If you're like me and you can't seem to find the perfect fanfic lemon (do we call these lemons anymore? Boy, I'm getting old...) and you tend to write your own, I wanted to share some common tropes found in the literature that often turn a reader off. I found some others on Reddit who shared similar opinions, so I'll combine what I see and what they see in current smut.
- Ray Bradbury and Stephen King taught me that you can never be too descriptive. Describe the surroundings, and emotions of the characters (if omniscient). However since we write fanfiction rather than fiction, the readers know what the characters look like and don't need detailed descriptions of the characters, especially if they customarily wear the same outfit in the original storyline.
- When describing a sex scene, again, be as descriptive as possible. Don't use stale and unoriginal words — spice it up! Be liberal with your adjectives and synonyms, and paint a really vivid picture with them. Some examples:
- Instead of "they/you grabbed his thick cock," try: "they/you flitted their fingers across his length, finally grasping him with adamant tenacity."
- Instead of "they/you rubbed their/your clit," try: "their/your thumb pressed lightly on your hood and traced circles around it, gradually increasing pressure."
- Instead of "her eyes glinted like bright blue orbs," try: "her eyes were a deep cerulean, full of an enigma they/you had yet to understand."
- Instead of "she moaned," try: "she couldn't audibly suppress her pleasure any longer."
- Instead of "he moaned," try: "he let out a throaty growl and gripped her tighter."
- Instead of "they/you approached their/your climax," try: "they/you felt their/your body tighten — a rush of adrenaline made them arch their/your back in ecstasy as they/you filled their/your partner."
- Portray your characters as you think they ought to be in the original story. If a character is naturally goofy, they probably wouldn't be the dom in your story. If a character is naturally cunning and sly, use that to your advantage when deciding what they will be doing (also, they'd probably not be a sub).
- As a sidenote on this, story planning is actually a real thing 😅 (as much as I hate to admit it). Figure out who will be doing what, to whom, where, and for how long before you start writing. Please believe me, it will save you so much time and heartbreak. This is why I have so many stories unpublished here, lol.
- Always read through your story before you let others! If something doesn't make sense, or a position that you made someone be in doesn't add up to you, then it probably won't make sense to others. I have a bad habit of failing to do this. :-P
- Another fault of mine is the overuse of clichéd facial expressions. Most people are also turned-off by characters who constantly "smirk" or "smile deviously." Perhaps all of the characters I write about may naturally do this in the original storyline? Eh, I dunno. Something to work on on my part. Apparently other writers find this as a turn-off. *eye roll*
Anyway, I hope these tips help the up-and-coming novice smut writers! I know I struggled when I was young, and I wish someone told me what to do and what not to do, hahaha. Until my next story (it'll be from the Dragon Prince on Netflix...if you haven't checked out the show yet, it's actually really goofy and really endearing with some very attractive characters ;-P)!
