Something a couple of my friends have brought to light about my writing has been bothering me. For those who have read my works, I don't often linger in the lemons. What was brought to my attention is that there is much more that I could do with them.

Now, onto the reason for this. I wanted to know what you all, the people who read my writing much more often then my friends, think.

Are they too short?

Long enough?

Do you think that it would be better if I expanded on them?

Things like that. Mostly because I want to know, as I said before, what people who are more likely to read my stories several times think.

Thanks for your time,
KoD

I think when writing lemons it really comes down to whether or not the author is comfortable with the scene. Short or long, if you aren't feeling it then we won't either. No matter the length. I've read some awe inspiring published erotica novels that blew me away with the imagery and ability to draw me into the scene, and then I've read some published books where the author included lengthly sex scenes that made me want to stop reading entirely. They were that poorly written and dragged on and on. If you, as the author, aren't comfortable with writing prolonged lemons, then don't write them. You don't need to expand on lemons to satisfy your reader. In the end, it is the story that should captivate us. Charlaine Harris, the author of the Southern Vampire Mystery novels which inspired the TV show True Blood, writes god awful lemons in my opinion. They are so tiresome, and make for such a frustrating read that I skip them entirely.

So my advice is to write what you enjoy. If the lemons you're producing make you happy, that's great. If you want to begin expanding on them, make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. Forced lemons are obvious in my opinion, and draw attention away from the story itself.

My two cents for what they're worth.

I agree with TexanLady. Write what you are comfortable with, and don't do it just for the readers. I just read Dogs On Monogamy, so I could see what you were talking about.I do like a long lemon, being a smut writer myself, so that definitely fit the bill with me. I felt like the descriptiveness of the act, I could see it in my mind which is never a bad thing.

Once again, like Texan said, if you are comfortable with what you are writing, it will come across. It will have a better flow, perfect pacing, which makes it all the more enjoyable for the reader. And not every lemon has to be long, sometimes allusion to the act or just a few snippets will get the job done Plus, readers know when we try to hard, and try to stuff all these things in. So I always say write for you, not for us. And as long as you are satisfied with what you have done, your readers (for the most part, because you can't please everyone) will be too.

I was recommended this book by HatterTheory and it is awesome and has helped me out a lot. It's called the Smut Writing Strumpet.

Hope this helps!

i stalk your fiction, i haven't felt once that they were either too long or too short. Honestly i think you have a good grasp on what needs to be in the fic to make it work vs over doing it or under doing it.

while your friends may want you to write onlonger lemons that may just be their tastes. I have read everything you've put out, as i said *stalks* you really dont have anything to worry about. And i host GMDDN and GMChallenges, not to mention have the most amount of smut art on the site as well. so... it's safe to say i'm a decent judge of it.

I could be in the minority here, but when it comes to a good story that's NOT primarily written to be a smutfest... Lemons ain't everything.

Some stories get a bit carried away and the citrusy content gets a bit stale after awhile. Especially if I'm dying to find out the next major plot point and the protagonists are sneaking off to the closet.. again.. and again and again. Too much lemon can also desensitize and take away from the excitement. Less can be more... I'd rather have people wanting more than yawning during a climactic scene.

Also consider, there are several wonderful T or lower rated stories out there, without any explicit intimacy whatsoever. Not having lemons in these stories hasn't detracted from their value in the slightest.

Don't get me wrong.. I like a steamy lemon as much as anyone else. I just usually prefer them in PWP stories. In stories with an actual plot, they have to flow complimentary to the story itself (as opposed to being inserted liberally to up readership numbers).

I've seen nothing wrong with what I've read from you so far. My best advice would be, go with your gut instinct. Don't force it into being if you're not inspired to put it there. If you are inspired, it probably belongs.

I have to admit, that I haven't personally read any of your works, Knight (yet!)... But I wanted to say that I agree with what Texanlady and Discontent Winter said.

Personally, I HATE writing fully explicit lemon scenes. I don't want to do them. I prefer subtlety and tastefulness - it is kind of a balancing act between giving enough details to draw the reader in (hopefully) but not dwelling too much on those details so that the scene would not lose its sense of tastefulness to me.
I have received complaints about not being explicit enough. On several occasions. While it annoys me that a story can't somehow be "perfect" without at least one fully explicit lemon in it (or so some people seem to think), I am not going to give them what they want - because it's not what I want to do. Simple as that.


If you sincerely feel that there is something on your lemons that you can work on to make them better, that's good, and you should go for it!
But don't dwell too much on what other people think.

Don't try to fix it, unless it really is broken.

Hmm... good advice.

It will definitely be something I take to heart.