OK, for you writers out there I’m sure you’ve all faced this question.
When you write erotica do you think that the plot and characters should be equal to, greater than, or less than the graphic sexual descriptions?
What if you’re limited to 3500 words per story and your audience is a bunch of 18-21 y/o college students with high libido’s and little life experience?
And as a side note, is there a web site listing all the euphemisms for human…parts?
Oh, come on. On the internetweb? That’s for p*rn? Of course there is.
Don’t ask me where, though.
You could try checking out “Clean Sheets”. I’m not posting a link. You’ll find it.
Plot? Characters? He speaketh in riddles.
If you find the graphic descriptions difficult, you could try getting the characters themselves to recount them. Oh, hell, I can’t resist:
If it gets too hard, try putting it in the mouth of one of the characters. 
Pr0n, even when you spell it ‘e-r-o-t-i-c-a’, is extremely difficult to combine with literature, as in art-writing. The demands of each are very nearly contradictory.
In particular, the characters are almost invariably two dimensional. As far I’ve observed, the only character in the entire corpus who occassionaly breaks through into the third D is O, the POV character in The Story of O, and even there all the other characters in the book are flatter than flat.
I don’t care how you label it, a story populated with cardboard-cut-out characters and no real plot will only hold anyone’s interest for so long.
–James
<snerk!> 
I believe the PC to GSD ratio varies somewhat depending on the intended audience. Men prefer predominantly GSD, while women prefer a bit more PC development. The women’s GSD needs to be from a female perspective, too.
What if you’re limited to 3500 words per story
Be concise.
and your audience is a bunch of 18-21 y/o college students with high libido’s and little life experience?
You don’t want them breaking up into hysterics. Besides, isn’t kiddie porn illegal? Best check the legal ages in your state first . . . and make sure there are no precocious 15-year-olds in the class.
Seriously, I’d go for intricate and elegant, yet relatively tame situations, rather than something . . . err . . . more prurient.
You might even want to make it humorous. Female English major discovers just how handy geeky computer engineers can be, for instance, when her business major boyfriend and her hard drive dump her at the same time.
Oooh, yes! Lots of potential there! Yum! You can go on for almost the whole thing using computer repair to foreshadow what will happen, then end with her slooooowly removing . . . one by one . . . millimeter by millimeter . . . all the multicolored pens in his pocket protector . . . while he . . . explains . . . just . . . how . . . a slide rule . . . works . . .
See? Isn’t that excellent? Chiffettes everywhere are going into happy mode.
It only takes about 10 minutes.
Just long enough, no doubt.
Good thing you’re gay, then. 
It’s a very good thing. 
Women think so, yes. They have to worry about one less jackrabbit.
will the story involve mermaids?
That is excellent.
Dear Prurience, won’t you come out to play.
- Almost Lennon
djm
No doubt her business major boyfriend only had a floppy disk, and only 3.5" at that… 
I always think that character trumps everything else, but I’m a snob. Considering the audience and the wordcount, you should use familiar (read: cliche) characters so you don’t have to develop them too much, and lots of action, both hot and non hot. I also happen to think that less is more in erotica, in that too graphic is a turn off. Your audience will be to impatient for subtle, but try to strike a balance.
Thank you, dear. Yes, I’m thinking it is. Hmm.
I’m surprised more ladies haven’t weighed in on this. I hope they weren’t put off by the topic and just had something urgent to do first.
Very interesting. I was just discussing this with a friend the other day. I had a writing prof who said he used to teach this very subject years ago. I was always curious about how parents who are footing the bill for college tuition might have viewed a class like that.
Anyway, erotica is designed to stimulate the senses. If your attempt is to be successful, this naturally requires descriptive passages that vicariously place the reader in the scene in some fashion. I presume that’s why the prof was able to get away with his teaching methods. Strong, well-rounded characters and a believable, well-executed plot, in my opinion, take a back seat here to tantilizing descriptions that draw on the reader’s sensory memories. Without the latter you don’t have erotica.
Note: It’s possible that what the prof talked about may not have been an entire course on erotica. It may have been some exercises that he had students do to sharpen their writing. It’s been a while since I’ve heard him talk about it.
brawk! brawk!! 
I love chickens. They’re so gorgeous and stupid.
I think that was a hen either running for the rooster or running for cover.
Lambchop - you are a natural. Perhaps you should give up all this acadamia for your true calling.
I never expected anyone to actually answer this post seriously. IMHO you MUST have well developed characters for any story in any genre. Once the reader is absorbed into the life of your character you won’t need as much GSD; it won’t be necessary to provoke the proper response.