Smut with Plot or Plot with Smut?

[Gryphon]

I'm just kind of wondering cause I'm more on the plot first, smut second section. One of my favorite stories of all time comes from an itch.io NSFW game called Lessons in Love which has one of the best stories I've seen in a while and my own story, My Succubus Roommate, takes heavy inspiration on that type of writing.

Also something that I've noticed from smut with plot stories is that after you read enough, they all start to blend together. I've always found that plot with smut has a lot more staying power and can last for quite a while, so in an ironic sense, plot with smut tends to have more of those scenes compared to smut with plot.

 

[Deleted member 58005]

Oh, I'm the latter. If the smut IS the plot, then it works as well.

I just don't see the appeal in sex 24/7, even if I am horny all the time. Plus a good plot knows when to have sex scenes

 

[RepresentingWrath]

It depends on execution. Overall, I prefer plot with smut in novels.

 

[EternalSunset0]

I'm in the latter. I don't read a lot of smut, but I prefer if there's at least a plot in the background to follow.

 

[K_Jira]

I prefer plot with smut. It gives me more satisfaction, kind of like a reward, when I reach the smutty part. Better if the smut effect the plot one way or another

 

[AnnonBee]

if you want one-night stand then smut with a plot. But for me, there are quite a few smut novel that I follow, because the plot is really good.

 

[LostLibrarian]

If you write smut, then the smut should be in your focus. You can't really do a good plot if every other chapter needs to be a sex-scene. It's the reason most stories go something along the line of "I'm already OP and just have fun" or "I get stronger through sex". So if you write smut, it would be smut with some light plot. This is also the reason why a lot of smut-stories feel the same. Because their core identity is the same and limits what they can do outside of it... there might be a handful of stories who have interesting ideas, but most are severely limited.

But that's also based on the fact, that I wouldn't call "good plot with occasional sex scenes" as "smut". There are some great stories throughout different genres with regular sex scenes and good plot. But to me, that wouldn't be a "smut"-story, but rather a "R18-Isekai" or whatever. And yeah, if you give the people time to invest into the characters and the story before you throw in your sex-scenes (or even use the sex-scenes to further character development) then you'll stand out.

So by your definition, I would pick "plot with smut" but as I said, I wouldn't call that smut.
It's like calling something an action story because you have a fight every 50 chapters...

 

[greyblob]

this serms like a bad comparison to me. you don't read smut for the plot and you don't read a regular novel for smut. both are two different things that occasionally overlap but otherwise are mutually exclusive.
and you don't really need a poll to know that the majority of people prefer a compelling story over porn

 

[bulmabriefs144]

Well, let's use movies and hentai as a comparison. We have a typical brainless blonde getting humped by some guy and they tack on some fantasy setting (much like what I hate about isekai, they do not bother with fully fleshed characters and setting). On the other extreme, they have something where the main character is trying to save the world from some demon, and they have sex at the end.

See, porn is a story element. Like slapstick. It's a set of events. However, plot, characters, and setting are key components to a working book or movie. One has a proper story, and the smut is a sort of payoff, the other has a husk of a story and the smut is intended as a replacement for what it lacks. But usually after 20 minutes of solid smut I get grossed out.

 

[Zirrboy]

I think this sums up my opinion pretty well

 

[BenJepheneT]

I think this sums up my opinion pretty well

this tells me that you're either adverse to smut or that your tastes are WAY kinkier than I initially expected

 

[Ai-chan]

Pure smut without plot is horrible. A story that writes plot first, and then add smut would be good.

For example:

Plot with smut:
1. A story about a brother who protects his sister from bad people, and happens to fuck her as a reward.
2. A story about a girl who has an overprotective brother, but because of that she never got to date, so when he got injured during practice, she fucked him and asked him to take responsibility.
3. A story about a mom who did all she could to raise her daughter, and when they girl grows up, she proposed to her mom and had amazing lesbian sex.
4. A story about a girl whose art project got damaged by her stupid brother. She told him to take responsibility and called him a dick. She got an idea, she decided to make an art project by closely looking at his hard dick. Because he kept getting soft, she gave him a blowjob, and she got horny after that, so she fucked him like a whore. When the art project was submitted, her art teacher said nobody had a cock that big and thick. But she told the teacher that she copied it from the real thing, her brother's dick. The teacher got pregnant with her brother's child soon after, together alongside the girl.

Smut with plot
A guy fucks a girl. You found out he has gonorrhea. She suffers from cancer. They both fucked to forget their sorrows. The end.

 

[SakeVision]

Smut with plot is best.

For example, imagine something like Saw but it's not just gory but also sexual.

 

[Daitengu]

I get my smut with plot from hentai manga and the rare illusion game. When I read I'd rather have plot first then smut. Generally I have different goals for different media.

 

[BlackKnightX]

I don’t see the clear difference between the two. So, I guess smut with plot is something like hentai, while plot with smut is any story with sex scenes?

I choose the latter, then.

I love story with romance—romance undertone, not a genre—but usually it’s not satisfying enough even if it has a happy ending.

Though, if it has smut in it, it’s going to be more satisfying for me. Like, you actually see the real conclusion between the main couple.

 

[SerikoLee]

Smut without a plot.
Just make a set and make the characters have sex with the opposite gender.

Smut with a plot
Make a good setting, just fellow common trope, or make your own tropes.
As long as your plot is unique and original many will like or love your plot then you are all good.

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

I'm not exactly sure what the difference is between the two. It seems like asking 'apples with oranges or oranges with apples?'. Unless your characters are doing something like having advanced philosophic debates about deontology vs utilitarianism as pillow talk, its kind of a stretch to say plot is ever a part of smut. When they exist in the same story, the prose tends develop smut and plot separately in turns. On the other hand, a smutty story without any plot is like a grilled cheese sandwich without the bread, an unappetizing sticky mess. It is essential for any smut more than a chapter long to have either character development or plot.

 

[Zirrboy]

like having advanced philosophic debates about deontology vs utilitarianism as pillow talk, its kind of a stretch to say plot is ever a part of smut

"As my girlfriend, shouldn't you respect my wishes, too?"
"Oh shut up, you know we're both happier if I plow you with a strap-on"

 

[RepresentingCaution]

It all depends on my mood. I go to Literotica when I want smut with plot.

 

[SternenklarenRitter]

"As my girlfriend, shouldn't you respect my wishes, too?"
"Oh shut up, you know we're both happier if I plow you with a strap-on"

Good character development like this keeps smut spicy, but I'm not quite convinced yet that it counts as plot.