Tips for transitioning into writing erotica

I've been on this forum for a while now and I've edited a few stories for others, but I have never actually written my own erotic story before. Not to say I'm new to writing as a whole, I've been writing for a few years now. With the Nude Day contest, I finally decided to bite the bullet and try my hands at my first story for this site.

So far I've written a bit over 1k words on it, but it's slow going and feels a bit daunting. Doesn't help I haven't written anything in a while so I'm pretty rusty on top of trying something new.

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys have any advice or tips for transitioning into this new genre. Things that are different from regular writing, specific stuff for writing for Literotica in general... Stuff like that.

I find it an entertaining challenge.

In mainstream erotic romance novels, which people often read with the expectation of long sex scenes, the sex is an irritating diversion if it's the story you like, and poorly written if it's actual sex you want to read about. Thus there are pages and pages of sex in which the man's cock and sexual prowess are described in loving detail, but the woman might as well be an amorphous blob. Which is not to say you can't write erotic novels, but the sex really needs to be a major part of the plot and not an unnecessary diversion along the way. If a sex scene can be replaced by a fade-to-black without affecting the story, then it's an indulgence.

But how to balance sex and story? You'll get lots of different answers. Myself, I'm a fan of the Kelly Sanders approach: A few paragraphs to set the scene and establish the characters, then go with it. Short stories, typically 3-5K. Strip out anything that isn't absolutely necessary.

If you do have a real story to tell, then ask if you really need to begin at the beginning. Backstory can often be revealed gradually though dialogue and narrative - and, indeed, the importance of having characters able to talk to each other cannot be overemphasised. Just, please, if only for my sake, don't use dream sequences and heavy-handed "But I'm getting ahead of myself"-type flashbacks.

When I'm stuck on a story, I always ask myself if I'm doing it completely wrong, i.e., telling it from the wrong person's POV, or whether it needs to be written non-linearly, or whether it really just needs another character to be there. So, if your character's alone and naked in the woods, and the story feels overly descriptive, then what if instead she is handcuffed to another woman, a stranger perhaps, after a chaotic police raid at a naturists' pool party...

ThisNameIsntTakenYet said:

I've been on this forum for a while now and I've edited a few stories for others, but I have never actually written my own erotic story before. Not to say I'm new to writing as a whole, I've been writing for a few years now. With the Nude Day contest, I finally decided to bite the bullet and try my hands at my first story for this site.

So far I've written a bit over 1k words on it, but it's slow going and feels a bit daunting. Doesn't help I haven't written anything in a while so I'm pretty rusty on top of trying something new.

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys have any advice or tips for transitioning into this new genre. Things that are different from regular writing, specific stuff for writing for Literotica in general... Stuff like that.

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With years of writing experience and all the editing you have done puts you way ahead of someone like me who has a lot less experience with writing(probably obvious to see in my work)...so I kinda feel dumb giving any advice, but I noticed you said you have 1k words already written...

My advice would be now that you have dipped your toes in writing a story for Lit, not to stop writing(As time allows of course). For me, the first 1k or so words are the hardest to figure out most of the time, but once I start the story almost writes itself.

If I find myself daunted with a story, that's because I try to plan out something in too much detail. I know some writers keep a document with the story outline and characterization sheets filled with detail already filled out before they write and that might work for you as well, but if you're a discovery writer like me, that comes after.

TL;DR version: You've already started and on your way to writing erotica, believe in yourself, and push through. I'm sure other authors will have more specific hints and tips for writing on Lit.

I am looking forward to reading your stories.

I think the number one rule of writing an erotic story is make it a good story just as you would any other story. But since you asked specifically about what to focus on in an erotic story, I'll offer a few thoughts:

1. Think about what makes it erotic as you develop the characters and plot. Two people having sex isn't necessarily erotic. You have to introduce an element of kink, surprise, conflict, taboo, something like that, to make it interesting and erotic -- to give it sizzle. For an exhibitionist story, it's not particularly erotic for Ms. Jones to hang out at a nudist camp, although it might be if it's her first time and she's nervous. It is erotic if she's locked out of her house naked and has to get back in somehow while dodging nosy neighbors. It's more erotic if she's embarrassed than if it's no big deal for her to be naked.

2. Get into your main character's head, and share their feelings about the erotic experience. The sexiest thing about sex isn't the mechanical part, it's what's inside the character's heads -- how they feel about it.

3. Mix up dialogue and narrative and don't skimp on either. This is true for any kind of story, but it seems especially true of erotic stories that they sometimes skimp on dialogue. Dialogue is a great way to introduce backstory, motivation, and character traits subtly. And it's easier to read than big blocks of narrative.

4. Don't skimp on the sex. There's a pace and rhythm to arousal, and readers don't want to be rushed through a sex scene. If it seems too short but you've gotten bogged down trying to lengthen it, then add dialogue, delve more deeply into the characters' feelings, or make more appeals to the senses by describing the sounds, smells, sensations of the sex.

Write what you’d want to read.

That’s about all there is to it.

SimonDoom said:

I think the number one rule of writing an erotic story is make it a good story just as you would any other story. But since you asked specifically about what to focus on in an erotic story, I'll offer a few thoughts:

1. Think about what makes it erotic as you develop the characters and plot. Two people having sex isn't necessarily erotic. You have to introduce an element of kink, surprise, conflict, taboo, something like that, to make it interesting and erotic -- to give it sizzle. For an exhibitionist story, it's not particularly erotic for Ms. Jones to hang out at a nudist camp, although it might be if it's her first time and she's nervous. It is erotic if she's locked out of her house naked and has to get back in somehow while dodging nosy neighbors. It's more erotic if she's embarrassed than if it's no big deal for her to be naked.

2. Get into your main character's head, and share their feelings about the erotic experience. The sexiest thing about sex isn't the mechanical part, it's what's inside the character's heads -- how they feel about it.

3. Mix up dialogue and narrative and don't skimp on either. This is true for any kind of story, but it seems especially true of erotic stories that they sometimes skimp on dialogue. Dialogue is a great way to introduce backstory, motivation, and character traits subtly. And it's easier to read than big blocks of narrative.

4. Don't skimp on the sex. There's a pace and rhythm to arousal, and readers don't want to be rushed through a sex scene. If it seems too short but you've gotten bogged down trying to lengthen it, then add dialogue, delve more deeply into the characters' feelings, or make more appeals to the senses by describing the sounds, smells, sensations of the sex.

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These are great pointers. And the need for conflict deserves to be emphasized. A flat description iof people having sex will typically be... well, flat. And erotica can be challenging for conflict. Often, it is pretty obvious where a story is going. There will be sex. And if a story is , say, posted in Group Sex, the reader will not be surprised when the number of people having sex are more than two. But most are happy to buy in to the ignorance if the narration is convincing.

Another pointer... skip overtly detailed descriptions of body parts. We allknow what tits and cocks look like, and stories rarely benefit from exact measurements.

tomlitilia said:

Another pointer... skip overtly detailed descriptions of body parts. We allknow what tits and cocks look like, and stories rarely benefit from exact measurements.

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Leave things to the readers to visualize. Everyone has a fantasy character of their very own. Overly describing a character takes that away.

Good advice so far everyone, thanks. Definitely some useful stuff in there.

Voboy said:

Write what you’d want to read.

That’s about all there is to it.

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True, but that applies to general writing too. Hoever, it's good to realize the difference between writing what you want to write, and what you want to read. I love writing long pieces of exposition, but I hate reading them, so I know I should limit myself in that. "Write what you want to write" is very common advice, but sadly does cause some people to ignore how fun it is to read and only focus on what is fun to write. If you hate setting the scene, the original advice might make you think you can just ignore it.

I think "write what you want to read" is indeed a much better advice.

TxRad said:

Leave things to the readers to visualize. Everyone has a fantasy character of their very own. Overly describing a character takes that away.

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From reading some stories on here, I've found that you can also under-describe characters. I indeed don't need all their measurements, but if I don't get a general height, body type or hair color characters tend to be unidentified blobs in my imagination. Or worse, I start to fill in the details for myself and THEN the writer throws in the fact that she's blond. Great, now I have to adjust the redhead I was picturing into a blonde, which really ruins my immersion. Not getting any descriptions of a character is a pet peeve of mine, but I agree that leaving something to the readers imagination works best indeed. I guess it's all about finding to find the balance between the two, and knowing what you should and shouldn't include.

My two bob's worth is to always have some tiny element of truth in every story - it doesn't need to be much, but somehow it permeates the whole story. Without it, I reckon you're faking it, and readers will spot a fake a mile off. With it, you'll get readers thanking you for "sharing" a story, as if they thought it was genuine, when in fact it was 99.8% fantasy. They've found the kernel of truth, and it's all become real for them.

The other piece of advice is to keep on writing. As soon as a story is submitted, you have to let it stand or fall all by itself, and let it go. It's always the next story that will be better, not the last one.

Voboy said:

Write what you’d want to read.

That’s about all there is to it.

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^^^

Sums it up perfectly for me.

Seeing as you're asking about writing erotica, just write the kind of story you'd want to read on this site -- focusing mainly on the effect the story has on your genitalia.

tomlitilia said:

Another pointer... skip overtly detailed descriptions of body parts. We allknow what tits and cocks look like, and stories rarely benefit from exact measurements.

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This is a good rule, but there's a worthy exception to it, which is if your story has a fetishy bent for which detail about body parts serves a purpose. Like many men, I'm very visual, especially about women, and when I write, I picture what's happening in great detail. If I'm narrating a story from the point of view of a young man with a big boob fetish, then it might make sense to go into great detail about the size and shape of the breasts and how they strain against the DD-cup bra.

If you write this way there are some readers, and I think particularly women readers, who will peg you as a "male" writer, but, depending on the needs of the story, that may not be a bad thing.

But in general I think Tomlitilia's pointer is correct.

SimonDoom said:

This is a good rule, but there's a worthy exception to it, which is if your story has a fetishy bent for which detail about body parts serves a purpose. Like many men, I'm very visual, especially about women, and when I write, I picture what's happening in great detail. If I'm narrating a story from the point of view of a young man with a big boob fetish, then it might make sense to go into great detail about the size and shape of the breasts and how they strain against the DD-cup bra.

If you write this way there are some readers, and I think particularly women readers, who will peg you as a "male" writer, but, depending on the needs of the story, that may not be a bad thing.

But in general I think Tomlitilia's pointer is correct.

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Nothing wrong with describing a character as having massive tits, but there are far better ways to do it than by cup sizes. For instance by "her tits were massive."

tomlitilia said:

Nothing wrong with describing a character as having massive tits, but there are far better ways to do it than by cup sizes. For instance by "her tits were massive."

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Or comparisons or creative descriptions of how big they are. I have absolutely no clue about cup sizes (and I'm sure I'm not the only guy on here who doesn't), except for some basic things. Yes, I know DD is very big. A-B is small to average (more or less), but I haven't got any specific sizes or comparisons in my head. Especially not if they include the full size, like 36D or whatever. I either just ignore it or have to look up some pictures or comparison charts to know how big that is specifically.

ThisNameIsntTakenYet said:

From reading some stories on here, I've found that you can also under-describe characters. I indeed don't need all their measurements, but if I don't get a general height, body type or hair color characters tend to be unidentified blobs in my imagination.

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This varies from reader to reader. About 90% of physical description is wasted on me; I don't visualise stories in the way some people do, I don't often remember people's eye or hair colour, etc. etc. I don't mind if an author takes the time to fill that information in, unless it bogs down the story, but it's not going to affect my enjoyment.

The 10% that I do notice is mostly the stuff that's relevant to characterisation. A rebellious haircut, a poorly-considered tattoo, an expensive suit? Those things help tell a story.

All good points.

I find that bizarrely-massive body bits are actually a turnoff - unless there is a purpose to mentioning them as such. Not one man in a million has a 10" willy and those that do often haven't a clue what to do with it. And somebody immediately telling me that the heroine has a 40GG bust suggests that they have no idea what that means. (I've written a few tales specifically for people wanting a big pair, but it was by exception and even then I didn't focus on the tag size.) If bra sizes confuse you, here's a tip - go online and check out the vital stats for actresses. (Incidentally, if you google 'most sexy woman in history' or something like that, Audrey Hepburn with her 34A bust is often at or near the top of the list. You really don't need massive hooters to be sexy.)

I guess my point is that you can be erotic without implausibly large body bits and, for me, somebody immediately launching into their tale specifying such suggests that they are trying to substitute measurements for writing skill.

(Sidebar tale. I was PMing a writer developing an otherwise-pretty-good tale in which the protagonist was developing super powers. Fair ball, so to speak. But not only was he getting physically larger, but his old man was increasing each story as well - 8" to 9" to 11". My comment to him was simple - what's her going to do with it? What woman could handle one that size?)

Next point. Women tend to experience sex with their minds as much as their body. And damned few women immediately jump into sex. Making it so in a story suggests to me that there will be no depth to it; often as not, I won't finish the first page. So take some time to build a woman's thoughts as she enters the dance. And while men are far more led by their groins than women, letting the reader see inside their heads makes the story more appealing to women.

ThisNameIsntTakenYet said:

I've been on this forum for a while now and I've edited a few stories for others, but I have never actually written my own erotic story before. Not to say I'm new to writing as a whole, I've been writing for a few years now. With the Nude Day contest, I finally decided to bite the bullet and try my hands at my first story for this site.

So far I've written a bit over 1k words on it, but it's slow going and feels a bit daunting. Doesn't help I haven't written anything in a while so I'm pretty rusty on top of trying something new.

Anyway, I was wondering if you guys have any advice or tips for transitioning into this new genre. Things that are different from regular writing, specific stuff for writing for Literotica in general... Stuff like that.

Click to expand...

You've not mentioned the type of story you're writing. What's good advice for one category may not be good advice for another category.

Some tips others haven't suggested:
* Who's your favorite author? Can you bring their style to your story? My favorite author is Dick Francis, and I like to think of myself as the Dick Francis of sibling incest
* Have an appealing premise. If you don't have an appealing premise, then your beautiful writing is just polishing a turd
* Why are the characters attracted to each other? What is it about the other that wows them? If it's that he's got a big dick and she's got big tits, try again for something a little deeper
* Have a back story for each main character. Why are they unattached? What happened in their last relationship? In a lot of my stories, the plot gets kicked off by one main character talking about what happened with their last girlfriend/boyfriend
* If you have a male narrator, try describing the female's clothes instead of her body. You'll describe her body as you describe her clothes, but it's a lot more subtle way of doing so

8letters said:

You've not mentioned the type of story you're writing. What's good advice for one category may not be good advice for another category.

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This current story I'm writing for the Nude Day contest will be in the Lesbian category I think. Despite the subject of the contest, I feel like it fits there better than in Exhibitionist & Voyeur. But I wasn't exclusively looking for advice on this story, as I don't want to limit myself to just one category after this one. Sci-Fi and Fantasy sound interesting to me too, possibly Romance or Mind Control... I have a few ideas playing around in my head that are all over the place as far as category is concerned.

8letters said:

You've not mentioned the type of story you're writing. What's good advice for one category may not be good advice for another category.

Some tips others haven't suggested:
* Who's your favorite author? Can you bring their style to your story? My favorite author is Dick Francis, and I like to think of myself as the Dick Francis of sibling incest
* Have an appealing premise. If you don't have an appealing premise, then your beautiful writing is just polishing a turd
* Why are the characters attracted to each other? What is it about the other that wows them? If it's that he's got a big dick and she's got big tits, try again for something a little deeper
* Have a back story for each main character. Why are they unattached? What happened in their last relationship? In a lot of my stories, the plot gets kicked off by one main character talking about what happened with their last girlfriend/boyfriend
* If you have a male narrator, try describing the female's clothes instead of her body. You'll describe her body as you describe her clothes, but it's a lot more subtle way of doing so

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These are all excellent tips, and none of them have to do with the sex itself. They concern how it's set up. That's what makes a story erotic.

I haven't read Dick Francis in a long time. Aren't all his books about horses? I like the idea of thinking about authors you like. One way to becoming a better writer is to become a better and more attentive reader. Figure out what turns you on and then try to write that.

8letters said:

If you have a male narrator, try describing the female's clothes instead of her body. You'll describe her body as you describe her clothes, but it's a lot more subtle way of doing so

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Very good idea!

I transitioned from mainstream writing to including erotica as well. I didn't change anything in the writing except that when I normally would be closing the door on the bedroom scenes I kept them open. What I write is still plot driven, for erotica I just include more opportunities for sexual contact and let them happen on the page.

8letters said:

* Have a back story for each main character. Why are they unattached? What happened in their last relationship? In a lot of my stories, the plot gets kicked off by one main character talking about what happened with their last girlfriend/boyfriend

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This.

I like to think that my characters had lived whole lives before I messed with them.

Something to keep in mind, not saying you have to go crazy, but I find a lot of their personality is shaped and formed through their pasts experiences, much like real life. It generally enhances any story if the characters don't just exist for the sake of something.

Just my opinion.

SimonDoom said:

I haven't read Dick Francis in a long time. Aren't all his books about horses?

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They are all murder mysteries set in the horse racing industry, typically a different aspect in each novel.

SimonDoom said:

I like the idea of thinking about authors you like. One way to becoming a better writer is to become a better and more attentive reader. Figure out what turns you on and then try to write that.

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I'd say don't figure out what turns you on; figure out what makes a great story for you. The stories I write are much more like Dick Francis than the I/T stories I reread regularly. I started writing what I did because I found all the I/T stories to be too simple-minded - everyone suddenly wants to have sex with a family member at a drop of a hat. I try to write romances that just happen to be between members of the same family. All sex scenes boil down to people doing the same thing described in thousands of other stories. It's everything that leads up to your sex scene that makes your story special.

My lit'ry background includes poetry, songwriting, journals, and propaganda (unpaid), and tech writing and editing (paid). I'd written only fragments of fiction till I read many compelling LIT stories with atrocious orthography. I thought, "I can write better than THAT!" and I eventually have.

How to transition to erotica? Think of a storyline with sexual content. Now read a lot of LIT pieces in various categories and see where your story might fit. Your "sexual content" may range from totally implicit to totally explicit. LIT readers have vastly varied appetites. Don't try to write for everybody. They don't exist.

Again: LIT readers have vastly varied appetites. Some demand anatomical details and measurements; SOME despise such, but hey, get a fan club! Over-the-top might be appreciated in Fetish or Humor.
_____

My usual query: Why are you here? Why write for LIT? Not for money. "Only a fool writes, if not for money," said Dr Johnson, so we're mostly fools here, all who aren't commercial. So why? For feedback and approval? To expand your skills? To provoke or otherwise affect readers? Because you simply MUST? (That's me.) Motivation drives production. Be clear.

Hypoxia said:

Some demand anatomical details and measurements; most despise such,

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This keeps getting asserted on the discussion board, but with an observation of what I see in the actual story file from what writers write and readers generally acclaim, I bet it's the other way around. That's a supposition, but without statistical analysis being done and shown, I don't think a bald assertion either way is in order. I suppose if you assert often enough, some will take it as fact, though. I know a governmental administration that's trying that theory out.