Real Life Experience in Relation to Writing Spanking Fiction

I am a spanko who likes to write spanking stories. So do many of my friends here on the LSF. But what of those other authors with little or no experience of spanking? I know of someone (who I won't name) who has fantasised for years about being spanked. Sadly for her, the reality has failed to materialise within her marriage, so the fantasy is all she has. She has written some credible stories, admitting that she has gained knowledge and inspiration from reading other spanking stories on the LSF. There's nothing wrong with this, but I think it makes an interesting topic for discussion.

In real life, some people like to play hard; those on the receiving end may have developed a high tolerance over the years. Those of us who have attended parties will no doubt have seen instances of heavy play - fully consensual. To an inexperienced observer, it may seem like abuse. Yet to the participants involved, it is 'normal' behaviour that satisfies a need.

Perhaps these differences are also evident in attitudes to spanking fiction, with the less experienced thinking that some stories are brutal, whereas others will take a different view?

I think I have to be amongst the fantasists. I have have been in a loving but non-spanking relationship for a very long time. However, there is no doubt that my fantasies and some of my stories are affected by my not very happy experiences at school.

I try not to write "brutal" stories, and some stories in the library are a bit too strong for my taste, but they are very much in the minority.

A very interesting question! My first reaction is that there is at least one other important variable here; in addition to RL-experience, I think our attitude to pain has a lot to say for how we prefer our spanking stories. For me spanking is primarily about mental processes; about doing wrong, being found out, getting punished, accepting one's guilt, being forgiven, and the pain is only important to guarantee that this process is genuine and believable. Other people may have a more "physical" approach to spanking where pain is of greater importance in itself.

I have some, but not much, RL experience and definitely in the "mild" category. I can still appreciate "hard" stories as long as they are either playful or make psychological sense. I usually don't like stories where blatant sadism is presented without reservation (and even with relish), and I particularly dislike them when the victims are underage and in a situation they cannot escape (such as being brutalized by their own parents). Still, I try to remind myself that this is fiction, and that the license we willingly give to authors of crime and spy stories, should also be extended to writers of spanking stories!

What actually bothers me the most, is when otherwise fine stories are ruined (for me at least!) by excessive cruelty in the spanking scenes. To some extent this is a matter of taste, but not totally — when otherwise loving parents in a realistically written story turn into brutal beast the moment they get a hairbrush in their hands, something is usually wrong with the writing — probably that the author has switched from "public writer"-mode to "private fantasy"-mode.

I only ever find a spanking abusive if an overly harsh/brutal spanking is carried out on a non-consenting bottom. I tend to avoid reading this kind of scenario, and like Lincoln said, stories depicting such scenarios are the minority in the LSF. Consensual harsh spankings in a story are fine, so long as the bottom is portrayed as enjoying it or agreeing to it for her own good! My only spanking experience is very, very rare (now extinct???) play/erotic spankings with a very reluctant vanilla hubby! I am not sure if this colours my view, but I believe the key element for me is whether or not the harsh spanking is consensual or not.

Your experiences, especially those that happen in childhood are bound to effect your writing. In fact writing spanking fiction is possibly a form of therapy for some people. I knew a man many years ago who was a talented artist, although it wasn't what he did for his living. During his own childhood he had suffered a great deal of both physical and emotional cruelty at the hands of his mother and although none of his paintings dealt with spanking, his mother was in every picture he ever painted.

As for severity in spanking fiction, I dislike it as I feel it is the ritual of being spanked or caned that interests me rather than the actual pain. In fact if you have experienced a severe spanking or caning rather than just fantasised about what it may feel like you will appreciate it's not exciting whilst it's actually taking place, just painful. I don't understand how the mind afterwards manages to conjure pleasure out of pain but it always has done for me.

Actual spankings are always between consenting adults. I prefer them to be spanking for love, but recognize punishment spankings, provided the spankee is asking for it - not just consenting but actively asking for it.
This scenario can also be valid in fiction affecting children. I'm aware that this is not acceptable to everybody. Some people think that spanking a child is always a sign of cruelty.
I tend to evade stories where the spankings are excessive or cruel or both.
Spank for love in fiction and RL, and remember always to console your partner afterwards.
(flopsy, I know you don't like RL in LSF, so please bear with me,sorry) ernalones

For me this is not true. I had the most normal and loving parents a child could ever have. They were the epitome of parenthood. Yes I was spanked but nothing like what I have ever written. To this day I have no idea where my interest in spanking came from. I was writing about it when I was still in elementary school! The stories of course started out very mild and simply grew as my imagination grew. I know many don't read my stories because I am one of the authors who goes to the extreme with spankings and have been told that many times.

I suppose my tolerance for pain must be high because I'll beg my partner to continue sometimes but being a more gentle soul, he won't. I have tried toning down the stories a bit for the readers sake but I know they are still over the top sometimes. And like I've already said... I have no idea where any of these writing desires have come from.

Katie B

Katie, obviously you are the best judge of whether your childhood experiences had an influence on your writing. Most other spankophiles (is that a word?) that I have spoken to think their interest was formed in childhood. Symptoms are, as have been discussed previously on the forum, looking up the word spank in the dictionary, counting the spankings in each issue of the Dandy and Beano etc. If I hadn't grown up in England during the late 1950's and 1960's I imagine I would not have developed an interest in spanking and would either be writing about something else entirely, or more likely, not bothering to write at all.

This is absolutely true with me. What's NOT true is that my interest reflects experience being disciplined by parents or in school. Although for some that seems to have been the case, and some people want to insist that it MUST be the case for everyone, for quite a number of people the childhood curiosity seems to have developed independent of any real experience.

That's what I would have thought ten years ago, but having talked to many young spankos raised in an almost spank-free Scandinavia, I am not at all sure anymore. It's seems that the spanking virus is able to keep alive in environments where only a small minority of children are being spanked and where there are almost no references to spanking in popular culture. It also seems that unspanked youths are as susceptible as those who have been spanked growing up. Don't ask me why, but this is the impression I get.