Part 3 –

Erotic

A lot of readers place erotic and porn in the same class. It’s not.

Erotic books contain sex, yes of course they do. Won’t be erotic otherwise but they have a plot and story-line. Strong characters bring everything together. Porn only deals with the act itself. No one cares about the plot or the characters. They only look for one thing.

So, where to begin? Like any other story start with the plot or characters. I write dark romance, so my latest book maintains that but contains a BDSM element. (Fareious trilogy). However, you can write in any sub-genre. Then cover the sexual part. Do you want to go soft or hard – go with whatever you are happy with writing. Believe me, it’ll show if you aren’t comfy writing it and can make any great story poor.

Oh, and sex positions. Make sure they are possible. Nothing worse than reading a book and trying to figure out how they did it. Readers like their genre and erotic readers will know. And bye, bye readers.

Now, those sex scenes. Don’t be repetitive. Make them steamy and above all else, don’t head-hop. Stay with one POV. Readers will put the book away and not pick anymore of your’s up. Remember sex is different for everyone. In normal romances the sex can be steamy, but you want erotic. So, it needs to be much, much more steamy.

And also, it’s not all about love with erotica. It can just be about the raw sex. A couple who doesn’t want love, just to enjoy each others bodies. Now, it could turn to love, nothing to stop that happening but build up the tension. If it’s pure raw sex on one page, don’t make the next scene love. Add some grip to your story. Does the female want love but the man doesn’t? Are one of them being blackmailed to control the other? Oh, there are lots of ways this could go. Think outside of the box and surprise those readers.

Back to the characters. Develop them well. Make your readers love them and beg for them to get together. Don’t just get them in bed and then end the story. Readers like to feel part of the book. My Scottish stories are romance but not erotic but my readers have said they want to jump into the book, save the heroine and punch the baddie. That should be standard in any book.

The end. Now, it’s still a romance. Your readers want that happy ending. If you don’t give it, give a reason. Does the man being blackmailed decide he’s had enough and gets killed while saving his woman? Does the woman vanish in a cliffhanger ending – make sure you make it clear there’s a book two. Do they finally decide they really do love each other?

Now go and plot out your idea. Make it strong, believable and you might just get a best seller.