Can 14,15 teens write a sexual novel?Or should they?

Hey, I'm 17 and I'm supposedly writing a novel with graphic sex and BDSM. Doesn't matter what adults think or what anyone else thinks as long as your parents aren't going to see it and decide you need therapy or something- and the likelihood of that would depend on the individual adult. (Which is why my parents don't know I'm writing sex in this but several other adults I know do. Most of them don't think I'll be able to write it [i]well[/i], but such is life.)

Thanks for your help. However my parent really doesn't mind. What I think he would say about that is that if i can think of it I can write it. He is a very understanding father, but I still want to know what some parents or just other people think. Hey, um you also seem nice and I need friends want to be friends?

I have written (what I believe to be) pretty graphic stories starting when I was 15, and I've just turned 16. In my opinion it all depends on the person. If you feel like you're forcing yourself to write it and it makes you feel uncomfortable, then stop. But if you don't, then I'd say go for it. But it's all about your own personal boundaries and making sure that you don't cross them. My own rule about writing that kind of material, however, is that just because you're comfortable with it doesn't mean that other people your age are, so be careful who you show it to. I generally keep it to myself just to be safe :D But have fun!

I was writing before high school, and once I got into high school, some of my stories became pretty sexual, pretty graphic, and sometimes both. There's no embarrassment or judging anywhere.

I'm the mom of a 16 year old girl. I think she should write whatever she wants.
I would not want to read her content. That would be really creepy.

I remember being 14. I had very sexual feelings. Although the actual sex happened much later for me, I had friends at that age who were having sex regularly (shocking! I tell you. Shocking!) The abortions started at 16 (as far as I know).

In some countries (even in parts of the US in religious sects, I guess) some girls get married at 14 and start having kids at 15. I'm not saying I agree with that, but historically that has been more the norm for human females. Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet" I think was 13 or 14. This American idea that children (or "people under 18") are not sexual is not realistic in the least. The failure of the abstinence movement in statistical terms is proof of this.

I think the taboo goes the other way. If adults are writing about fourteen year old having sex in explicit terms, it's worrisome, but if I fourteen year old is writing and thinking about it, that's something else. That's your creative process. That's what you are thinking about.

There could be a problem if you are writing about personal experience where it is clearly you, and with some one else who is clearly him or her. Sex under a certain age is illegal, so it would be like if you wrote about your wild LSD weekend, If it is true, someone might get busted. :)

But if it is totally made up, I am like your dad, what you write is your busines.

And-- Ha ha-- if you are anything like me, the chances that what you write will ever leave your house and/or be read by more than one or two people are not as great as the worries :)

Keep writing, and remember that some of the best sex scenes are about longing and anticipation rather than the act itself.

Go for it!
I was 15 when I started writing and reading Star Trek smut.
Actually, I wrote stuff that I had to classify as unsuitable for me to read. Go figure.
My biggest secret... shhh.... I'd never had sex when I wrote a lot of this stuff. Reading back now I realise I wasn't too far off either.

Once when your older and dare to delve into the (not so) wonderful world of smut lit you will find out that a lot of older people still can't write sex scenes (seriously!), so go for it.
They say that sex is 70% in the mind, and 30% of clumsy efforts to make it real. :p

I don't see why age should play a role in what you can or can't write (apart from the sounding realistic point, no research materials for the underaged!).

Honestly, from a grown-up's point of view, I'd much rather have my kids write about it than actually delving into it. :p

As far as writing, I think you should write whatever you want. But if you're thinking about submitting something for publication, I think you'd probably have a problem. I don't know what the laws are, but I do know that most erotica e-publishers and authors won't even let Under 18's onto their websites.

Ah, Memories! My friends and I started writing erotic novels together starting in the 7th or 8th grade, so I guess about 13-14yo and we shared them with each other but to my knowledge no adults ever read them. I still have them though. I do agree that it would be hard to publish something like that. Unless you wait a few years and make sure all your characters are over 18. Write away!

I never wrote erotic novels at a younger age, but erotic role plays, there were those, oh yes *le sigh*

I say go for it! I'm a virgin and I still write the occassional erotic short story (haha, sorry mom, but I'm neeeevah evah evah gonna tell you/let you read!) If you feel you can write it then do so, don't let your age hold you back!

I'm nowhere near fifteen, but I did read and write some pretty powerful stuff at that age, so I'm most certainly not against it. What I would urge, though, is caution and sensible reflection.

Try to think about ways that you could cause trouble for yourself or others. If your parents would freak out, you have to account for that. If they'd worse than freak out, and some might, you definitely have to be ready for that. If there are circumstances where either your mental state or your parents/guardians' standard of care might be questioned, you might want to be very careful putting something into tangible form that could be used against you or against them. E.g. ammunition in a custody battle, or child protective services, or the like. And certainly don't take risks of a school finding out, where some people may consider it their job to freak out and cause a major issue about it.

It depends on whether you've had sex or not. I'm 22 and I'm writing a somewhat sexual novel, but I'm not a virigin and I had had some... well... interesting experiences.

I think that's what it comes down to. When it comes to sex, don't write about it unless you've done it.

I'm fifteen and writing a few sex scenes for the first time ever, which makes me uncomfortable since I'm afraid my writing is going to be dorky and akward since I have absolutly no experiance with sex. Surprisingly my doting mother, who has in past read and edited everything I wrote, took it very well that this was novel was going to be "personal" for romantic reasons.

"I'd rather you be writing about it than doing it."

I disagree, I generally have no problems writing about it without having done it. I mean, it's not like in todays world I haven't watched enough movies or read enough books to cover anything I don't already know, and I'm old enough to understand desire, a bit of hearts (seriously, no one is ever gonna fully understand these...) exct.

That's just like telling all the people writing guy on guy and girl on girl not to do that until they go do it with someone of the same sex. A little imagination can go a loooong way, even without having done it.

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Dreamer of Inescapable Nightmares

Aiming for 80k or higher!

I agree with Ayako all the way. I've never had any sexual encounter, ever, but still manage to get out that sexual tension by writing. If I didn't then I believe that I would have made a mistake by now and gone out and done something rash. There's so much material out there to learn from that doesn't include finding it all out for yourself and I think it would be even worse if someone wrote only from their own experiences rather than learning from everyone and working from there. Besides, I'm into writing guy on guy and since I'm a girl it would be impossible to experience that, or to even experience the feelings that they go through, so the only way I can get that information is by going to other people or reading other materials. Good luck writing everyone!

I have to agree with what most the others have said. I don't think age should matter.

You don't necessarily have to experience somethings to write them relistically. The human mind is a creative thing.

While I'm not actually writing an erotic-novel I am writing a novel that may have one or two graphic sex scenes (though it's quite different because my novel is about sexual abuse). Anyways I hope to work toward publication with this novel and would like to target the upper YA audience in which case I may have to make the scenes less graphic if I want to get it sold. If and when that time comes I'll worry about it then.

Write what your heart tells you to write. While I was to scared to write graphic sexual material (for fear my parents my find it) doesn't mean it never crossed my mind when I was a preteen-teen.

RC

I was 15 when I started writing something in that direction, so I don't think it's wrong.
It's your story, do as you wish. :)

When I first started writing erotic stuff, I had some issues with guilt and tore up my work (I would like to go back in time to slap my teenaged self across the head for doing that). But I had been writing things with sexual undertones since I was ten before I really had an idea what I was writing about. Around fourteen, my sexuality basically blossomed, and my fantasies would have put some pornos to shame. :)

There's nothing wrong with writing erotic content when you're young because you're usually thinking it anyway. You shouldn't be writing in order to please your parents or anything like that (in fact, that usually hurts people's writing). You should, ahem, please yourself.

Although, public service announcement: your attempts in your teen years will make you snort later.

And you don't need to have experience with sex to write sex - hello, soon-to-published erotic horror writer who has never had any sexual experience in the slightest here. Your only limitation is your imagination, and when you pair that with what you know from other people's experiences and a good amount of research, you can write about anything you haven't done. Sex is no exception to that rule.

I'm with you on this one. If it's in your imagination, and you can translate to paper, then go for it! Writing should be all about freedom of expression, and how you express yourself is entirely up to you. I started writing erotic fiction when I was about 13, and while, looking back on it now, I realize that it is a very different sort of erotic writing, it's still good to be able to get it out somehow.

And yes, my mom knew what I was doing. In fact, she proofread my first actual story, and gave me some great constructive criticism on how I could improve my writing style. But she did it from a very "editorial" viewpoint. She wasn't commenting on the content itself, more on the way it was written, and if there were any major spelling or grammatical errors. She wanted me to be able to take a talent that I had (even though I wasn't having sex, I still knew the mechanics of it) and hone it into a finer skill.

However, the best thing to do is to be careful with who you allow to read it, if you're worried about the reaction you might get. If your parental unit is fine with you writing sex scenes, then so be it, but not all parents are that open-minded. I agree that this notion of "children being ignorant" about sex is quite ridiculous, especially since our media nowadays is so inundated with it, but there are still those who think that "virginity" and "stupidity" are synonymous. Using discretion is always a good thing. You don't have to hide it, or shy away from it if that's what you want to write, but I also wouldn't stand on your chair in the middle of bio lab and shout about it. Be proud of your work, but not obnoxious. ^_^

Oh, and a good resource for solid, teen-appropriate information on sexuality is http://www.scarleteen.com/ They've got a great set of mods who will happily and willingly answer any questions you may have, without that fear of being laughed at or judged for your curiosity.

I would definitely disagree with this statement! If I only wrote what I have done, I'd have very little to write about. I haven't done a LOT of the more extreme sexual things, yet I understand from researching and speaking with those who have enough, I think, about it to keep it within the realm of the believable. I'd seriously recommend anyone writing sexual stuff get a pair (or more) of those artist models. Keeps the physical impossibiliites to a minimum.

As to writing sex before the age of consent where you live.. My only suggestion is honestly? Don't do anything on the computer you wouldn't want your parent(s/al type figure) finding out about and reading. And it's understandable to be curious. I started getting curious about sex at around 13 or so, but didn't do anything till I was already done with college, simply because while I was curious, it wasn't enough to actually press enough to make me want to do anything. Focus on the story. If there's a need for sex, try focusing more on the thoughts/emotions/feelings of characters, rather than the tab a into slot b aspects. That makes a hotter scene anyway.

I'm under the opinion it's rather up to yourself, rather or not your story is going to have sex in it or not. Age shouldn't be a problem. I'm not saying it's for every 14 or 15 year old. But if you tink you've got the fundementals of sex down, and you want to include it in your story, that's your choice. It's not right for everyone. But then, for it to work, in my opinion it has to be something of real. The scenes I write have always dealt with the feelings of the characters as much as the action. It's always been a transdencing for the characters, the closeness of their relationship, or what ties them together in some way. Of course you can write a scene with out having to be down to the exact actions of the act and, as I said, rely on the feelings of what the characters are feeling, and what it means to them.

I have to disagree with this statement also. I write a lot of erotic fiction online and get lots of positive feedback on it, but many of my stories are about things I have never done or never would do. EVER. A fertile imagination can work wonders as any writer knows. You should research a subject at least to some degree by reading about it, if it's not something you've experienced personally, but other than that, it shouldn't matter if it's well written.

Just my 2 cents worth.

~We are the music makers...we are the dreamers of dreams~

Write what makes you comfortable. It's that simple.

hey i'm 16 and i'm writing a horror/erotic novel i think it's fine especially if it's only a small part in the novel

I'm thirteen and while my novel isn't erotica persay, I do have a fair amount of sensuality. I do have one sex scene that you see, but it's seen through a window by the MC and she turns and makes herself walk away before any of the good stuff goes down. As long as you don't totally screw up your facts and your scene isn't like a manual of having sex, then write whatever you want. It's your novel.

I'm 16 (I'll turn 17 in dec) and I thought about writing about sex, too.
Well, not one whole book about sex, but it should include some sex-scences and it should be erotic, but in the end I did not write it.

Why not? At the moment I'm writing the complete opposite of it: a romantical "summer-"romance which stays for life. Every reader knows in one or two scenes what's going to happen, but I didn't write it down.
So it was just like:"And they loved each other in both ways of meaning" or something like: "After it they had the most beautiful und sensitive sex they have ever had, she knew..." One sentence and that's it.

I guess I didn't because I was afraid of the words. Sexual phantasy is one point, but it's another to write them down and have them black on white.

Furthermore I am not even sure if it's good for a 14, 15 oder 16 years old person to read erotic literature, because it shows most of the times a world, which can only provoke frustration in their real sex-lifes.

But I am going to write this novel one day, but I for myself prefer to way a little while. So one oder two months... ;-)

I am 14, I started writing sexual novels when I was... 12! lol. But I do believe a teen should write, what a teen wants to write about. No questions asked.

I'm thirteen and I tried to write my first when I was 11 and didn't know what rape was and couldn't deffrentiate (sp?) it from "sex". It was a Harry Potter fanfiction, and eventually I got so frustrated I skipped the entire "rape" part and went straight into the next chapter where everyone started freaking out by saying something along the lines of "Oh she got raped! Kill him! Kill him!" I dropped that story after that chapter, picked it up one and a half years later, and laughed at how innocent it was. The last time I tried to write a sex scene was one month ago, and I got right up to the part where they got to the sex and chickened out (probably because this was in school when I was supposed to be listening to a lecture on WWII). My current Nano isn't going to go farther than kissing, but I would say go for it. It's your novel and if that's the way you feel it needs to go than do it. If you''re afraid about your parents finding it out, then copy and paste it under another name or "Doc1", delete it from your manuscript and write something like "SShere231words" in bold or italics, so that if someone happens to find it they won't know anything.

I just turned 18, but I have been writing fanfiction since I turned 14. I always chickened out before explicit sex scenes, mostly because I felt awkward writing them. Not to say it isn't possible, but it is definitly strange to write about something you've never experienced. Which is why, even now, I have trouble writing explicit sex scenes and have chosen not to include any in my novel. No matter how many sex scene's you have read, or how well you can emmulate them, you will generally feel weird writing them until you've experienced them i think. Well, in my case least wise.

So, as an "adult", my advice is to write what you are COMFORTABLE writing, not what you think you should write. If you're not comfortable writing something, chances are others won't be comfortable reading it.

I'm 15. Definitely not writing an erotic novel in any sense, but are currently writing a sex scene. No, I don't have any experience. (if anyone asks about me coming into the erotic section, I'm 'researching', and stumbled across this debate. ^_^)

In my eyes, I'm just writing what I want. I want my characters to have sex. I want them to feel that kind of love for each other and go as far as they personally possibly can. I don't give a damn really what anyone else would say against it, because I feel totally comfortable writing it. Obviously I'm not going to go flashing it to my parents, or anyone I know and have to look in the face, but if there was a chance they'd read it, then I'd be happy for some critisism.

No one stops me from reading novels with sex in them. Since I was like, 12 or 13 I've been reading full-on graphic slash/regular sex fanfiction that the authors have marked as 16/18+. I've even told my mum about some books I've read with sex in them, even sometimes jokingly complaining about the fact that there wasn't enough. =P I must be twisted, or gone in the head, right? Meh. The way I see it, if I, a 15 year old, can walk into a book shop and buy a book similar to the one I'm writing (young adult/adult romance), with maybe one or two sex scenes and however much swearing in it, then I, a 15 year old, can use my imagination, along with what I've read and learnt from different character's experiences with sex, and write my own sex scenes.

Others have their own opinions, though. That's just mine, me, living in my own world, doing what I enjoy best and writing stories. I know that when I eventually come to have sex, all of my writing will be stupid and lame, nothing like what it is in reality. But right at this moment, in the present, I'm writing only for myself, so I'll worry about all that and what people think later on. Right?

Love seeing everyone else's opinions though!