Erotica Writers Salon discussion

Depends. When writing erotica, the intent is to arouse, right? Well, everyone is different, as far as what turns you on and I think the biggest challenge is that you have to create a story that will titillate as many readers as possible. And also make the story as believable as possible, even if the erotic tale is a fantasy, which most are.

For me the greatest challenge is to write a story that's not the "same old, same old".

I want my stories to be as original in characterization and situations as possible.

Which may or may not happen because I don't read much erotica so I don't know what others are writing. LOL

Bliss, I think it is different for everyone, I guess. The old adage for writers about there really isn't any new stories is mostly true. The trick is to come up with a new twist or angle to an old story...or something like that. ;)

The greatest challenge is always to make it immersive. Unlike other genres, sex can't just be described from the outside in a clinical manner.

I like the way Anais Nin put it:
"But did anyone ever experience pleasure from reading a clinical description? Didn't the old man know how words carry colors and sounds into the flesh?"

I think the key is to remember that erotica isn't really about sex, it's about humans using the language of sex to tell a story. I find it more helpful to think of it as a translation than a genre. This definitely helps you avoid the conventions.

One of the traps with being a male writer of erotica is the inherent habit of making things mechanical. In a general sense, we're spatial creatures, and we often treat time as if it's space. So amateur male-penned erotica is almost exclusively along the lines of who did what with which leg and where her hand was while mine was there. Focussing on the "what", "where" and "when", and forgetting about "how" and "why". On the figures I've seen, the market for written erotica is still predominantly female, since a man is more likely to opt for the visual over the verbal (wild generalisation, I admit..."but it feels true").

re male penned erotica this guy writes good stuff...Guy New York I found him via a blog...

I think Remittance has it just right. Erotica is like any short story in that it needs to quickly create tension and resolve it. I try to write stories that have sex in them rather than sex that might have a story. If that makes any sense.

I struggle most with how to keep something feeling real and also sexy. Real sex is often silly, awkward, hot, and confusing, often all at the same time. I try to err on the side of realistic rather than sexy, with the hope that the fantasy feels closer to life that way.

(And thanks Adrienne, for the recommendation!)

thats ok Guy....it's a pleasure:) I love the way you write, and i think you get the story with sex spot on.