I would like to discuss erotica with writers and readers. There are aspects of writing erotica that seem different from other genres. There are models, very good works of fiction that are also erotic and very good erotica that are also good fiction, but they are so few as to not be useful. We haven't grown up reading good erotica. We have no ear for it, as we do good writing. In bringing up erotica from the point of view of the writer, I feel obliged to mention other areas of the writer's craft, and I am guilty of drastically oversimplifying complex problems.
Several years ago, I tried my hand at writing erotica. I've written a few good stories and a lot of junk. I've been fortunate to have a collection of stories published by Spectrum Press as "Secrets," and by Masquerade Books as "Sex On The Net." I've started a book-length story, and in spite of encouragement from the publisher, I keep bumping head long into hurdle after hurdle.
Erotica, like any genre of writing, should adhere to all the rules and techniques that guide us as writers or readers, regardless of form. But unlike other genre, erotica has peculiar problems. It tends to be episodic, with the sexual climax supplanting the literary climax. If a book is erotic, it must have episodes--would you read a 400 page erotic novel with only one sexual experience? It is difficult to sustain an erotic work at book lengths without creating some excuse or device to string together the episodes, and in most books it reads as just that, an excuse, or gimmick. Because erotica is arousing, it is easy to mistake sexual excitement with good writing. Language is a problem. The florid variation becomes both necessary and often comical when struggling to deal with body parts. If the tone of a piece is more literary, many words are ruled out; yet, when things get to the climax, correct, medical terminology, for example, sounds clumsy.
I think that writing (fiction or nonfiction) is propelled by three things: character, conflict, style. Some books thrive on only two of these, usually conflict and character; others seem to do quite well on style alone. In my short stories, I've realized that although a number of readers have asked if there were more stories involving particular characters, I have always quit with just one story per character. I'd like to oblige, and I've even wanted to revisit a character myself, but somehow I can't. The conflict in my erotica seems to be whether the characters will get together, and how. I'd like to think that my characters are interesting enough to sustain a short story, but they aren't so interesting that on character alone they could propel a second story, let alone a novel, and the conflict would be a repetition of what had already taken place. Unless the story's interest were only in the sex, I've found no way to get into a character's life a second time.
Accepting the need for sexual climaxes in erotica (yes, I've read magnificent stories that never had a climax, they were the exception and were exceptional), there comes the problem of getting the reader past one, and the story moving towards the next.
Before I get too carried away, I'll quit here. In a general way, but recognizing the unique difficulties in erotica, I'd like to discuss language, pacing, character, p.o.v., tense, person, structure, and conflict with anyone who has either an intelligent comment, or perhaps just understands my questions.
If, after I've prattled on, you want to respond, either post
your reply, which I'll try to find, or contact me directly:
Charisse van der Lyn