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When I write erotica, it seems so wrong. Thankfully most of my fans agree. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but it seems very popular. So here are my questions.

As a reader how much heat do you want?
As an author where do you draw the line?

Thanks in advance.

Well I guess you'd have to define erotica as distinct from explicit sexual content.

Personally I find Anna Karenina, Pride & Prejudice & loads of other books very erotic - I have a vivid imagination & I really do not need every little detail spelled out in explicit detail!

I agree! There can be some romance and intimate scenes, but I define a huge difference between intimate and "pornish". Definitely don't want to read 50 Shades of Grey over and over again...

Fran wrote:Well I guess you'd have to define erotica as distinct from explicit sexual content.

Personally I find Anna Karenina, Pride & Prejudice & loads of other books very erotic - I have a vivid imagination & I really do not need every little detail spelled out in explicit detail!

Oh, I totally agree. I find a lot of romances , if done correctly, a turn on. I don't need explicit details

What a question

Well, I'll out myself - I don't mind reading Erotica as long as it is not written just for the sake of it. But it really depends on the relationship itself. Some are depicted too sweet and innocent for me to actually see need for explicit depiction. In those cases it isn't meant to further the plot in any way. With other relationships, I feel like it must be there as a means to show the excessive tension and raw emotion between the characters.
As an author, I draw the line at themes I am not comfortable with - everybody has got some squicks. I can't say I have written many explicit scenes yet but I don't eliminate the possibility that this might change someday. If an idea runs into that direction and I feel that the scenes would serve the purpose to further the story, then I would write them.

Thanks Zain, that makes sense.

With both my reading and writing I range from chaste to explicit and I think you just need to find the right amount of heat you feel comfortable describing. No matter what I'm sure you'll find an audience. Ellora's Cave has a broad range of erotica, if you're still poking around and researching I'd recommend you check them out.

On this particular matter, I would just try to write as much as you're comfortable writing. If you aren't comfortable writing sex scenes, it will probably show, and there are numerous ways to deal with the subject tastefully, such as a "fade to black" type scene.

I write thrillers set in historical times. Thrillers where people lie love, kill and plot so why should I shy away from describing their sex life in an erotic way too. Most thriller writers these days avoid any explicit references to sex but relish the pornography of violence. Odd indeed.

The main question for me would come down to why the erotica is being written. I will admit that I read erotica, and I'm planning on writing some, too. Well-written erotica, where the author is comfortable with sex and is using it to show either the love or the desire between two people, can be very enjoyable. Poorly-written erotica, written either for titillation or because the author thought a sex scene needed to be in the book or would help it sell, shows no emotion at all and can even make me wonder what the point is in sex in the first place. Now, there is some well-written erotica meant for titillation, just as there is poorly-written erotica meant to show love or desire. How much and what sort is an individual choice made by the writer and the reader.

I can be very picky about the way erotica is written. Certain words or phrases put me off completely. I think I prefer the heat of verbal chemistry; when two characters are playing with words in a flirtatious way. I guess - I enjoy the chase.
My advice is: write what you're comfortable with.

mmhmm.. I am very choosy when it comes to having erotica in my stories like in most of my romance novels (what my sister calls written porn) but for a good erotica novel it needs to be well-written and must have great chemistry between the characters to back it up and not just use sex to make the story. For me, I feel like sex is like the icing on the cake between them and brings the characters to a higher level with each other......Awesome books like Emma and Pride & Prejudice don't need erotica because the writing gives you the feel of intimacy without the use of sex! It just depends on the person's choice and how much explicit they are comfortable with. Perfect Groom and A Offer from a Gentleman are two of my all time favorite books to read involving erotica.

I think there is a subtle balance that needs to be met with every book. Books like 50 shades of Grey used such repetitive sex scenes it became too much and boring and I find myself skipping the sex scenes because I knew how it was going to end!! But books like George. R.R Martins song of fire and ice series used sex scenes so briefly but just enough that it became so thrilling when I stumbled across one.

In my opinion, for erotica to be done well there needs to initially be tension between the characters leading up to the erotoc scene. Otherwise it just doesn't seem worth the read. I don't necessarily want to read about two people in the bedroom just for the sake of it. But if there's a good story leading up to the bedroom scene, it will not only be erotic forme, but it will be a fully enjoyable read.

I think there can be an addictive element to all this. Your title asks if people "want" erotica, which sounds like you are asking whether there are people who actively look for that in a book, and choose a book in part based on how steamy it looks to be. If that is the question, then of course there are. But, the more steamy stuff we read, the less excited we are by it, and the (dare I say?) weirder our sex scenes have to be, in order to capture our interest. For example, kissing is not enough, now the characters also have to suck each others' blood.

So to me, asking whether people want erotica is like asking, Do people want heroin? Sure they do. But that doesn't mean you have to be a supplier.