Hi everyone– I hope you’ve enjoyed our blog hop interlude! Winners will be announced in the comments very soon!
But i’m BACK! Recently i gave a workshop at the SoCal RWA Regional Conference with my pal, Louisa Bacio. We talked about Writing Erotic Romance for Fun and Profit. It was fun and very well received. One issue we discussed has really stayed with me so i thought i’d share it because i’d love your opinion as readers of erotic romance –the role of sex in erotic romance.
You’ve probably heard me say before that erotic romance differs from traditional romance in that erotic romance is NOT about sex! While in traditional romance, the question of “will they or won’t they” provides great suspense, tension and excitement in the plot, in erotic romance that question is off the table early. The main characters may have sex in chapter one and certainly have done so by the middle of the book in most erotic romances. So at that point, the tension is out of the issue. Sex becomes a part of the action of the book, not the plot driver.Erotic romances that are about sex are usually boring unless the sex itself is a lifestyle as in BDSM.
This means that erotic romance writers must be great at creating complex characters, because these characters need to have enough inner conflict to keep them apart and the tension going even after they have had sex — generally more than once. EROM authors also have to be able to write fascinating plots that drive the main characters towards seeking what they want — which needs to be more than each other.
Okay, so erotic romance authors have to be good writers and create great stories! That seems simple enough. But in addition, they have to write great sex. Since sex scenes are so much a part of the action of the plot, erotic romance authors needs to be able to write dramatic sex scenes that illuminate the characters, drive the plot forward, and, at the same time, provide memorable imagery and seat-squirming passion.
Add this all together, and you’ve got a requirement not to be taken lightly! If you’ve ever wanted to smack somebody upside the head when they scoff at “just writing erotic romance”, feel free to do so. Or tell them that writing erotic romance is just as hard as writing any good fiction — maybe harder! And you can tell them why. LOL
Thank you so much for coming by. Over the next couple weeks, i’ll have a bunch of great authors as my guests and next weekend will be the Big Backlist Weekend with my guest Cat Grant. Cat and i will select one book from our backlists and will be giving it away to someone who comments on Saturday or Sunday! Don’t miss it.