This article first appeared on http://lucyfelthouse.co.uk/guest-bloggers/guest-blogger-elizabeth-cage/ in Feb 2013
The
Truth About Being an Erotica Writer
When I am asked to give talks about writing erotica, I am
still surprised at the myths surrounding the genre. Some people think (or prefer to) that I have
to get dressed up in a rubber catsuit and heels to get “in the mood”. A nice idea, but not very practical. Do I fantasise about sex, or reach for my
trusty vibrator before I switch on the laptop?
Yes, sometimes. Or do I grab a
notebook and jot down a few sentences whilst in the throes of coitus? Now that
would be really bad manners.….
On the whole, writing smutty tales is just like any other
kind of writing. (I wonder if horror
writers are assumed to perform all manner of unsavoury actions before putting
pen to paper? I doubt it). However, cultivating mystique around creating
sensual prose does have a certain appeal.
When I decided to have a website for my erotic writing, I
had a good look at what other erotica writers did (in the late 90s, erotica
writers were nothing like as up front and public as they are now, and I am
delighted that there is so much less secrecy around the genre). There seemed to be two opposite routes to
follow. Either to use my own name and
talk about my academic and literary qualifications and focus on the more
scholarly aspects of writing erotica, or to promote my alter ego as a hot babe,
and really market myself as an all-round erotic package. In fact, on one of the early blogs, an erotic
writer described herself lying naked on her lawn on a summer day, typing her
naughty prose onto her laptop, with the possibility of a neighbour spying on
her. That made me smile……I tried to find
a happy medium, although when I started, I did emphasise the “sexy” aspects of
my personality (pole dance teacher, ex-glamour model and naturist, swinger, etc.)
and I used a photo of my body from the waist down, showing plenty of pert arse
(14 years on and I would no longer post my rather less firm butt for all to see!). Over the years, my confidence slowly grew and
I gradually changed the emphasis of the site towards the writing.
All writing comes from the imagination, the
unconscious. Whatever we are writing
about. However, that isn’t to say that
we don’t trawl our memories and personal experiences to provide ideas and
research material. Generally, the kind
of erotica I enjoy writing is fantasy rooted in potential reality, if that
makes sense. The thought that it could
happen is what can turn us on. The
possibility, the potential. That is what
is exciting. Or I might take actual
events and characters and then ask, “What if?” That is a lot of fun to write –
and, hopefully, to read. Occasionally, I
go deeper, so to speak, and explore the beauty and complexity of BDSM
relationships.
Will I be writing erotica 10 years from now? 5? 3? 1?
Maybe not. There are probably a
few more stories I need to finish and a trilogy of novellas I began a year ago
but have not progressed. I am nowhere
near as prolific as I used to be. Recently,
I was in conversation with a composer who talked of some artists and writers
who might only have so much to say, who may have already mined the vein of
their particular creativity. A friend,
who is one of the most amazing and exquisite dancers and performers I have ever seen, informed me that after 15
years, she no longer has the desire to dance.
She has taken it as far as she feels she can and now wants to explore
new creative avenues in different fields.
So ask me again this time next year……
