Pacing

[green-tea]

So I'm fairly new to writing adult fics (where have these been all my life, they're so much fun!) and am blundering my way through. And I've got a question regarding pacing of fics, especially longer ones, because I'm apparently incapable of keeping anything short now.

My first attempt at a fic was to just dive straight in, lots of sex scenes right at the start, and as a result I feel that the plot and character development suffered horribly, to the point where I no longer want to work on it because I look at the characters and am like, 'I don't even know you people.'

I'm attempting a second story now where I'm taking my sweet time getting around to all the sexy goodness, and this time, I've got characters that are getting thought out and developed from the start. I'm enjoying it a lot more, even if the only sex so far has been fairly short.

What do you, as a reader, prefer?

And what do you, as a writer, prefer?

I know I personally prefer it when the story is paced a bit slower and more time is spent on developing the world and characters, both from the perspective as a reader and a writer.

[BronxWench]

Both as a reader and as a writer, I love plot. I love characters who make me want to get to know more about them, and I love seeing them develop over the course of a story.

As a general rule, I like to have the sex arrive when the characters are ready for it, and if that means waiting for the sexy bits, I'm fine with that. I know that when it comes, it won't be a bit of gratuitous porn without plot thrown in there just to get the reader to wank.

[GeorgeGlass]

Both as a reader and as a writer, I love plot. I love characters who make me want to get to know more about them, and I love seeing them develop over the course of a story.

As a general rule, I like to have the sex arrive when the characters are ready for it, and if that means waiting for the sexy bits, I'm fine with that. I know that when it comes, it won't be a bit of gratuitous porn without plot thrown in there just to get the reader to wank.

Being one who occasionally writes original PWP stories, I think part of what makes them fun to write (only part, mind you) is describing the characters as well as you can in as few words as possible so that you can get right into the action.

When it comes to stories with plot, though...

Pacing and plot are fun to write but difficult sometimes to put down. I have learned through trial and error not to reveal too much at once so you can leave your readers wanting more.

I find that start with a basic plot line helps and then filling in the detail as the story progresses is good. You do not have to lay everything out at once.

At general outline also helps me with getting this right as well.

...I agree completely. As a reader, I don't like starting a story and being firehosed with information in the first chapter. I want to get information when it becomes relevant to the story. And I don't want to catch more than a glimpse of Jaws until I'm way the heck out to sea and Quint has smashed the radio.

As writer, I have the same philosophy as Pak. But I'm really nonlinear about writing; in fact, I'll often start with the "big reveal" scene(s) first and then write the rest of the story around them. Continuing with the Jaws theme (and pretending that the screenplay was wholly original and not based on Peter Benchley's rather depressing novel), I probably would have started with "This was no boating accident," jumped forward to "Smile, you son of a bitch!", gone back and written the ferry scene near the beginning, and so forth until all the blanks were filled in.

[CloverReef]

I think most writers of adult fiction begin with the raunchy stuff. At least I did and I tend to see it in first timers. I believe it's an important period to work through to find your own personal pace and style, so I think you're doing exactly what you should be doing. Though, to answer your questions... Wait, let me scroll up. (Time lapse)

What I prefer as a reader is pretty relative to the writer's skill and style. I don't mind the crazy raunchy stories, as long as the narrative isn't too tedious, and the characters are engaging, relatable and/or believable (relative to the setting, of course). Sure, plot is important, but for me, it's the characters first and foremost that pull me in and keep me going.

As a writer, I primarily try to write what I want to read and feel is lacking (at least, it's a pain in the arse to find the types of stories I like to read.) I don't write nearly as many sex scenes as I used to, but not because I don't want to. Mostly the lack of raunchiness is a result of obsessive self-doubt and wanting to make it "just right". Yeah, something I gotta work on.

Good luck! The fact that you're even wondering about this shows that you're already evolving as a writer, so keep up the good work.