Usually a story will have a narrative arc of increasing suspense: obstacles become more and more difficult to overcome, setbacks more painful, complications more confusing, the stakes are raised higher and higher, hopes and fears become almost unbearable, until the plot culminates in a climax and the tension is released in the end. Basically, a good story has the structure of an orgasm.
But how does this work in an erotic novel? How do you increase erotic tension, when your characters already have crazy sex on page three and then once every chapter?
For the purpose of this question, I'm using the following definition of "erotic novel":
Something that you read as a mastubatory aid.
And because you don't read a whole novel in one sitting, each evening's amount of reading must provide a means for the reader to achieve orgasm. Which is why innuendo alone will not suffice, and there has to be some good climaxing sex going on regularly all through the novel.
I understand that others have other concepts of what an erotic novel is, but for my question, please respect my definition.
I have posted a follow-up question: Conflict and antagonist in an erotic novel
Answer
In this case, recognizing the problem -- recognizing that you want a narrative arc, that something should be intensifying beyond the scope of a single sexual encounter -- is also half the solution. Once you know you want the story to have stakes beyond "when will they have sex," all you really need to do is decide what those stakes are. And the good news is -- you can choose almost anything, and you can make work.
What's most common -- and for good reason -- is the the overall stakes themselves be sexual and/or romantic. So some narrative arcs you might see are:
- Desire to consummation. The story's centeral motivating force is that one character desires another; the story will end when they get their desire. Until then, scenes can include fantasizing, teasing, voyeurism, substitute relationships, etc.
- Sex to romance. The story revolves around a relationship that begins as purely sexual, and concludes with the characters admitting their feelings for each other. What intensifies over time is the emotional component, not the sexual one.
- A sexual awakening. This story might center on a character who begins with no knowledge, experience, or enjoyment of sex, and follows in a series of experiences which amend that situation. A journey of personal sexual empowerment. (This arc can also lend itself naturally to intensification, as the protagonist's interests, sensitivity and tolerance can be shown to intensify from sequence to sequence.)
These are just a few examples (and inexpert ones; I'm largely unfamiliar with erotica as a genre). But I hope they're helpful to demonstrate how a sequence of sex scenes can add up to a narrative arc. Once you've got that -- you can, fairly easily, try out your own ideas.
It is certainly possible to use stakes that are less about sexual climax. Perhaps your stakes are the protagonist coming to terms with their own sexual identity. Perhaps your stakes are whether the protagonist passes the bar exams, especially when all their study partners are so damn sexy. Perhaps your stakes are the daring heists your protagonist pulls off, because their orgasms are magic and literally freeze time itself. Oh, wait, Sex Criminals already did that one:
There is practically nothing you can't make work. (Although do note: putting strong emphasis on something that isn't sex, will obvioualy take some of the focus away from "just" sex. This may or may not be something you're after!)
That's all there is to it! Pick a goal, pick what the story is about. Then, you can figure out how to build up towards that goal -- using erotic scenes as your building blocks.
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