The risks and rewards of posting NSFW content

My story for #FridayFlash last week, "Babbling Brooke", was uncharacteristically erotic, not just adult-themed with sexual content, but with material that is outside conventional romance/erotica. Needless to say, this was pretty far outside the kind of thing I usually post. I gave warning that it was NSFW (i.e. Not Safe For Work), and provided links that gave jumpcuts, so no one would unexpectedly find themselves face to face with the content unless they knew what they were in for.

I've since been informed that it was too far over the line dividing erotica and pornography. That line is an indistinct one; I thought I was skirting it, but apparently went clear over it. In previous stories, I've done horrible things to people. They've been shot, stabbed, incinerated, decapitated and eaten. Sensitive bits of anatomy have been sheared off, and people brought willingly (and unwillingly) to the heights of passion. This time, though, was different. I understand that, and I respect that judgment.

The question remains, though, why write such a thing in the first place? Because in an upcoming post for Write Anything, I discuss genre writing. In it, I noted that I write in lots of different genres, but have never written erotica. So, me being me, I thought I'd try it. I wanted to see what it was like to write, to revise, to read and re-read my own work. Such writing is intended to evoke a more basal emotional and physical response than, for example, science fiction. Could I do it?

I had fewer comments on that piece than on many other #FridayFlash stories. I interpret this as meaning that, for those that did stick around to read beyond the first five lines, the majority either didn't like it or didn't feel comfortable commenting on it. Comments ranged from noting that it was different than my usual fare to liking it. Responses on twitter ranged from "meh" to "not bad". For the first time out in a genre, that's an OK response.

That's one of the reasons why I wrote it. But why post it? If it's so far beyond the pale that links to it were taken down, why run the risk of posting something of that nature?

I've been thinking about myself as a writer, and I've come to the conclusion that I like to have my ducks in a row. I like to have order and precision. I like to analyze what works and what doesn't. The thing is, though, I don't just think things through... I have a nasty tendency to overthink things. This, I believe, has the potential to be a problem for the quality of my writing. I've decided that a writer who is perfectly unobjectionable is far too close to one who is perfectly acceptable, perfectly unexceptionable, perfectly bland.

Perfectly forgettable.

As a writer, can you see yourself striving to be acceptable? That's setting the bar a little low, don't you think?

The trick here is, of course, as it always is: how to avoid writing things purely for shock value and instead capture the emotions and power of "objectionable" writing for use in my more important, mainstream writing.

And if that sounds like even more of an analytical approach to writing... well, I wouldn't want to change too much, too fast.

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