Hello, I'm brand-new as of about an hour ago, and have already made some errors. Let me spare you the chagrin! Make sure you read the forum rules before you go posting things, unlike me. Make sure you read the Workshop rules before you post a huge excerpt from a project you're working on, unlike me but for the quick action of a more seasoned forum member Make sure to come back and participate a lot, and prepare to receive very sound criticism from real professionals. I'm published, but in a very strange and narrow sort of writing work, so I must be vague lest I out myself, so to speak. The subject matter tends to be inherently negative and soul-crushing. Until very recently writing anything at all outside of work just reminded me of work, and I atrophied. And then I wrote my wife an erotic fiction short-story of about three thousand words. It was great fun. She wanted another. So I produced it. It was also great fun. She wants to show her friends and I'm terrified, because some of the scenes I manage to write are WHOA, and I have to have these people over to he house for barbecues and stuff. I wonder if I could make gas money, and just be a little happier, practicing at this. I still wonder, and I've turned out some surprising volume, more than I'm used to producing. Time rockets past. I don't feel like crashing my car into a bridge abutment afterward; I feel great. Excited to continue. I think this is what I thought writing for a living might feel like waaaaaaay back when I started, before I took up my actual career. Nowadays I crank out corporate drek packed with semi-words like "disrupt" and "move forward" and "impact" as a fracking verb, and then probably "disrupt" five or six more times, because that's very hot right now among the sort of people I write for. Disrupt disrupt disrupt. I probably shouldn't have read all of that Morgan Lewellyn when I was nine... I hope that we can all work together to keep the written word a source of joy for each other, rather than mere work.
Erotic stories are unique beasts. They can be soft and smooth and fluffy. They can be hairy, matted, slippery, dripping romps. They're everything else in between. Be bold and break the mold! I'm writing a story with visceral sex as an almost-character, or plot device? It's about people-stuff mostly, so I guess it's actually drama. Still... yikes! If in doubt about content after reading forum rules, mods can answer any question. I'm holding on to a short that made it as far as rules go, but I pulled it for other reasons (it has more to it). So if you're pushing the envelope and you need a reference perspective, let me know. Make sure to check out everything in WF. It will change your perspective!
