So, I don't like reading smut. I'm not sure if it's because I've never had sex or if it means I won't like sex or what. I'm not sure if this makes me weird because so many people seem to love smut, but whenever I see it in a story, I kinda skim over it. I don't know, I just kinda wanted to write this out and send it to someone and you seem so nice. =)
Hi, Anon! I’m so glad you sent this message, because I think it’s an important follow-up to that thing I reblogged about fic with smut versus without smut. Because you are absolutely not weird at all, nor are your fic-reading preferences! We’ve all evolved into fic readers for our own reasons, searching for the exact combination of characterization, plot, dialogue, and action that suits our tastes. Sometimes that’s 200,000-word fast-paced action stories with romantic subplots without anything but maybe the vaguest references to sex, and other times that’s 5,000-word PWPs that are just all smut. There’s no right or wrong answer, and explicit sex doesn’t make a story better or worse than stories without those scenes – it’s all about what you’re looking for in a story.
And the best part about fic is that there are a ton of options on these here interwebs, a whole bunch of different combinations, and sites like AO3 let us filter on keywords or pairings or ratings. Or readers can, like you, just skim past the parts they’re not interested in reading if the rest of the story is compelling.
Which is a long-winded way of saying: you read exactly what you want to read, dear Anon, and rock on with your bad self. ;)
And more importantly, if/when you decide to have sex, you will find the reality bears little resemblance to smut. Heh. Real life is messy and fun and sexy and weird, in turns, while the fictionalized version of sex is meant to convey a mood, or a character interaction, or simply more of the story the author is telling. (Or, yes, fictional sex can be written simply to titillate.) Some people love sex and find smut boring or a turnoff, and some people love reading smut and find sex overwhelming or, well, a turnoff. Just like with fic, people are looking for different things with sex – or aren’t looking for sex at all – and that’s perfectly normal and natural and, quite frankly, awesome.
Anyway, thanks for the message, Anon. I hope this answer makes at least some kind of sense. :)
