Erotic Writing Help

We want you to write about what turns you on. Sexual energy can be a difficult thing to translate into the written word, and there are plenty of pitfalls along the way.

Tips for writing your Erotic Story Competition entry

We want you to be imaginative and original, but we don't want stories written in the style of top-shelf letters, full of sopping cracks and throbbing pistons of love - in fact we'd rather you kept the euphemisms to a minimum and called a cock a cock.

It's best not to write endless descriptions of engorged genitals either - what's happening in a character's mind is at least as interesting as what's happening to their body.

And while we want you to keep the tone relatively light - there's no place in these stories for illegal sex acts (and we'd like all participants to be consensual and over 18) or autobiographical tales of woe - be warned that out-and-out jokiness rarely works in erotica's favour.

Think about what arouses you, whether it involves experiences you've had in your private life or stories or films that have packed a sexual charge - regardless of whether or not they had any overt erotic content - and take it from there.

Remember that it's useful to have dramatic tension in your story to drive the narrative on, particularly in the longer category (so that it's not just 'two people having sex - with a toy', and that narrating your story from a single viewpoint helps both you and the reader to identify with your protagonist more clearly.

As far as style goes, keep it simple rather than flowery, and make sure you follow standard spelling and punctuation: if in doubt check a dictionary or guide to English usage.

Erotic writing tips on the LoveHoney Sex Stories Blog

Keep an eye on the LoveHoney Sex Stories blog for erotic writing tips, author interviews and excerpts from recently published erotic books. It's a great source of advice and inspiration.

More tips from erotic publishers

For more tips on writing erotica, the Black Lace and Nexus guidelines provide some handy hints, while there are plenty of other writers' resources on the Erotica Readers website - check out the publishers guidelines page. It's also worth bearing in mind that to write good, arousing sex stories you've probably read a few already. Check out Black Lace Wicked Words collections like Sex in the Office or Sex in Uniform, or for full-length reads try anything from Emma Holly's erotic chef classic Cooking up a Storm to Lindsay Gordon's extraordinary vampire western The Bond.

Meet other erotic writers

The Orgasm Army discussion boards are alive with erotic story writers who are sharing their stories and tips for writing erotic stories.