The most difficult thing about writing erotic romance and family drama is to keep it interesting. Gene Rodenberry was an amazing author long before he created Star Trek. At the time it was described, disparagingly, as Wagon Train to the stars.  Rodenberry took it as a compliment. He said that a story well told fit any genre.

The Story Arc

 I believe in my early days of writing short stories I focused on the sexual content and descriptions. I wanted the reader to see what I had in my mind.  I went into huge detail, almost clinical detail, for every sexual act during the encounter.  As I rewrote for the fifth draft, my editor kept taking out parts with comments like “too clinical”. Each word was like losing a child.  It hurt to cut them out.  Then when I read the new version, it flowed.

It is about the story and using only the words necessary to tell the full story, but not ten words more. It was difficult to work on a story that started two years ago, and not get attached to the word count.  But the key factor is that you must have a story arc that is compelling, even when you write writing erotic romance and family drama.

There are a million ways to tell a story, they all boil down to the simplicity of three acts. At the start you show what normal life is.  You climb to a midpoint where the hero is being affected by the plot.  Then you work your way through the third act and bring the hero to a conclusion. In romance it is at least a happy for now (HFN) or a happily ever after (HEA) climax.

Making it Erotic Romance

Rodenberry said it best, the key is the story, the setting is what makes it a particular genre. In typical romance, or drama the story takes place completely outside the bedroom – if you get my meaning.  In erotic romance and family drama you take the reader into the bedroom because it makes sense to the story. If it doesn’t make sense to the plot, the story arc itself, then it borders on erotica or even further: pornography.  These last two are about sex for the sake of sex, and there is a market for that.

In the novel FIRST TENTATIVE STEPS, the characters are put in a difficult situation from the start. They are given challenges both personal and general and they have to figure out their own path.  When we see the scenes in the bedroom they are adding to the erotic nature and to the individual character arc as well as the overall story.

Erotica As Short Stories and Novellas

There is a reason why erotica is typically treated as a short story.  The plots are relatively short, and while the characters can be fully developed, the point of erotica is to get the characters into bed as often as possible.  The reader is interested in a short, hot, story that is satisfying and quickly moved on from.

The short form works great for erotica, and authors work very hard to condense a story to the bare essentials. It takes a great deal of talent to pull it off. Short form story telling is not easier than long forms like novels.  In developing the story and character arcs for short form you have to focus it down and deliver quickly.

Character Arc

Whether short form or long form, the characters have to be compelling.  The great advantage of erotic romance and family drama is that you get to see the characters at their most vulnerable.  No one can be in bed with someone and not reveal something deeply personal.  They may not share it openly, but in their minds all their vulnerability is exposed.

I am often asked why I love to write erotic fiction.  Until this weekend, when my own mood was very low and depression was peaking around the corner, I could not give you a good answer. I felt it inside me, but could not put it into words.  Now I feel comfortable telling you why I’m drawn to this sub-genre.

It is the ability to explore a character at their most vulnerably intimate moment. The kiss is not enough to let you see what the character is going through. Men are typecast in some ways, and for that matter so are women. No one is as simple as they appear at first glance.

In creating Michael Abramson for First Tentative Steps, I gave him a great deal of mental turmoil. He carries a great deal of baggage that he compensates for in the best way he can.  In the novel we do follow Mike into the bedroom, but we also see Mike’s inner turmoil naked, before our eyes, and we see how he suffers.  It was painful to get inside his head, but it was necessary to understand the transition he has to make from the first page of the novel to the final thought.

Writing erotic romance and family drama is about the characters, their inner turmoil and their ability to find answers. The answers are not easy to find, and they are not painless. As is often the case, sexual interaction is a way to hide from that pain. A well told story leaves you wanting to know more about the lives of these characters, before the first page and long after the final line.