Chastity: the most unnatural of the sexual perversions.
Aldous Huxley
If sex were simply a matter of inserting TAG A into SLOT B then there’d be little interest in erotica. However, because there are so many multifaceted approaches to sex, we have a genre that is rich in variation and deviation. Not even the most experienced writer will be familiar with every different aspect of sexual pleasure. Common aspects of contemporary erotica include:
♦ straight vanilla heterosexual;
♦ gay and lesbian;
♦ multiple partners;
♦ BDSM;
♦ kink.
The following pages do not claim to be exhaustive in listing sexual variety. They only provide an overview of some of the different ways that different characters enjoy pleasure.
Lloyd sipped sagely at his red wine, his eyes narrowed, keen to pursue the conversational line.
‘Well, without wanting to get too graphic at the dinner table . . .’
‘Oh, no, I’m not talking body geography. I know the map of Sophie well enough, and I don’t care how well-thumbed it is. I know where to plant my flag when I want her earth to move. I’m talking about places.’
‘Places? Orgasmic places?’
‘Yeah. Where’s the strangest place you ever climaxed?’
‘Oh . . . well. A swimming pool. An underground parking lot. A hotel balcony.’ I frowned in an effort of memory.
‘Tame stuff. Vanilla in the extreme. I’m surprised at you.’
‘Lloyd! Where am I supposed to do it? Onstage?’
Elyot, J., ‘The London O’
Vanilla heterosexual storylines are the commonest in erotica. Here we have the opening to a typical Justine Elyot story that promises to be far from vanilla, but the subject of that flavour is definitely on the table. Lloyd is clearly a man with a surprising sexual history to his credit if he can dismiss experiences in a swimming pool, an underground parking lot and on a hotel balcony as being ‘vanilla’.
There are a lot of advantages to writing straight vanilla erotica:
♦ Straight vanilla erotica targets the largest audience.
♦ It’s comparatively easy to find publishers for straight vanilla erotica.
♦ It’s not difficult to research straight vanilla sex scenes because vanilla sex scenes are the mainstay of adult films and the most commonly discussed in contemporary literature.
The identified taste of vanilla erotica can be altered by adding any of the flavours on the following pages and many more besides. However, it’s worth remembering that many readers enjoy this flavour and don’t want it changed. As writers we should focus on the stories we want to tell and the stories we believe our readers want to enjoy.
Vanilla erotica is usually undervalued by critics. However, it’s appreciated by writers and readers, which should really be the only concern for authors. Called vanilla because, like the ice cream flavour, it’s virtually ubiquitous, vanilla erotica usually involves one heterosexual couple stretching no more boundaries than enjoying missionary position intercourse and maybe attempting oral sex.
I remember a couple of guys I had tricked with were there and I was drinking beer talking to them about their plant store when I first saw him. He was standing in a corner watching me. He wasn’t smiling or glowering. He was just calmly watching me. I now know he must have been assessing me – wondering if he could bend my will and break me.
No. He wasn’t wondering if he could do it; he was wondering if he wanted to do it. Mr. Benson never questions his own abilities.
Preston, J., Mr. Benson
Aristotle Benson in John Preston’s novel Mr. Benson, is the archetype of the iconic leather-clad bad boy of gay fiction. The story, a boy-meets-boy romance with a sadomasochistic twist, is a well-written exploration of gay culture at the beginning of the 1980s. However, the gay culture and the sexuality are only a background to a compelling tale of one character falling reluctantly in love with another.
My girlfriend, Fennel, was still breathing hard when I worked up the courage to ask her a question. ‘Why were you so rough that time?’ I wondered aloud. I was glad we were in the dark so she couldn’t see me blushing. I blush easily.
‘Was I rough?’ She playfully tweaked one of my nipples, pulling me closer.
‘Well, not exactly rough,’ I stammered. ‘I mean, I’m not complaining, but . . .’
‘Daisy,’ she interrupted, ‘you seemed to want it. So I gave it to you.’
My breath caught in my throat and I didn’t trust myself to speak.
Roberta, J., ‘Something Natural’
Jean Roberta’s story ‘Something Natural’ is the tale of two characters deciding to add a new layer of kink to their existing relationship. Fennel and Daisy are sexually committed to each other and they want to explore new boundaries. The story follows their adventures as they discover the pleasures of spanking.
Shortly after I’d written my first erotic novel, a reader approached me. Even though I’d published the book under a pseudonym she knew I was the author.
‘I have to ask,’ she began, ‘how do you know what a lesbian thinks like?’
I can’t remember how I answered. I do know I found the question puzzling. I hadn’t consciously thought of the main character in my first novel as being lesbian: I’d only thought of her as a female character in a relationship with another woman.
The identified sexuality of characters is only of consequence on two occasions:
♦ It’s important if it’s an essential part of the story.
♦ It’s important if it’s an essential part of the pitch to a publisher.
As Peter Tatchell, political campaigner and human rights activist, explains:
Who we are attracted to largely derives from a combination of social experience and ideology. In other words, everyone is born with the potential to be queer. Exclusive heterosexuality is mainly the result of a socially-encouraged repression of same-sex desire.
Tatchell, P., Beyond Equality
It should be noted here that some erotica publishers deal exclusively with gay and lesbian fiction. Others deal only with heterosexual content. However, the majority are happy to consider material regardless of the identified sexuality of characters. Nevertheless, it’s always worth checking a publisher’s catalogue to find out if the content they publish matches the material you are producing.
Jacob wanted them both. Most of all, he wanted to shower them with affection – his sweet, generous woman and the impassioned, adoring friend who was so hungry for them. He ignored his erection long enough to stroke their heads, kiss their cheeks and their ears, and generally lend his blessing to the proceedings. Each of them kissed back at him, turning their heads to mouth and slobber at his face, kindly dolloping morsels of their arousal onto him, letting him participate in their liquid abandon. When Susan rattled in orgasm, her clenching cunt a flushed fussed-with mess in Normandie’s hand, Jacob felt her teeth against his cheek.
Normandie’s nipples, meanwhile, were dancing beneath Susan’s fingers, and Jacob saw Normandie’s entire body dance with them. Her hips, tight in jeans, sashayed on the cushions, and Jacob knew that someone had better peel and fuck her at his or her earliest convenience, before Normandie burned a hole through the seat of her pretty pants.
Edwards, J., Rock My Socks Off
Edwards shows a scene of wild and erotic abandon here. We have two female friends, Susan and Normandie, enjoying an intimate tryst with Jacob. However, although there are three participants in this scene, Edwards makes sure the reader is in no doubt about which character is being described when he focuses on any particular aspect of eroticism. There are no moments of doubt when we have to ask, ‘Who’s doing that?’ or ‘Which one is he talking about?’
One of the difficulties with any sex scene is that the reader can be confused by what’s going on and who’s doing what. In a straight vanilla liaison this problem is seldom noticed. When it’s only a man and woman involved the writer can say John, or Jane, or he or she, or him or her, and the reader immediately knows which character is being described. However, when there are more than two people involved it becomes complicated as the writer tries to quickly and unambiguously identify participants. There’s a danger that a scene could become repetitive if a character’s name is repeatedly used. There’s an equal danger of confusion if the author simply says ‘‘she did this’’ or ‘‘he did that’’.
Edwards gets round the problem of identifying characters by repeatedly referencing Normandie by name. This approach feels natural in this scene because the narrator character, Jacob, is in love with Normandie. Under these circumstances it makes sense for him to repeatedly use her name. However, another writer, especially if they were addressing different character dynamics, might take a different approach.
In scenes with multiple partners:
♦ Identify each participant before the intimacy begins.
♦ Make sure the reader knows what is going on.
♦ If there is any scope for confusion, address it fully.
♦ Pay close attention to these scenes during revisions and editing.
♦ Remember to use as much clarity as is needed.
‘Good boy. Now drop them and sit here.’ Her voice had taken on a much sterner tone. But even that didn’t matter. Her instructions were exactly what he needed. His fingers opened, and his slacks slid down his legs and pooled around his ankles. He sat in the chair she’d indicated, and leaned down to slip out of his shoes. Leather, brown oxfords, the smell, the feel – his cock pulsed against his belly. He pushed his pants off, and put them on the chair beside him, crumpled, unnecessary.
When he sat up straight, she was there, inches from him, her hip level with his face. His breath came in ragged gasps. Could he touch her, the dress, feel its leather softness? His hand rose, reached but was slapped away.
‘Naughty. Take off your socks.’
Mason, J., ‘Those Boots’
A lot has been written on the similarities between pain and pleasure. Experts will argue at length about whether BDSM refers to humiliation and embarrassment, domination and submission or the dynamics of power relationships. The essential thing to remember for any writer tackling this subject is that BDSM in fiction is whatever it means to the characters in the story.
In the passage above Jude Mason’s central character has a fetish for shoes. Fetishes like these are not a common theme in BDSM stories but the elements of domination and submission are staples.
♦ The dominating character here gives direct commands.
♦ She talks to the submissive character in condescending terms.
♦ She invades his personal space.
♦ She disciplines him with physical punishment.
It’s already been mentioned that non-consensual sex scenes are taboo in genre erotica. BDSM scenes can sometimes blur the line between what is consensual and what is non-consensual. Reluctant submissives, yielding beneath the demands of forceful dominants, can be perceived as being coerced into acting against their will. The guidance on this area is to make sure it’s clear that a character is a willing participant in events, even if they’re still not sure it’s what they want.
BDSM can become a fascinating area of study and a thrilling device for erotic fiction. Subgenres of BDSM include punishment, humiliation, spanking, bondage and discipline. A writer needs to be familiar with elements of all of these to write convincingly in these areas. All that’s been said before on the topic of research applies in this area.
The main thing to remember with BDSM is that the genre focuses on the interplay of power relationships between dominant and submissive characters.
♦ These are not gender-specific roles.
♦ Either men or women can be dominant.
♦ Either men or women can be submissive.
♦ The power dynamics of a BDSM relationship can apply between characters of the same sex or the opposite sex.
I used silver tongs to pick five ice cubes from the bucket. They clinked into the highball glass, each one making the crystal sing a slightly different note. It was a matter of degree, really. Kink was candy coating that made sex tastier. Fetish was bittersweet, dark chocolate, straight up, the kind that made your teeth shrink against the intensity of undiluted flavour.
Fetish was sex deconstructed. Removed from my body to my mind. The rites of worship worshipped. The fetish was for the details. Someone once said that God was in the details, but others said that it was the devil. A devil I knew intimately.
I went into the bathroom and turned on the cold tap. The edge of the claw-foot tub made an uncomfortable seat. I set the highball glass in the soap dish and dropped the thick terry robe to the white tiled floor.
Bradean, K., ‘Chill’
It’s said that kinky is using a feather: perverted is using the whole chicken. It’s worth keeping this useless maxim in mind if you’re consciously trying to write kink because, whether your characters are using a single feather or the whole chicken, there will be three typical responses:
♦ one reader will think it’s innovative;
♦ another will think it’s passé;
♦ a third will think it’s obscene.
Bradean’s story above is a remarkable example of kink/fetish. As the title suggests, and as this passage shows, the central character is aroused by the cold. I’m oversimplifying the content of the story here but, because we normally associate arousal with raised body temperature, the unusualness of this fetish makes for a memorable story.
Allow your characters to indulge in kink whenever it feels natural. Don’t simply write about conventional arousal. Give your characters quirks and show they have interests outside the normal spectrum of what is tried and expected. Follow Bradean’s example and bring your erotica to life with an unusual and unexpected twist away from the conventional.
Anyone who has ever written more than three sex scenes discovers that the most exciting acts of intimacy can quickly become repetitive, dull and somewhat predictable. The in/out, up/down of prolonged intercourse, while pleasurable in reality, does not make for the most absorbing literature.
Exploring kinks and fetishes can make this aspect of writing more interesting. The word fetish comes from the Portuguese word, feitiço: artificial, charm. The term is usually applied to a person’s obsessive focus: a fetish for high heels, or a fetish for leather, etc. Kinks and fetishes come in all shapes and sizes. A recent online article concluded that the top ten fetishes included:
♦ voyeurism
♦ exhibitionism
♦ leather;
♦ rubber;
♦ vinyl.
However, because most people are fairly secretive about their personal fetishes and kinks, it’s difficult to put a lot of faith in any purportedly public surveys. It’s safer to accept that any item that can be the focus for a person’s obsessions will hold the attraction of a fetish for someone. As writers we can exploit this fully for the entertainment of our readers.
A few years ago, while reviewing a book that had the word Amour in the title, I quipped that I had mistakenly read the word as ‘armour’. In response to this remark in the review, I received correspondence from someone sharing their passion for chain-mail and breastplates.
‘Well, it is genetic, you know. The whole undead thing was just something old Van Helsing told Stoker when his wife left him for a certain Transylvanian count.’ He licked her blood from his lips and gave her a wry smile. One of his hands was working its way between her legs, his fingers finding her clit.
She pushed it away. ‘So what’s with all this vampire hunting crap?’
‘It’s the family business. Besides, it makes me better at it and I’m very selective about who I slay. Do you really have any complaints?’ His blue eyes glowed a little in the dark as he managed to slip his hand back between her legs. This time she let it stay. Twilight was about to get a lot more interesting.
Lundoff, C., ‘Twilight’
Vampires have long been associated with erotica. Even before the characters in Bram Stoker’s Dracula sexualised these mythical creatures, the myths on which vampires are based had always been invested in a relationship with the erotic. Possibly this is because there has always been something erotic about the exchange of bodily fluids and the intimate life-and-death dance that characterises the relationship between the vampire and the victim. But the relationship between the erotic and the supernatural also extends to werewolves. The condition of being a werewolf is passed on by inflicting scratch marks, similar to those inflicted by passionate lovers. Most of the characteristic activities enjoyed by werewolves, the passion and aggression, take place beneath a full moon. And, after a night of werewolf high jinks, most werewolves awaken naked and in a state of confusion reminiscent of someone having awoken from a drunken one-night stand.
The erotic aspect of the supernatural is perennially popular, for obvious reasons. Stories about the supernatural allow readers to confront their fears through literature. Because the fear of sex and sexuality is an essential part of our repressed western culture these stories work for a readership that is aware of these fears.
The traditional characters of supernatural or paranormal erotica include vampires, werewolves and ghosts. It’s worth remembering that these stories can incorporate a strong horror aspect as well as erotic aspects, although the level of horror needs to be carefully balanced depending on the publisher. As general rules:
♦ Vampires can be used to represent sly sexual predators.
♦ Vampires can also be used to demonstrate promiscuity and hedonistic abandon:
⋄ they operate at night and sleep through the day;
⋄ they bite and suck their victims;
⋄ they are (most usually) attractive and desirable.
♦ Werewolves can be used to show characters who behave irrationally on certain days of the month.
♦ Werewolves can show the consequences of promiscuity.
♦ Werewolves can be central to stories about domination and submission:
⋄ they are invariably aggressive as werewolves;
⋄ there is often a level of control exercised in werewolf stories, from cages through to collars.
♦ Ghosts can be used to show that some characters have influence even when they no longer have a presence.
Obviously there are more ways of using each of these standard supernatural character. And there are obviously more characters and types of characters than vampires, werewolves and ghosts. The most important thing, for anyone wanting to write supernatural or paranormal erotica, is to read examples of what’s already been done in these subgenres.
♦ Experiment with form.
⋄ Read voraciously.
⋄ Write poems and prose.
⋄ Write articles and essays.
⋄ Include poems, articles and essays in your prose.
♦ Experiment with content.
⋄ Read and write straight vanilla erotica.
▲ Keep in mind that straight vanilla remains one of the most popular areas of erotica.
⋄ Read and write gay and lesbian erotica.
▲ Explore fiction that deals with sexualities outside your normal area of preference.
⋄ Write scenes that involve multiple partners.
▲ Pay attention to correctly identifying each participant in scenes with more than two characters.
⋄ Write scenes of BDSM power play.
▲ Experiment with the power exchange involved in bondage, discipline, sadism and masochism.
⋄ Write about kink and fetishes.
▲ Explore kinks to give variety to your writing.
▲ Explore kinks to find new ways of telling stories.
▲ Explore kinks to make your stories compelling.