Channeling horniness into creativity

January 30, 2013 7:50 AM

Hi all-- I am a female writer with a high sex drive. With most of my moods, I have figured out how to use the energy of anger or sadness or whatever to write something borne from it. But when I'm feeling horny, I really don't know what to do with it, aside from write about sex, and I want to be able to do more than that. This may sound like a silly inquiry, but I'm wondering if other artistic sorts have dealt with it.
posted by anonymous to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

Oh, hm. I don't know quite how to put this.

Have you considered doing some personal photography? To share (or not share) as you like?
posted by fight or flight at 8:15 AM on January 30, 2013

A good friend of mine channels it into fan fiction.
posted by seanmpuckett at 8:50 AM on January 30, 2013

In her book Bossypants, Tina Fey describes climbing a mountain in hopes of making out with a guy. She suggests that if people were promised sex at the end of the workouts they would be at the gym a lot more, because people will do insane things with even the faint hope of sex.

If you have a partner you could agree with them that if you accomplish X you will receive Y treat in the bedroom.

Or if you can maneuver yourself into a situation where you are working on a project with someone you have a crush on ... I did my most brilliant work for the professors I was attracted to, even though there was zero chance of anything happening. Actually even being in a writing group (art class, whatever) with someone you find cute could work.

If you google "channeling sexual energy into creativity" (or sub "work" for creativity) a lot of stuff comes up. Sounds pretty woo, most of it, but you could read that stuff and see if any of it makes sense to you.

With all the stuff I google in response to ask.me questions ... god only know what my intertube fingerprint is.
posted by bunderful at 8:51 AM on January 30, 2013

I wish I had something for you other than 'learn mindfulness meditation.' It is such a cliche right? A magical cure for everything.

Actually I do not believe meditation is magical. Meditation helps me with being horny because it allows me to be objective enough to 'walk the energy back to the pool' so to speak. I like to actively visualize energy moving up from my sacrum to the crown of my head. Of course, I know these ideas are not science or even real. They are just tools for helping me redirect sexual energy to more useful things like creative thought.
posted by jalitt at 9:37 AM on January 30, 2013

Do you find that having orgasms puts you into a creative headspace? Some people use drugs or alcohol to get a different perspective for writing or editing; maybe you can use sexual release similarly.
posted by BibiRose at 10:06 AM on January 30, 2013

...and also maybe deliberately ramp up your responses so you get more or a high from it.
posted by BibiRose at 10:07 AM on January 30, 2013

I find I can't write erotica when I'm craving sex, for the same reasons I can't cook when I'm hungry.
posted by Sidhedevil at 10:13 AM on January 30, 2013

I jump in to bed with someone and then write in a pleasant haze of satisfied well-being. YMMV.
posted by jaduncan at 10:23 AM on January 30, 2013

But when I'm feeling horny, I really don't know what to do with it, aside from write about sex, and I want to be able to do more than that.

Do you know why you want to "be abel to do more than that"? 'Cause writing about sex can be useful and fun.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 1:07 PM on January 30, 2013

I channel it into a project that is in some way related to someone/something I desire. I want to fuck, but can't, so the next best thing (apart from writing sex) is writing something that will make someone I want to fuck respect me/enjoy my company/think I'm awesome or is related to how I fuck.
posted by geek anachronism at 1:54 PM on January 30, 2013

Free writing is useful for venting every imaginable emotion. All you do is get some notebook paper and a pen. Then you write whatever the hell comes to mind and don't stop, don't hesitate, don't correct, don't pause, for some period of time. The key is to keep the pen moving no matter what.

It does not need to make sense it does not need to turn into anything it does not need to be shown to anybody. In fact, I found that once I stared shredding the pages immediately afterwards, it opened up whole new levels of junk to spew onto the page.

Most of the time it is just stupid venting but once in a while interesting or insightful bits get through.
posted by trinity8-director at 5:13 AM on January 31, 2013

Not being silly...when I get like this, I masturbate a lot. If you have a partner, it's a little bogus, because by the nighttime, when you've already had 3 orgasms...but anyway, that's what I do.
posted by skbw at 4:38 PM on March 23, 2013