On Writing Naturist Fiction

Stripping down my naked ambitions of literary liberation and the bare imagination

When naturists write, are their words as revealing as the clothes they’ve shed, or do they wrap themselves in the enigmatic cloak of literary artistry, leaving readers to ponder the mystery behind their prose?

I’m sure for most authors, they write their first novel using the best story idea they’ve imagined thus far, but drag their feet doing so because they don’t want to fuck it up with their inexperience.

I think I’m in that boat.

The best story idea I’m trying to start my first novel with seems to be the most rock-solid in terms of character arcs and plot twists, but I’m constantly rewriting and rewriting to the point where I’m no longer sure if I’m still in touch with the “magic” I felt when I first came up with the idea.

Pulp fiction book covers are entertaining as they are!

Staying True to Naturism

The best thing about a great plot is that it has room to grow in every direction. It’s like how they took “Star Wars” and turned into umpteen sequels, and prequels, and off-shoot stories.

But the problem with a great plot is that you forget about what you’re trying to say in the first place. I mean, Star Wars was simply the classic “David and Goliath” story, where the boy (Luke) stepped up to take on Goliath (Darth Vader) and claimed that his faith (The Force) would lead him to victory. I mean, it’s the same fucking story, but drawn out in all sorts of directions, because that’s the basis of a good story. And the problem when the story gets drawn out in so many directions, is that you forget what you wanted to say in the first place.

And that’s where I am with my story. Yes, I want to write about naturism and all that it means to me, and the way I live it, but I’m trying to stick with the core message behind naturism while still making it interesting.

Is it Porn, or Is it Naturism?

I have a confession to make.

The biggest reason I came to Substack is because they seem to have the most liberal policies on acceptable content and policing of such content while still having a sizeable body of paying readers that appreciate what I have to say. I mean, if I am wrong, please correct me.

Amazon was the first place I thought of when I decided to write fiction. After all, when you’re book is for sale on Kindle, it’s looks like a real, proper book. People notice it and say, “Wow Julia! I guess you’re not just a pretty face!”

But Amazon will “adult filter” your book if it contains anything on the cover, title, or within the “See Inside” portion of the book, that has anything suggesting porn. Not just erotica, but porn.

Sounds easy enough to avoid, right?

BUT, when you read through the many complaints on Reddit where authors reported seeing their books “adult filtered”, even after they meticulously made sure to stick to the content policies, it left me with a horrible feeling. Obviously Amazon got rid of all their “Molly Moderates” and replaced them with “Robbie Robots” who were AI-trained on The Book of Mormon.

I also looked at other platforms, Wattpad, Royal Road, Radish, Tapas, even Medium, none of them left me a sense that there was an audience for what I wanted to write, or that my stories would not get pushed into a blackhole of misfits counted towards their, “and millions of other titles too” category.

I also wanted to find a place where my writings could live, for a long time, and Substack seemed to have gained a following of very influential writers.

So take the message that Amazon is trying to push, to go ahead and make it sexy, but don’t go overboard with it. So, if I want to write a story about naturism, and actually make money at it, then I have to make it interesting.

Okay, So Are You Writing Porn, Julia?

No. And not erotica.

However, a story about naturism turns out to be rather boring...

“So there’s this girl who doesn’t wear clothes, like ever. And then, she becomes a writer, and lives in van, until she meets another naked girl who doesn’t really do much or get out much, and the two just live in a van together, and do their best to stay naked while respecting the law and not offending anyone.”

Hmm, yeah… It needs something. Something more creative. Something more… intriguing, more dramatic, like a team of college football players whose bus broke down and they wandered through the woods until they found a couple of naked girls who were cold and lonely.

Ugh. Not that!

You see? The main character has to go through some kind of arc where she starts out on one end of the spectrum and arrives at the other end. So, maybe she starts out reckless with her nudity and ends up becoming more socially responsible about it? Or, maybe she goes the other way around? Hmm, actually that’s more intriguing! But in order to make it interesting, there has to be laws being broken, there has to be unbelievable sets of circumstances, there has to be a lot of pain and heartbreak, and… there has to be sex.

Goddamn it Julia! Don’t you know that naturism has nothing to do with sex? Haven’t you learned anything yet?

Well Here’s What I’ve Learned So Far

Actually, I gave erotica a lot of thought. But like I said in last weeks’ installment of Naked Nomad, I already write commercial shlock for a living. And if I’m going to write more schlock, then I want to write schlock that’ll make money. And if you look at what genre of erotica sells the best on Amazon, it’s all…

“40-year old lonely woman takes a skiing trip to Switzerland and meets Ludwig, a 6-foot tall skiing instructor with big muscles and a twelve-inch long thunderwurst”.

Ooh, yeah… maybe not.

I mean, I want to earn a living writing creative, artful, deep, philosophical literature, so that I don’t have to earn a living writing the shit that I have to write now.

And to be honest, no one wants to read, “The Joys of Socially Responsible Naturism by Roger Cleancock”.

If people are going to pay money to read about naked people, they want those naked people to do some wild and crazy stuff.

My goal is to promote naturism by planting the seeds into peoples’ minds, but doing it through a story that captivates them and makes them want to read more.

That’s what it comes down to, and that’s what I’ve learned so far.