I was reading through old threads earlier (just because I haven't been here in a while and I checked back to old posts I'd made) and I found this thread on chapter summaries (
http://absolutechaos.net/fictalk/index.php?topic=512.0), which ended up discussing NC-17 rated stories. It's come to my attention, especially lately, that there is a certain negative stigma in the fan fiction community associated with NC-17. A stigma that I see as unjustified and frankly unfair.
As a writer of a few NC-17 stories, I feel that people have an unfair view of what they are really all about. They HAVE plot. They're not just smut that contain sex scene upon sex scene. (Some of them, I'm sure, are, but definitely not the ones that I've read.) There are a number of examples of GREAT stories that are extremely well-written and thought out that have the NC-17 rating attached, but because of that, they're unrecognized by many. I think this is extremely unfortunate for the authors that write them.
The reason I rate my stories NC-17 is because I know that when I was younger, I didn't like reading stories with a lot of sex in them. I thought it would only be courteous to rate my stories with a rating that reflected that fact that there ARE a number of sex scenes throughout the story and a person that's sensitive to that may not wish to read it. I didn't know, however, that certain readers wouldn't even approach the story if it was rated NC-17.
I think it's very important to show the physical/sexual relationship that characters have right alongside the mental/emotional relationship. To me, it's just more honest and more realistic. In real life, sex happens. It doesn't make people "bad" to have sex. It's natural. And in order to show the true chemistry between characters, I believe sex is necessary. (I don't think it needs to dominate a relationship, but anyone that's read NC-17 stories that have plots understands that.)
A lot of times in my stories, the sex that the characters are having is reflective on their relationship. And sometimes, sex has even become an issue (as in What the Heart Wants when Katrina is dealing with the loss of her mother and is grieving through sex) that spawns off into a bigger issue in the characters' lives. And anyone that's taken the time to read my stories (which I've linked below my post) knows that my characters are not sleeping around with everyone - the main female character has only ever been with one man in her life. It's not like I'm writing smut. I just recognize the importance of a physical relationship along with a mental/emotional one.
One of my favorite shows is Sex & the City and it has a complex and well-thought out plot along with sex. And for those of you that have seen the show, you know how important BOTH aspects are. That's what I'm trying to convey here.
I understand that the sex scenes DO bother some people, so I'm not saying that everyone should love every single story out there. People have various opinions and I understand that. But what I am saying is that I think that people that haven't actually taken the time to read certain stories just because of their rating are really missing out because of a preconceived idea they may have. Also, I think it's unfair that the stories that seem to be recognized, even on this site, are never NC-17 rated stories. Shouldn't all genres and all ratings be recognized if they happen to be quality literature?
So, please, next time you see a story with an NC-17 rating, don't look it over just because you're judging it by your own limited perception of what it contains. Check it out and then judge for yourself!
Links to my stories are found in my signature. If you'd like to see what I mean, check them out and see for yourself! (This is NOT a shameless plug, I'm just trying to get readers to realize that stories have plots regardless of the NC-17 rating.)
Are there any other NC-17 writers that feel the same way I do? That your stories aren't as recognized as others just because of the rating?
