Stream of Consciousness in Erotica

FCChen

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Hi!

So in the process of revising and editing my first novel, I was wondering how many of you authors and writers felt about the stream of consciousness in your novels or works.

That is, certain writers write one main character in a limited, third person point of view where everything is as that one person knows and they write the thoughts and inner feelings of that one character throughout the entire novel; and some writers write differing streams of consciousness where, for example, one chapter it might be about one character's thought processes and emotions, the next one is about a different character's thought processes and emotions, all while things happen to them.

For example, my first chapter is about the first character and what happens to him, and all the thoughts and processes of this one character while said situation happens to him. The second chapter is about a second character - main character too, of course, who hasn't met the first yet, but is important to the story and understanding how they think and what brings them to meeting the first character is an important nuance to seeing how they act in the future.

I've read a bunch of different examples, and it seems to vary mainly between writers, but I was wondering what "worked." That might sound like a really dumb term to call it, but for the more experienced writers, does it matter, for example, for readers? Is it important in erotica - to readers, writers, and publishers - to remain with a single stream of consciousness?

Thank you so much and I'm sorry if my question didn't make much sense!
 

veinglory

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"Stream of consciousness" is a style where you show the minutiae of a person's conscious awareness in every second including trivia and leaps of topic. I would not do that except in very brief sections.

In terms of just point of view I tend to either write the entire book from one point of view or change point of view between scenes (normally between chapters). Because there are largely characters who are intimate with each other they are often present in the same scenes but you can show differences in how they perceive the same events.
 
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Riley-Cole

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Funny you should bring that up. One of my WIP (thriller 80k novel) has this style of POV. Both the Protagonist and Antagonist are in 1st person while the rest of the characters are in 3rd person. I think it's James Patterson who writes like this and I fell in love with it. The reader can get into character with both the hero and the villain.

Either way, I wonder how this would work in erotica. I think I'll give it a try.
 

FCChen

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"Stream of consciousness" is a style where you show the minutiae of a person's conscious awareness in every second including trivia and leaps of topic. I would not do that except in very brief sections.

In terms of just point of view I tend to either write the entire book from one point of view or change point of view between scenes (normally between chapters). Because there are largely characters who are intimate with each other they are often present in the same scenes but you can show differences in how they perceive the same events.

Whoops! I'm so sorry for getting it wrong, then. Mea culpa! XD

I was just thinking about how novels where the point of view shifts between the two main characters in the story. For example, Character A's thoughts and consciousness are explored and A is the one present for Chapter 1's events - Character B has that done in Chapter 2... then in Chapter 3, the two meet, and it might shift back to A's 'point of view' or continue with B's, before changing again the next chapter.

Funny you should bring that up. One of my WIP (thriller 80k novel) has this style of POV. Both the Protagonist and Antagonist are in 1st person while the rest of the characters are in 3rd person. I think it's James Patterson who writes like this and I fell in love with it. The reader can get into character with both the hero and the villain.

Either way, I wonder how this would work in erotica. I think I'll give it a try.


That's a very interesting way to write the protagonist and antagonist! I haven't tried to write in first person yet because most publishers of erotica where I've visited their sites say that they tend to steer away from first person point of view unless it's very well written. I'm not very confident if my writing skills are up to snuff.
 

Beachgirl

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I was just thinking about how novels where the point of view shifts between the two main characters in the story. For example, Character A's thoughts and consciousness are explored and A is the one present for Chapter 1's events - Character B has that done in Chapter 2... then in Chapter 3, the two meet, and it might shift back to A's 'point of view' or continue with B's, before changing again the next chapter.

It's very common, especially in romance and erotic romance. Some publishers, like mine, even require that each main character gets their own POV.
 

Riley-Cole

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I haven't tried to write in first person yet because most publishers of erotica where I've visited their sites say that they tend to steer away from first person point of view unless it's very well written. I'm not very confident if my writing skills are up to snuff.

I know what you mean. I keep getting my knuckles wacked by the proverbial ruler for taking on such a tough task (1st person) when I'm just starting out. I'm having a very hard time as evident by selling only 20 books in the past 6 weeks. Of course, I could be a crappy writer. :Shrug:

As for my novel. I'm too far into it to change tenses now. I'm around 55k of 80-90k novel. It may not work for erotica but 1st person does work for murder/thrillers.

Good luck.
 

FCChen

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It's very common, especially in romance and erotic romance. Some publishers, like mine, even require that each main character gets their own POV.

That's a relief, then. I was wondering if it was actually a bad thing to swap-swap around the way that I do, especially with the first novel. One of my beta readers told me it was fine, but only because they were nosy and they wanted to know what was going on with another character's thought processes. Lol! It's great to see that there are some publishers that actually actively encourage this type of writing.

I know what you mean. I keep getting my knuckles wacked by the proverbial ruler for taking on such a tough task (1st person) when I'm just starting out. I'm having a very hard time as evident by selling only 20 books in the past 6 weeks. Of course, I could be a crappy writer. :Shrug:

As for my novel. I'm too far into it to change tenses now. I'm around 55k of 80-90k novel. It may not work for erotica but 1st person does work for murder/thrillers.

Good luck.

Thank you so much! And yes, I do agree. First person in murders and thrillers are a wholly different experience because the way you imagine it tends to be more personal, at least in my honest opinion. Finding out something creepy or new, or explaining things exactly as they happen in the viewpoint of someone in a murder mystery or thriller is more exciting.

I suppose first person also works for erotica in a sense; I've read a few writers who still use it a whole lot in their workers. It entices a different feeling, I suppose, because it feels more personal even when you're writing a character, and when the scene gets sensual, it also entices a different feeling. I tend to love erotica that's more personal and I can see the thought process of one character like that; but since publishers like Third Person POV a whole lot more, there's not much I can do! xD
 

Zoe X. Rider

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As for my novel. I'm too far into it to change tenses now.

Oh god, I was done with a 90k novel when I went back and changed the whole thing from third person past to first person present. It was the right thing for the book (new adult), and it improved the story, but it was a project, that's for sure.
 

slashedkaze

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Oh god, I was done with a 90k novel when I went back and changed the whole thing from third person past to first person present. It was the right thing for the book (new adult), and it improved the story, but it was a project, that's for sure.

Wow, ouch! I changed a chapter from first person to third person once and found that endlessly frustrating already!
 

FCChen

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Oh god, I was done with a 90k novel when I went back and changed the whole thing from third person past to first person present. It was the right thing for the book (new adult), and it improved the story, but it was a project, that's for sure.

That sounds so painful! My god, I can't imagine what an undertaking that would be. My head is hurting just thinking about it!
 

SentaHolland

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"Stream of consciousness" is a style where you show the minutiae of a person's conscious awareness in every second including trivia and leaps of topic.

I love books like that and I think it's a very good representation of what people experience during sex!!!
more please..
 

Elly_Green

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I haven't tried to write in first person yet because most publishers of erotica where I've visited their sites say that they tend to steer away from first person point of view unless it's very well written. I'm not very confident if my writing skills are up to snuff.

So far, I've written all my erotica mythology retellings in the 1st person POV. Seems to work for me. Though, in my honest opinion, I'm not very confident if my writing skills are up to snuff either AND I self-publish, so working with a publisher is not really an issue.

Now, with that said, I am working on a submission for the AW "Green" Anthology and its in 3rd POV because I have three active characters that, due to the plot, need to have their own say.
 

akiwiguy

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Regarding...

I love books like that and I think it's a very good representation of what people experience during sex!!!
more please..

...I've often felt that there are probably very intriguing and potentially extremely hot ways in which stream of consciousness techniques could be applied to erotic fiction.

But I think of stream of consciousness as entailing far more than choice of POVs, and thinking of the styles of famous proponents such as Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner etc, I rather tend to this opinion...

IMHO it makes the bits of the action outside of sex pretty tedious to read, in my experience of SOC books.

Certainly something worth experimenting with, but I have always had a suspicion that it would take a lot of skill and a very unique voice in order to write a whole work in such a style. But I would be intrigued to read others' endeavours in this area.
 

SentaHolland

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"But I think of stream of consciousness as entailing far more than choice of POVs, and thinking of the styles of famous proponents such as Joyce, Woolf, Faulkner etc, I rather tend to this opinion..."

akiwiguy:

Yes! So do I, absolutely. To me that's the best way to capture an intense multilevel experience like the erotic encounter. It's also the way I write myself. I think it's very difficult to write but I want the style to mirror the content, so to speak.
 

SentaHolland

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Certainly something worth experimenting with, but I have always had a suspicion that it would take a lot of skill and a very unique voice in order to write a whole work in such a style. But I would be intrigued to read others' endeavours in this area.

akiwiguy: ok I'll bite. Read my book. (I've never dared to write that before but I feel I'm being directly challenged here1)
 

akiwiguy

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Certainly something worth experimenting with, but I have always had a suspicion that it would take a lot of skill and a very unique voice in order to write a whole work in such a style. But I would be intrigued to read others' endeavours in this area.

akiwiguy: ok I'll bite. Read my book. (I've never dared to write that before but I feel I'm being directly challenged here1)

Will do. :)