Reading erotica is one of life’s joys, and we truly celebrate this artform here at FrolicMe, understanding how a story to accompany one of our erotic sex movies can add to the full sensual experience. You can completely wrap yourself up and tantalise all of your senses. Adding your imaginative mind to visual storytelling can really enhance your experience, especially if you’ve been struggling with your libido. After all, our own minds are one of the most fruitful erogenous zones we possess.
One of the beautiful things about reading an erotic story, if it’s good enough, is that you become so immersed in the writing that you barely notice how turned on you’ve become until you find your own hand creeping down to your underwear. Some sexy fiction can turn you on but you might not be able to pin down which one phrase rang your bell—just a rolling eroticism throughout. Other erotic literature might have a very clear build-up and—bam! Here comes a cock or a cunt to tip you over the edge.
We are lucky to have so many skilled authors and writers here at FrolicMe, so we thought we’d share some ideas on how to write erotic fiction get the most out of your sexy writing, whether it’s for your own consumption or even for publication.
Storybook covers from some of our erotic stories
Tips on how to write erotic fiction and get those creative juices flowing:
1 – Allow yourself to write erotica without censorship
This is very important. If you’re sitting at a blank page thinking, oh that’s maybe too extreme, should I be writing that? What if someone reads it? Will I get in trouble for swearing?
No, you won’t. Just let your first move be to open up the channels that exist between your mind, sex organs and keyboard and let it flow. There’s plenty of time at the editing process to blush over the filth that pours from your fingers! Now is not the time to hesitate.
2 – Get yourself in the mood to write erotic fiction
It can be all too easy to say to yourself, ‘I’m going to write a story now,’ but that can be when the spectre of writer’s block kicks in. One of the best ways to begin is to follow a prompt. There’s a huge web writing community where you can join others—simply look online for Writing Prompts to see what’s out there, Twitter is a great place to find your erotic writing tribe.
3 – Write about things that turn yourself on first
You can explore absolutely any theme through erotica—it’s a hugely expansive and underrated genre—so if you are a sucker for sci-fi, why not base your story in space, or the near future, somewhere where you feel comfortable. Somewhere you might have written porn before, make it easy for yourself. What do you love to read about? Fem Dom? Start with that. Really put yourself in the mind of the character.
4 – Don’t give me your feels
AKA show don’t tell! You’ll have heard this before—it’s the first rule of fiction. But when you write erotic fiction, it seems a lot of writers can’t help telling… one of the biggest ways to figure out if you’re doing this is to be aware of your feels. If you are describing the action with a feel, ‘I feel her breath on my neck’. So what? Who cares? Don’t tell me that you’re feeling it, tell me how it feels! ‘Her breath is hot on my neck, raising tiny hairs as I gasp, wanting at once to pull away and lean in…’ See what I mean? Fuck the feels!
5 – When you write erotic fiction, ditch the unimportant stuff.
It might be useful for you to know that your character was once a train driver in Tunisia but unless it forms part of the story, later on, we don’t need to hear about it. Yes, you can sew seeds of intrigue, but it really must add to the story, especially if you’re writing short fiction, you’ve got limited words so get to the point. You know when someone is telling you about the time she was talking to her neighbour’s, husbands, dog, or was it the cat? Anyway – you know, the one with the pink hair that got cut for Crufts one time but couldn’t go because blah blah—seriously, ditch it.
6 – If you feel it, we’ll feel it!
I always say, if you want a reader to feel something, you must feel it as you write. Sad story? You’d better be weeping over your keyboard. Funny? You better be peeing yourself in glee, ergo your knickers better be soaking in different ways if you’re writing erotica. If you are hot while you write erotic fiction, your reader will feel it too. Nothing translates more than true passion coming out of the pages. Make it sizzle with your deepest desires!
7- Don’t care what it looks like
Honestly, this is a brilliant tip. Commit to just turning yourself on and don’t look at the screen. Just let your fingers fly and if you look up only to see the red slashes of a spell checker, then all the better! It shows you’ve really gone for it. If you’re stopping and starting to check your sentences, you might lose part of the erotic flow. If I really let myself go into that space where I’m completely immersed in my inner world, that’s where the magic happens. Even if it looks like gobbledygook, chances are it will be really creative and red hot—you can always untangle your prose later when you edit, teasing out those magic moments.
8- Cut it in half
Set yourself the challenge of paring it back to the glorious essentials, you’ll be amazed at how much stronger your work will be if you can look at it with a truly analytical eye. First, you need to ‘let it go’ and detach yourself from it. This is particularly important if someone else is editing it for you. It can be easy to feel very precious about certain phrases that you think are genius but they might not be adding anything. Look at your work critically and see what you can take out. Start with the ‘feels’ and any other passive phrases. For example, ‘she began to trail her fingertips over my thighs…’ what is the ‘began’ actually adding? Take it out. ‘She trailed her fingertips over my thighs…’ keeps the action more immediate. And words like, ‘suddenly’—you can usually take those out.
9- Weed out that repetition
You’ll be amazed at how often you use a certain word or phrase. I suggest doing a search for words that you start to notice. Especially those ‘feels’—every writer has little tells that crop up again and again in their writing. It’s lovely to have a personal recognisable style, but be careful of using the same phrase over and over again—once you realise what it is, you will always be aware, so it’s super important to be your own biggest literary critic and really investigate your word use carefully.
10 – I’ve written and polished my erotic story, it is hot AF, I’m a dribbling satisfied mess—now what?
OK, so after you’ve used your delicious words for your own one-handed leisure reading, why not look for places to submit to, whether that’s guest blogs at other people’s websites, your own blog, or open calls from publishers? If there are submission guidelines, follow them and only send your best and most polished work so you stand out from those who have been a little careless. Get a beta reader or someone you trust to cast an eye over it—another writer you respect might be willing to do a manuscript swap so you can help each other. The great news is, writers really are helpful and collaborative souls, so you’re sure to find someone willing to help. By sending your absolute best, editors will trust your skills and feel confident about working with you again in the future.
A great site is the Erotica Readers and Writers Association which has frequently updated links to open calls for submissions and great writing advice too. You can also take a look around the resources on my own blog.
And please keep an eye out for our FrolicMe erotic fiction category which we are in the process of setting up to include stand-alone erotica of the very sauciest calibre, we’ll be looking out for you! If you want to, check out our free erotic stories to get your mind racing.
I am a woman with some physical and sexual limitations and I write for my own pleasure, almost my only pleasure. I really like this sensual content.