geri_chan | 30-Day Fanfic Writing Meme, Day 14

14. Ratings – how high are you comfortable with going? Have you ever written higher? If you're comfortable with NC-17, have you ever been shocked by finding that the story you're writing is G-rated instead?

Now I'm comfortable going up to NC-17, although I wasn't at first. I was fine with reading smut, but I felt a bit awkward and embarrassed trying to write it. I experimented with one explicit scene in my Snupin fic "Always," then went back to my comfort zone of PG-13 for the most part. It was clear that the characters were sleeping together, but l generally did a "fade to black" with the love scenes. I worked my way up to an R in Three's a Crowd when the plot bunny insisted that Snape needed rough, desperate comfort sex from Lupin after a Death Eater meeting, and I gradually began working my way up to NC-17 again. Honestly, I still feel a little embarrassed when I start writing an explicit scene, but I've grown more comfortable with it due to practice (and also reading lots of explicit fanfic and yaoi manga).

It sort of depends on the plot, too. With an adventure story like The Revenant, Snape and Lupin were too busy trying to get back their kidnapped foster son to have time for sex. And in Spirits, Leon and D are taking care of a child who witnessed the murder of his family, so there isn't really much opportunity for sexyfuntimez.

My Petshop fics tend to have the least sex--they're more story-driven, and several of them take place before Leon and D become a couple, or deal with other characters who aren't in a sexual relationship (yet). The Haru fics are the most explict, which perhaps reflects the source material, and Snupin falls somewhere in the middle.

I can't say that I've ever started off intending to write an explicit story that turned out to be G, though I've written plenty of non-explicit stuff.

Previous days:
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 8
Day 9
Day 10
Day 11
Day 12
Day 13

(You can find the full meme listed at the end of Day 5).