Popping Your Literary Cherry: Quick And Honest Tips For New Erotica Writers

GUEST POST BY ELE MARIE KENZIE

It seems in the wonderful world of ebook erotica, the more taboo the story is, the better it sells. As a new author, I was curious to see if I could write one of those stories. If anything, I thought it would be a fun experiment, so I recently tested the theory by writing and publishing an erotic novella. Along the way, I made some personal observations and decided to share them for any author who wants to try it as well. Now, I’m by far no expert in the genre, but these are the valuable things I’ve learned as I popped my literary cherry.

PREPARE TO BE TURNED ON

You are about to write about sex. A LOT of sex. Make sure you’re mentally and physically prepared for what is about to happen. Much like watching porn, your body will have a natural reaction to writing it. Don’t worry, you’re not a pervert or a freak, so don’t judge yourself too harshly. You might have to make frequent stops after every few pages, paragraphs, maybe even words to… well, you know… partake in solo lovemaking activities. I’ll admit, I mastubated quite often while writing my erotica story. When I started, it happened once or twice a day. I was horny all the time. As I neared the end of the project, the mood still struck me, but it was less urgent than in the beginning at chapter one. I was able to go a few days without it because I found I became sort of desensitized the more I wrote the sex scenes. Bottom line, it got easier.

PICK YOUR PLEASURE

I chose to write about the professor/college student dynamic because its a hot topic in erotica and I find the younger woman/older man scenario rather sexy. With this example in mind, its important to choose an erotica sub genre or dynamic you’ll feel comfortable writing about and would want to read yourself. Writing sex scenes is not as easy at it seems. You must be comfortable with what you’re writing about, otherwise it will backfire on you. For example, if you don’t personally like a certain sex position for whatever reason, don’t write about it unless you can let your characters enjoy it without projecting your dislike of it onto them. Also, select words to describe gentials and other body parts you’re comfortable with and feel natural to your character. It will make the dialogue flow much better and increase the heat level. Much like watching physical porn, your readers will choose what they want to read about to get their libidos going. If you let the discomfort you feel show through your writing, the reader will pick up on it and be taken out of the fantasy. No one wants to watch a sex scene in a movie or a TV show where the actors look uncomfortable. It’s just not believable. The same goes for reading one. That believability sells the book.

SIZE MATTERS

The length should work for the story and for you. For erotica, it can vary depending on what you’re writing about. I wanted to keep mine simple enough so I wasn’t overwhelmed with the pressure of another novel length story to plan. I chose novella length of about 60 pages. Plus, erotica should be heavy on the sex without a heavy story getting in the way of the fun stuff. Remember, erotica serves many readers as written porn and they’re looking for an outlet for release.

WATCH PORN

I’ve watched a variety of movies and read stories of the same or similar nature to my project and got a feel for the subject matter. Don’t worry, there is a vast resource of pornographic and erotic material at your disposal called the internet. Twitter and Tumblr are great free places to start researching your sex scenes as well as Pinterest to gather some character inspiration.

START WITH A BANG

In a heavily saturated market such as erotica, you must make yours stand out. For this reason, I started my story out with a sexy scene on the first page to grab the readers attention. I know when I’m looking for erotica or any other genre of book to read, I like to be captivated right away and compelled to read it to the end. This is true for many readers, so make it a page turner.

ADD A PERSONAL TOUCH

I prefer writing character driven stories, so not only are my erotica characters hot for each other, but they have a mutual respect and qualities that make them likable as individuals. That part wasn’t planned, but it naturally came through in my writing and it worked to my advantage.

SAY MY NAME

Using your own name is fine, but keep in mind it will be tied to your work forever. If you write Young Adult fiction or Middle Grade fiction, for example, you may not want the work you write for a school aged audience to be associated with your erotica. Create a pen name and separate social media accounts for your new erotica persona to promote your work. Trust me, once you start tweeting anything remotely erotica related, you’ll be surprised what pops up in your feed.

POST CLIMAX

My most important discovery on this writing jouney Was my love for writing erotica. What started out as a simple and fun project for me turned into a career path I plan on pursuing further.

Have fun with it and good luck on your path to writing erotica!

-EMK

Ele Marie Kenzie

For more fun and sexy stuff, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @elemariekenzie and Facebook at www.facebook.com/elemariekenzie

The Sexual Education of Evelyn is currently available on Amazon.com