G is for Girls and Boys

Sit down and take a deep breath - I have something very important to tell you.   Ready?   Girls and boys are different.   There, I have said it.

And it is more than a simple matter of plumbing.   We all know that lady bits and gentlemen bits are in different shapes and sizes, yet often fit together very comfortably.   Wat we often miss is that the two sexes also have dissimilar mental processes which work quite wonderfully in their different manners.

So what does this have to do with writing spanking fiction?    It is all a matter of what is called the "Point of View".    A quick segue for beginners to the craft of writing fiction:  a point of view (or POV) is used to identify who is telling the tale:  the line "I listened carefully before entering the room" has a different effect on the reader depending upon whether the person "writing" that line is supposed to be the hero or the heroine.

It is quite nifty to change the POV during a short story:  the first half, say, from one character's viewpoint and the rest from the others.   A trick I have used more than once to dress up what would otherwise have been a pretty lame standard tale.   (Changing POV's during a novel is trickier:  do it too often and you can confuse the reader and don't do it enough makes the exercise not worth doing.  A tricky line to keep your balance on.).

The potential problem with selecting a POV for us short story writers?   We might find that we are telling the tale from the POV of someone who is of the opposite sex of our own.

You have to go where your guts tell you on this one.   For me, when I am relating the incident from a lady's point of view, I try to keep to the basic facts of what is going on.   If the plot demands that my heroine has an orgasm, I will state that this is what happened.   I, personally, would never try to describe the sensations or emotions that happen to ladies when this welcome event takes place in such a lady's life     Lack of empathy with what is actually felt by them can lead into writing something that ia a total disconnect for readers who have actually experienced the event.   Plowing on and making up stuff that your think will be adequate is sometimes known as the "50 Shades syndrome".

Having said that you should take great care in staying within your own sexual experience, you might have spotted that in more than one of the tales written under my nom de plume, descriptions are provided in full and complete detail - even thought they are ones that are impossible for me to have any personal experiece.    Well - one of the perks of writing with a nom de plume is that it is perfectly OK for a co-author to step in from time to time to flesh out the bits we have no idea about. 

You might want to consider this approach when your plot takes you into unfamiliar land.   Say you have no idea what goes on in the mind of a switch when acting in manner 180 degrees from your own inclination (assuming that you are not a switch).    Getting helpful prose from a fellow writer who has the necessary quirk to be an expert - that is no sin.   Particularly if you have made some sort of arrangement as to how to share the proceeds, if you are writing is for profit.