Yesterday I posted a snippet of a new story that I’m kicking around. When I went back and looked for another snippet to possibly post, I was taken aback a bit by how little of that story actually contained spanking. I ran a quick word count and only 1042 words out of the 2930 that I wrote were the actual “action” portion of the spanking scene.

Just for funsies, I went into the folder for Baker’s Dozen and picked out three spanking stories, and counted the words that were action versus not:

• “The Babysitter’s Daddy”: 429 out of 6800
• “Strong Medicine”: 363 out of 4000
• “A Spoonful of Attitude”: 683 out of 3800

All three of those stories have something in common, though: the spanking scene is a punishment (albeit a “fake” one in “The Babysitter’s Daddy”). I think that’s because, when it comes to a punishment scene, it’s less about the spanking and more about how the spankee is made to feel. They should be so upset just from what they’ve done and how disappointed the spanker is that by the time their bottom is touched the actual spanking part should just be academic.

The story I posted a snippet of yesterday is a consensual, fun spanking scene, and those tend to last longer than punishments anyway. But still, only a third of what I wrote in that hour (or so) was actual spanking action. The rest was setting up the story and the denouement afterward. (It’s actually probably going to be the first chapter of a novelette or novella, but I digress.) I think, though, regardless of what kind of spanking is in the story, the actual spanking part is less important to the reader than the build-up to it. I like writing spankings, sure, but I like getting to know characters even better, and to do that I need build-up. If I haven’t developed realistic, rounded characters, then the spanking rings hollow for me.

In writing this post, I was reminded of a story I once downloaded on a BBS called “Slippery Fun”. I actually managed to dig it up so you can read it if you want. There’s no spanking in it, and it’s clearly male-centric wish fulfillment. For those who don’t want to read it, let me give you the high points: several adult women go into the backyard and have an orgy, and then later their friend comes over and invites her new boyfriend, who is multi-orgasmic, and each orgasm is a veritable flood. That story jumps into things quickly, with little time to get to know the characters beyond what they look like. It’s good masturbation fodder, and the actual “climactic” scene (between the POV character and the friend’s boyfriend) is decent. But compare that to, say, “Loose End 275” from ifeelmyself.com, which was one of my favorite videos to watch, back when I used to watch videos for the express purpose of masturbation.

Image from ifeelmyself.com

One of the things that made this video great was the build-up — it started with a long discussion, and then there was sex, and then there was more talking, and then (if I’m remembering right) they added a fourth person to the mix and had sex again. (The other thing was that it starred Paula and Chloe.) There was a logical progression to the story that the director was telling. Just like, when you’re writing a story, there needs to be a logical progression to things — whether the goal is to write a climactic sex scene or, say, a space battle or magical duel. The “action” of those types of scenes is relatively brief as well, but because the author builds up the characters and the story it doesn’t really matter.

I don’t think it really matters that yesterday’s story had only 1042 out of 2930 words focused on “active” spanking. I don’t think it matters that the three Baker’s Dozen stories had fewer than 700 words apiece of “active” spanking. Just like with any piece of writing, you should use the fewest possible words to make the most impact, and if that impact is a hand or implement against someone’s backside, then that’s even better.