Friday 23 November 2012

Public readings of erotica

Following on from yesterday’s post about hearing erotic stories read aloud reminded me that I’m reading at an event shortly.  I have a love-hate relationship with this process, finding the experience both nerve-wracking and liberating at the same time.  It is so different to giving a private reading and when you are confronted with an audience in a public space, you never quite know how they will respond.   Of course, you can’t please all the people, as the saying goes, and it’s always tricky to decide what to read.  It has to be new, as you may have some of the same people in the audience as at a previous reading.  The story or extract shouldn’t be too long, because you don’t want your audience to lose interest and become bored.

Stories with humour seem to work best, I’ve found, and with realistic characters and dialogue.  Some readers have commented that they can often identify with the people in my stories, and recognise characters and situations, which is a lovely compliment.  Most of what I write is inspired by actual events and personal experiences. 

I’d love to hear from other writers who give readings – have you had any enlightening, amusing (or not so funny) experiences of reading in public?


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