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Joined: 6/7/2013
Posts: 1356
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Author Cara McKenna (who's published a whole bookshelf of sexy fiction) is on our blog today, helping us to figure out what the differences are for these genres.
Here's what she said about Erotica . . .
"Erotica offers writers a lot of freedom—it can be just about any sort of
story, as long as the spotlight is on the sex. Erotica is designed
largely to arouse the reader, and it can deliver on that promise via a
wide variety of packages (har.)"
I learned a lot from this post. You might, too. Check it out.
And tell us what genre YOUR WIP is!
Lucy Silag
Book Country Community and Engagement Manager
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We should go where our hearts lead, not where a genre demands. After the last drop of sweat has been exuded and the last teardrop shed, we can go shopping for the appropriate category--if it exists.
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Joined: 6/14/2012
Posts: 194
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What I find impenetrably difficult about erotica is that what is erotic to one person is "meh" to another and "oh, YUCK" to a third. I have a friend who merrily writes erotica of several different types, and this doesn't bother her...but I keep remembering the various books and stories I read that someone else described as "really hot" and that, to me, were...not. In fantasy and SF and "plain" fiction, I'm reasonably confident that I know what readers want, and thus can know whether I'm likely to hit the mark or not. In erotica, I haven't a clue.
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I keep coming back to the story another writer told. He decided to write porn because there was a steady market for it in the little magazines the news kiosks often sold at that time. He was doing well at it, and it was paying the bills till one day he mistyped and said, "She grabbed his throbbing sock."
As he reports it he started to laugh and couldn't stop. And every time he tried to write anything else for that market that line kept bubbling into his mind and he just couldn't focus.
It's probably not true, but on the other hand, every time I try to read erotica, "She grabbed his throbbing sock," comes into my mind and I just can't take it seriously.
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I think you've actually got to enjoy reading the genre if you're going to write in it! You certainly shouldn't just write erotica because you think you're going to make a packet. I'm writing an erotic romance right now because I truly enjoy reading erotic romance. I've read lots of it, and I think I know what the reader wants out of it (as I am that reader). I've written in other genres and the challenges are just the same for erotic romance: a story arc that works; characters who engage; a world that comes to life. The additional challenge lies in writing the sex scenes. A lot of people seem to think that it's easy because it has to be explicit. Believe me, it's not easy at all!
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