Are you reading stories that revolve around your kinks? Sometimes it just takes the right scenario.

I guess not particularly, I’m sure that plays into it.

I share the opinion, but I know why. It's because they're boring, and I'm not able to put myself into the story in the same way as other writers. Most "smut" isn't particularly well written, and tends to only work if it's your type of sex.

A lot of books have sex scenes in them, and most feel pointless if they don't advance the story or characters in any way, and tend to be all physical actions or emotional descriptions.

Few sex scenes have been done well, though I enjoyed Joe Abercrombie's sex scenes for how they were written. Red Country has a fantastic scene involving getting drunk, having sex, and then the hangover. The prose slowly breaks down into poorly punctuated verbal streams to give a near perfect written "drunk" feeling, then turns into all sharp short, painful punctuation for the hangover.

I strongly disliked the erotica in the Grey Bastards series though, it felt like it came out of nowhere and offered nothing I wanted to read. I especially didn't want a half orc gang leader to be taught how to squirt by a gigolo slave boy.

Some people like that kind of thing though.

You're not alone, OP.

If I can help it, I don't pick up books that has "those" scenes. If they do, I usually read them so fast so I don't have to remember them 😆

What do you define as "smutty", though? Like are you talking about full blown sex scenes where the actions are described in detail? Or do you mean something like the protagonist is checking someone out and turned on by them?

I haven’t read many published books with smut but so far, I agree. I think lots of authors just don’t have practice with it and yeah, focus on the wrong aspects of the scene or try to force some flower-y prose that just kills it.

Will say though, if you have some fictional couples you already love a lot then try reading fan fiction of them! Again this is hit and miss but there are so many amazing fics out there and fic authors who’ve mastered fitting character development into smut scenes. + since there’s so many one-shots/short fics out there, you could easily read a bunch and figure out if it’s all smut or just some that turns you off.

[deleted]

The term smut usually refers to sex scenes.

For me, flowery language isn't a problem. I'm more turned off by graphic, clinical sounding descriptions.

For me, it really depends on the characters and story. If I'm absolutely deep into the characters I would kill to read more smut. Also the plot. If the story has a super suspense, I would rather not like the smut disturbing the flow.

Meh. Back in the day, the old Harold Robbins one orgasm per chapter books were entertaining. In that era, there was no ubiquitous internet pornography so bestsellers had sex scenes. The Godfather, for example. The Arthur Hailey books. Now, endless graphic pornography is a mouse click away so sex scenes in books is kind of pointless. I bought the Fifty Shades trilogy from Bezos and slogged my way through it to see what all the fuss was about. It was an awful set of books compared to the typical bestseller of 50 years ago.

I half share your opinion.

Half, because I like smut and erotica from bodice rippers to porn with plot, they are fun reads for me. Even the bad ones when I'm in the mood for "trashreading"

But I do agree. And I think it doesn't just seem unnecessary, it is unnecessary very often because of various forms of bad writing. And it's a literary turnoff for me, too, despite being into a variety of smut.

Very often the story would benefit from a fade to black with aftermath, or poetic two paragraph descriptions of intent and emotional state, because the scene doesn't contribute to the story. And even when it could be a good addition to enrich or move parts of the plot, it's often just something detached thrown in, and I feel like it's only there to get a 🌶️ rating from reviewers. Plus these authors seem to not have good experiences to draw from and it leaves the scenes empty and confusing.

And repetitive. Big problem, too. If it's repetitive it doesn't need to be there no matter the scene. Some people can write 40 smut scenes in a 30 chapter work and make it matter and different, but it's way more often the exact same emotionless scene almost copy-pasted again and again.

I'd like to dispute fanfic authors mastering character development in smut scenes. But the thing is, the tags and comments and notes make it possible to quickly figure out what to expect, and loads of sex educators and intimacy coaches and professionals of various attached fields write fanfic.

100%, that’s what I consider the “wrong aspects” to focus on. It’s way hotter (and less cringe) to read about how a character is reacting to an act, where their gazes linger and things like that, than descriptions of how things look.

XD yeah I definitely don’t mean all fic authors have mastered it, just that lots have. Fanfic still gets a bad rep sometimes and its just not accurate

No reader is alone ever in liking, disliking tropes, or styles, or genres. There is a market for everything, and there is no book or style or trope which is to the taste of all readers.

"Am I alone at X"? No. Whatever X is.

Yeah it's just unlicensed self published books / short stories with all the pros and cons of self published material. And often it's only unlicensed because the original franchise wouldn't accept some part of the content even if they have a history of publishing fanfic of cast members as extended universe books.

As someone who used to read erotica, I may be in the opposite side of this argument but I hate sex scenes in fiction. It’s amazing how many “great” writers absolutely suck at incorporating sex into their prose. Especially when it’s a really dark character who you know would be extremely into the act of sex, or a character who would likely be strongly affected by the act of sex, and the writer just phones it in. You can tell when a writer chickens out.

I'm personally not fond of sex scenes unless they serve the narrative in some way. It could be for characterization, connections to overall themes present in the story, but it needs to have some reason to exist. I dislike it being written in just for the sake of being there, outside of pure wank material, in which case my standards will be much lower.

It's actually funny, because I've recently been reading House of Leaves by Mark Danielewski, and there's quite a bit about the sexual proclivities of a few characters in there. I haven't found it written about in lurid detail outside of maybe a few paragraphs so far, but I haven't minded it, since I feel that the descriptions of physical intimacy when they do appear contrast well with the theme of isolation that's heavily present throughout the story. I feel there's more to it than that as well, but on a base level, that's enough to justify it to me.

[deleted]

I love a good smutty book. But a lot of popular smutty books aren't good.

Well I meant like sexual descriptions but okay. I wouldn't know I guess, somehow nothing I read has actual sex scenes in it.

im right there with you .

I straight up skip them.

As a guy, I feel like a lot of the sex scenes that I’ve read in books are geared towards female fantasies/turn ons. They seem to focus on the implications/taboos surrounding the sex and the tension.

These scenes tend to just make me feel wrong/uncomfy when reading. If I want sexy imagery im gonna watch porn.

I read a lot of fanfiction, but have tried romance too, and yeah, a lot of it is just bad. Personally there are words that a lot of writers seem to use (or over use) that just makes it unsexy for me, or they read like stereo equipment manuals in terms of how detailed they discuss how and where things are going (I know how tab A fits into slot B thank you), or they fail basic biology and state impossible/dangerous physical actions. Or even worse, they describe what would be considered SA as some sort of 'romantic' encounter with zero realizations that it's just SA, and it's not even kink related. I've read kinky stuff that wasn't my jam but still was sexy as hell, and basic vanilla stuff that made me so uncomfortable that I stopped reading. And even all that isn't discussing sex scenes in regards to plot, and how way too many writer's seem to throw one in like you'd add a dash of pepper while cooking just to 'spice things up'.

I'd say read reviews for sure, if it's fanfiction make sure you check tags, and if you find an author who writes a scene you like, try to find other authors with similar styles.

You are definitely not alone. I have no discomfort around sex in real life, but I find sex scenes in books super cringe. I'd rather things be suggested than shown in all their glory.

Hear, hear! I remember reading the Game of Thrones chapter about Daenerys's wedding night while at the doctor's office. I felt like everyone was watching me watch porn in public.

Same. I feel this is more pronounced now post the popularity of 50 shades…I hardly find any romance classy these days.

[removed]

yes!! i agree

yes i could’ve worded that better 😭 I guess i mean more of a “why do i feel this way”

I cant stand people who have to post about stuff they can't stand.

​

Downvote me for the irony!

I read 200+ books a year and at least half our shitty garbage harem books

Everyone has a different opinion about what is smut or porn. Smut like beauty is in the mind of the beholder.

Everyone likes different things. I like romance in books a lot, but tend to read more YA than Adult because I'm asexual and detailed descriptions of sex make me uncomfortable. But I don't think there's anything wrong with these books and don't see any reason to shame people for liking them.

I'm not sure where this post is coming from. In my experience it's the people who do read smut who get shamed, not the reverse. But neither should get shamed.