Guide
for Amateur Writers of Erotica
Introduction:
There is a
perception that writing short stories, particularly erotic stories,
requires little or no effort. While this is perhaps literally true,
the same could be said for erotic artwork -- yet few of us would dare
to publicly display a poorly executed drawing.
With the
explosion of narrowly-targetted sexual interest groups on the
Internet, there has been an equal growth in the production of amateur
erotic fiction to feed that interest. Many of these stories are as
well or even better written than anything available from the
commercial markets. All too often, however, such work stumbles into
one of the pitfalls common to most novice writers. This guide is not
intended for those with a professional interest, who have probably
already discovered and overcome such pitfalls. Rather, this is for
the use of the amateur, who likely has little interest in being
professionally published, but who wishes to contribute to the body of
work available in his or her particular genre.
THE BASICS
==========
Spelling and Grammar:
One of the main
criticisms with most novice writers is a disregard for the proper
spelling and grammar. Yes, writing is a creative enterprise, but
before you break the rules, you should at least know what they are.
Nothing will draw a reader back out of a story faster than a glaring
spelling or grammatical error. Learn the basics first. Invest in a
good dictionary and thesaurus, the paper kind. And not one of those
little pocket editions either.
Quotation Marks:
Learn
to use quotation marks properly. Dialogue is a crucial element in
most fiction, and deserves correct treatment. "Remember,"
he said, "that closing quotation marks go on the outside of the
punctuation, not the inside."
Paragraphs:
Always
use proper paragraphing! Paragraphs are NOT optional! It is extremely
difficult to read a story which is simply one huge block of text. Not
only is it hard to scan, but the lack of paragraphing creates
confusion for the reader. Each paragraph in a story is a series of
related thoughts; every sentence in a paragraph should relate to a
single subject. If there is a new idea, begin a new
paragraph.
Dialogue should be separated by paragraphs. Each
time a different character speaks, this should start a new paragraph,
even if it is only a single word.
Pronouns should be avoided
in the first sentence of every paragraph when making reference to a
person, place, or thing for the first time in that sentence. Use the
full name of each person, place, or thing being referred to. Not only
is this grammatically correct, but it helps to avoid
confusion.
Punctuation:
Punctuation is your friend. It
helps the flow of the words in the reader's mind, and it helps make
the meanings clearer. Too much punctuation, however, is as bad as too
little. Some of the most common errors made with punctuation are
outlined below.
Punctuation [commas]:
Commas should be
used to indicate a very brief pause in the flow of a sentence, and
are normally used to link two related, incomplete thoughts (that is,
to separate clauses in a complex sentence), to separate a list of
items, or to separate adjectives and adverbs when there is more than
one. Use commas sparingly. If there is any question as to its
appropriateness in a given case, it is probably better not to use it.
Too many commas can draw the reader's attention away and make a
sentence difficult to scan.
Punctuation [semi-colons, colons,
periods]:
Colons and semi-colons are vastly underused in most
amateur fiction, when they could be used to great advantage. Do not
be intimidated by them; their function is not a mystery, nor
difficult to grasp. Colons and semi-colons are used to represent
pauses in flow much the same way commas are used. A semi-colon (the
";" symbol) is a pause of "two beats," or about
twice as long as you would pause for a comma. A colon (the ":"
symbol) is a pause of "three beats," or about three times
as long as you would pause for a comma.
Periods, also known as
"full stops," represent a complete halt in the flow of a
sentence, and are used to indicate the completion of a single
thought.
Punctuation [elipses and elides]:
The elipse
is possibly the single most overused punctuation mark by amateur (and
many professional!) writers. The elipse is represented by three
periods (or "pips") in a row ("..."). It is NEVER
less than three or more than three. It is ALWAYS three.
An
elipse is used to indicate an incomplete thought, and takes the place
of a period. It should NEVER be used to represent a pause! If you
wish to indicate a pause, a comma, semi-colon, or colon should be
used instead. Generally, gramatically complete sentences should not
end in an elipse. Only sentence fragments (those sentences which do
not possess a subject, verb, and object) should end in an
elipse.
Punctuation [question marks and exclamation
marks]:
After the elipse, the question mark and exclamation
mark are the most overused punctuation. It is almost never
appropriate to use more than one exclamation mark, and it is NEVER
appropriate to use more than one question mark. If you find yourself
inclined to use more than a single exclamation mark, try describing
the loudness of the sound instead; it will likely make for a better
story.
When writing a rhetorical question in dialogue, it can
be effective to avoid using the question mark. This nuance should
indicate to the reader that the speaker is not actually asking a
question, but is making a statement in the form of a
question.
Punctuation [apostrophes]:
The apostrophe
(the ' symbol) is used to show possessiveness or that a word has been
concatenated. It is NEVER used to show that a word is plural! If one
wishes to show possessiveness in a word which ends in an "s"
then one adds an apostrophe, by itself, after the last letter. For
example, to indicate that something belongs to Jess, one would use
Jess'.
In a concatenated word, the apostrophe takes the place
of the missing letter in the word. So, for example, "do not"
becomes "don't."
There are certain exceptions, the
most important as follows.
"Its" is used to show
possessiveness. "It's" is a concatenation of "it
is."
The possessive form of "her" is
"hers."
PERSPECTIVE
===========
The first
thing you'll have to decide when writing a story is which perspective
the story will be told from. For the beginner it is best to avoid the
potentially risky literary trick of switching perspectives part-way
through the story. The three major perspectives from which a story
can be told are listed below.
Perspective [first person]:
In
a story which uses the first person perspective, a narrator describes
the action for us in his or her own voice. This can be a very
effective technique when used well, but often reads like "What I
Did On My Summer Vacation" if it is done badly.
Remember
first that the narrator cannot describe what he or she did not
witness or is not aware of. This is one of the weaknesses of the
first person perspective. For this reason, it is recommended that
beginners avoid the first person and stick to third person. If you
are going to use first person, one tool which can be useful for
avoiding this problem is telling the story in the first person from
the perspective of more than one character, switching between
characters as required.
In particular, avoid falling into the
trap of beginning every sentence or paragraph with "Then I did
this." If your story is nothing more than a laundry list of the
narrator's actions, it would be much better to use third
person.
Perspective [second person]:
In a story which
uses the second person perspective, the story tells the reader what
he or she did or is doing. "You did this, and then you did
that," would be an example of second person perspective. It is
with good reason that this is not an often-used perspective, since it
requires considerable skill to keep it from sounding clunky and
awkward. It is highly recommended that the beginner avoid using this
perspective altogether.
There is a definite role for the
second person perspective in erotic writing, however. Since the
purpose of erotic writing is to sexually engage the reader, and since
the easiest way to do this is to draw the reader into the role of
participant within the story, second person enjoys a usefulness in
the genre that it does not in most others. Be wary of overusing this
tool, since its effectiveness diminishes with use.
Perspective
[third person]:
Third person is the most common perspective
used in stories, and is the easiest for a novice to master.
The
most usual variation of the third person is known as "third
person omniscient." With this perspective, the author writes
from the effective perspective of God, able to look into each
character's head and read his or her thoughts, moving from place to
place and character to character with infinite speed. One weakness of
this variation is that it removes the ability of the author to lie to
the reader. Since the perspective is omniscient, all the statements
made in the "voice of God" must be absolutely true. It is
difficult, though not impossible, to maintain secrecy from the
reader; this must be done by omission, and it must be done cleverly
or the reader will become suspicious and any surprise or tension will
be lost.
A second variation is the "third person
semi-omniscient." In this case, while the author writes from the
effective perspective of God, it is with limitations. For example,
the thoughts and motives of the characters may not be available by
the author. This perspective can be useful when trying to maintain
some mystery in a story, since it allows characters to hide things
from the readers without drawing attention to it.
The other
major variation of third person involves a fallible, non- omniscient
perspective. Using this voice, the author can actually state
deliberate lies to actively fool the reader. For example, to keep the
gender of a character a mystery, the author may refer to a "him"
as a "her" and vice versa, until this subterfuge becomes
known by the characters in the story. This can be a difficult
perspective to use, and it is recommended that the novice avoid
it.
TENSE
=====
One of the most common mistakes of
amateur writers is confusion of tenses. Make absolutely certain that
you use the same tense all the way through. If your story is told in
past tense, it should remain in the past tense. An experienced author
may be able to get away with breaking this "rule" as a
stylistic flair or literary tool, but this requires a great deal of
expertise and should be avoided by anyone who lacks extensive
experience.
Past Tense:
For the beginner, past tense is
the best option. It is easiest to master, and is familiar to all
readers. Having already happened, it allows the author to shift
backward and forward in time as required to tell the story.
Present
Tense:
Present tense can be an extremely effective tool when
used right, since it drops the reader right into the action, and
gives the story a sense of immediacy, particularly when combined with
first or second person. This is a difficult ploy to use, however, as
it requires a great deal of skill to maintain proper pacing and flow.
It should absolutely be avoided by the novice. This is NOT a tool for
the beginner to use, and in the wrong hands can make a story
painfully unreadable.
Other Tenses:
While I have never
seen a story written in the future tense, it is at least
theoretically possible. Such a story would require incredible skill
to write properly, and would always be awkward for the reader. Do not
use the future tense.
STYLE
=====
This is by no
means a comprehensive guide to style, since every author will
eventually develop his or her own. This section will lay out a few of
the more basic elements of style, and point out a few of the most
common stylistic mistakes made by novices.
Character
Descriptions:
Describing the appearance of a character as if
he or she was being written up in a police report is a common
mistake. There are far better ways of telling readers what a
character looks like than giving them a rundown of height, weight,
build and hair colour all at once on first introducing them. One
method many writers use is to have the character look into a mirror
at some point, describing what the character sees.
One of the
major tenets of fiction writing is: "Show me, don't tell me."
By this, what is meant is rather than baldly stating a fact within a
story, the fact should be shown to the reader through the actions or
dialogue of the characters. For example, rather than stating that a
character is rude, it is better to have the character ACT rude and
allow the reader to draw his or her own conclusions. This can also
apply to physical descriptions of characters; instead of telling the
readers that a character is physically attractive, try having other
characters within the story react to that character in a way that
tells the reader the same thing. Your story will read and feel more
natural.
Character histories should be handled in a similar
way. Rather than simply informing the reader of a character's
background, allow it to be revealed a bit at a time throughout the
course of the story. This will heighten reader interest, and bestow a
hint of mystery.
Erotica Versus Pornography:
Erotica is
not pornography, though it can contain pornography. The primary
difference is that the single purpose of pornography is to sexually
arouse the reader, period. There is not much of a plotline, if any,
and there is no character development. Erotica, on the other hand,
tends to have a genuine story, which helps to emphasize the erotic
elements. There may be character development through the course of
the story, and there is a much greater emphasis on the thoughts and
emotions of the characters. Make sure you know which of these you are
writing before you start.
Story:
Remember that first
and foremost, a story must be a good read. We read Homer's Iliad
thousands of years later because it's a great story, not because it
was a paragon of style, or sent the right moral message. All the
clever wordplay in the world won't help you if you don't have a story
which will capture the reader's imagination. And, vice versa, if you
can capture the reader's imagination, a whole host of literary sins
can be forgiven.
The temptation is to get right into the "good
bits" and forget about the rest as unimportant. You will find,
though, that the story which surrounds the "good bits" can
help to heighten the eroticism. This also allows the sexual tension
in the story to build, resulting in a more viscerally powerful
experience for the reader when the "good bits" finally
arrive.
Subject Matter:
Write what you know. If you
write about things unfamiliar to you, it will show. There are plenty
of things in everyone's life which will seem strange and exotic to
others. Just because it's old hat to you doesn't mean it's of no
interest to anyone else. If you work in a bank, for example, the day
to day activities which seem so ordinary to you will be a fascinating
glimpse into something mysterious for everyone else. If your hobby is
model trains, including accurate, detailed descriptions of
locomotives in a story can add an air of authenticity.
If you
absolutely must write about something with which you have no
experience, do not stint on the research. Learn more about it than
you think you could possibly use. If you don't, your lack of
knowledge will make those who know better justifiably furious, and
your lack of confidence will bleed through into your writing.
As
a last resort, if you're going to try and bluff the reader, do it
with as much confidence as you can muster. State things with absolute
assurance, even if you know it to be false. A reader may forgive you
for flubbing a detail, but he or she will NEVER forgive you for
destroying the suspension of disbelief with
hesitancy.
Profanity:
If you're going to swear, swear.
Do not play little games like replacing a few letters with dashes or
symbols. This will only draw the reader out of the story, and really
isn't fooling anyone. Each writer will have his or her own style,
which may or may not include regular use of profanity. Be aware that
if you do not use profanity regularly in your stories, when it is
used, it will have much more impact.
Explicitness:
Decide
before you start writing how explicit you want your story to be, and
maintain that level of explicitness throughout. This is especially
important in erotica, where explicitness makes up such an important
part of the story.
The most arousing stories do not contain
anatomically detailed descriptions of "tab-A into slot-B."
Rather, they draw the reader into the story, and then allow the
reader to paint a picture for him- or herself. The reader will always
be able to manufacture a more detailed and more erotic picture that
you can describe, and the trick is to make the reader see this
picture without painting it for him or her. There is no simple way to
do this. Doing this right will require a lot of practice and a lot of
skill.
When writing sexually explicit material, avoid
euphemisms. Calling a penis a "throbbing gearshift of love"
is not going to arouse anything but laughter. It is perfectly
acceptable to use words like "cock" or "cunt"
when writing erotica, but if you do, use these words throughout the
story. Don't suddenly switch to medically accurate terms like "penis"
or "vagina." Likewise, if you use medically accurate terms,
don't switch to colloquialisms part-way through. You want to avoid
doing anything that will jar the reader and remind him or her that
they are reading a story.
Sexual Accuracy:
There is no
easier way to lose your reader than to make a hilarious anatomical
mistake. The clitoris is on the top, not the bottom. Women do not
exude "sperm." Men cannot ejaculate fifteen times in a row,
and the amount of semen involved is measured in teaspoons, not
gallons. All of these mistakes, believe it or not, I have seen made
in stories by amateur writers.
When writing about sex, either
draw from your personal experience, or study reports published by
reputable sex researchers like Masters and Johnson. Try, when
possible, to avoid cliches. Not all women are lesbians, and not all
men have a nine inch penis.
Target Your Audience:
Most
erotic fiction written by amateurs is for themselves first and their
audience second. There is nothing wrong with this, and if this is the
case, feel free to write your story while sexually aroused.
If,
however, you are writing for your readers, it is a good idea NOT to
be sexually aroused when you're writing. After all, you want to write
a story which will arouse other people, and not necessarily yourself.
Your own personal turn-ons might well excite others, but a clinical
detachment and thorough knowledge of the sexual proclivities of your
target audience will be far more effective at accomplishing your
goal.
Completion:
Finish what you start. If you find
that you are only inspired to write when you are sexually aroused and
you can't complete the story before needing (ahem) gratification,
then write the story over a number of sessions.
Unless your
story is novella-sized or larger and each chapter can stand alone as
a story unto itself, try to avoid releasing it in parts. Wait until
you have completed the whole thing to release it. Your readers will
thank you for it, and more people will be likely to read it.
Collecting chapters over the course of several weeks or months can be
frustrating, especially when so few amateur writers seem willing to
devote the time and effort necessary to complete what they start. For
this reason, many people will give your story a pass if it's not
whole and complete on its own.
Format:
When publishing
over the Internet, whether by website or newsgroup, ALWAYS use plain
ASCII text. Formats such as HTML, Word Perfect documents, or RTF may
make your work look pretty, but it will also alienate a portion of
your potential readership. The only format which is even close to
universal is plain, 7-bit ASCII. If you wish, you may also provide
your story in other more attractive forms, but an ASCII version
should also be available.
A story will live or die on its
merit as a story. Not even the most attractive packaging will save a
poorly written story.
Pen Names:
There are a number of
reasons why you may wish to use a pen name when writing a story,
particularly erotica. For one thing, you never know who will read
your story: a parent, a teacher, a boss. While writing erotica is not
a shameful thing, not everyone agrees with that, and by using a pen
name, you avoid the risk of the wrong person seeing it. While my real
name of Andrew Nellis is freely available, I prefer to use a nom de
plume so that my real name does not become associated with stories
that may damage my reputation as a "serious" author. Years
down the road, I need not worry about being haunted by something I
wrote early in my career, since few people will recall that Poison
Pen is me.
Another reason to use a pen name is to make
yourself more memorable to readers. A catchy name will stick out, and
people will remember you the next time you write a story, allowing
you to build a body of fans.
Unfortunately, one good reason to
use a pen name is the spectre of censorship. Many of us live in
countries with repressive laws which attempt to control what we are
allowed to think and read. Hiding your true identity may be a
necessity to avoid prosecution, persecution, or even, in some
countries, execution.
Criticism:
Expect criticism.
Often your story will be completely accepted by its readership, and
when this happens you can sit back and bask in the glory of your
accomplishment. From time to time, however, you will receive less
than flattering reviews. Do not become angry or discouraged by this.
Even the finest writers who have ever lived receive criticism. Anyone
who displays the fruits of his or her muse to the public must be
willing to accept the brickbats with the accolades. If you can't
handle criticism, even and especially vicious criticism, then you
have no business displaying your stories to the public.
When
you do receive a bad review, read it with an open mind and ask
yourself if there might not be something useful in it. Remember that
even the nastiest, most brutal review of your story reveals that the
person writing it had at least some interest in your story, or this
person would not have even bothered to read it, much less take the
time to comment on it.
Never take criticism too seriously. You
will never please everyone, and trying to do so will only damage your
work. Remember the old adage: "Those who can't do, teach. Those
who can't teach, criticize."
CONCLUSION
==========
This
document is intended as a public service for novice writers of
erotica, and may be freely archived and distributed, providing that
it is not sold for profit, nor altered in any way. Over time, I hope
that this guide will evolve, hence the version number. Most notably,
I will be soliciting and incorporating tips from other experienced
writers of erotica.
Like all other writers, I enjoy hearing
from people who have enjoyed or made use of my work. If this guide
has been useful to you, I would love to hear it.
Send your
e-mail comments to:
bs904@freenet.carleton.ca