Last Updated on 1 November, 2025 by Cara Sutra
How To Write Erotic Fiction & Sexy Stories
This week’s erotica-themed feature is an updated version of a guest series of erotica writing guides, first published here on the blog through 2015 and 2016. This comprehensive expert guide revealing hot tips on how to write erotic fiction and sexy stories was written by the wonderful Victoria Blisse, who sadly passed away in January this year. I had the pleasure of her kinky company and sparkling wit on several occasions, at various adult industry get-togethers. She is, and will always continue to be, enormously missed.
In memory of Victoria, please check out – and donate to – the Be More V fundraiser. Buy Victoria’s books on Amazon UK and Amazon.com, and find her works elsewhere online via the links throughout, and at the end of, this feature.
Contents
How To Write A Sex Scene
I love to encourage people to write. It’s a wonderful creative release and there’s a great sense of achievement when you’ve got a piece of fiction in front of you that you’re proud of. It’s all the better if that story is sexy. I’m an erotica author; I’ve got to say that. Writing erotic fiction with great sex scenes is not as easy as you might think, so I’m here to give you some pointers to help you avoid the pit holes and find your way to writing something orgasmically good.
The first step can often be the hardest. You need to find your inspiration. It might come from something that’s happened to you already, it might be your favourite fantasy or even an idea that came to you in the shower. Once you’ve got your idea you’re good to go. All you need is something to write with and some time to get down & dirty with your words.
I’m a typer. I’m not very good with pen & paper writing as what I end up with looks like a spider got drunk, fell in some ink and staggered across the page. However, some people swear by physically writing their first edit. Find what works for you. I like a blank word document on my screen, a cold beverage to hand and a bit of peace and quiet then I’m good to go.
Here are my 7 top tips for getting a top-quality sex scene down on paper.
1. Tab D in slot C
There can be a temptation to simply write down a list of actions because, after all, it’s called a sex act.
However, that is about as fun to read as a shopping list. Compare the next two snippets of writing. Which is the most interesting?
A
I took off my top and then he took off his shirt.
B
Slowly I slipped the lemon satin blouse up and over my head then threw it to the ground. My skin blossomed with goose bumps in the cool air. I looked up just as John undid the first button of his shirt. I watched as he revealed his tight, tanned flesh to me inch by sensual inch.
Example A is often described as ‘telling’ and example B is ‘showing’. You might have heard the sage advice stating that you should show not tell. I thought it best to show you it in action than just tell it to you as a rule. And that is exactly what it means. Don’t just tell your reader what happened, give them details so they can conjure up the story in their mind.
2. Coming to your Senses
It’s easy to concentrate on touch when you’re writing a sensuous interlude but don’t forget the other senses. What can your characters smell and taste? What can they see or hear? All these snippets of information add depth to your scene.
I have written a couple of stories that rely heavily on the sense of smell. Here’s a snippet from Spiced Vanilla which I hope will illustrate the use of senses.
“Now clean up the mess you made. Come on. I haven’t got all day.”
I looked from him to the table in front of me. The puddle was located towards the middle of the table. I took a deep breath and obeyed his command. I had to shuffle close to the table’s edge and lean right over to get my tongue to the pool of chocolate. It smelled creamy yet bitter, the milky softness broken by a harsh edge of cocoa that seemed exotic and tempting, and as I lapped, I realised it was a mixture of good, bitter chocolate and smooth, silky cream. It tasted good, and I imagine this concoction finished off many of his confectionery creations.
It was strangely erotic, the wood beneath my breasts and stomach, the chocolate smearing on my skin where it touched, and the action of lapping made several sexually explicit images leap to mind.
3. His Straining Rod of Righteous Randiness
I can understand that being blunt about body parts, even when writing erotic fiction, can be a bit embarrassing. There are certain words some people might never be comfortable using to describe sexual organs. Other times you might just want to change up your descriptor. After all, there’s only so many times you can use the word ‘penis’ before it gets repetitive.
I encourage a little descriptive creativeness in a sex scene. I don’t think it’s always a bad thing to be a little coy, to mention members and pearls and not to reference the actual body parts. There’s a poetry in every piece of fiction and in the soul of every writer, I urge you to find yours but this comes with a note of caution. Beware purple prose.
‘Purple prose’ is prose which is too elaborate or ornate.
It’s good to give detail but it is bad to over-gild the lily. If it feels like it’s too much, it probably is. And if you could just use a ‘dick’ or a ‘pussy’ then do that. Keeping it simple is usually the best way to go.
4. Once Upon a Time…The End.
Every story needs to be made up of three parts, the beginning, the middle and the end. This counts for a sex scene within a story too. You can jump into the action once it’s started but you need the reader to know where they’re up to or confusion will reign.
Generally, sex will start with foreplay. This doesn’t have to involve touching. It could be visual, a text message or a porn clip for example. Sometimes it can be aural, maybe a conversation with a lover or listening in to the sounds of someone else having sex. Don’t skimp on the scene setting, getting your reader in the mood is key.
Don’t leave your reader hanging either. Tease the hell out of them but give them the satisfaction in the end. You can keep building the sexual tension when writing erotic fiction, but eventually it needs to be released.
An orgasm can be the end of your scene or it could be the middle. Clearly, you want to keep the number of climaxes realistic but there’s no rule to say your characters only get one each. That said, beware overdoing it. No one is going to believe that Johnny’s managed to get it up six times in a row.
5. Why?
It isn’t enough to write that two characters are fucking we need to know why. The reasons can be varied.
It doesn’t have to be true love. It could be revenge or anger. It might be that it’s a physical expression of comfort or a transaction for money or power. Any reason you want is good enough but your audience needs to know what that reason is otherwise why bother reading it?
Sex is great, I clearly love it – but the mechanics of sex on their own are boring. I want to know why the sex scene action is happening, how the characters are feeling -and better still I want the sex to move the story along, or give extra insight into the character of the people copulating. If it does both, even better.
You might think that this is a point only for those writing longer works, but I think it’s equally as important in a short story. Okay, the reason might not be very complex. It could simply be that the character is horny or incredibly turned on by a sexy man in a kilt but there needs to be some reason for the sex. Just like Boyzone said, Love me for a Reason.
6. No, it couldn’t have!
Fiction doesn’t have to be real, that’s kinda obvious isn’t it? However, it does need to be realistic. Even if you’re describing a fantastical sex scene it needs to make sense to the person reading it.
What you don’t want is for your reader to get pulled out of the story. It’s like watching a film with my husband. If he notices the smallest inconsistency then he will moan about it ‘til the end of the film. It will take the shine off it for both of us.
For example, you need to check that items of clothing that have been taken off stay off, and that you only use as many limbs as your characters have. A disembodied hand is probably going to ruin the mood unless you’re writing erotic horror. Check the positions your characters are getting into are at least somewhat attainable – some fictional flexibility is fine, but unless your character is an Olympic gymnast bending them double is probably unwise.
Therefore, you need to check your story once it’s written. Read through it again to make sure it makes sense.
7. Check and Check Again.
I hate editing, I really, really, really do but you have to do it. No ifs, no buts. Even if your fictional opus is only for the eyes of a partner, you need to check it through to make sure it makes sense.
Look out for typos and misspellings. Make sure you’ve not got a stork where a stroke should be or a coke where a cock should be. Be aware of repetition. It’s all right to use a word a few times but if you have used the word ‘bootylicious’ six times on one page, it’s going to stick out like… well a bootylicious booty in a rake factory.
Check the story makes sense, that your character doesn’t change name part way through and other such continuity issues.
If you can, get someone else to read it for you too. Someone you trust to tell it to you like it is. A person not afraid to point out your errors, because that’s what you need them to do. Editing is all about making your story better, making it the best it can be.
Now I’ve given you my seven tips to sex scene heaven I hope you have lots of fun putting them into practice.
How To Write Erotica With All Your Senses
Fellow writers of all things erotic: we’re in the business of being sensual, but today I don’t mean that in the smexy- sexy way we usually do. I’m talking about including all the various senses in your sex scenes.
It sounds pretty simple and kind of obvious but believe you me it isn’t as straightforward as it looks. How many times have you read a story that basically looks like this:
He said this then she did that and they wiggled it all about and then they came and it was good.
I’ve read many of them; well, I’ve read a few paragraphs of stories like this – it is impossible to get much further. It illustrates how crucial engaging the reader’s senses can be. I’m going to share some advice on how to do this. Some senses are easier to engage than others, but if you can get a good balance you’ll be writing stories that will keep people coming back for more.
Sight
This, in theory, is probably one of the most straight forward senses to convey. It’s very simple, just think of the TV show Catchphrase: Just say what you see, say what you see.
The challenge with including visual information is how much detail to go into. If your character has crash landed on a new planet or is enjoying a walk in the countryside or sightseeing in a city then it seems right to include details about what they’re seeing as it’s integral to their experience. However, if your hero is going to grab something from the fridge you probably don’t need to list the colour, height, size and knob design of said refrigerator.
Specifically within a sex scene you can use visuals to really turn your reader on. Drinking in hairy chests, ample bosoms, jade green eyes, that cute little lop-sided smile or ink-emblazoned skin will really bring your characters to life. Beware of just writing out a list of attributes though, definitely no bra sizes or precise penis lengths. For one, unless there’s some kind of measuring implement about how are you going to know? Most people can’t tell the size of a boob or a dick at a glance. It also comes across as a bit shallow. It’s much better to pepper your text with physical descriptions than having them all at once, it’s more natural that way.
Sound
We’re not just talking about dialogue here. It isn’t just the words themselves, it’s how those words are spoken. Is the voice deep? Is it squeaky or smooth, raspy or treacled? You can convey a lot of meaning by how words are said.
For example:
“Fifteen pounds, that’s not bad.” He said.
“Fifteen pounds,” he squeaked, “that’s not bad!”
Those two sentences convey two very different reactions, so when you’re writing dialogue remember the importance of how it sounds. Try to read any dialogue out loud at some point in the writing process, as you write or as you edit. If you struggle to read your words or they don’t sound natural, you need to edit it. You’ll also be able to work out where you whisper or shout, where you speed up speech or slow it down, where you feel your character might stutter or pause. All these things will make your dialogue more realistic.
Human speech is not the only sound you’ll want to convey. You can use the bleating of sheep, the tweeting of birds, the rumble of traffic or the whine of aircraft engines to help set the scene. The hitch of breath, the low rolling groan, the thwack of leather on buttock will add texture to sex scenes but you don’t need every ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’ transcribed as there’s a point where you just sound repetitive. Only you can decide this level. It’s another great reason to read your stories out loud when you’re editing to make sure you’re not moaning too much.
Touch
Quite often sex involves touching. Even cyber or phone sex will probably include one or multiple characters touching themselves. It’s integral in the build up to sex too. You know what it’s like when you fancy someone and you want them to know, you find interesting excuses to touch them, brushing lint off the shoulder of his shirt, tucking the label back in to the back of her t-shirt or a simple arm stroke when you want attention.
The art of capturing touch on paper isn’t just stating a fact, it’s connecting a sensation and maybe an emotion to that touch. Here’s an example from my latest novella Something Brave:
She wanted another orgasm. She wanted to come again, and finally she was convinced she could as she shook and shuddered with every lap of his tongue against her. Each new flick sent tingles of pleasure shooting up her spine and along her extremities, bathing her whole body in bliss. Even the sharp sting of the freezing glass on her punished arse contributed to the growing ecstasy. Every time she pushed her pubis forward, Samuel would press her back, the cold sting making her gasp. The contrast of the hot prickle in her cheeks and the chilly window thrilled her.
Felicity didn’t want it to stop, but the pleasure grew and the there was no way she could stop it. Each lick, each flick of his tongue combined with the kiss of his lips, the suction of his mouth and the tickle of his beard took her ever closer to an inevitable ending.
How do you know how it feels? Use personal experience. You might not have felt cold glass sexually but I’m sure you’ve felt it in your everyday life. You can always try things out on yourself although clearly be sensible there. I don’t want anyone going to A&E with items lodged in intimate places and blaming me for it. Thanks.
How much is too much? Repetition can be an effective tool but beware of too many strokes or spanks or flicks of hair or—thinking of a certain novel about shades of grey—biting of lips as it can become seriously distracting. If you pick up on it as you’re reading back you’ve probably overused it, that’s a good rule of thumb.
Another great tool for escalating tension is withholding touch. It’s great to hold back, let the tension build, don’t give in to your character’s desire too quickly. Make them wait, make them yearn for it and describe that yearning. That’s what’ll get people squirming in their chair as they read.
Smell
This is one of my favourite senses. I’ve written two novellas dominated by this sense– Spiced Vanilla and Scentsual. It’s a particularly tricky one to use because what do things smell like? Capturing that is difficult. We all know what an orange smells like but how do you describe that? Zesty, sharp, zingy, fresh are all adjectives you could use but each one will conjure a different image to the reader.
They say the sense of smell is the most evocative. It’s the one that goes straight to your memory. Every time I make hotpot, a simple strew of minced beef, potatoes and carrots, I’m transported back to my Nanna’s kitchen and the vat she’d cook up on a Saturday for our tea.
Use smell to stir character’s memories, it’s something we all can relate to. This is particularly useful when writing about fetishes. Leather, latex, wax, for example, have unmistakeable scents that can be used as a short cut to arousal. It can also provide the opportunity to enrich your character’s personality and back story. Unlock a memory and let your character show why they’re the way they are. A reader will want to know all those little details. I know I do. When I’m falling for a hot guy in the book I’m reading, I want to know all about him, his history as well as his present.
Taste
This is probably the most challenging sense to capture. Have you seen City of Angels? Well, Seth (the angel) is talking to Maggie about why he likes Ernest Hemmingway’s books – he always talks about how things taste. And he asks her to describe how a pear tastes because he doesn’t know:
“Sweet, juicy, soft on your tongue, grainy like a sugary sand that dissolves in your mouth.”
It’s not easy to describe the taste of something because we don’t often have to do it. It’s probably easiest when describing food; we live in a world filled with cooking programmes and the language of food is well known, so describing peppery rocket or a sharp cheddar is second nature to many of us.
It’s when you need to describe the flavour of sweat, of kisses, of cum that it becomes more challenging.
Look at comparing it to a well-known flavour. It’s not going to always taste the same. Bodily fluids will change depending on many factors so there’s definitely scope to vary your description. Yeah, male ejaculate may taste salty but sometimes it can be sweet, don’t just settle for the clichéd association. Try and capture something a little different.
Although if you tell your readers his cum tastes like bleach don’t expect them to be very impressed. That doesn’t sound awfully attractive or healthy come to that.
Altogether
You need a balance of all the senses to round out a story. Don’t worry about engaging every sense in every scene. Focus in on the ones that feel most important for you but don’t forget about the others too.
Sometimes you can combine them for the maximum effect. Taste and touch or sight and sound integrate well but you can mix and match them however you like.
If you’re not sure how to add in sensory information to your work simply ask yourself these questions:
- What can be heard? Is it relevant? Will it add to the story?
- What can be seen? What is important to the action, what is background that doesn’t need to be explained?
- Is there anything to taste?
- What are the characters touching, what is touching them? Do they like it? How do they respond?
- What can be smelt? Is it strong or subtle?
Enjoy writing sensual erotica. Yes, that is me giving you an excuse to eat chocolate, wear your furriest pyjamas, listen to your favourite, cheesiest music and indulge all your senses as you write.
How To Write Body Positive Erotica
Every New Year advertisers look into your soul, pull out all your worst insecurities and try to sell you some crap to make it all better. So to counteract the media wanting you to lose weight, enlarge your boobs, whiten your teeth and iron out your wrinkles I’m going to focus on being body positive and how you can add that to your work in a practical way.
I got into writing erotica because I had a dream (the lesser known ‘I had a dream’ speech), and because my husband said I should write it down and put it up on the internet for the world to see, so I did. But even back then I wrote characters like me. I’m curvy, big, voluptuous, hell fat if you want to label me that way, and I was sick of reading about the same kind of heroine.
She’d be slim, with perky breasts, long legs and a tight arse. Often she’d hide her beauty with baggy sweaters and ugly glasses but buried beneath that she was ‘socially acceptable’ stunning. The worst would be when you’d find out this size 10 beauty used to be fat when she was younger but she lost weight and now all the boys want her. That is not body positive writing. Here are my tips on how to write stories that empower the reader, not make them feel insecure.
Being positive without being negative
It can be very easy to build up your character by knocking down others. For example, you can sing the praises of big noses and be insulting about small ones.
“With those little nostrils it’s a miracle she smells anything.”
That might give someone with a big nose a momentary boost but it just makes the tiny-nosed readers feel bad. You can be positive about a person’s body features without being insulting. Remember that as you’re writing your descriptions.
Focus on the positives of your characters body, revel in their curves, their ginger hair, their bone white skin, their hairy toes, whatever feature it is you want to really make a point of. Keep away from negative comparisons in your narration and keep your focus on being complimentary.
If you want to compare two characters to purposefully show their differences then you certainly can.
There’s lots of ways of doing so without being insulting. You state facts, you describe the people in your mind just the way they are without adding judgement. There’s a world of difference between describing a thin, elegant figure and a thin, mean frame. Think about the words you use and the image they create.
Using body shaming positively
Sometimes you might want to use body shaming. If you’ve got a character who sees the world in a fixed way then you might so that through the way they judge people by their looks. It’s quite alright to make a character your people will dislike, in fact sometimes it’s essential to build up the tension in your story.
This is fine if you don’t want your body shaming character to be liked but what if your hero is gorgeous, sweet and wonderfully witty but he just happens to talk about fat chicks and skinny birds and rate the women he meets with a number?
I think its fine to have a ‘diamond in the rough’ character, but if you want to pull your readers into falling in love with them (and that is what we all try to do, make the readers fall in love with our characters) then you’re going to have to show some kind of progress.
He might start out with very stereotypical views of women as pretty things to judge and conquer but once he meets the heroine his point of view needs to change somewhat. Challenge his perceptions and see what happens. You might discover that all that is just a front he puts up when he’s with the guys, you might find that it’s a protection, a way to distance himself from really feeling anything for the women he sleeps with because he’s been hurt in the past.
You can also do this internally on a personal level. It could be that your main character has a very negative self-image. Maybe she thinks of herself as fat and frumpy or skinny and flat chested. He might hate his curly hair or his annoying dimples. It can be complex to challenge these in erotica without making it look like your character is dependent on the love (or good fucking) of someone else to make them feel good about themselves.
However, you can show how the boost of having sex with the man they’ve fallen in lust with affects the way they think. Maybe you can show how it works out of the bedroom. You can have them standing up for themselves or putting themselves in the spotlight when normally they shy away from that because of their insecurities. It’s possible to take the hot guy/gal out of the scenario and show that the confidence remains.
Celebrating uniqueness
At the heart of body positive erotica is the celebration of uniqueness. I’m really glad to say that more and more readers are seeking out characters that don’t look like they came straight off a clichéd romance cover. Be proud of your characters, let them own their uniqueness. We don’t fall for exactly the same kind of man or woman each time we fall in love.
Just take a moment to think about the celebrities you really fancy. It’s okay, take your time, really think about them in detail. Take a little time out if you need to. Done that? Good.
Do they all look the same? I’m going to guess that no, they don’t.
They might have certain features that are strikingly similar but I am very sure they’ll not all be carbon copies of each other. I personally have a thing for expressive eyes but the colour doesn’t bother me, it’s just if they’re striking I will notice them. I have eclectic taste in men, from Nicholas Cage to John Simm via David Tennant and Aiden Turner. You’d definitely never mix them up.
It may well be their quirks that attract you, that’s often what makes a person stand out from the crowd.
Scars, wrinkles, beauty spots, that lil’ gap in their teeth, the tuft of hair that always breaks free of their bun for example – or maybe it’s the way they speak, the mannerisms they use. Perhaps it’s the way they stutter when they’re nervous, or the cute shade of russet red they blush.
Body positivity is picking out those quirks and making a feature of them. Showing just how sexy being unique is.
Your beauty is in your uniqueness. It is something to be celebrated.
I have to admit, I’ve not always got it right. I read a Goodreads review on a novella I wrote a long, long time ago and I was taken aback when I saw a comment about skinny shaming. The reader had lifted the section of text she meant and by gum, I had skinny shamed.
It was a passage written in my curvy heroine’s point of view but when I thought about it more, she was quite insulting about skinny women – which, considering she was falling in love with an incredibly slim man, seemed a bit hypocritical.
I tried to be body positive but ended up being insulting. I’d like to think that I’ve learnt over the years and my books now have lots of the positive without the negative!
Remember, you and your characters are perfectly beautiful just the way you are and you don’t need to put anyone down to build someone else up. This, I think, is the key to writing body positive erotica.
How To Write Erotic Bondage Into Your Sex Scenes
There have probably been a million and one how-to articles about BDSM after the success of THAT book; you know, the one with all the grey and the lip biting and stuff. Well, I’m going to add to that pile but for now I’m going to focus on one aspect used in BDSM that can be seen in more vanilla play too.
Bondage.
Adding in a little tying-up action kinks up any sex scene but it isn’t quite as straight forward as it sounds.
Let me guide you through the knotty problem and lead you to realistic restraint in your fiction. And I don’t mean holding anything back, that’s not encouraged in erotica.
Domestics
Do you have characters who are not into kink per se and don’t have a treasure chest full of sex toys and bondage gear in their bedroom? To kink them up a bit without going to extremes you can easily add in an aspect of erotic bondage to their play. There are many items that you’d find lying around most houses that can be used to control your characters. There’s no specialist equipment needed.
There are the classics like ties and silk scarves which can be wrapped around limbs and bedheads and knotted without too much hassle but it’s always good to think out of the box when you’re writing. Look around you for inspiration. I can see a curtain tie back and a hook in the wall. Could these be combined to tie a lover to the window, displaying them for the world to see?
How about a long lace of liquorice or a string of pearls… maybe the light pull in the bathroom could be put to a more interesting use, or that roll of bubble wrap could be used to wrap up body parts instead of pottery.
The beauty of using items commonly found in houses is that you can easily have a play yourself without needing to part with any dosh or learn any new skills. It’s all right there before you just waiting to be discovered.
Collar and Cuffs
I don’t know how many pairs of handcuffs are sold every year for Valentine’s Day but I bet it’s a lot. They’re a classic symbol for wanting sex; pretty kinky sex too when you think about it.
You can use a cliché as a short cut in a story and it can work very well but beware being too clichéd.
Having a couple spice up their sex life with some hand cuffs is a good enough premise for a sex scene but think about how you can change it up a bit. Who’s going to get cuffed and where? It doesn’t have to be the bedroom. Maybe she can surprise us all and have a stripper pole in the living room to attach him to, or vice versa.
There are many different kinds of bondage cuffs too. You only have to look at the bondage gear reviews here to see the different sorts available. Do your research, it’s always good to get your hands on an item to see how it feels but you can always just use your imagination, it’s a wonderful tool. If you don’t want to invest in handcuffs yourself but want to get hands on, visit a friendly sex toy shop or sex trade event where pleasure equipment is out to be fondled, and fondling is actively encouraged.
Along with your hand cuffs you could try a collar too. It’s not going to tie someone down –unless there’s a lead attached- but the restriction can be particularly poignant. A character can wear a collar when their dominant partner isn’t around and it can act as a permanent reminder of their submissiveness. The collar can be a touching present, it can be an exciting introduction to something kinky and it constricts the throat, restraining the neck in a way that can’t be ignored.
Money for Old Rope
If we’re going to tie someone up, rope is likely to come into play. Now, I’m not saying you need leap right in at the deep end with some seriously impressive and sexy Shibari work – but rope is versatile, accessible and a great way to keep someone from wriggling about too much.
Bondage rope is a fun thing to play with but a little more difficult to write about. You’ve got to remember that not every reader was a scout or owns a yacht, so talking about an Albright special, a slipped bunchline hitch or a cowboy bowline is going to leave many people scratching their heads with no clue what you’re on about.
Of course, if your character is proficient in knots then let her use the terms, but then explain them so they don’t cause confusion. When in doubt keep it simple. All the description you need is to explain how the rope lies across the person’s body and how it’s attaching them to something else if that’s applicable.
One of my favourite scenes in my latest book, Good Manors, includes rope. Here’s a little snippet to show you what I mean:
Hurrying across the floorboards, I picked up the rope and flogger in one hand and the candle in the other. I settled the candle just beyond her reach at the left hand side of the beam, then unwrapped the bundle of rope until I had enough to encompass her wrist. She twisted her head to watch as I tied then coiled the rope once, twice, three times around her wrist and the beam.
“Now, I could loop this over your neck and hold that down too but since you’re gagged I won’t do that.” I just ran the rope underneath her and to the other arm.
She shifted and looked at me again as I wound the other wrist to the beam.
“Is that okay?” I asked, very much aware of how vulnerable she was and both turned on and grateful for her submission.
India nodded, narrowly avoiding hitting the beam with her chin.
“Good, if it gets too much just shake your head, don’t stop shaking it. If I see that I will stop immediately, understand?”
Of course, rope is a turn on in itself for some people. Maybe you do want to write about Shibari. I suggest researching and if possible watching someone practising the art. A quick internet search will bring you lists of Shibari classes; look for reviews, ask writer & kink loving friends for recommendations. You can’t beat seeing it in action. I watched some of C J Forrest’s workshop on rope work recently and it was a revelation. Several of the authors in attendance found it really useful for stories they were writing.
If you can’t witness it in the flesh, look up videos. I think with something so intricate and precise you need to see it in action so you can translate that onto the page.
In Chains
When writing about restraints, it would be remiss of me to not mention chains. The favoured shaking item of your common ghost, chains are pretty heavy-duty unless we’re talking about the jewellery kind. Chains are cold and heavy so if you want to get pretty serious then chain is a way to go. You’re probably going to need padlocks too, but again do your research and decide what your course of action is going to be.
Chains could also be accessories on a person’s clothing. How can they then be used in a sexy way? Chains could wrap around a gate and trap people inside, another kind of restriction that could lead to some exciting interaction outdoors.
Take a trip to your local hardware store for a bit of inspiration and manhandle a link or two. Bonus points for asking a member of staff’s help.
“Excuse me, what’s the best weight of chain for tying someone up?”
Bound and helpless
I’ve gone through some of the equipment you could use in your story but let’s look closer at the emotions involved. In each situation you will have someone who is trapped in their bonds. There will be many ways characters will react to this. Some may be scared, others instantly turned on. Some might relish losing control and others might fight it. The key to a convincingly erotic bondage scene from the point of view of a submissive is making the arousal believable.
It will take time to persuade a reluctant sub to enjoy their captivity. You may want to explore why your character is so eager to be tied up. Are they a practised rope bunny? Have they practised on their own before? Sex is the action but emotion is the driving force of erotica. The reader has to connect with the people getting it on to even give a damn. So build up your characters and explain why they’re reacting the way they are.
To have someone tied up you’re going to probably also have someone in control. It will depend on the point of view of your story as to if you’ll get the dominant standpoint at all, but even if you’re writing from the submissive side of things you will need to describe the actions of the Dom, work out what they might say and what will turn them on.
It is really important when writing a scene as the person in charge that you temper their desire to tie up and maybe hurt the captive with a measure of care and compassion if you want to keep an air of erotic romance. It’s easy to stray from sexy domination to sadistic killer, and that can pour a virtual bucket of cold water over the reader’s ardour. Of course, if you’re playing with erotic horror then there might be more flexibility.
Consent, consent, consent
Ask anyone and they’ll tell you BDSM is all about consent. You must remember this in your fiction. Stories that even hint of rape as titillation will not be accepted for publication and will get rejected from self-publishing avenues such as Amazon. So make sure your submissive has a way to communicate their unease. If it’s a practised BDSM couple that could be a safe word, if you’ve got a couple mucking about for a bit of a laugh it may be that a simple ‘no’ will work. Just be careful to emphasise that all the people in the scene, tied up or not, are enjoying themselves.
Have fun in your bondage, play without restraint with constraint – but just do me a favour. Don’t tie yourself down to well. I’m not going to come and rescue you!
How To Write Spanking Into Your Sex Scenes
In the last section I tied you down, this time I’m going to spank you. Don’t worry, you won’t feel a thing. Unless you take my spanking advice in point 3, that is. I’m going to give you some hints and tips on capturing corporal punishment that will turn your readers on, not scare them off.
Know your Audience
This bit of advice is often used for all different topics, but it’s especially important when you’re writing sexy fiction. You aim to turn your readers on, so know who they are. What do they like? Use sales info and reviews to work out what your readers enjoy. If you’ve not got an established fan base decide what kind of readers you want to attract. This will dictate how intense you get with your punishment. If you’re known for sweet, sensual love making you probably don’t want to leap right in with a long, hard caning. If your audience expects hardcore filth there’s no point fannying about with a light slapping. If your audience is just you, then write what you want to read. If you’re sharing with a partner, write what turns you both on.
Basically, go with your gut (or slightly lower) and write a story you want to be read.
Know your Characters
When you’re reading you’re actively suspending disbelief. That’s what helps us feel like we’re escaping into another world and gives that magical feeling we all love from books. The worst thing is when you read something that kicks you out of that magical little world. It’s often hard to get back into a story and can turn people off – not just that book, but the author too.
Therefore when you’re writing you need to know your characters. How will they react to spanking being introduced? Is it likely that some naïve virgin is going to want a stern chastisement straight away? It might be, if you build your character up so that desire is understandable. Don’t just throw a spanking in to spice up your story, it won’t work, it will be jarring. The spanking needs to have purpose and further the story just like any other plot point you would choose to use.
Ouch, that hurts!
The whole point of fiction is to make things up but there has to be an element of realism for your scenes to be believable. If you’re a sub who loves a spanking then you’re going to know exactly how it feels to be slapped with a hand, a paddle or a crop – but what if you’re a Top, or a spanking virgin?
Well this is where you need to do some slightly painful research. Hit yourself. No, not now, wait a minute. First of all locate a suitable instrument. This might be your hand, or if you’re lucky/kinky enough to own a paddle or a flogger, you can use that. Or, it might be something more domestic like a ruler, a wooden spoon, a spatula or perhaps a belt. Okay, got it? Now locate a nice, fleshy bit of your body that you can reach. Your thigh (inner or outer), the fleshy part of your inner arm (just below your elbow) somewhere like that. Avoid anywhere bony or locations of delicate organs. You’re not going to hit yourself too hard but you always have to be careful with this kind of impact play.
Now you can hit yourself, but not too hard at first. Gently does it. Slowly build up the intensity to experience the different levels of sensation. How does it feel? Do the sensations change the harder you hit? Is there a sting or a thud, is there a heat or a level of burning? Does your flesh tingle? Is it really painful and only painful or can you get the pleasure from it too?
Of course, if you have a willing partner you could get them to hit you. Establish your boundaries, use a safe word if you want. This could be a fantastic learning experience and who knows, you might find out you like it!
I was really lucky recently and got to experience an expert flogging and paddling from Mistress Cara Sutra herself. What I do in the name of research, eh? I’m very dedicated to my fiction. 😉
Get Comfortable
Or uncomfortable, depending on how mean your Dom is. Where is the spanking taking place? How easy will it be for the spankee to stay still? It’s these little details which will make your scene realistic. If you want a long session with the submissive in the same position you’re going to need to get them comfortable. If you want to up the stakes, get them into more unusual positions, maybe on their toes. Or you could have them restrained (see the previous section on writing erotic bondage sex scenes) or resting somewhere a bit precarious.
You don’t have to keep to domestic situations. Your characters could go to a BDSM club, which gives you a good excuse to visit one too or have a look online for photos of dungeons and dungeon furniture. The great outdoors also lends itself to spanking fun with the extra edge of being discovered.
Let your imagination run wild!
Spank Spank Spankity Spank!
I’ve mentioned in every part of this feature just how important it is to engage all the senses. The point here is that a big part of sexy spanking fun is the sound. The noise of the crop cutting through the air, the sound of hand impacting on buttocks and the cries elicited from the person being struck.
Hint:
Spank, spank, spank, spank, spank.
…isn’t sexy. Nope. Not slightly.
The odd spank will work in context but think of other words to describe the sounds. Crack, thump, clap, slap, thud, whip… there’s a few to get you started. Don’t forget to describe the noises from the spanker and spankee. Panted breathing, giggles, squeaks, screams and whimpers could come from either source. Maybe your Dom laughs with delight with every welt she raises with her cane. Maybe the sub of the scene squeaks when the Dom lightly runs her fingers across the flesh she’s just reddened.
Here’s a short snippet from my Totally Bound novella, Something Brave, to illustrate what I mean.
She breathed moments before the impact of the first smack. She gasped in shock, but there was no real pain, just a soft clap of hand on flesh. She felt his handprint on her bum as he raised and dropped his palm again on the same spot. This happened a few more times, the weight in the slap increasing each time until a sting ran through her butt cheek. At that point, she twitched and hissed, and he swapped across to the other cheek and repeated the process. Her arms shook from holding herself up and her breath came in pants between gasps and hisses as he used his hand to warm her behind.
And her cheeks were definitely warm, approaching hot. He wasn’t being as gentle now. All his thwacks hit with the same intensity, and by the time she took the fifth in a row, she’d yelped from the intense sting of the impacts, and he’d move over to the other buttock. It was strange, but as the number of blows increased, the sting seemed to mellow into a constant glow that radiated through her pussy. She lost count of how many times he hit her. Tensed, she rode every blow, feeling the pool of warmth grow to encompass her whole arse.
Remember that your reader can’t see into your imagination. They don’t know what you know – you have to capture it with your words.
How much?
I’ve given up reading many an erotic story because it’s gone from nought to blistering backside in the space of a few paragraphs. Be realistic with your spanking. Buttocks have to be warmed up, pain maybe enjoyed but be sure to add in some pleasure too. We write erotica, our spankings need to be sensual; they’re meant to turn on the reader not make them cringe and roll up into a tight lil’ ball and whimper.
I’m not saying you can’t get your evil, wicked punishment on, just let your readers know it’s coming and make sure you’re sprinkling liberal amounts of consent around. No-one wants to think your Dom is an idiot with more money than sense and mummy issues.
Wait, did I just make a… no, I wouldn’t. Would I? Good. Okay, moving on.
Keep a tally of what punishment happened and when. If your submissive has had her bottom well and truly paddled she’s unlikely to be able to take more a matter of hours later. There are other forms of pleasurable pain and I’ll cover those in another article. It’s the moment you go from believable to ‘that so couldn’t happen’ that you lose your audience. This is where a trusted pair of eyes other than your own come in handy. Let a friend or partner read the scene (someone you can trust to be honest) and ask them what they think about it.
Vanilla Spanking
Nope, not spanking with cupcakes or scented candles! Vanilla spanking is when playful punishment happens between people who aren’t seen to be kinky. This can be quite a fun scenario to play with and is one I’ve used quite a bit. Sex is brilliant, of course. But part of what makes it brilliant is the vast variety of sexy fun times out there to be enjoyed. Why stick to chicken fried rice every night when there’s a whole elaborate Chinese menu to sample, right?
So how does it work? Vanilla people aren’t necessarily going to have safe words and refer to submissives and Dominants because they might be completely unaware of all that. Well, no can mean no in such a scenario. Plus, consent can be ascertained by an invite to enjoy more spanking. Submissiveness can be indicated by calling the spanker ‘sir or madam’ or even just by using their full name.
If you’ve never written any spanking scenes before this could be a good place to get yourself warmed up.
Try getting your characters mucking around in the kitchen with a wooden spoon, or there’s plenty of fun to be had in a home office or over the dining room table. Get your vanilla characters out of the bedroom and into the mood for some sexy punishment.
You can’t be serious
Well, you can be. Punishment is of course a serious subject, but you don’t have to be serious with a spanking. You can have laughter and giggling and mucking about. Things can go wrong (flogger gets tangled, cane strike misses) maybe there’s tickling or there could be some seriously staged play acting going on.
Anyone wanna wear a headmaster’s gown and send me to their office? Anyone?
Don’t resist opportunities to lighten up the atmosphere. It can work really well to ultimately build the tension. Build up the serious sexiness and break it again with a little humour and then build it again. Trust me, I’m the queen of Smut, I know about these things.
I hope these hints help you to write some spankingly good erotic scenes.
How to Write Menage Erotica
More is more, right? I’m definitely not a minimalist as the state of my living room would attest, but I’m also not minimal in my writing world either. Anyone who knows me will clarify how very good I am at waffling. So in stories it just makes sense that I’m going to write about more than just a one-on-one love story every now and then. Welcome to the wonderful world of menage erotica; threesomes, foursomes and as-many-as-you-can-manage-somes.
Writing menage erotica can certainly be a daunting prospect. It can be difficult enough to keep track of everything in a sex scene featuring just two people, add in extra bits and pieces and the challenge rises.
Now don’t panic, here are a few simple pieces of advice to help you manage your menage!
Pronoun Pandemonium
In writing, as in life there needs to be balance. If you’ve ever read a story where a name is never mentioned, you will know how much of a headache it can be keeping the characters straight in your mind. Also there’s something particularly annoying (and repetitive) about using a character’s name at every single reference to them. Balancing the two is the key to success.
However, that isn’t so simple when you have three or more characters. Two of them at least are going to share a pronoun and if all your sexy bods are blokes or they’re all lasses it gets even more difficult. Which one is he again? Who’s groping whose boob? I’m lost. So how do you balance out your hes and shes?
Obviously you could use your character names – but as explained already, you can only do that so many times before it becomes repetitive. What I suggest is to use physical markers to differentiate between your threesome friends. You can talk about the blonde stroking the curves of her brunette lover as she nibbles the neck of girl with the owl tattoo on her chest. Picking out these physical characteristics will give your reader more ways to identify the bodies in the writhing mass of sexual pleasure.
What if you have identical twins or several identical clones? Well, you had to be awkward didn’t you? You could have birth marks in different places, scars that one twin has but not the other, maybe one of them has dyed their hair to be different. If physical markers aren’t going to be of any help then differentiate them in the way they move or speak. You could give one a deeper voice or they might just have a tinge of an accent that the other doesn’t.
If all else fails, make sure one is wearing an item of jewellery. A ring or necklace that isn’t taken off in the process of getting naked will help identify that twin. Every person is unique, and even in a short story this needs to be made apparent. You really need to know your characters to highlight their differences. Make sure you have decided these things in advance of your menage erotica sex scene and it will make writing it a whole lot easier.
Remembering your Members
We’re writing about sex so one thing is going to regularly come up and that can be an issue. I don’t mean literally, my guys have no problem getting their erections! It’s finding enough names and euphemisms for the penis which takes all the hard work. I am a fan of cock. Now, now, don’t titter, I mean I like the feel of it in my mouth… oh jeez, I’m fighting a losing battle here, aren’t I? What I actually mean is that ‘cock’ is my default word for the penis, but when I’m writing a scene with two men in it and two cocks (or even more!) I need to find some other descriptors, or people are going to get fed up of my cocks.
To combat this problem, I suck it up and use all kinds of names I don’t like as much. Dick, member, prick, penis all get a mention. I have yet to call it a ‘pork sword’ or a ‘tallywacker’; funnily enough those particular euphemisms don’t seem to fit. It’s a juggling act to pick out labels my readers aren’t going to find offensive.
It’s okay to have some repetition as that is infinitely preferable to pulling out a strained and silly euphemism. Here’s where one of my favourite tips comes in handy again. Read your scene out loud. If a particular word like ‘cock’ stands out to you it’s probably because it’s used too much. Ooh-er, missus.
The same issue can arise for vulva and vaginas. It’s definitely worth thinking of a few alternatives to ‘pussy’, for example, and you’re likely to need to describe the clit in a few different ways too. A note of caution: some readers love ‘cunt’ others find it incredibly offensive. I personally have no problem with it, and use it fairly regularly in my work, but it is a word I tend to use with caution. Except in The Point, where I use it in the opening sentence. Start as you mean to go on, eh?
Fair Share
It can be quite difficult to keep a menage scene to just that. This isn’t always a bad thing. Morphing from a threesome to a couple being watched by a voyeuristic other can work really well, for example. Also sometimes natural pairing off can work to further your story. Is it obvious two of your characters have a unique chemistry? How will their story continue; will their relationship change and become more exclusive?
Marketing a book as menage erotica can be tricky. I had a particularly scathing review of my threesome tale Vanilla with Extra Nuts because it’s not an equal relationship between the three characters. Be careful that you explain the nature of your multiple sex scene in your blurb so that those looking for truly polyamorous fiction can skip any stories that don’t quite fit that bill.
Don’t be put off writing about a sexy threesome because of this though; variety is the spice of life and also the spice of fiction. Just be careful how you label your story. If it’s a love story between two characters that just happen to enjoy the odd threesome then make sure that’s clear.
If the threesome goes wrong and isn’t a positive in your story then I wouldn’t list menage erotica as a category for your book as people looking for threesome and moresome stories are not going to be very pleased by yours if it’s more of a tale of woe than sensual spectacle.
One more note on fair shares: when you’re writing your scene, be certain to involve all the characters in it. It can be easy to lose track of one if there’s a lot of people in the mix. You don’t want your reader to be wondering what happened to Carl when they’re meant to be focusing on the sexy action. If Carl isn’t central to the scene, make sure he’s active in some way be it stroking an arm, kissing a neck or watching and taking care of his own needs. If you start a scene with multiple people you need to make sure they all get used throughout that scene.
Maybe Carl is all sexed out, he’s come and he’s getting his breath back. That’s fine as long as you explain that and don’t just make him disappear. Unless you’re writing something dark, and poor old Carl has been whisked away as part of your story arc, and you want to let the reader wonder where he’s gone; it will build tension for you.
I’m not a natural planner when I write but I think it’s critical to have an idea of what is happening and where a scene is going when you have more than two bodies to keep track off. You need to make sure the scene adds to the flow of your menage erotica story not take away from it.
Locking Limbs
Phantom limbs are the bane of an erotica writer’s life. I’m picked up more often than I’d like to admit for independent body parts in my edits. So that’s hands that stroke seemingly of their own accord and that kind of thing and then there are disappearing legs and positions that just don’t seem to make sense.
Keeping track of body parts is difficult enough when you just have two people to deal with, it gets increasingly more difficult the more people who get involved. Make sure every hand, foot, cock, nose or boob mentioned has a person attached to it. Nothing is going to freak a reader out more than a spare limb floating about the scene. As with everything, there’s an exception to the rule. If you want a floating penis in your story then emphasise it or maybe a lone arm left on a pillow would work for an erotic horror. If it has a purpose then keep it. If it doesn’t, get rid.
I am very often caught in strange positions by my husband. I will be sat at my laptop with my arms looped together, my head tipped at a strange angle or my leg stuck out to the side. He no longer asks what I’m doing because he knows I’ll be trying out a position for a scene in a story. Sometimes physically attempting the position helps you to see how to describe it on paper. Also, when there are so many other people involved you can work out who can fit in where. Please take care and if the position is particularly athletic, warm up first. I don’t want to be blamed for any cricked necks or slipped disks!
Be sure to think your menage sex scene through from start to finish. If one person moves will someone else have to shift position to accommodate them? Can that character fit there, can his body twist that direction, where will she put her hands or how can she balance? All these questions need answering for each character and each move within your orgy of delights.
Make notes, draw diagrams, even find some willing people to act it out for you if needs be. Just be sure to keep track of all body parts in your menage erotica and make sure that every action is achievable. That way you will have a well-rounded, believable menage erotica scene that will leave your readers wanting more.
Emotion not just Action
Many of my tips in this section focus in on very practical points that are to do with not confusing the reader. These are extremely important of course but you could write the best, most ordered threesome scene and it could still fall flat if you don’t remember this final, crucial point.
Engage emotion. It’s incredibly easy to get so absorbed with describing the physical within your multiple partnered sex scene that you can forget to describe how it all feels and how the people are enjoying all the sexy goodness.
This is one of those occasions where showing not telling will make a difference. So here’s a sexy snippet from my naughty fun at the office novella, Temporary Insanity, which illustrates what I mean.
Matt’s arm rubbed the inside of my thigh in a rhythmic movement, and Connor groaned and shifted his hips. When I realised that Matt was wanking Connor right there below me I experienced a strange combination of excitement and jealousy. I heard the crinkle of a condom packet being opened and realised that I needn’t have been jealous.
Moments later Connor reached down between us to run his fingers into my wet cleft. “Blimey,” he exclaimed, “you’re soaking fucking wet.”
“Let me see.” Matt parted my buttocks by placing a firm hand on each and pulling me apart. I gasped, feeling lewd and dirty but oh, so good. My buttocks stung, a delicious reminder of my earlier spanking. I was so ready for more, much, much more.
He watched as Connor plunged his fingers into me and slid them up to play with my clit. “She’s ready,” Matt whispered in awed tones. “You need to fuck her.”
My cheeks still spread, he pushed down on my arse and guided me onto the thick erection of his partner. I knew that Matt watched Connor fill me, and that excited me. A lot. I rocked my hips to massage the cock inside me and imagined what the view was like for Matt.
Hopefully now you feel more prepared to face that threesome, foursome or even-moresome! Enjoy getting kinky with your multiplication.
Guide To Writing Paranormal Erotica
Writing sex has its own challenges, as shown in the previous section. In this part of the feature I’m upping the ante and adding in an element of fantasy. Not only the kinda thing you think about when you’re having solo fun time; no, I’m talking paranormal erotica and erotic romance.
What is Paranormal?
It has nothing to do with the usual way to parachute. Paranormal is defined as:
Denoting events or phenomena such as telekinesis or clairvoyance that are beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding.
When you look at the paranormal romance genre you will see lots of characters from fantasy, science fiction and horror. Werewolves (and other shifters), vampires and ghosts are probably the most popular – but you can find more unusual characters like zombies, demons, angels and genies out there too.
Therefore, paranormal erotica involves mythical characters getting it on with others of their kind or with humans.
Why should I get Paranormal?
As with any theme, you should write paranormal erotica because you want to. That’s always the key. However, if you’re a bit bored of the constraints of reality and you really want to get fantastical, you’ll find mythological characters and settings pretty freeing. You can play with magic, for goodness sakes; who doesn’t want to do that?
Vampires hate garlic, Werewolves are allergic to silver.
When you’re using mythological characters in your paranormal erotica there may be some established rules you need to stick to, but others you can bend. There’s not much point having a vampire who doesn’t bite but what if the vampire had their fangs removed somehow?
Werewolves get hairy at full moon but does it have to only be then? Could there be other triggers?
If you’re picking an established character type to use in your story then I think you need to keep a few traditional aspects intact; however, to make that character your own, feel free to change it up a bit.
In my own Point Vamp series I have vampires who need human blood to live but they’ve discovered a way to drink to satisfaction without killing. They also don’t burst into flames in the sun (though high factor sun cream and hooded clothing is a must) and garlic doesn’t phase them. I pick ‘n mixed the traits I wanted, to create my uniquely blissful vamps.
Fancy trying out my vamps?
One of my favourite series on TV was Being Human. If you’ve not seen it, look it up. That’s a perfect example of taking established characters and playing around with expectations. I adore the ghost who makes tea… lots and lots of cups of tea.
Werewolf in the chiller aisle?
Once you’ve got your characters you need to decide where to put them. You could create a whole world around them. That is no small feat and you will probably find it will take a huge amount of investment in time and energy and maybe words too. It is difficult (though not impossible) to write a short story with paranormal characters and a fantastical setting.
Creating a whole new world takes time and dedication. Fellow erotica author Zak Jane Keir has previously done a workshop on it at an erotica event. I’ve not been brave enough to do it yet but one day, I’d like to.
The arguably easier setting is contemporary. Have your werewolf working in a supermarket or maybe your vampire can be a detective. Is your ghost paid to haunt a country manor? You can put your paranormal characters anywhere and the story comes from the unexpected mythical being in a world everyone thinks they know.
How Old?
If you’re dealing with immortal beings like vampires in your paranormal erotica, you might have to decide when they were turned. This can contribute to their style, the way they speak and how they think. A vampire turned in the Victorian era is likely to act differently to one turned in the 1960’s. This can be a challenge as you’ll need to do your research, especially if you write about how they were converted in the first place. It can be another avenue to exploit how super awesome and unique your vampire, werewolf, ghost or other supernatural being is.
Think about how these characters will change over time. They’ll see many people die, maybe people they love. They’ll see governments and monarchs come and go, they could spend a lot of time alone. Factor this into how they react in situations. How likely is it that an eternal being like an angel would fall in love with a human? What would make that possible?
Oh now, isn’t that beastly!
Now we get down to the nitty gritty. Sex. For some paranormal creatures it’s not too tricky to work out how they’d do it, while for others there’s a whole minefield of possible squick moments to avoid.
Let’s talk about shifters for a bit. Shifters are humans who can shift into animal form, or in the case of our hairy werewolf friend the change happens whether they like it or not under certain circumstances. It’s the when and how these beings have sex that can be tricky.
I spent a long and frankly disturbing amount of time looking up the intricacies of shifter sex and when it might cross the line into bestiality. It seems fairly widely accepted that human to person in shifted animal form hanky panky is a no-no (in publishing terms). Some naked fur stroking (which should totally be a euphemism for masturbation btw) is seen to be acceptable, but past that it seems to be an established hard limit.
Sex between two shifters in their animal forms is one that seems to split opinion. Some say it’s all right; others think it’s a not right at all. In my opinion you need to think about what you will achieve by such a scene. Does it forward your plot and will your audience understand it? Can we as humans understand animal sex? Will it bore people – or even worse, turn them off?
Raw, passionate lust.
Of course, any characters can have a damn good shag – but paranormal characters have a calling to be animalistic in their love making. That is something that is infinitely appealing about shifters and Weres especially. They are called to be animalistic, they *are* animals sometimes. You’ve got your natural, dominant alpha males and then you’ve got those who are submissive. It’s the natural order of things and you can play about with that ‘til your heart’s content. Hot alphas are very appealing, and when they have a calling to be masterful which is all down to their animalistic urges, you’ve got a whole world of hot sex to play with.
Vampires can be cold and calculating, evil and selfish. It might not sound like the biggest turn on but taking a character which is all about his or her own base needs and setting them on some poor defenceless prey is kinda fun and hot. You can always pull a twist out too. Maybe the prey isn’t so defenceless after all.
There is a pitfall with paranormal beings and sex. You can stick too closely to the established formula. If you’re writing a story that has several sex scenes in it you need to be careful that they don’t all read exactly the same. Change it up. Use unusual locales, make your submissive werewolf fight for dominance or let your vampire show some human emotion. Don’t feel trapped by the constraints of the myth. It’s your story, you can do whatever you like. That said, you should be prepared for some people not liking it. There are sticklers for tradition in all kinds of genres.
Will they have all the right bits?
It is not too challenging to work out how vampires and werewolves would have sex. You can imagine that angels and demons will be pretty straight forward too, at least in some kind of human form anyway. But what about genies, djinns and ghosts? Dragons, elves and fairies?
This is where you have to use your imagination in your paranormal erotica. Clearly, full blown sex with a dragon is going to involve fire proofing and a huge vagina – but maybe you can work around that. And remember, when dealing with mythology you’ve got magic to use and abuse as you so desire.
How does one fuck a ghost? Can it even be achieved? Would a ghost cock be cold like an icicle or feel ethereal and soft instead of hard and fleshy? This is the beauty of writing fantasy. You can decide – and as long as you’re consistent and you have a reason for it being the way it is, go for it.
I used to spend a lot of time on the forums at literotica.com. That’s where I did my early writing, and I have many fond memories of my time there. One of my friends was an amazing artist and I will always remember his one avatar that had a fairy clinging to a huge, erect penis, arms wrapped around it in an encompassing hug. Now there’s a starting point for human to fairy sex for you. I’m so kind, aren’t I?
The only constraint to paranormal erotica is your own imagination. There’s no end to restraints you can use but that, I suspect, is a whole different article.
Victoria Blisse Links
- Totally Bound author page
- Waterstones author page
- Goodreads author page
- Be More V fundraiser
- Books at Amazon.co.uk & Amazon.com
This article is an amalgamation of past posts originally published here at carasutra.com in 2015 and 2016. They have been updated and merged to form this most recent post in September 2024 as part of regular content maintenance and for optimal website performance.
The above feature contains affiliate links
