purplejabberwock

On the shallowness of life or death stakes played straight

I came to the recent realisation how much I dislike narrative stakes which rely solely on life-or-death situations. This realisation was prompted by thinking about spoilers, and how I interact with spoilers. That whole topic is a separate one, but this particular realisation involves narrative tension. Narrative tension is what keeps an audience in: it’sContinue reading “On the shallowness of life or death stakes played straight”

On schedule disruptions and recreating habits

I originally planned to round off the ‘writing sex’ series (but couldn’t think of anything, so it’s probably done) or talk about spoilers (but I think that’s going to wind up being a bigger subject than I originally planned and I want to plan that out a little more). Instead I’m going to talk aboutContinue reading “On schedule disruptions and recreating habits”

On broadening character voice (by writing porn)

This is the tenth and final in a series relating to how writing sex in fiction is beneficial to you as a writer. The previous post can be found here. I’ve been talking a lot about a writer having words in their arsenal and making sure they aren’t afraid of any given word (even theContinue reading “On broadening character voice (by writing porn)”

On showing vs telling (while writing porn)

This is the ninth in a series relating to how writing sex in fiction is beneficial to you as a writer. The previous post can be found here. I wasn’t intending to write this post, but halfway through the previous one I realised that I was giving advice from a perspective of ‘showing’ very manyContinue reading “On showing vs telling (while writing porn)”

On figuring out physical logistics (by writing porn)

This is the eighth in a series relating to how writing sex in fiction is beneficial to you as a writer. The previous post can be found here. Something I hear a lot from writers — well, something I observe writers saying a lot — is that they have a lot of trouble with fightContinue reading “On figuring out physical logistics (by writing porn)”

On mastering character emotion (by writing porn)

This is the seventh in a series relating to how writing sex in fiction is beneficial to you as a writer. The previous post can be found here. Previously I’ve talked about sensation in sex and using it to create depth. This week I’m talking about emotions. These aren’t unrelated. Sensation the way people conventionallyContinue reading “On mastering character emotion (by writing porn)”

Mini blog series update: returning next week

Thanks to a series of urgent coinciding events and insomnia, the next blog about the benefits of writing porn will be showing up next weekend. I would prefer to actually be capable of thought when I write it, which as it happens is apparently not something I get to be this weekend (as might beContinue reading “Mini blog series update: returning next week”

On nailing narrative dissonance (by writing porn)

This is the sixth in a series relating to how writing sex in fiction is beneficial to you as a writer. The previous post can be found here. When I was writing last week about characterisation and using private moments to invoke the character of the world, I thought my next post would be anContinue reading “On nailing narrative dissonance (by writing porn)”

On establishing character (by writing porn)

This is the fifth in a series relating to how writing sex in fiction is beneficial to you as a writer. The previous post can be found here. Last week I talked about depth as a means of bringing the reader into the story, and brought up the act of getting readers to empathise withContinue reading “On establishing character (by writing porn)”

On learning how to write depth (by writing porn)

This is the fourth in a series relating to how writing sex in fiction is beneficial to you as a writer. The previous post can be found here. Last post I started talking about the ways in which research lends solidity to sensations we describe as writers, and I invoked the word ‘depth’. Depth is,Continue reading “On learning how to write depth (by writing porn)”