Beginner's Guide To Writing Erotica

There are many reasons to want to start writing erotica in 2022. With the surging popularity of the genre as a whole, and the platforms such as this, which allow authors more avenues to reach readers; To the notoriously hungry readers across multiple platforms eager to get their hands on great erotic fiction. Now is a great time to be in the erotica world.

If you are a new or experienced writer who is looking to start or branch out into erotica. I hope to give you some help along the way. So let's cut to the chase. Below, I will break down some actionable items to help you get going.

Before We Start — What Is Erotica?

(Noun) literature or art intended to arouse sexual desire.

Erotica, unlike pornography, is designed to arouse and provide stimulation to the reader based around plot and character development. It is not just one long sex scene with all action. Not to say that your sex scenes can’t be explicit; the more detailed the better. However, it must be grounded in plot and character growth.

If your story contains more plot and characters, with minimal sex or less explicit scenes. You may be venturing into erotic romance.

So with that, let’s get started.

1. What’s In A (Pen) Name?

If you are serious about getting started in erotica, we need to address privacy. One of the most important questions you’ll have to ask yourself is if you’ll write under your real name or a pen name.

For those who don’t know. A pen name is essentially a pseudonym that you can use professionally in your writing, books, blogs, public profiles, and social media.

There are many pros to using a pen name. For example:

• Employers may frown on you writing erotica, especially if you are in a public facing position at the company. Using a pen name will allow you some creative freedom to write and keep that part of your life separate from your professional one.

• If you don’t want your family and friends to know that you write erotica. Sure, some family and friends may be accepting of it. However, if you just have the books under your name, you are running the risk of Grandma bringing it up during a full family gathering during Thanksgiving.

• You write — Or plan to write — in another genre and would like to keep your endeavors into erotic fiction separate.

There are some cons to using a pen name. Namely:

• Having multiple social media accounts to manage. If you are an established writer, or you plan to write other fiction/non-fiction under your real/other pen names, you will likely already have a social following you are building/maintaining.

• Starting over. You will have to start again, from zero to build up your community. You may want to think about giveaways, free stories on your pen-name website and more.

• Being someone you’re not. I put this here as a warning more than anything else. I would recommend not to try and be someone you are not with your erotica pen name. Be genuine and your audience will respect that. It’s understandable to hide your name. What isn’t, is being deceptive about who you are, what you like, your orientation and your interests. Be genuine, but be protected.

Whichever route you take, it’s an important first step because if you choose to forgo a pen name, it will be hard to walk it back. However, if you start with a pen name and things go your way, you have the option of letting your community know about your main genre (although many will not genre jump), or your real name.

2. Join The Community

The erotica community is alive in all corners of the internet. At a minimum, I would recommend you join Twitter. If you are unsure on how Twitter works or the most effective ways to get noticed on that platform there are some great guides out there with a quick google search or even here on Medium.

After you complete your profile information and upload your picture (or icon, stock image if you are using a pen name) seek out some authors of interest. Do a quick #erotica search and you will be inundated with accounts to follow. Check out some profiles to see if they are writing the things you are into.

An important step that a lot of people miss, and the key to getting more involved in the community is simple: When you grab a copy of someone’s book, tell them. If you like it, let them know. Extra points if you leave a review. Not only will a review make you stand out from the crowd, they are rare and greatly appreciated in the world of erotica.

Let your growing audience know that you are new to the genre. You will find a very supportive group of people who can help you on your way.

Some great tags to keep tabs on are #erotica #writingcommunity #eroticacommunity

3. Get Down With The Dirty Words.

Time to loosen up. Open up a new document or start a new notebook and pour yourself a drink of your choice. We are going to get dirty. I want you to practice writing scenes made to titillate your audience. Your goal, after all, is to help someone reach their goal.

For example, don’t do this:

She reached for his love muscle and put it in her warm cavern.

Do this:

She grabbed his dick, smiling at the weight in her hand. Guiding the head to her slick entrance. She teased herself as she sat. Moaning as the thickness filled her cunt.

The second uses a lot more graphic language and some people will struggle with getting into the ‘dirty’ words. Practice them until you are comfortable. Take your last sexual encounter, write about it. Describe it as if you were writing it into a book. Watch some pornography, a quick 20–30 seconds sample and try to write it into words. Use all five senses.

Another exercise is to write short acts like the one above. Mix it up. Try it in the first person perspective, then switch and try it from the male POV. How did he see and feel things compared to her? Write that down, then keep going. Just keep filling your page or your document.

4. Write Things You Like.

When you are starting out you may find it easier to write a story containing things you yourself are interested in or have a fetish about. If you have fantasies about lesbian or gay sex, write a story about it. Hotwife, shared wife or cuckolding? Write it. Vampire alien breeding with a hucow who is into bondage. Yup write it. You will not be the only one into it.

A word of warning on this point. These kinds of stories will likely get your book removed as well as running the risk getting your account banned on Amazon and platforms like Medium and Vocal: Underage, Non-Consent, Incest, Bestiality (unless its a werewolf or other mythical creatures) If you have any doubts refer to the platforms support pages or their forums.

5. Read

This rule is no different from that of other genres. If you want to be a good erotica writer you need to read a lot of erotic fiction. Get yourself a 30 day free Kindle Unlimited subscription which renews at only $9.99 a month, get on other platforms such as Vocal, Medium, Radish, etc.

Download some books from the authors you are interacting with on Twitter. Pick up some from varying POV. Try some written by female and male authors. Maybe try different sub-genres that you have an interest in, but never experimented with.

Most of all, take notes. Write what you liked and what didn’t work for you. Review once you have a few stories under your belt. If you find yourself constantly liking to read third person stories, you will likely have more success concentrating on that POV. First person more your style? Write that way.

If you pick up some badly written erotica, just return it and move on to the next one.

I hope the above helps you get started writing erotic fiction and you find success in your ventures. Don’t forget It will take time to build up your following, especially with the limited advertising options available and the sheer amount of authors in the market.

Make sure you enjoy what you write, burn out and lost motivation is as real in erotica as it is in other genres.

I cannot emphasize joining the community enough. I’ve met some great people since I started and would be at a loss without the other authors/readers on Twitter.

If you would like to reach out to me or catch up and let me know how your writing is coming along, give me a shout anytime.

Good Luck!

You can also catch up with me on Twitter @MTStormAuthor.