There are clearly plenty of horrible mistakes a writer can make, from bad prose to wooden characters, but if I were to focus solely on erotic romance, the thing that bothers me the most are sex scenes that are explicit solely for the sake of being explicit. I'm kind of a contrarian in that I feel if you take the sex out of the story, and it still stands, then your sex scene probably doesn't belong in the story in the first place. This kind of \"tacked on\" eroticism really bothers me. I want a sex scene that, in some new and critical way, deepens the characters' relationship or is critical to the plot. And if it is critical to the plot, the explicitness better be important, too, because just being hot for the sake of being hot isn't going to do it for me.

I was going to reply to this, but my pert little breasts kept getting in the way... Srsly, the worst thing you can do in erotic romance is not have a narrative structure. People fucking is not a story, although it can be entertaining. Something actually has to happen, somewhere, somehow, to keep me reading. Of course, to make me truly happy, that something will involve a small plane, a leather hat, and a snake, but I *may* just be writing Rockhounds at the moment.

Wiping my rum and diet coke off the freaking keyboard at the moment. You mean you're not writing a script called Snakes on a Plane?

The lack of an ending particulalry bothers me. I can come up with and intriging 'scenario' every minute in the minute--I want a fully consumately plot as well as the other sort. In fact quite a few otherwise great epublishers drive me crazy on this--especially when the have what` they call a sequel but it's really just chapter two--and they want me to pay $20 for the whole book. grr

This is helpful. I am definitely finding out that it is far too easy to fall into some of these traps, as I go back and re-read things I've written. It's giving me a better mind for \"OMGs, I can't believe I did that!\"

That's what editing is for! :D

What's a mistake? Writing sex for the sake of sex. As someone said earlier, I want plot. I want characters that have sex for realistic reasons. I'm trying to make sure my characters aren't just going at it because I, as the author, said \"hey, you guys should go at it on page 37\". I wish everyone did the same.

I was going to reply to this, but my pert little breasts kept getting in the way... Were they thrusting, CB? Naughty little breasts...

No, they were heaving. With abandon. And longing. Great, abandoned, longing heaves -- a veritable seismic disturbance of mammary emotion...yet, still pert...

Snort! Good one CB.

Sounds like she's about to spew her McNuggets all over the place.

C B Potts wrote: No, they were heaving. With abandon. And longing. Great, abandoned, longing heaves -- a veritable seismic disturbance of mammary emotion...yet, still pert... So long as they weren't quivering. It's when they start to quiver that you know you're in trouble. :shock:

See them quiver, See them quake, Too much shaking It's a booby mistake... Ok, my work here is done. Anyone see my sanity? It must be around here somewhere...