on trying to write soft NC-17 fic

[timepiececlock]

I need a romantic word for "penis", dammit. I can't find one.

Comments

Re: *very weird comment out of context*

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

To me, "cock" or "dick" are crude or not depending majorly on who's speaking. For Spike and Buffy, it's hot. Spike was *made* to go around making words like "cock" and "cunt" sound unbelievably sexy. But that's because Spike's kind of crude any way. With other characters, not so much I find.

Also, I am just wary of euphemisms in general, and especially in sex writing. Just say it--the simpler the better. Things like "hard member" or whatever just end up being silly (that one in particular always has me going, "Member of what?")

I have the same problem. I didn't really expect to get anything useful out of this post, but there was always the slim hope that someone might inform me of the brilliant and perfect word I'd never thought of before that manages to be romantic without being crude or ridiculous.

Re: *very weird comment out of context*

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

May I ask: what is the context? Because I might be able to help more if I knew, er, what slot you were trying to fit the word into.

*is so going to hell for that*

you are going to the special hell for that pun!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

The two characters are about 15 and 17, respectively, and it's a first time for both of them, and neither have very much experience before this of anything more than kissing, and not much of that. It's very spur-of-the-moment situational (at a forest camp site, actually), and while they've known each other for a while it's not been on the best of terms so they're not even really sure if they like each other when all is said and done, but they're both kind of emotionally vulnerable at the time and very caught up in the moment.

Re: you are going to the special hell for that pun!

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Okay, that helps, but I mean, like, the specific sentence(s). If you feel comfortable sharing, that is.

(And God, it's one in the frickin' morning here. Why am I awake and talking about this?)

Re: you are going to the special hell for that pun!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I haven't written sentences where I need a cut-and-replace word, if that's what you're asking. It's just right now the language is more abstract and poetical, and last night I was thinking I wanted to make the descriptions more literal/concrete, but trying to think of sentences and being unhappy drove me to post.

Re: you are going to the special hell for that pun!

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Ah, gotcha. Well, I can offer to beta the scene for you if you want (wow! the one time I'll be able to use the "has written a lotta smut" line on my resume!). Otherwise, I'd suggest avoiding more concrete description if it makes you uncomfortable. That's not necessarily too hard. There are even instances where you can get away with "him" for penis and it's perfectly clear that you're not, y'know, talking about the whole dude: "She took him into her hand." That sort of thing.

And hey, I finally thought of another penis-word that I don't hate: shaft. It's not very versatile, though. You don't want to be, like, "She looked down at his shaft." *snicker*

Ooh! Or, you could play up the hardness angle. And...that's probably more advice than you really wanted from me.

Re: you are going to the special hell for that pun!

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

There are even instances where you can get away with "him" for penis and it's perfectly clear that you're not, y'know, talking about the whole dude: "She took him into her hand." That sort of thing.

I've noticed that before as a potential alternative that doesn't always fall into silly or crude.

You don't want to be, like, "She looked down at his shaft."

Thanks to you I'm going to be thinking about that line and cracking up ALL DAY. It'll randomly come out in conversations: "So I went to Albertsons and she looked down at his shaft."

Re: you are going to the special hell for that pun!

[trinityofone.livejournal.com]

Looking at this again now, I can't believe I didn't use my shaft icon when I made that comment. I was remiss. I fail at life.