Fandom Poll: PWP versus Plot

[themostepotente]

Been thinking a lot about the two. There are ticky boxes to behold. Wheee!

[Poll #552870]

--P

Comments

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

When I'm first into a fandom, and passionate about it, and attracted to the characters I want smut. Hotter the better. But once I start to cool on it, it takes a good story with intelligent plot to keep me interested.

[kleio-the-muse.livejournal.com]

I'm exactly the same! The pr0n is all exciting and yummy when the fandom's still new to me, but I get tired of it real quickly. After that, it tends to go towards milder and milder - kind of the reverse of the gate theory in drugs - and finally I find myself where I am right about now, that is, a damn prude. I actually have a hard time writing anything smutty any more, and - to my utter embarrassment - I actually find myself skipping the naughty bits when reading some stories, just to get on with the plot that intrigues me.

So, so sad, I know *g*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

How long does it take before the cooling period sets in?

[florahart]

See, the answer to most of these, really, is "depends." Depends on what I'm writing and what my mood is and, I dunno, which side I slept on last night.

Also, my opinion of what I do well is pretty irrelevant--I started trying to write more dialogue because my perception was that I sucked at it, but I get a fair number of comments on it being good.

?

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Have you tried writing an all dialogue fic?

[tapedeck.livejournal.com]

Anyone can write two cocks mashing against each other, but plot and craft are a much rarer thing. I prefer gen for the very boring reason that it hangs so heavily on plot and character and style. It's meaty, baby.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

I love you for saying this. GMTA! *G*

Here via DS

[auctasinistra.livejournal.com]

Anyone can write two cocks mashing against each other

I have to mildly argue that not just anyone can write "two cocks mashing together" well. Like any other aspect of story, to write sex scenes well requires some level of craft. And I say this as a person who prefers plot to plain ol' pr0n. :)

[cleverthylacine]

I'm embarrassed to say this, but I don't think I've read a lot of your fic, so I can't speak to your greatest strength... *facepalms*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Do we even like the same pairings? I'm a Snape/Black whOre, and I tend to gravitate towards antagonistic pairings.

[danbi.livejournal.com]

I'd just like to say that it is very difficult for me to write straight porn. Not straight as in het, but straight as in sans plot at all. Even my porniest stories have plot hanging on the sides like so much unwanted ribbon.

But I also don't particulary like gen. Eh. I just...it'd be great to see gen that was fun and light, but most of the ones I see are all dark and stuff. So I tend to shy away from them because dark is great, but where's the funny? And I don't mean crackfic.

I totally just used your poll to talk about myself.

Score.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

*chuckles* That's quite alright, Em. I like when you talk about yourself :-)

[dramaphile.livejournal.com]

I completely fail at plot generally (and when I do write it, it's horrible painful), so I write PWP because it's what I can do well. If that makes me a crappy writer, then oh well. I wish I had the patience/skills to write plotty fics, long or short. I guess some of my porn has a bit of plot to it, people swear it's there even when I can't find it.

*shrug*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

It will come in time, dear :-)

[xylodemon.livejournal.com]

Hi.

[licoricegirl.livejournal.com]

I need to borrow a big knife. Got one handy?

[atrata.livejournal.com]

This depends ENTIRELY on my mood. Sometimes I won't read anything but PWPs, other times I only want to read plotty gen stories. *shrug*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

That certainly makes sense to me. But what do you prefer?

[kennahijja.livejournal.com]

Of the choices below, which do you prefer reading?
I realise hitting 'all of the above' wasn't very helpful, but it's true - I might overall prefer plotty smut, but I can be extremely much in the mood from everything from porn to gen to style experiments... Impossible to choose :).

And finally, what would you say my greatest writing strength is?
Considering I've read most of what I've read on you on p_p, my opinion here is necessarily skewed ;).

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

The ticky boxes really aren't set up for 'one answer only' responses :P

[thewatch.livejournal.com]

I can enjoy prOn when I'm in the mood, but overall I want story then I don't mind if there's sex as much.

For writing I do more drabbles and character moments than long stories, and I don't think I'm that good at the smut.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

What makes you say you aren't good at writing smut?

[licoricegirl.livejournal.com]

What I read really depends on the day and my mood. Tuesdays and Sundays, I get to read every link I come across for HT. But the rest, I read what I feel like. I'm greedy like that. Also, I've no fucking clue what my strength is, other than cracked-out almost poetry disguised as prose.

And clearly your strength is polls. *runs*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

You're diggin' on the polls, aren't you? *G*

[ex-ella-bane358.livejournal.com]

I enjoy "smutty plot" best, but I also enjoy a PWP that features real-feeling HP characters. I like writing porny plot.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Porny plot is more than okay in my book :-)

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

I am just grateful to write whatever I can. My only story with Real Actual Plot was MPREG, so that sort of shot it in the ass overall.

Your greatest strength, I think, is writing creepy character interaction. It must be, because as much as I'd like to completely expunge "Filigree and Shadow" from the back of my brain, it's still there. :)

[imkalena.livejournal.com]

PS: no offense meant -- I figure it must be damn good to keep hanging around like that. *g*

[bell-witch.livejournal.com]

I didn't do the poll because my entire response would have been 'other'.

I like plot first. Until HP fandom (which I came into in November of 2004), I didn't read slash or adult material at all, unless I knew the writer.

When I came to HP, I got really lucky and read a few good stories (slash, adult) right away. They had weird details, were dark and eerie, but were well-written, even though some of them included graphic sex. Reading that sort of thing dulls over time, so it's easier for me to see now and skim if I don't need to see the details.

I want a story with a plot. If it's gen, that's okay. If it's slash, that's okay, too. Ditto het, although I've found people more tolerant and welcoming in slash-land, and that's why I've stayed here. I'll read PWP now, and have been reading all sorts of things that I wouldn't have clicked on before AT ALL just because one of the people on my f-list wrote it. A number of the people on my list are friended because I like their writing, and since I like the style, I'll go places I wouldn't otherwise. I have been pleasantly surprised, although my moods have been so dark that very little in that vein has been squicky to me lately. Incest still makes me go 'ew', although I'll read it. I trust my f-list writers and know many other names. Unknown quantities, I'll have to be interested in the title, summary, or whatever, or else have that story recced (people I know commenting positively on a story is a rec.)

Other! I have no ticky box. ::hangs head::

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

It does dull over time. I think that's the point of my little missive. I see a PWP, and I run screaming in the other direction.

[cmere.livejournal.com]

I dunno that I prefer writing PWP so much as it's just easier for me, so I do it more? (I didn't see the 'other' option so I put PWP, sort of blind.) Ummm, yeah. I always want to write something more plotty and then it turns out more smutty. And people seem to know me as a smut writer. It doesn't help that the one piece of gen I've written got, like, 4 comments. As for reading, my mood changes. Sometimes I want pure porn, sometimes I want plotty porn, sometimes I want gen. Yep yep.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Four comments? What did you write? I want a link hon.

[femmequixotic]

I appear to be utterly incapable of writing anything that doesn't turn out to have a damn plot.

It's irritating beyond belief at times. *wry grin* Just when I think I've got a perfect little PWP, one of them says something to the other and the next thing I know, there's a plot growing and the damn thing takes on a life of its own. Happens. Every. Time.

Sigh.

But as for reading...I prefer plotty stuff too. Preferrably with a bit of smut, but that's not necessary. I like stories I can sink my teeth into. PWPs I read on occassion, if I'm in the mood, but as I've settled more in fandom, I don't search them out as frequently as I used to. If I've time to spend reading, instead of writing, RPing, or modding, I'd rather grab a long plotty fic.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

You couldn't possibly be cursing thyself for writing plot, now could you? *G*

[kaflower.livejournal.com]

I definetly think that you strength is Snark. Top notch snark too, if I do say so myself.

As for writing porn? Unfortunately, I am horrible at it. So, I stick with Genfic.

I do read the occasional pwp, however I find myself more apt to reading plottysmut.

Har...har har...*snort*

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Top notch snark, eh? Thanks :-)

[prettyclever.livejournal.com]

For the last one, I believe one of your greatest strengths is just in your creativity. You have fabulous details.

[themostepotente.livejournal.com]

Seph -- I think you may have made my night :-)

I love plot

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

If I had to choose between PWP and plot, plot wins every time.
I don't mind sex if it pushes the plot along, or is symptomatic of the character dynamic.

For instance, you did this Snape/Lucius story once, when the two men were in China, and although (my memory is vague on this) there was a hint of sex, it was really the character dynamics that drew me in. Severus may have been in awe of Lucius, but he hated him for how he treated the Chinese (Lucius was being a bit of a racist) and it's strange that of all your stories, that's the one I remember.

I think your strength is in the details, and the fact that you aren't afraid to 'hold' the moment, whereas other writers tend to tip their hands too quickly. On the rare occassion that I read your Snape/Black (I'm reading less slash than I used to) I find myself laughing out loud at your writing, because your Snape is a git and your Sirius Black is a right prat, and that's good. That's how they should be.

Also, from what I've gathered from various writers, the longer one writes, the more wordsmithing you are wont to do. I could never classify what switchknife does as porn, his/her/its work is too too beautiful for that.

Oh, and if you didn't

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

write that story (but I'm positive that you did! Because it wasn't cruisedirector or was it underlucius, and y'all seem to be the triumvate of this pairing) I apologize, but that story was deep,yo... I can still smell the opium.

[himilzungal.livejournal.com]

I'm a little late, but I needed time to articulate my thoughts about it. And before I start: I love your snark! But I've never read a story by you that I didn't liked, everything is special on their own.

I like reading porn and that is not only because it's hot, but because that is the feature that distinguish it from my normal reading. Normally I read about 3/4 hours per day for university. I study German literature so I read a lot of normal literature as well.
I think that is why I love the junction between porn and plot in fanfiction and are looking for this kind of stories. It's different from the rest I'm reading...and I like porn.

But your comment in one of your reccing round about the lack of good slash was so true. At the moment I start reading a lot of fics and stop soon after...well, at least fanart is as lovely as ever ;D