their own ideas and create their own space.
My Sophie stories are far more concerned with getting a real sense of the time and the place in which the sex is taking place. “Sophie in London” opens on board an airship, and begins like this:
The Zeppelin rose majestically from its moorings, the groan and creak of iron and riggings echoing above our heads as the earth fell slowly away. I felt a subtle sway beneath my feet, and the momentary sensation of vertigo, of leaving the world behind, as we began our leisurely ascent.
This was the first time I had ever left the ground. Flight had never held any appeal for me, and I’ll admit to a certain quiet terror as we swung slowly into the air. I tried not to think too much about what was keeping us up, tried not to wonder about how some invisible gas could raise the huge hulk of this mammoth construction.
As we made our stately way over the red tiled Parisian rooftops, drifting slowly up towards the clouds, I could see the great grey shadow of the airship skipping eagerly after us, darting here and there between the buildings, forever trying to catch up and never quite succeeding.
Sophie stood next to me on the promenade deck as we began our journey towards London, keeping me company as I gazed at the glorious view drifting below. The crowds underneath us watched our slow, meandering progress over Paris, pointing at us open mouthed as we floated overhead. An airship of this size over the city was by no means an everyday occurrence. I almost envied the people below, jealous of their view of the huge airship as it gleamed in the early evening sunlight.
A little more extravagant, but this still turns into a very explicit foursome within just a few pages – but we now have an idea of where it takes place, what the characters are like, and it establishes a decadent tone that continues throughout the Sophie stories, and which the stories celebrate. I almost always write the Sophie stories in this way. Setting the scene and having a little conversation between the participants of the sex beforehand acts as foreplay, building the sensuality of the scene, allowing you to anticipate it, getting the reader ready for the pleasure to come.
I think it’s a much more creative way to write, it challenges the reader a little, and I think it really pays off when it gets to the sex. The reader identifies with or becomes the characters, and for me that leads to more enjoyment, more complete immersion in the scenes and ultimately, because of this reader identification, much nicer, more rewarding orgasms.
Which is mostly our business, after all…
