Constance Daley's Blog - Posts Tagged "ebooks"
In Defense of Fifty Shades of Grey
I know what some of you are thinking. Why would a lowly newbie erotica writer bother writing a defense of the best-selling book on the planet? The reason is simple. I don't much care for the treatment the book is getting from the erotica literati.
To be up front, I'm not a huge fan of Fifty Shades of Grey. To see why you can check my previous blog post. I think most of the criticisms of the book are at least somewhat fair. I don't think it's particularly well-written or well-plotted, nor do I think the sex scenes are particularly hot or that it is a good representation of the BDSM community. By now some of you are wondering how this is a defense of the book when I don't have much positive to say about it. The answer is simple: it gets women thinking about sex, and about different types of sex.
Much is often made of how prudish American society is, and there is validity to this criticism. So when a book comes along and has everyday women even giving a second thought to things like dominance and submission, I think it's a great thing. I think one of the best things 50 Shades has going for it is that it isn't an accurate representation of BDSM. I think an accurate depiction would scare off most women by page fifty. For all intents and purposes, 50 Shades is a romance novel with slightly kinkier sex. And that's an okay thing to be.
The worst thing that might happen to an erotica writer because of 50 Shades is someone new might buy their book. And you know what, if all the naysayers are the amazing writers they seem to think themselves, then that person who bought one of their books is likely to buy all of them. And if one of those books includes a truer representation of the BDSM community then great, 50 Shades led them there anyway.
We live in a world where many women have never used a vibrator, where many women never masturbate, where many women never orgasm during sex, and we're worried about whether or not a book that might help a few women do some of those things is a work of literary genius. It's time for everyone to get off their high horses and recognize that the whole point of what we do, at least to my mind, is to help people come. If 50 Shades is doing that, then it's the best book of the last fifty years.
Consider this an open letter to the erotica writing community. If I read your book and am impressed by your vivid images and rhapsodic prose, then congratulations. But if I'm still not turned on, then you've failed. My whole goal in reading a story of that type is to get wet, to get horny, and eventually to get off, either with my husband or one of my trusty toys. Because even the best books I've ever read, and I've read a lot of great books, are not as good as the best orgasms I've ever had.
I know what some of you are thinking. Aren't you the same Constance Daley whose website bears a declaration that we all need to stop reading poorly written smut? Of course I am. Can't a girl have it both ways? Seriously, the poorly written smut I am referring to is a great deal different than 50 Shades. There seem to be a lot of ebook authors who dump trash on the market, books with basically no editing where it is difficult to follow the action because of grammatical errors. I have no use for these books because their authors obviously have no use for them other than trying to steal the reader's money. And they give other ebook authors such as myself a bad name. I encourage all readers to use the Look Inside feature on Amazon before buying to make sure that the author at least bothered to do a little proofreading.
To be up front, I'm not a huge fan of Fifty Shades of Grey. To see why you can check my previous blog post. I think most of the criticisms of the book are at least somewhat fair. I don't think it's particularly well-written or well-plotted, nor do I think the sex scenes are particularly hot or that it is a good representation of the BDSM community. By now some of you are wondering how this is a defense of the book when I don't have much positive to say about it. The answer is simple: it gets women thinking about sex, and about different types of sex.
Much is often made of how prudish American society is, and there is validity to this criticism. So when a book comes along and has everyday women even giving a second thought to things like dominance and submission, I think it's a great thing. I think one of the best things 50 Shades has going for it is that it isn't an accurate representation of BDSM. I think an accurate depiction would scare off most women by page fifty. For all intents and purposes, 50 Shades is a romance novel with slightly kinkier sex. And that's an okay thing to be.
The worst thing that might happen to an erotica writer because of 50 Shades is someone new might buy their book. And you know what, if all the naysayers are the amazing writers they seem to think themselves, then that person who bought one of their books is likely to buy all of them. And if one of those books includes a truer representation of the BDSM community then great, 50 Shades led them there anyway.
We live in a world where many women have never used a vibrator, where many women never masturbate, where many women never orgasm during sex, and we're worried about whether or not a book that might help a few women do some of those things is a work of literary genius. It's time for everyone to get off their high horses and recognize that the whole point of what we do, at least to my mind, is to help people come. If 50 Shades is doing that, then it's the best book of the last fifty years.
Consider this an open letter to the erotica writing community. If I read your book and am impressed by your vivid images and rhapsodic prose, then congratulations. But if I'm still not turned on, then you've failed. My whole goal in reading a story of that type is to get wet, to get horny, and eventually to get off, either with my husband or one of my trusty toys. Because even the best books I've ever read, and I've read a lot of great books, are not as good as the best orgasms I've ever had.
I know what some of you are thinking. Aren't you the same Constance Daley whose website bears a declaration that we all need to stop reading poorly written smut? Of course I am. Can't a girl have it both ways? Seriously, the poorly written smut I am referring to is a great deal different than 50 Shades. There seem to be a lot of ebook authors who dump trash on the market, books with basically no editing where it is difficult to follow the action because of grammatical errors. I have no use for these books because their authors obviously have no use for them other than trying to steal the reader's money. And they give other ebook authors such as myself a bad name. I encourage all readers to use the Look Inside feature on Amazon before buying to make sure that the author at least bothered to do a little proofreading.
Selling My Fantasies
When I set out to write erotica, I had two choices. I could write what I wanted and hope that I was a good enough writer that I would eventually attract an audience, or I would write to a specific fetish and hope to make money that way. Looking over the available erotica it is obvious that most writers opt for number two. There are large amounts of writers who focus on only one fetish, and they are selling you your own fantasies filtered through their imagination. If you're really into gangbangs, this can be great for you because it's easy to find hundreds of gangbangs stories. But I opted for the first choice.
So unlike many erotica writers, I'm not selling you your fantasies. I'm selling you mine. This is the way it always used to be. When I bought a collection of erotic shorts, I never knew what I was getting. I put my trust in the authors (and even more so in the editor) that even if they're particular fantasy wasn't my own, they would write it in such a way that I could still join in. Nowadays that's a lot harder to do, because ebooks have made it so simple to target every specific fetish.
This puts me in an odd position because I feel like the margin for error is much smaller for me than for other writers. If you are really into the idea of having sex with Bigfoot, then I'm guessing you'll cut the author a lot of slack regarding characters, plot, and description because you're getting to read about having sex with Bigfoot. I don't have that luxury. I have to write in such a way that my fantasy can become your fantasy for the few minutes we spend together.
That's the bad thing about writing the way I do. The good thing is that I get to write what I want, and that I get a chance to share myself with others. I get a chance to validate my fantasies in the minds of others. I get to know that, if I do a good enough job, I am helping someone get off on the exact things that I get off on. But the best thing is that I get a chance to broaden people's sexual horizons.
I fear in this day and age that it is too simple to have a very specialized sexuality. With the internet it is possible for a person to never range outside their existing proclivities. I think that's a bad thing. I think challenging ourselves and our sexuality is a healthy way to learn about ourselves and our partners. I'm hoping that people who read my stories learn a little bit about themselves while reading them, just as I learn a lot about myself by writing them.
So unlike many erotica writers, I'm not selling you your fantasies. I'm selling you mine. This is the way it always used to be. When I bought a collection of erotic shorts, I never knew what I was getting. I put my trust in the authors (and even more so in the editor) that even if they're particular fantasy wasn't my own, they would write it in such a way that I could still join in. Nowadays that's a lot harder to do, because ebooks have made it so simple to target every specific fetish.
This puts me in an odd position because I feel like the margin for error is much smaller for me than for other writers. If you are really into the idea of having sex with Bigfoot, then I'm guessing you'll cut the author a lot of slack regarding characters, plot, and description because you're getting to read about having sex with Bigfoot. I don't have that luxury. I have to write in such a way that my fantasy can become your fantasy for the few minutes we spend together.
That's the bad thing about writing the way I do. The good thing is that I get to write what I want, and that I get a chance to share myself with others. I get a chance to validate my fantasies in the minds of others. I get to know that, if I do a good enough job, I am helping someone get off on the exact things that I get off on. But the best thing is that I get a chance to broaden people's sexual horizons.
I fear in this day and age that it is too simple to have a very specialized sexuality. With the internet it is possible for a person to never range outside their existing proclivities. I think that's a bad thing. I think challenging ourselves and our sexuality is a healthy way to learn about ourselves and our partners. I'm hoping that people who read my stories learn a little bit about themselves while reading them, just as I learn a lot about myself by writing them.
