Words Of Wisdom:

There is no substitute for experience, so I have asked a few writers who's name you will surely recognize to share their thoughts on what it takes to write smut.


What is one thing you know now what you wish you had known then you first started writing?

-Starting out, I wish I knew what people wanted to read. I didn't know how detailed to be or how I should go about it. Reading other fanfics and books with smut, and my own experiences helped me, but it's intimidating to write it yourself. I learned that most of us on this site are pretty similar in the sense that we like a good love story. I'll admit, my first fanfics were pretty cliche and like half the stories on here, but once I got the hang of it, everything worked out. My biggest piece of advice is to be original. Sure you can have Harry the bad boy fall for the innocent girl, but make the rest of the story yours, and have fun with it. i also wish I knew how much planning it takes into writing a fan fiction. KNOW WHERE YOUR STORY IS GOING BEFORE YOU WRITE IT! I'm sure I'm not the only one who cannot stand reading a fan fiction that has a scattered story line and no direction. (HazzaGirl: Too Much)

-The first thing I wish I had known was you can't just start writing a story without a proper plot or idea. Most people just think they can start writing a story without even thinking it through, if you do this you will probably get major writers block, and no one wants that. I had two other stories "The Little Things" and "Warm Hearted" and I deleted both because I just randomly started writing and they sucked and didn't do well. So definitely have a plan.(AliceRose: Little Black Dress)


-There's a thin line between normal sex and weird sex. Do not cross it. [On clichés]You can not pop a cherry! it's not called a cherry, it's a hymen. popping her cherry is such a vulgar term for breaking her hymen. just because she was a virgin doesn't mean her hymen was intact (it was probably broken years ago from something else, a lot of things can break the hymen like bike riding or falling on something). On the first the, it shouldn't hurt for more than five minutes. It doesn't necessarily hurt, it's more of a stinging/burning feeling. You will not always have an orgasm. (Exiiliious: Sinning)


-When I’m writing, I try to put a lot of my own input into each chapter and for the characters. In the beginning of writing Liam’s Sex Slave I would just write what I would want to happen in my story, what I would want characters to do and say and my readers were happy with what happens in a chapter. Now it’s a little different, sometimes I get comments on each chapter asking ‘this’ and for ‘that’ to happen and I rethink my ideas for the chapter, I almost feel pressured because I don’t want my readers to be disappointed in me or the story. I don’t want them to stop reading. I think I made a mistake of taking requests and ideas from some of my readers and not let myself write what I wanted, what I felt was right for my characters and the story. And so now I realized that it is my story and I have a path set for my characters. I plan on sticking to the true ending of my story.(Flightless_Bird: Liam's Sex Slave)


It's not all about the actions, and no, you don't have to spell it all out for the readers. You really do have to trust them to understand what you're trying to say. If you don't, your entire piece comes off as a step-by-step manual, and that's no fun to read.




What would be your advice to someone writing their first sex scene?

-My advice to anyone wanting to add smut to their stories: if it makes you uncomfortable, or you have no knowledge of what you are writing, don't. I think it's important you feel comfortable with it, and you know what you're writing. Don't feel like you need to add smut because you think other's want to read it. Do what makes you comfortable. You can have a great story without it, and there's nothing worse than reading a story with a smut scene where the author obviously has no knowledge of what they're writing. (HazzaGirl: Too Much)

-Not all women bleed their first time--only 25% do. Foreplay is everything(i.e. the difference between using lube and going natural)Sex changes everything from thoughts to how far you'll go on a first date.The male should not be forceful. Sex is intimate; therefore, they should hold each other afterwards. Sex shouldn't really be a 'pass time'. Meaning, most people don't do it just to do it. (unless they're old and married). There are infinite ways to write sex scenes. Do NOT just go off a popular fanfic and write what's there, this will bore your readers. If you have no idea where to start, watch a movie with sex scenes in it. (Exiillious: Sinning)

-My advice for those who are new and have never written sexual scenes in a story is to not be afraid to write it, that’s the whole idea of writing a sex scene- it’s the characters intimate moment so write what you want, if you imagine the scene for the characters then write it down. LSS is my first ever story that I have written sex scenes in. I felt awkward writing it in the beginning because I didn’t know what my readers would want to read and how much details I wanted to put but I still tried anyways. A tip on how to get better at it or how to write down the perfect first sex scene and to feel more comfortable is to write a couple of one-shots – but make them different, get the idea of just writing those kind of scenes. It will help a lot if you just practice and read them over. When you’re writing a sex scene, write it as you want them to be read by the readers. (Flightless_Bird: Liam's Sex Slave)




Why write sex? What do you feel smut can add to a story? Is there a reason you choose to include it in your stories?

-I add smut to my stories because I think it's a good way to convey the emotion between characters. They can say "I love you," all they want, but I think the sexual connections can convey a relationship on a deeper level. And honestly, I love reading a good sex scene, and I'm sure a lot of the readers on here do too. . . Especially when one of the boys is included in it ;) (HazzaGirl: Too Much)

-I don't really think about what I'm writing I kind of just write what I like. Smut just happens to be something I add in my story to add more drama and more of a depth to my story. I think smut really adds drama and suspense to a story but at the same time you don't want every chapter to have smut, that would be more like 50 Shades Of Grey and I'm not about the main characters fucking every other chapter, you need some regular scenes too. Finally I choose to include smut in my story because it's something that people can relate to in a fantasy sort of way. I mean who wouldn't want Harry Styles to fuck them? I also include it in my stories because sex is apart of life and especially in high school and from ages 14+ even younger sometimes, so many people hear about it, why not read about it? (AliceRose: Little Black Dress)

-It adds depth. More understanding, and a better connection. It also seems more professional. (Exiiliious: Sinning)

-Well nowadays there are loads of teens who are in relationships, who (I’m going to be blunt right now) have sex most of the time, it’s what all couples do in a relationship at some point. I do believe when you add smut into a story it does bring more readers, but I don’t know why, yet I read stories with smut in it as well. I think it’s because when the characters have sex, it sort of… makes their relationship stronger I suppose?
Fan fictions I’ve read have had smut involved, but the smut wasn’t just added to make the story hot or whatever, but it was because it brought the characters closer. I added smut to my story because I needed to challenge myself. I had never written a story with smut. I knew that if I wrote stuff like that in a story, it had to be a story that had to have more reason behind just sex, I wanted the sex to bring a couple together even if they weren’t truly together and so that was when I thought about Liam’s Sex Slave. I do plan on writing more stories soon but I don’t know if smut will be involved in them or not.
So let’s see if the theory of ‘No Sex, No Readers’ is true...(Flightless_Bird: Liam's Sex Slave)

Research:
If you're going to write about a smutty topic you aren't familiar with (ie: dom/sub, gay, etc) make sure you do your research! Even if you ARE familiar with is, research never hurts. You may even find a new word or position you never knew existed! There's a wealth of information available to you through the internet and books, take advantage of it.

And as a final word, if you choose to address a sensitive subject such as any form of rape, incest or sexual abuse, it is your job (I cannot stress this enough) as the author to handle the subject with as much sensitivity as possible. Give your story the time and attention that it deserves.

Characterization:
Don't forget who you're writing about. Your characters' histories and relationships to eachother drive your sex scene. Understanding what has brought your two characters together is what is going to bring chemistry to your scene and allow your readers to identify with it. It will also help you keep your characters in-character during the scene. This is always a challenge in our fandom because the boys are SINGERS so we never actually see them have sex with anyone, there's little to draw from canon. It's up to you to draw conclusions from the way your character (the boys) behave around eachother/people in interviews, concerts, This Is Us, etc, and then extrapolate that into a sex scene. (UNLESS IT'S AN AU, THEN IT DOESN'T MATTER.)

Making Sex Count:
The road to disaster was paved with assumptions, but I am going out on a limb and assume because you're reading this you want to write more than a Tab A into Slot B kind of story. That being said, just because your story is about sex doesn't mean it's going to be about love. People have sex for a lot of different reasons, and you'll need to decide why your characters are doing it.

Sex is the ultimate vulnerability and the reasons your characters are having sex fuels the fire in your scenes. And while it may not come directly into play in your story, considering your characters history will help you add intensity to your scenes. Showing the evolution of your character throughout your scene also allows the reader to connect with what you're writing.

Mind Over Mechanics:
You are not writing a sex manual! Don't get so hung up on what your characters are doing, that you forget what they're thinking/feeling. A good rule to remember is Action-->Reaction. If Harry slides his hand down the small of ____'s back, you can bet she'll react to that. Following the simple principle of Action-->Reaction and you maintain the tension in your scene.

Another thing to avoid when writing your sex scene is the Twister effect:
Harry brushed his left hand across Louis' cheek. Bringing his fingers down, he caressed the back of his left shoulder as his right hand squeezed his arse.

With all of the detail of what where when, you loose the pure emotion you're trying to convey. Sex is a very personal and intimate thing, treat it as such. If you're stuck, think about your own thoughts and feelings when you've had sex. (you can even tell your boyfriend/girlfriend I gave you some homework to have sex and take note of what you're thinking/feeling. Everyone wins!)

You can always try and read some smut from other fandoms. There are some shows who'd fandoms take fanfiction FIVE THOUSAND TIMES more seriously than we do (if you can believe that). Reading theirs gives you an entirely new outlook on smut because their characters are so different. If you don't want to, maybe even read the 50 Shades trilogy. I read them right after they came out and being the first smut I'd ever read, I was hooked. Although I warn you, it isn't for the light at heart. It's a little harder not to hate a dominant when he isn't already engraved in your mind as a cheeky little nugget from Holmes Chapel. But if you can get through the first book and to the second, it's a killer example of great smut.


If you've never had sex, or have only had sex one time, or aren't comfortable thinking about your own experiences having sex, you may not want to add smut. I don't include smut in my stories, not because I don't understand sex, but because I'm just not very good at writing it! I could review it all day long, but if I have to write it myself, I get very self conscious! It's all normal, add it/don't add it. It's okay! Write what YOU want to write, don't feel pressured to take your story either way. Smut can add greatness to your story, but if not done properly, it can ruin it. If you insist on having it but don't feel comfortable writing it yourself, find a beta! Beta's are the worlds greatest tool to writing and a great beta makes all the difference.

What Will People Think?!:
This is probably the greatest barrier to smut writing; the idea that people will see your writing and someone see your sexual fantasies. While this might be possible to a degree, if you put reasonable effort into your story, paying attention to characterization and setting, you, and your fantasies, are the last thing that will be on your reader's mind.

I've seen a pattern, throughout the smut writers I've spoken to, and the WRITING I've seen, practice makes perfect. Try writing a few scenes for your eyes only as a means to get comfortable with the language and characters that you will be writing. Then if you're feeling brave, ask someone on the site you trust (like me if you don't personally talk to anyone on here) or even a friend to look at it and get some feedback. You want someone who might cut you down a little, fuel your fire almost. A great critique is a POWERFUL THING, I cannot stress that enough. Even outside of smut, a beta can change lives (trust me). If there are words that make you uncomfortable, try writing them twenty times on the page and watch their power over you disappear.

Remember, if you are not comfortable with your subject matter, your reader won't be either. There's nothing wrong with "fade to black" at the end of a scene. You don't have to write explicit sex to have sexual relationships in your story. You don't have to write smut at all. But if you would like to but aren't sure how, I truly hope this helps a bit.

Notes

A super special thank you to the wonderful authors who were kind enough to put so much thought into my questions and help me to post this chapter! You're all amazing <3

Author's I spoke to:
@HazzaGirl - author of 'Too Much' and her NEW story 'Nothing Was The Same'
@AliceRose - author of 'Little Black Dress'
@Exiiliious - author of 'Sinning'
@Flightless_Bird - author of 'Liam's Sex Slave'

^read their stories, their smut is perfection ;)
xx, elle