Author Ted Bun explains what Naturist Fiction is
Naturist Fiction
The Self-publishing boom enabled by e-books has encouraged whole areas of writing that a conventional publisher wouldn’t have thought economically viable. This includes a genre where some or all of the protagonists are nudists, naturist or clothes free for some reason.
If you type the word ‘Naturist’ or worse still ‘Nudist’ into the Amazon books search engine, you will get a very mixed bag of results. However, lurking in the list are a number of books that can be described as Naturist Fiction.
In all the naturist fiction stories that I have read, people are trying to go about their normal, everyday lives, not wearing clothes. Sexual activity may or may not be mentioned depending on the author and the needs of the story. If there is any sexual activity it is between consenting adults and is seldom the main focus of the story. Non-consensual sex is rare and always treated as a crime.
In the typical Naturist Fiction, the narrative will tend to focus on a storyline that involves people not wearing clothes. It may be in a naturist resort, a modified reality or deep in the past or future. That the protagonists are going to be mainly be undressed is used to add complexity to the story as the naked characters encounter the clothed world. For example, the hero chases the thief out of the locker room of the naked gym but should he or she give up the pursuit when the thief crashes through the door onto a busy London street.? Or just keep going?
Alternatively, the ever popular American, ‘Murder in the Nudist Camp’ stories are more about the doubts and uncertainties of the hard-bitten, often bigoted, police officer sent to investigate. Sometimes his uncertainties and the crime are resolved, at other times they leave the door open to the enterprising journalist or private investigator to forsake their fears and clothes to solve the crime from within.
There are Naturist Fiction stories in almost every class of story-telling. From science fiction, fantasy, crime, religion, romance, historical fiction through to out and out comedy. In settings, as diverse as the English Home Counties to Remote Scottish Islands. From identifiable towns in France to anonymous resorts in the former Native American territories of America. From Imaginary Islands (somewhere near Cape Verde is my guess) to planets in distant galaxies. From the Bible-belt of USA to Mexico. Naturist fiction spans the globe and beyond.
As with all unregulated endeavours, the standard of the work is variable. In the early days of self-publishing, errors were very common and nearly destroyed the concept. It is a great concept too, write your story, make a book cover for the front and adverts, post it to a website and collect huge royalties. Well, you do if you are E. L. James, who self-published Fifty Shades of Grey before being picked up by Vintage Press.
The volume of sales, why the traditional publishers didn’t engage, does not allow for professional editing at £30 or more an hour. I have a small group of readers who proof and consistency read for me. They then tell me it is great except … and send a list of corrections. Even so, I had a character sitting, naked of course, in the sun; then six months later it is April. That was picked up by a reader and was quickly corrected. One of the joys of self-publishing e-books and print-on-demand paperbacks, you can correct the manuscript as often as you like. Most of the authors can easily be found on Twitter or Facebook and are pretty approachable. A nicely worded private message pointing out the odd mistake is generally welcomed.
A few names to play with:
Matthew Black
A series of humorous books most involving a naturist planning officer
Andrew Calow
Romantic stories set in a legal firm
Olaf Danielson
An American writer and nude bird watcher
Jacob Drake
An American writer who has cleverly written the same story from different viewpoints.
Brad Eases
A bit racy but writes some clever material, USA based
Will Forest
A variety of different well-researched stories
Wallace M Greensage
Has created a new country for his stories of a group of naked friends.
John David Harding
Two light-hearted stories of naked musicians
Kenneth A Moe
Anyone who can create and sustain a Naturist Church over several books gets my vote!
Richard Schillig
Owner of a campsite in Portugal, Richards first foray into fiction is a fun play on words.
P Z Walker
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Historical Fiction all get a naturist re-working from the prolific PZ
And, of course, Ted Bun.
The Uncovered Policeman a lot of froth and fun signifying nothing
contributed by Ted Bun © 2018
Naturist Fiction
The Self-publishing boom enabled by e-books has encouraged whole areas of writing that a conventional publisher wouldn’t have thought economically viable. This includes a genre where some or all of the protagonists are nudists, naturist or clothes free for some reason.
If you type the word ‘Naturist’ or worse still ‘Nudist’ into the Amazon books search engine, you will get a very mixed bag of results. However, lurking in the list are a number of books that can be described as Naturist Fiction.
In all the naturist fiction stories that I have read, people are trying to go about their normal, everyday lives, not wearing clothes. Sexual activity may or may not be mentioned depending on the author and the needs of the story. If there is any sexual activity it is between consenting adults and is seldom the main focus of the story. Non-consensual sex is rare and always treated as a crime.
In the typical Naturist Fiction, the narrative will tend to focus on a storyline that involves people not wearing clothes. It may be in a naturist resort, a modified reality or deep in the past or future. That the protagonists are going to be mainly be undressed is used to add complexity to the story as the naked characters encounter the clothed world. For example, the hero chases the thief out of the locker room of the naked gym but should he or she give up the pursuit when the thief crashes through the door onto a busy London street.? Or just keep going?
Alternatively, the ever popular American, ‘Murder in the Nudist Camp’ stories are more about the doubts and uncertainties of the hard-bitten, often bigoted, police officer sent to investigate. Sometimes his uncertainties and the crime are resolved, at other times they leave the door open to the enterprising journalist or private investigator to forsake their fears and clothes to solve the crime from within.
There are Naturist Fiction stories in almost every class of story-telling. From science fiction, fantasy, crime, religion, romance, historical fiction through to out and out comedy. In settings, as diverse as the English Home Counties to Remote Scottish Islands. From identifiable towns in France to anonymous resorts in the former Native American territories of America. From Imaginary Islands (somewhere near Cape Verde is my guess) to planets in distant galaxies. From the Bible-belt of USA to Mexico. Naturist fiction spans the globe and beyond.
As with all unregulated endeavours, the standard of the work is variable. In the early days of self-publishing, errors were very common and nearly destroyed the concept. It is a great concept too, write your story, make a book cover for the front and adverts, post it to a website and collect huge royalties. Well, you do if you are E. L. James, who self-published Fifty Shades of Grey before being picked up by Vintage Press.
The volume of sales, why the traditional publishers didn’t engage, does not allow for professional editing at £30 or more an hour. I have a small group of readers who proof and consistency read for me. They then tell me it is great except … and send a list of corrections. Even so, I had a character sitting, naked of course, in the sun; then six months later it is April. That was picked up by a reader and was quickly corrected. One of the joys of self-publishing e-books and print-on-demand paperbacks, you can correct the manuscript as often as you like. Most of the authors can easily be found on Twitter or Facebook and are pretty approachable. A nicely worded private message pointing out the odd mistake is generally welcomed.
A few names to play with:
Matthew Black
A series of humorous books most involving a naturist planning officer
Andrew Calow
Romantic stories set in a legal firm
Olaf Danielson
An American writer and nude bird watcher
Jacob Drake
An American writer who has cleverly written the same story from different viewpoints.
Brad Eases
A bit racy but writes some clever material, USA based
Will Forest
A variety of different well-researched stories
Wallace M Greensage
Has created a new country for his stories of a group of naked friends.
John David Harding
Two light-hearted stories of naked musicians
Kenneth A Moe
Anyone who can create and sustain a Naturist Church over several books gets my vote!
Richard Schillig
Owner of a campsite in Portugal, Richards first foray into fiction is a fun play on words.
P Z Walker
Science Fiction, Fantasy and Historical Fiction all get a naturist re-working from the prolific PZ
And, of course, Ted Bun.
The Uncovered Policeman a lot of froth and fun signifying nothing
contributed by Ted Bun © 2018