Lemons vs. Smut et al.

Since Shiv so magnanimously invited me, I am now the happy owner of an SSHG exchange prompt, and quite happy with it. Well, let's be honest: I'm once again obsessed with writing, but I suppose that things will get back to normal with time.

The prompt, as I already said in another post, is very, very unspecific, something like "Severus meets Hermione --> smut". Of course open prompts are much easier to write,  and I'm extremely grateful for being able to write without any constrictions.

But. The problem here isn't authorial freedom, it's smut. English is not my first language, so maybe I'm wrong here, but I feel that 'lemons' and 'smut' aren't quite the same. A story containing lemons may contain smut, but 'lemon' is the somewhat larger category, including lighter, even more humorous stuff. As I interpret it, smut is all about shafts and pearls and canals and - well, more the (even though quite metaphorically described) mechanics of sex. Now, if I write sex scenes - and I quite enjoy writing them - I don't really want to give a slightly longer version of tab a and slot b. I like describing the tension, the feelings of the participants (both physical and emotional), I like writing pillow conversations. Throbbing shafts and moist pearls... I don't know. Writing about the mechanics of sex can be real fun, in my opinion, if one does it in a humorous way. Honestly, the squelching noises made by two sweaty bodies can be very entertaining - I suppose all those who don't wear full body condoms for sex  (and what kind of noises they'd make...) have experienced this at times. But smut, as I understand the word, is just plain boring. Mainly because sex usually ends up with something being stuck in some orifice or other, and that's not very entertaining in and of itself. What makes it funny, or touching, or titillating, is all that happens before and after and while assorted tabs are being inserted into assorted slots.

I do hope the person I'm writing my story for (and it's 45 pages already, so there won't be any drastic rewrites, oh no!) doesn't interpret 'smut' as I do, because if she does she might be quite disappointed. 

In other news, life is pretty good at the moment. Third kick-boxing lesson yesterday, and I'm so glad I'm not a male dog (being a bitch does have its advantages...), because I couldn't lift my right leg to pee. But I'm still enthusiastic about it, and if the muscles hurt, at least you know you really did some work.

I'll leave the embassy half an hour early (there isnt much work at the moment, I'm even able to write at the office), so I can stay with Gabriele's (friend and apprentice consul) cats for a bit longer without getting home too late. No plans for tonight, so I imagine the story is going to sprout another five pages or so.