First Experiences In Writing Erotica

I thought I’d never be the one to do it, but I fooled myself! Yes, I’m actually a new author who managed to complete a full-length novel in the erotica genre, of all categories! Hooray! Why erotica? Yes, sex is such a taboo subject, and in the category of fiction, one dare not consider it mainstream reading. I remember my first time reading an erotic novel! I picked up Anne Rice’s Sleeping Beauty trilogy, thinking I was going to be reading a true fairy tale. Boy was I ever fooled! But I kept reading because the whole idea of an author writing about nothing but sex intrigued me. How could someone do that and yet, create an enjoyable story at the same time?

Well, I got to try my hand at it, and I must admit the experiences I gained in the writing process were of such great magnitude, that I wouldn’t trade them for any other in the world. The work, the revisions, the thought processes behind all the scenes, character creation, plot development–made me work and think harder than I’ve ever had to do before. Because I’m not a practitioner of the activities included in my first novel, I had to do quite a bit of research on different subject matters. I found myself hanging out and reading sites I’d never dreamt of viewing! I also learned about some highly kinky sexual activities that made me cock an eyebrow. But the research material made for great action, and the subject matter seemed to be unique even for this genre.

How did I first decide I was ready to dip my toe (or my pen, rather) into the well and begin writing? Honestly, I just went with my gut. I’d spent hours learning the craft of writing, and I must say I’m not done yet. Not by a long-shot! But at some point, I believed I had learned enough about character development and plot creation to go ahead and begin putting words on paper. As I learned more about word choices and associated do’s and don’t’s, I revised my work to flow much better. Studying some self-editing books forced me to take an even harder look at my work, so I revised again.

At some point I decided I had done all I could do with the first draft, and so I submitted parts of my writing to people in critique groups, and finally I graduated to submitting my manuscript to an editor and a couple of beta readers. These people did wonders for my first draft, pointing out flaws in flow, placement, or relatability issues. Luckily, they all liked my work, and incorporating their suggestions into my revisions will only serve to make the story even stronger. So it’s off to work I go, revising what I hope will be an even better story than I started out with!

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