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Hmm well, to be honest, sometimes I think my smut writing is boring. I mean, I’ll read it again a couple of days later and think it’s perfectly fine, but when I read it immediately hot off the press, I start thinking ‘what the heck is this’. You’re not alone in that, but let me say something that can probably help you instead of whinging too.

So, how do I objectively look at my smut and think it’s good. 

First of all, write. A lot. Write until you don’t second guess yourself while finishing a piece. Write as much or as little as you want, write until you’ve finished detailing the nasty sex that your characters are indulging in.

Then, take a break. Don’t read your work hot off the press. Go to AO3 or your favourite blogger’s blog and read some other smutty pieces. Think a little about your fic at the same time, think about what you liked about the smutty writing that you’re reading and think about how you can incorporate that into your fic. If you need to, take notes: ‘I liked this kink and how this author portrayed that kink’, ‘I liked how this author delved into the emotional space of the characters and how it melded with the writing’, ‘This bit got me really hot and bothered (copy paragraph or describe how it made you feel)’, etc. 

Now that you’re armed with the knowledge of how to write something that will captivate you, go back to your fic. Read it. You’ll think that it’ll suck, and that’s alright. But now, you know what will make you love reading that fic. So go and incorporate as many of your notes as you can. 

Are the sexytimes feeling a little stale and boring? Go and throw in some dirty talk, sounds of sex, and describe what the characters are feeling. 

Characters appearing a little flat? Go into their heads, pry out their desires and what else they want to do to their partner. Make them feel. Put yourself into their shoes and go through what they’re doing to their partner. If that cock hits just the right spot, you’ll arch your back, clench your thighs close and curl your toes; maybe you’ll be able to moan a little, but maybe you’ll be silent, nails and fingers digging into their back or their skin. Does the rope bite at their skin if they’re bound? What do they hear if they’re blindfolded – do they hear their partner padding around the room; do they hear their partner setting up their favourite toy and they can’t help but vibrate in anticipation?

Or maybe you feel like PIV (penis in vagina) sex is vanilla. Ok, break out your bookmarks and go through the fics until you find one that makes you wet/hard. What’s the kink that the author used? It can be something as simple as rough sex, or bondage with a heavy helping of blowjobs/facesitting/etc. Did it turn you on? Use it in your fic. Good sexytimes doesn’t need PIV sex all the time. Let one partner go without your touch while you use their mouth or their hands, leaving their cock/pussy wet and throbbing and needy. Sometimes frustration can be as intoxicating as satisfaction.

And lastly, don’t be afraid to mirror or be inspired by someone else’s work. I know there’s a lot of controversy around copying or plagiarism, but as long as you don’t entirely copy and paste, or copy and paste and edit some elements to make it look like your own, it’s technically not copying. Be influenced by other authors and don’t be afraid to ‘trace’ over their work to get a feel for what’s good smut (for you). You can be influenced by their style and find that it’s working for you, and then you can build on it from there to find a way of writing smut that is inherently yours. 

You should show your work to others as well, if you have a beta reader or a friend. It helps a lot of have a second pair of eyes look over your fic and let you know what worked and what didn’t. Even if you reread your draft, you might miss some details. After that, if you’re so inclined, you can go back and reread your work to see if you’d like to add anything else.

I hoped this helped you! Sometimes you feel like your writing sucks or it’s boring or it’s not smutty enough, but trust me, for someone out there, your writing is perfect. Don’t be afraid to share your work with the world :))

This is some good advice!! It can be hard to suck it up and compare your writing to others’. But be positive!! Don’t assume you’re bad in comparison.