Young Writers Society

With all the hype about Fifty Shades of Grey (which I don't understand as I've read some of it and it was so boring I almost nodded off but that's a story for another day) I was wondering what your thoughts are on erotic fiction? Would you ever write an erotic novel/novella? If you did, would you write it under your real name or a pen name? I've had an idea for one for quite a while now but to be honest, I don't know if I'm too much of a prude to put it out there. You know, in case my grandma read it or something.

I would be willing to give it a shot were I so inspired. I actually know a local author who writes erotic fiction on the side under a pen name and she only releases it in digital format. I guess so that its more removed from her? Anyways if its something your inspired to write then write it and worry about the other stuff later.

I don't think I could ever write it because to be honest, it doesn't make me do anything except laugh. I would encourage anyone who wanted to to give it a go obviously but I think unless it's done right, it can sound incredibly corny.

Warning: PG-14 stuff here?

Fifty Shades is anything but erotic fiction. It has full emails in it. Just no. Basically, it's getting your toes wet--if you're a nervous middle-aged woman.

True erotic fiction is sort of like porn. (I think I can say that here?) Except it's less visual, more imaginative. If that makes any sense. It's fodder for fun time for those not very visual.

It's usually pretty terribly written. I mean, I'm sure there's some good stuff out there. If you buy it.

I probably wouldn't personal write it. I'm more of a want-to-write-something-that-says-something-about-culture-but-tells-a-good-story dweeb. Erotica? Too basic. Boring. Everything has basically been done. I mean, when your friend informs you she picked up a romance novel (erotic lite in my mind) where the "sexy" people were trolls, well, yeah. You see? Everything has been done. Even the weirdest stuff you can think of.

I'm sure a lot of people could say the same for other genres, but I have to say that the dialogue is almost always the same in erotica.

And dialogue is one of my favorite parts of writing.

So I'll probably pass.

Erotic fiction has been around for a long time. It gets a bad rap, but there's some really classy stuff out there, if you know where to look.

To put it into a more visual perspective, a really good piece of erotica is an artistic nude, while the trashy stuff is straight porn. At what point the "artistic" label ceases to apply and the work is classified as porn depends on who you ask.

I personally have no interest in writing erotica, but if I did, I would definitely publish it under a different name. There are organizations out there driven by morality that will do their damned best to kill your reputation as a writer if you publish erotica, so if you're planning on making a career out of writing, it's something to consider.

With that said, the market for erotica pays rather well considering that most sources of erotic fiction are subscription-based and not very widely distributed, even on the internet, due to how varied people's sexual preferences are.

Ultimately, if you really want to write it, then write it. Answering the question of whether or not you publish it can wait until you have something that can actually be published. ;P