Five tips from Anneke Jacob

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Five Tips from Justine Elyot

 Five tips on writing erotic fiction from Justine Elyot: 

1) Start by writing about what turns you on. Don't worry about catering for every taste – you can't.

2) Don't be coy. Don’t fret about what people will think of you, or your writing will feel watered down and lacking in force.

3) A lot of the eroticism of a story will come from the characters, the predicaments, the settings or other details. Don't invest everything in the acts themselves.

4) Hmm, a lot of 'don'ts' here. Don't take any notice of a list full of don'ts.

5) Do enjoy it, or it won't work.
Almost everything wrong with an early draft can be fixed with thorough revisions.

Justine Elyot is the author of many pieces of fiction including The Game and the short story 'The London O' in Orgasmic. More of Justine's work can be found by visiting: http://justineelyot.com/

Five Tips from Janine Ashbless

 Five tips (in no particular order) on how to write erotica from Janine Ashbless:

1) Stop watching TV. Or cooking. Or spending hours on Facebook. Or something ... Your choice. You're going to need to give up something you enjoy to have extra time writing.

2) “Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it – whole-heartedly – and delete it before sending your manuscripts to press. Murder your darlings.” - Arthur Quiller-Couch

3) You MUST learn to write in a manner that is comprehensible, fluid and grammatically correct. The rules of grammar and punctuation exist for a reason: learn to use them before you break them.

4) While your first book is out looking for a publisher, write the next one, and the next. Bottom drawer books will find a home eventually, but you need stock in hand.

5) Don't try and catch up with bandwagons - it's already too late. Write the book that only you can write.

Janine Ashbless is the author of many pieces of fiction including Named and Shamed. More of Janine's work can be found by visiting: www.janineashbless.blogspot.com.

Five Tips from Julia Morizawa

 Five tips (in no particular order) on how to write erotica from Julia Morizawa:

1) Write from your heart. Even fiction should spark from a real place inside of you.

2) Follow your instincts. If it doesn't feel right, it probably isn't.

3) Be truthful to yourself. A lot of people might tell you things like, "This is the way a book should be written," or "Here's an example of a great book." Who cares? Don't feel obligated to write in a way that you think society or the literary community will appreciate. Just write with your own, personal, unique voice.

4) Don't worry about being pretty. Don't allow technical details like grammar, "correct" story structure, your publisher/editor, etc., get in your way. Your priority is to tell a story. You can go back and clean it up later.

5) Share it with other people. If you announce to at least one other person that is in your life regularly that you are writing a book, it will force you to remain diligent. After all, you'll want something to report when your best friend/husband/mother nags you with, "Whatever happened to that book you said you were writing?" Along the same lines, when you're ready, get lots of feedback from people you trust who aren't afraid to be honest. The purpose of feedback is not to give you a pat on the shoulder or an ego boost. It is to dissect your work and get various outside opinions so you can adapt and improve it.

Julia Morizawa is the author of many pieces of fiction including Memoirs of a Wannabe Sex Addict. More of Julia's work can be found by visiting: www.juliamorizawa.com.

What do editors look for? Mitzi Szereto

Mitzi Szereto (http://mitziszereto.com) is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction, has her own blog Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto’s Weblog (http://mitziszereto.com/blog), and is creator/presenter of the Web TV channel Mitzi TV (http://mitziszereto.com/tv), which covers “quirky” London. 

Below are the things that Mitzi looks for in short stories that are submitted to her anthologies:

I look for an original voice, freshness in the material, and prose that has style. For me there's nothing worse than stale-sounding material that sounds as if it was churned out to fit some formula or derivative of everything else that's out there. My biggest pet peeves are porn-speak and writers who submit material that bears not the slightest resemblance to what I've asked for.

1) Develop your own voice and style rather than parroting those of others.

2) When it comes to writing sex, avoid the use of trite euphemisms and hackneyed sexual descriptions (especially if you want to get into one of my anthologies!).

3) The sex should not be the story, but be part of the story. Remember that you are writing A STORY, not a script for a porn video. (Do they even have scripts????)

4) Avoid the formulaic. You might sell some work, but it won't necessarily earn you any respect as a writer.

5) Be creative in your writing, not regurgitative. Just because you've seen something written a certain way by other writers doesn't mean you should emulate it. Very often it's just the opposite.


Mitzi Szereto (http://mitziszereto.com) is an author and anthology editor of multi-genre fiction and non-fiction, has her own blog Errant Ramblings: Mitzi Szereto’s Weblog (http://mitziszereto.com/blog), and is creator/presenter of the Web TV channel Mitzi TV (http://mitziszereto.com/tv), which covers “quirky” London. Her books include Thrones of Desire: Erotic Tales of Swords, Mist and Fire; Normal for Norfolk (The Thelonious T. Bear Chronicles); Pride and Prejudice: Hidden Lusts; Red Velvet and Absinthe: Paranormal Erotic Romance; In Sleeping Beauty’s Bed: Erotic Fairy Tales; Getting Even: Revenge Stories; Dying for It: Tales of Sex and Death; and Wicked: Sexy Tales of Legendary Lovers. She has pioneered erotic writing workshops in the UK and mainland Europe, teaching them from the Cheltenham Festival of Literature to the Greek islands. Her anthology Erotic Travel Tales 2 is the first anthology of erotica to feature a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.

Five Tips from Alison Tyler

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Five Tips from Kathleen Bradean

Five tips on how to write erotica from Kathleen Bradean:

1) Write a story you believe in.

2) Patience is your best ally, even if it is annoying.

3) "I meant for it to be ambiguous" is code for "I don't understand why people tell stories."

4) Like any long term relationship, you're going to fall out of love with your novel from time to time. Find new reasons to love it rather than abandoning it.

5) There is no such thing as a muse. There's only you. Feel free to don a toga and strum a lyre if it helps.

Kathleen Bradean is the author of many pieces of fiction including 'Chill' in Violet Blue's anthology Best of Best Women's Erotica 2. More of Kathleen's work can be found by visiting: kathleenbradean@blogspot.com or ohgetagrip@blogspot.com.