woe is me

[xparrot]

I am just not cut out to be a slash writer. I can't write smut! I want to write smut. But the chars, they want to talk. For 8 pages! The hell, Lex? You want Clark. He wants you. What is the problem here? Just get down on your knees, boy. Geeze. It's not that difficult.

For some reason I can only write smut very late at night. Four in the morning when I'm supposed to be asleep, then I'll have all manner of sexy bodies in my head, writhing together under the sheets/against the wall/over the desk/in the mud/what-have-you. The rest of the time, might as well be a lost cause. Talking, though. I can write endless discussion anytime. I ought to stick to gen. But I like slash, too, darn it! If only it weren't haaaard...(and not in the good way.)

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I am quite possibly the worst slash fan ever, in that half the time I don't even read the smut; I skim the sex to get to the juicy bits, which for me is the...talking. And angst. And cuteness. And basically all the relationshipping that happens in between. This is probably why I can be both a slash and a gen fan without much mental dissonance. Though it doesn't explain why I have pairings like Clark/Lex which I simply cannot see as gen (even when I don't always read and can't hardly write the slashy bits.)

Comments

[danceswithgary]

The best CLex slash writing has them talking, communicating, trading barbs, yelling, screaming, whispering sweet threats for eons before they get down and dirty. Hell, I'll happily embrace a cutaway to a shared cigarette as long as I get some decent talking heads and relationship action. I have heard it said the best sex is when you get into someone's head. (And why did I just flash on Hannibal Lector - ew! Bad Val - no cookie.)

I know what you mean on the omigawd they're in the freaking shower together and now what am I going to write panics that result in having the entire story written EXCEPT for the sex scenes. In the middle of one of those right now and those boys deserve that sex and...oy.

[xparrot.livejournal.com]

Hee! Talking heads, that I can do. But yes! Sometimes it feels like a story just needs the sex, like it's cheating not just the readers but the chars to cut away just when they're getting down and dirty. You put the boys through hell, they need some kind of reward. ...Besides, Lex is something of an exhibitionist, he wants details, and wants 'em shared XD But it's hard!
Good luck with yours! *pokes at my own story with a stick*

[greenlady2.livejournal.com]

"Sometimes it feels like a story just needs the sex..."

I agree. And that's when a sex scene really works, in my opinion. It's not easy to write, though, because the sex scene springs from the characters, and how they feel, and you have to get inside their heads, and move with them, and it's difficult to turn over your thoughts and emotions to them. You can't just cut and paste a sex scene from one of a million other Slash stories.

But I have to say, you know all that, and that's what makes you such a good writer. That's what makes your stories so exceptional. I was really depressed about the state of fan fiction in general, and Slash in particular, and I was on the verge of giving it up -- both reading and writing. I came across your stories by accident, and I realized there were still a few writers out there who cared about imagination and creativity. I'm a total Slash fan, so if the story had been gen, I wouldn't have noticed. I also wouldn't have noticed if it had been a smut fest. But it was a Slash story that had a plot, and was different and interesting. So I'm glad you decided to write Slash again.

[ladydreamer.livejournal.com]

The best CLex slash writing has them talking, communicating, trading barbs, yelling, screaming, whispering sweet threats for eons before they get down and dirty.
Absolutely. I do this all the time. It's like... one of the only reasons I include the graphic smex... because the characters are developing the story while boinking. Sex is uh... kinda boring for me if there's no characterization involved. One of my favorite sex scenes to date that I've written had Zod sort of manipulating Jor-El into unwittingly doing his bidding.