I know there are those out there who look down their noses at us erotic romance writers. For many, it’s not “real” writing. As I soon found out, writing erotic romance can be tricky.
First, and this is true for romance in general, you have to have a good story or nobody will want to read the book! Romance readers need as much variety as the general reading public. And with such a huge volume of work out there, coming up with something unique is a challenge. Some romance readers do prefer a certain genre (like cowboys or space aliens) and those will have to have certain characteristics in common. But you can’t just change the names and proclaim it a new story. Plot is important, and even though we know there will be a Happily Ever After (HEA), there needs to be enough twists and turns along the way to keep the reader immersed. I was always the one who read a book and said, “Well, if she would just shut up and listen to him, they could have avoided all that trouble.” Romance writers have to be able to include the trouble, because real people will encounter the same problems. As a reader, I hate it when everything goes perfectly according to plan because it doesn’t reflect real life.
Second, it’s hard (no pun intended) to write a good sex scene. You need more than, “He thrust in and out for a few minutes until he came.” That’s about as exciting as describing a root canal. I really struggled with this. Some of my favorite authors are the ones who can create a single sex scene that spans two or even three chapters. Another part of the struggle came (again, no pun intended) when I was considering the language I was using. I always found it a little frustrating with other books when they used funny, flowery language that real people don’t use. This is problematic sometimes given the limited range of vocabulary available. It gets a little tedious to see the word ‘pussy’ repeated over and over. I’m still trying to work this out in my own writing. And because the romance is the primary element of the story, it’s important to keep the emotions running high during the scene. Sure we want to know what’s happening physically, but we need to know what the characters are feeling as well. It can also be challenging to write something with which you have no personal frame of reference. While I’m sure there are some authors out there who have relationships with five or more men, most don’t. Plus a great deal of MM romance is written by heterosexual women. Not having a penis myself, I am not familiar with how it feels to get a blow job. Portraying sexual positions that are possible for average people, who don’t belong to Cirque de Soleil, isn’t easy.
Last, characters and their relationships are the main focus of a romance. The reader wants to love the heroine and her hero(es), and hate the villains. Characters have to speak to the reader, to become real enough that the reader cares about what happens to them. I know an author has created good characters when I find myself angry on their behalf or crying with happiness when it all finally works out. I know that I’ve done a decent job if I start crying while I’m writing a scene (though sadly, I am an emotional lush and this isn’t that uncommon) even though it’s not necessarily something I’ve experienced myself. The characters, and their real struggles with forming a relationship that is strong enough to last forever, drive the story.
I’m new to the erotic romance scene. It’s not a genre I ever really considered writing in, until I read a few, and story ideas began popping into my head. They just had to be told. While I can’t speak for everyone, I know I had to work through the issues of plot, character, and descriptive language. I’m pretty sure “real” authors have the same problems. Unless you are extraordinarily gifted, writing is a lot of hard work, no matter what the genre. But seeing your words in print is worth the reward.
Diana MacArthur is an erotic romance writer whose first book, Windswept, is being released by Siren Publishing on Nov. 14, 2012. Visit her blog at http://dianamacarthur.com and follow her on Twitter https://twitter.com/DianaMacArthur.
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