So You Want To Write Fanfiction

Unnecessary Smut

Most of us have imagined doing it with our favorite member plenty of times and many authors have taken it upon themselves to write situations and imagines for us. Those authors have those books that are based solely on smut, but those books aren't what I'm talking about.

Have you ever read a fanfiction where it has a really good storyline, but the author throws in smut that makes things move too fast for the characters or sometimes the smut doesn't even make any sense? That it just seems like they're writing that in there to gain reads? That they think if their story doesn't have any smut, it will be terrible?

This is what I call unnecessary smut. Yes, stories may gain reads when smut is added, but there are people who like to read actual stories and when unnecessary smut is thrown in there, they either get uncomfortable or they turn away. I've even had to put down a few because it messed with my head too much.

For example, I read a fanfiction where the main girl was dating Liam Payne for about two months, but then she landed a movie deal with Hollywood actor Harry Styles. Harry is a dark character in this story and so the main girl never really got to know him, since he rarely talked off-screen. Liam even warned her about him because Harry just seems so scary, which she agrees to because she's slightly afraid of him, too. Before the first day of rehearsal for the movie, Harry invites them to a house party he's hosting, so they go, and then all of a sudden, they're all drunk and having a threesome in Harry's bedroom. The next morning, the girl almost forgets about the movie rehearsal, so she throws on her dress from the party (because obviously that's all she has to wear). Harry offers to drive them to the rehearsal and they leave poor Liam passed out in Harry's house. Well, on the ride to rehearsal, Harry drives them into an open field and suddenly, they're doing it in the car.

All of this happened within the first 5 or 6 chapters of the fanfiction and that's when I stopped reading because so many things didn't make sense. Like first, the author made it very clear that the girl was afraid of Harry, yet here she is doing it with him at least twice. It's not only the smut that got to me, but also why would you go straight from a party to your movie rehearsal without going home to shower and change? Why would you even go to a party the night before your first rehearsal? (But I know, young people don't make good decisions.) And the author also made it clear how in love Liam and this girl were, so how could you just leave your boyfriend like that?

Anyways, sorry for the little rant, but that's my point. The storyline to the fanfiction was actually really good and I wanted to continue reading it (it was about this girl who realizes her acting potential and is now in a movie with Harry Styles), but unnecessary smut like that is so confusing and it turned me away. (**I am not saying that this story is bad. I personally didn't like what they wrote and that is my opinion.**)

This is not to say that authors can't write smut. I don't know what everyone's views on this subject are, but authors want to make sure that it's at the right time and with the right people, so be careful when writing it. Authors shouldn't add it in just for the sake of putting it in there or that they want more reads. To be honest, smut does not make something popular. There are plenty of famous books and movies that don't have any smut in it.

Of course, if an author's story is based around smut and that kind of stuff, then they should go ahead and write it! If an author is writing a story and its purpose is all about the smut, then this tip does not apply to them. But if their story has a good plot and there's no reason for the characters to do it, then why even write it?