Thoughts on the Smut Marathon

 
This week I submitted my smut marathon entry for the third round. Of course, that means that I made it to the third round, and since I haven't really dealt with the second round, or even talked much about writing in this marathon, I thought I'd do that today. 

The assignment for the second round was a repeat of one of my favorites from last year's challenge, to take someone else's entry from the first round and expand on the story. I really liked my entry last year, though very few other people did, and perhaps I'll post it next week. I feel it needs a particular kind of picture to accompany it. That might be a fun photo challenge.

Weirdly, this year I had a similar experience. Although I didn't like my entry as much as last year, it made about as much of an impression on the readers and judges. Which is to say: not much. It wasn't mentioned in the comments, it got enough votes to get through the second round - or maybe I coasted on my votes from the first round - and overall the reaction wasn't much of one. 

Here's the entry I used:
7) The Letter
Tanned skin, lean muscle, a mouth that curves with the hint of a smile: the new mailman delivers in more ways than one. He raises a hand and I picture it around my throat, pinning me down as we fuck. I smile and walk inside, leaving the front door open.

I liked this entry a lot because it felt very open ended. There were a lot of places it could go from here - and other writers felt this way as well since this entry was used several times.  It also reminded me of a good set up for a traditional porno.  I've always loved pornos where it's the mailman or the pizza guy or someone coming to the office to repair fax machines and then suddenly everyone is having sex. So I took that idea and wrote this:

That escalated quickly
“Your door is open,” the mailman said. He froze with his hand on the doorknob, watching my shorts hit the floor. I held his gaze, pinching my nipples until they’re taut and aching. My desperate cunt dripped, he smirked, I waited. Then, leaving the door open, he grabbed my hand and spun me around. I rubbed my ass against his rigid cock, moaning as he slid thick fingers between my slippery folds. ‘Yes, fuck yes,” I begged as he forced me against the wall, hot breath on my neck, slipping his thumb over my tight bud. His other hand came around to cup my chin and abruptly yank my head back as he growled, “This feels like a party. Shall we invite someone else?”

The story idea is embedded in the title, obviously, which could also be the title for every traditional porno ever made. I won't bother to critique this piece because I'm not that attached to it and the readers weren't either. It got me through to the next round so it did its job... and perhaps that's it? 

This marathon experience is a curious one, though. On the one hand, I write for an audience a fair amount in my regular life so I have a good sense of my own story-telling abilities and my own voice and I'm continuing to learn what resonates with other people. This trust in myself makes it easier for me to put material out there for strangers and not to get too fussed about criticism but also to pay attention when a few people are saying the same things.

If I could give a couple pieces of advice to anyone in this marathon or considering this marathon it would be to trust your stories, read all the entries, take note of the ones you admire as much as the ones you really really don't like and then read all the criticism. A lot of times the criticism is all saying the same thing and some of it may apply to you even if the comments don't mention you directly. However, maybe it doesn't. And that's where the trust of yourself comes in. I've had people criticize my work and sometimes they're right and sometimes they aren't. It's ok. This is all a learning exercise and should be treated as such. I do this so I can learn to be a better writer, in general.

I don't do this, however, to only write better erotica. I feel that's a really narrow goal for this marathon. It's a writing challenge first and an erotica challenge second. Good story telling is incredibly important and it's even harder with constraints of word count and prompts. But that's what makes this marathon a challenge.

I will also say this about my process, which may or may not help anyone else: I don't spend a tremendous amount of time on my entries. And I do that because I have learned to trust my instincts and I know that if I spend too much time on the entry, I often overthink it. I want to craft something, check it for typos and word count and make sure it abides by the rules and then let it go. I find that working quickly in this challenge also means I can be a bit more objective about the end result. So perhaps if you're feeling really emotional about your place in the marathon or really vulnerable about the criticism, I might recommend that you set a quick time limit and then send the piece on its way.

Here's what I do: I wait to the last minute. I get my first warning from the Lovely Rebel when I have a week left, I clock that time frame in my mind and with these short pieces I wait until 24 hours or less before the deadline. Literally the day before. That's the first time I open the email, read the prompt and start writing. I do not read the email until I'm ready to write. 

Sometimes I have one idea right off. Sometimes I write a few different things down and then choose one. Often it's pretty clear which way I want to go and then it's all story and word count. But sometimes I really struggle and the initial write up takes a while and I don't love it. But either way, I always write something and finish it. Then I let it sit for a hour or a couple hours or over night before I read it again. Sometimes it all comes together, sometimes I've gotten too attached to a particular piece and I have to ditch it and write something else. And there were a few rare occasions last year where I wished I had more time and had started earlier. But for the most part, the pressure of the deadline and trusting my instincts works for me. 

This year's round three assignment was one of my least favorites prompts. It's something incredibly tough for me to do but for that reason it's really important for my writing skills. But I liked my entry so we'll see how it does. You'll get to read all those entries tomorrow and make your own judgement.

I hope this is helpful to some of you out there. I'd be very interested to know how everyone else treats this marathon and what your own processes are. 

xo