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From: Gary Jordan <gary.s.jordan@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: alt.sex.stories.d
Subject: {ASSD} Character Motivations
Date: Mon, 18 Sep 2006 14:55:22 -0700
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When you're writing a sex story... well, ANY story, but this is ASSD...
one of the things that should communicate to the reader is the
motivations of characters. Why they do what they do. I don't mean that
someone has to psychoanalyze the character, unless it's that kind of
story anyway, I mean the reader must be able to form some sense of the
character. The reader, from word pictures or actions or even that psych
discussion will be able to say, "Ace likes to please women because
that's the way his mother raised him, plus, he enjoys the sex." Or
maybe, "Warren likes to eat pussy because when he tried it the first
time, Sophia went nuts (in a good way)."
How we communicate motivations to the reader varies from author to
author and story to story, and even character to character within
stories.This topic deserves serious discussion. But I'm not gonna
provide it. <VBG> You see, Denny accused me of bringing Miles
Vorkosigan into every thread, sooner or later. I thought I'd start
sooner this time.
After all, the discussion *is* motivations. This is from the fishing
scene in Bujold's "Memory":
Miles pictured a line tossed onto the shore, tipped with a spiced peach
tart. " 'Let's go manning?' I dunno. What kind of bait did you used to
use?"
"Ah, the motivations of men. Money, power, revenge, sex . . . they were
almost never actually that simple. The screwiest case that I can recall
. . . dear God, why can I remember this, when I can't . . . oh, well.
In the event, then-Prime Minister Vortala was engaged in heavy
negotiations with the Polians over the wormhole access treaty, and was
trying anything he could think of to sweeten the deal. The Polian
ambassador indicated to Vortala that what he'd really always secretly
wanted most in his life was an elephant. To this day I don't know if he
really wanted an elephant, or if it was just the most absurd and
impossible thing to ask for he could think of on the spur of the
moment. So anyway, the word came down. ... It was really the Head of
Galactic Affair's department, but I gave the assignment to my ImpSec
agent personally, just so I could watch. I still can see this glazed
look that came over his face, as he choked, 'And . . . and how big does
this elephant have to be, Sir?' There aren't many moments like that in
my job. I cherish 'em. It was before your time, or you know who would
have been the first man I'd have thought of."
"Oh, thanks. So ... did your agent locate an elephant?"
"He was ImpSec to the core; of course he did. A small one. I assigned
myself to the detail the day Vortala delivered it to the Polian
embassy, too. In that fruity, deadpan voice of his, 'A gift from my
Imperial master, Gregor Vorbarra . . .' Gregor must have been about
ten, then, and likely would have preferred to keep the beast himself.
Your father prudently didn't let him know he'd ever given away an
elephant."
"And did Vortala get his treaty?"
"Of course. I think the ambassador really did want an elephant, because
after he got over being stunned and flummoxed, he was clearly
delighted. They kept it in back of the embassy compound for about a
year, and he used to bathe and groom it himself, till he took it home
with him. It expanded my world view, ever after. Money, power, sex . .
. and elephants."
Of course, nothing in that scene communicates the motivations of either
Miles or Illyan, but it's still such a delightful scene.
Gary "I Heart Bujold" Jordan
"Money, power, sex . . . and elephants."