on the five senses and writing smut

[Corey Alexander]

I participated in a discussion recently on the circlet press blog
(http://community.livejournal.com/circletpress/37731.html) about the
importance of the five senses when writing erotica. I thought this
might be of interest to attendees of my "Reading Your Partner With All
Six Senses" class.

Here were some of the things I said:

I am very much in tune with My senses when I'm in sexual/kink
situations. I try to bring that over into My erotic fiction writing
for several reasons I can think of off the top of My head:

1. It teaches. Part of why I notice how things smell is because I read
fiction that noticed that; Laurell K. Hamilton and Robert Heinlein, to
be precise. I had a partner who felt really seen by that aspect of
their work, and pointed it out to Me, talked about how vital it was
for her in sex and play. I learned to perceive it partly from her, and
to write it partly from those authors in particular. When I do kink
education, I often talk about drawing from your senses for information
about how your play/sex partner(s) are responding...talking about the
way that adreneline creates a taste and a scent of metal in sweat and
on skin is a way to model that on the page.

2. It also shows, instead of telling, how the characters are feeling/
responding. This is particularly so because I write almost all the
time in first person; that level of detail about the other folks who
are not the narrator helps to give them more dimension.

3. Trying to constantly describe the sensory input for the protagonist
helps Me stay in the moment of the story, and not rush it.

4. I feel that life is a visceral bodily experience. To leave out the
senses is to leave out perception on the part of characters, and to
separate our characters from their bodies. I like embodied sex;
disconnected sex feels empty or nonconsensual to Me. I find it
disturbing to read about, just as I find it disturbing to witness. I
want desire and consent and connection in My sex, and that means I
want My characters in their bodies, perceiving the world.