It all started out as a discussion with a friend about how she once, not long ago, had a stash of what she considered ‘good’ erotica, but since has lost it. She also admitted / revelaed that she’d written some of her own. I was intrigued by what she might consider ‘good’, as well as what she, herself, might have written, so I decided to ask her about it in a non-threatening way. This started a long conversation in which we agreed that I would write some (in a theme that we both agreed upon. And let me tell you, this theme… Not the easiest to come up with erotica about. Not due to weirdness; more due to blandness) and that, in return, she’d send me some of hers.
Oddly, while I’ve found some writing difficult in the past, this is coming very easy and natural to me. And before anyone can say, “Sex is easy to write,” I’ve written four pages already (my normal writing ‘stints’ are 3 pages at a time) and there hasn’t been a hint of sex or seduction yet (although there has been the first attraction between the two leads).
I didn’t think this would be my cup of tea, but I seem to be doing pretty well at it, at least at first blush.
I write a bit, too, although I seem to be on a long hiatus. I write erotica for fun and for the sparks. I normally write things I wouldn’t live, so it’s fun and exciting.
You can try, when you’re done, to submit your story to literotica.com. They will take almost any story provided everyone’s over age 18, but people will leave comments. And you can also join the message board - I’ve seen people ask for advice, opinions on their story.
Good luck, I find it fun to write a story that has…er, instant gratification, as it were. I’m ready to try my hand at more serious fiction, let’s see how it goes. But I will definitely go back when I’m ready.
I just recently delved into the genre of erotica - I’d written fanfiction that had sex in it before, but never a story based purely on sex acts. My first one was pretty good, so I set up a whole online journal to write to.
Good luck! I didn’t think I’d be very good at it, but the one person I showed liked it a lot. Weird, considering I almost always write erotica from the male perspective, and I’m female. But I guess it works.
It is generally NOTHING like that awful crap published in Playboy, if that’s what you mean. Sometimes, I suppose, but erotica has a lot more story involved, and while there are all genres my stories almost always build up to the act. The act is a culmination of all the other things going on, instead of just the main event.
Basically it’s porn for women. You can think of it that way, anyway. More detail, more plot, more story, more emotions.
Sorry, but I’ve always thought sex writing was boring unless I was writing it myself. I would never rather read about someone else’s sex life when I could be doing it myself.
Thank you, wasn’t sure. I’ve flipped through some Victorian type stuff at Chapters but nothing terribly interesting caught my eye. Perhaps I’ll see if I can find a link to some. Anything in particular you recommend?
You may be jumping to conclusions. Apart from the fact that he has written four pages and hasn’t gotten to the sex parts yet, nothing in ArrMatey!'s post indicated he meant precisely this when he said “erotica”, a term that has an amazing tendency to be interpreted differently by different people.
Anyway, I find a lot of the literotica.com stuff to be pretty standard text-porn fare. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
OK… as a male who actually likes some written erotica, I have to say that I wouldn’t have the patience for this. The point is still to get off, and I’m not going to sit through 4 pages of fluff before sex is even hinted at. I may be irregular, but I don’t really think I am. Just so you know.
Understandable, but I rarely write nor read one-on-one, consentual, male-female sex. I prefer things I can’t/won’t experience. A lot of my writing is set in a different era, or fictional people. And after all, I like (male) slash a lot and that’s a whole world that’s right out of mine, me being female and all.
I’m not even sure why you posted this. I don’t see where the OP asked anyone to read their stuff or anything? Or did I miss it? Not being snarky, just curious…
Try literotica.com. I flatter myself when I say mine are pretty good - I’ve got “hot” ratings on all but one of my stories - but I’d be glad to point you to my favorites list, too, if you like (other authors). Then you can go from there. E-mail me at elenia25@gmail.com if you’re interested. (But I won’t be able to send you the link until I get home.)
It was my acknowledgement that I know some people like written erotica, but I just don’t get the point of it, not even when it involves impossible people/situations. Maybe I’m unimaginitative, or maybe it’s a male/female thing? I certainly can’t say I don’t get the point of porn, although I prefer vanilla porn, not the kind the looks like gymnastics with leather.
I’ll second what Anaamika said and suggest you submit something to Literotic and see what happens. I’ve submitted two, one in the Mature category that got good rating and good comments. The other, I submitted in a category I can’t remember (Loving Couples?). It got good ratings, but no comments. I’ve since read on their message board that it’s hard to get good feedback in that category.
The four page buildup is part of the fun for me. It’s what makes the story better than the average Penthouse story.
There’s another web site (I can’t look for it at work, Erotica Writers, pehaps) that has some good advice about copywriting and ptoecting your work. There was a thread here about it a couple of months ago.
The down side of Literotica, for me, was the realization that there are hundreds of people submitting stuff just as good or better than mine. Another negative is, the wierd stuff gets more attention. By wierd, I mean, the more taboo a subject is, the more likely that it will be read.
My answer was more of what erotica is generally assumed to be, rather than what he is writing.
It could be that we visit different categories. You’ll never catch me in Mature or Loving Wives or whatever category it is that has just a man-and-woman straight sex. Bo-ring! (To read about at least).
The other stories, the categories I read, I find more imaginative and interesting. Not all by any means but enough. And before anyone goes crazy wondering what categories I read I’ll just tell you - non-human and non-consent, mainly, and some gay male.
Erotica can be all about sex - it’s just not sleazy. That’s the definition I’ve found over and over and over. It’s basically well-written porn with a plot, when you get down to it.
Most erotica writers write about their fantasies, things they’ll never be able to do but get hot thinking about doing - or watching, for the voyeurs amongst us. It’s still about getting turned on, and getting anyone who might read it off, but it’s a step above pornography in that it’s the written word and it’s a, hopefully, well-written story as well as erotic.
When I write erotica, I write about things I think about that I find sexy, a turn-on. The goal, after it’s written and edited, is to get the reader turned on as well. Sometimes that’s not that hard to do, and sometimes, it’s a feat. Writing erotica isn’t easy, and anyone who says it is is a liar. Sex is one of the hardest physical acts to describe, because you’re describing something that so many people experience in different ways, mentally and physically, and with so many different twists - how many kinks are out there that you can write about? To describe it vividly, in detail, without it degrading to smut, takes talent.
I’m also going to note that when reading erotica, you can tell who has actually had sex and who is still a virgin, amongst the authors. “Write what you know,” and all that.
Actually, to expand on what’s been said here, maybe I will check out literotica once I’m done writing this thing. Getting some ‘blind’ feedback could be interresting. The general topic I’m actually finding somewhat challenging. Heck, when my friend and I were discussing it, we specifically looked on various browsers and the ASSTR to see if we could find erotica matching the type of … Fetish might be too strong a word… Focus? She’d asked about, and found nothing of the sort. So, who knows? Maybe I’ll be a great erotica pioneer…
Now I’ll just need a nom de plume…
I’m a woman and I agree that for me, the fluff is entirely not the point - I’ll skim over the paragraphs to get to where it gets down to business. But obviously mileages vary and some people need the emotional build up as well as the nuts and bolts.
However, on the couple of occasions on which I wrote erotica/text porn (whatever you want to call it) I was told I did well at writing something spankable to, so there you go. Of course, it was writing for requests too so it also met the specific preferences of the spankers.
Here’s the link to the other erotica writers web sight that I mentioned earlier:
erotica - readers . com. Their home page is SFW, but I broke the link to be extra safe.
Anaamika, I had an interesting conversation with a friend this evening about the difference between the type of stories you like to write/read and those that I like.
I can only get into writing a story if I can imagine it happening to me. When reading, I also like to imagine it happening to me in real life. She mentioned, as did you, enjoying stories that were outside the realm of possibility. This makes me wonder why I feel the need to anchor my fantasy world in reality.
With that in mind, the next time I visit Lit, I’m going to step outside my comfort zone. Purely for the sake of the experiment, you understand.
- but I’d be glad to point you to my favorites list, too, if you like (other authors). Then you can go from there. E-mail me at