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What Makes A Good MCStory by sleepingirl
🕑 Added 2020-10-23 23:10:07 +0000 UTCMCStories are one of the cornerstones of how we as hypnokinksters engage with erotic content. For many of us, they were the first or primary way that we found our fetish even had others creating for it. “MCStory” used here is a proprietary eponym, kind of like “Kleenex” -- it’s generally how we refer to written hypnofetish or mind control fetish erotica because of the ubiquity of mcstories.com in our general kink consciousness. In this article, I’m going to talk a little bit from both a generalized and personal perspective of what I consider “good” in terms of hypnosis erotica; both technical elements like writing and subjective elements like themes and plots. I’ve written and read my fair share of hypnosis fiction, so I’ll be speaking as both a reader and writer of the kinds of things I like to see in erotica and some tips on how I think writers can achieve that.
Good vs Hot
I’d like to start by saying that I think there is a difference between a story that is good, and a story that is hot. Hotness is incredibly personal, and just because a story is well-written doesn’t necessarily mean that it will push the right buttons. Of course, everyone has their own preferences in terms of thematic elements and the words that really do it for us. And to some degree, prose and writing are subjective as well. There are the baseline technical aspects of writing -- proper spelling, punctuation, and grammar, which many readers say will make or break a piece, but the author’s voice and style are, to some degree, a matter of preference, just like sexiness. In adjacent communities such as with fanfiction, especially smut-writing, you’ll often see writers giving each other constructive feedback and creating guidelines for “good smut” -- maybe half a matter of preference and half objective commentary on what makes writing “good.”
It’s always incredibly impressive when a writer can create a sprawling world and fleshed-out characters, and when the prose is good. But actually, from my perspective, I find that the stories I actually get off to benefit from being a little bit “bad.” I’m not proud of this, but on a personal level, I really don’t go into MCStories with the intent of looking for a good story. Subpar plot and grammar sometimes can even highlight the porniness of a piece, sometimes. I’m there to get off, not generally to get invested in characters or read an epic tale. For example, “The Bovide Bus” by Screw-Ball_Rancher (https://mcstories.com/BovideBus/index.html) is alright writing technically, but certainly isn’t going to win any awards for style and story. It’s filled to the brim with overly sexualized language and reads like a wholly masturbatory hucow fantasy -- which, depending on mood, can be perfect! To some degree, this is like the difference between really polished, well-shot and tasteful porn versus a raunchy camera-phone video. There’s definitely a place for both, and everyone has their tastes that shift depending on mood.
The Hypnosis Has to Be “Good”
Speaking of hypnosis, this is probably the most important part of a story: how is its portrayal of trance or mind control? Some people prefer instant mind control that leads to sex, others like a long focus on the hypnosis or control itself. For me, mind control and hypnosis is the focal point of my sexuality, so I can take or leave sex, but mental fuckery is the most important part.
I like fantasy-style mind control quite a bit -- magical spells that enthrall the victim, technological devices that erode someone’s will. But I’m also a hypnofetishist in the most strict sense of the term -- I get off on hypnosis especially, too. I’ve found that as I’ve gotten older and more involved in doing it myself in my real relationships, I’ve developed certain tastes for it that are sometimes reflective of the way that I engage in hypnosis IRL.
If it’s not fantastical mind control, I like my hypnosis to be realistic. A swinging watch magically entrancing someone without so much as a word is a sexy thought, and certainly works in some contexts, but for the most part, I get a lot of cognitive dissonance when I read about hypnosis that wouldn’t apply to reality. I’m too focused on the technical aspects. Moreover, I’m unfortunately a little picky. Hypnosis that is reminiscent of more beginner technique will leave me thinking more about how I might do the trance differently. I like my depictions of hypnotic language to be skilled in the same way that I like my trance experiences to be skilled -- often, hypnosis in an MCStory can serve to induce trance in the reader on a sympathetic level, and when I spend the time to read, I really enjoy that. I think that being “good” at hypnosis (which is such a complicated conversation) helps quite a lot with writing engaging and sexy erotica.
The Hypnosis Has to Be “Bad”
In terms of elements of pure preference, the flavor and tone of a piece comes to mind. Some people like fluffy, wholesome porn, while others prefer dark porn with a “bad end.” I’ve seen a big uptick recently of content and discussion around making erotica that has realistic depictions of consent and stories that have a dynamic between partners rather than a focus on one party being a victim. I think this is a welcome change, and fairly reactionary -- for a long time, it was difficult to find MCStories that were consensual and especially “realistic” as we understand consent in the hypnosis community. I’ve seen more and more stories that include negotiation, safewords, and aftercare, and this definitely provides some nice representation of what community members do in their partnerships.
So, on a broad, generalized level, I’m very happy that this content exists. However… I can’t get off to it. My fantasies always have some level of nonconsent or evil. I grew up fetishizing hypnosis and mind control that was almost always based on a villain maligning the heroes of the story with their powers, so that’s a big part of how my preferences have evolved. It’s a bit of a cliche analogy to make, but in the same way, on the occasion that I read fanfiction or other erotica, I don’t necessarily want to read stories that contain a lot of emphasis on safe sex. In reality, of course, both safe sex and consent in kink interactions are very important, but I mostly engage with erotic content to explore the fantasies that I have that are not representative of what’s possible ethically. I very much appreciate the “consent is sexy” attitude in the community, but for my own preferences, I really don’t find consent very sexy at all. And let me tell you, it STILL feels taboo to write that out!
To be fair, I struggle a lot with the desire for a “bad end” for the characters, where they are permanently incapable or they lose their old lives and connections -- and maybe this comes from humanizing the victims. Sometimes I prefer stories that have a happy ending, where good triumphs over evil, and the brainwasher is ultimately defeated. However, as a small pet peeve (and despite the fact that I’ve written this!), I nearly always dislike the “and it was consensual all along!” trope where the end of a story involves the supposed “victim” waking up and remembering the situation was with an established partner. I joke that this is like the blue balls of evil MCStories -- unless it’s clearly marked, the “twist” doesn’t do anything to make the piece as a whole feel consensual, just removes the climactic ending!
But in general, I really love stories where the hypnosis is sneaky or abusive. “Evil” works in a pure fantasy setting quite well -- think cartoon bad guy taking advantage of a superhero -- but one of my favorite kinds of stories is where the hypnosis is realistic, the setting is realistic, but the hypnotist is completely unethical. It makes it feel possible and personal, and I might even get ideas that I can translate to use with my (consenting) partners. One of my new favorite examples of this is “Treating Her Anxiety” by GleefulAbandon (https://mcstories.com/TreatingHerAnxiety/index.html) which explores a manipulative relationship between therapist and client. My favorite part of this story is that it differs from the traditional “naughty hypnotherapist” fantasy because it takes its time in a way that makes it feel just a little bit more believable.
Slow Burn vs Quickie
One of the most amazing things about hypnosis erotica is the sheer variety that exists in style. Sometimes a story can be told in just a thousand words or less, and others go on to be practically novel-length. Length can change the feel of a piece drastically, but it’s not just how many words there are, it’s how they’re used.
As I said before, long stories that focus a lot on worldbuilding aren’t my cup of tea for getting off to, but stories that smolder from the get-go and build that tension as they progress can be absolutely amazing when I have the time to engage. My favorite thing is when the sexiness is woven through the piece. Oftentimes, MCStories have “hypnosis scenes” between bits of plot, and this is definitely the easiest way to write and is very thrilling, but it’s masterful when an author can make the entire writing erotic. That is sort of dependent on what we view as erotic, but long-form manipulation can certainly scratch that itch. One of my favorite examples of this is “Xenophilia” by Trilby Else (https://mcstories.com/Xenophilia/index.html), an ever-darkening tale of aliens enslaving a group of college girls that never takes its foot off the pedal. (Be warned, this story definitely does not end happily for its characters -- I often only read parts so I don’t have to get sad, but the mind control is blazing hot.)
On the other end of the spectrum, we have pieces that are short and sweet -- this tends to be what I write. It might be a single scene or a few vignettes. The most important thing, in my opinion, is to be able to exhibit the hypnosis or mind control with very little set-up or cool-down. I happen to really like stories that start in media res: put me right into the action and let me get a taste of what you’ll be giving me in terms of the hypnosis. I love mini-stories, and since a chunk of the community has moved to Twitter, we have seen a fair number of “stories” that are even 250 characters or less -- it reminds me of the fanfiction tradition of “drabbles,” 100-200 word pieces. Being able to show something hot and cohesive in such a small space is very impressive and can be exactly what we need to push our buttons when we don’t have the time to read through something more involved.
About Sexy Writing
It is difficult to discuss what makes something objectively “good” or “hot” because a lot of those qualities are individualized and a matter of preference. Good writing takes time and practice to achieve, and benefits from a lot of reading other prose and experience with the topic at hand. In this section, I’m going to go through several concepts that make good writing or things you might want to avoid if you’re trying to make a hot MCStory.
Experience
I mentioned before that experienced hypnotists have an advantage in writing sexy mind control, but it’s worth mentioning that this holds true for experienced subjects as well. Anyone who has exposure to what hypnosis actually is like on some level is no longer grasping in the dark of how to depict it. “Write what you know” is a common recommendation for authors, and I think that holds true in MCStories. Being able to look internally at past or generalized experiences and express what that felt like, even if you are transforming it to fit fiction, is a key skill.
But that doesn’t mean that that’s the only way to write good erotica -- of course we sometimes want to branch out beyond our experience, whether that’s writing hypnosis when we haven’t felt it, writing a different perspective than we’re used to, or writing some kind of mind control that is only possible in a fantasy. Exposure to a lot of different kinds of writing is always a good idea, especially the kinds of things that you are interested in writing for yourself. You absorb concepts about prose and flow through reading.
Watching different scenes of mind control and hypnosis can also be useful and fun. Getting to be able to understand what really is the core of these fantasies (personally, for you) can help you learn how to express that through writing. Think a lot about what constitutes the build up, tension, and climax of a scene, and how you think about that can give you clues of how to verbalize it.
Don’t Be Linguistically Cliche (But It's OK to Repeat Words)
In terms of a few more technical tips, let’s talk about word choice. Certainly, words are an important part of mind control erotica not just in terms of building a story but in the kinds of things that push our buttons -- words that are fetish buttons for us, words that are sexual. Writing an MCStory is a little different than writing straight erotica because writing sexually and writing hypnotically are separate but necessary skills.
Bad smut is infamous. Whether it’s fanfiction or erotica, there is a “know it when you read it” quality to seeing sexual scenes that feel rote or stale. It could be in how bits are described (“hard member” comes to mind) or simply unrealistic depictions of sex (“tongues battling” or cock slamming into cervix). I’ll direct you to this great bingo card I found of erotica tropes that might be good to stay away from in most cases: https://i.imgur.com/oBYY5OV.jpg
Generally, I can address one thing that might be an issue for new authors, which is concern that repeating words in a piece is a cardinal sin. You’ll see this a lot where erotica uses colorful words for anatomical bits, and it’s often because the writer felt like they were being too repetitive. You’ll also see this where authors get scared of saying pronouns or names too often to refer to their characters (or feeling difficulty in pieces where both characters use the same pronouns), so we get writing like, “The brunette walked to the door” or “...He said to the substitute teacher.” Certainly there are times when those kinds of descriptors are OK, but as a general rule of thumb, it is almost always better to just go with “he,” “she,” or “they,” or to use the characters’ names -- it is much less distracting. In smutty writing, really, you should feel perfectly comfortable using “cock” and “pussy” (or your sexy words of choice) to describe anatomy with less creative variation.
In terms of hypnosis and mind control itself, we can reflect on the idea of cliche a lot. Oftentimes, the idea of trope is central to our kink. We love our sexy words; “sleepy,” “drowsy,” “controlled,” “docile,” “hypnotized,” “melted.” And we love our tropes, because for many of us, that’s where the interest came from. When it comes to writing hot mind control smut specifically, it’s about celebrating these things more than it is about downplaying them, so it’s a little unlike writing other smut where you always want to avoid distinct linguistic traps.
Write Something Personally Hot
Lastly, I think it’s helpful to write from a place that is personally exciting. It’s fun to try new things and branch out, but it’s almost always more intense when the writing is something that you yourself find hot. This comes through in unconscious ways -- in our style and tone, and readers can often tell the subtle difference when an author is tapping into something that really gets them going.
Like I was saying before, consuming media (porn, erotica, and depictions of hypnosis in shows or movies) can help you tap into the things that you find attractive and the ways that you process that attraction. Becoming more keyed into your own fantasies is a big part of this too. Sometimes in our effort to write something unique and “good” we lose sight of how it connects to the way that we think about our desires. It can be just as good to write out the fantasies that you keep going back to -- no matter how masturbatory they are -- both as good practice of how you highlight different elements on paper as well as to share something that has a personal piece of you involved.
In Conclusion
Nothing in this article is fully objective -- sexuality is an incredibly personal thing and it’s impossible to make “rules” about what makes erotica attractive. It’s always fun to share perspectives with others about what gets us off and what kind of content we enjoy consuming -- that’s a large part of our community interactions, and I love hearing what other people think about in terms of their desires. You can take whatever ideas you’d like from this or suggest your own in the comments and spark a discussion. No one’s preferences are invalid (except in a teasing, tongue-in-cheek sort of way) and that counts for what you prefer to read as well as what you prefer to write. In the end, it’s all about who we are as people and how our tastes have evolved over time, and that’s something I find wonderful.
