What is the worst mistake for a writer to make in writing ER

*ok, I admit it* If AS Byatt wrote porn, I'd buy it too. 8) I just wouldn't shelve it right next to the Hemingway porn.

I'm hoping I won't get killed for bumping this up, lol, but here goes. I am Queen of the purple prose. I have been accused of everything from lavender to aubergine, and every shade in between. HOWEVER! and let me qualify this statement- I do it well. Badly done purple prose gives me the blues. Measurements in stories make me cry. And worst of absolute all is the Mary Jane- that character who is just too fucking perfect for words. I hate you, Mary Jane. The worst sin an erotica writer can commit- building up an incredibly hot scene- and letting it fizzle. I am eternally guilty of that one. :oops:

If you add gilt curlicues it isn't purple, just ask Tanith Lee. ;)

I'm hoping I won't get killed for bumping this up, lol, but here goes. I am Queen of the purple prose. I have been accused of everything from lavender to aubergine, and every shade in between. HOWEVER! and let me qualify this statement- I do it well. Badly done purple prose gives me the blues. Measurements in stories make me cry. And worst of absolute all is the Mary Jane- that character who is just too fucking perfect for words. I hate you, Mary Jane. The worst sin an erotica writer can commit- building up an incredibly hot scene- and letting it fizzle. I am eternally guilty of that one. :oops: And more proof that anything can be done. It just needs the right writer. If you do it well then knock your socks off! The more I get to know the writers on this board, the more I realize that most "rules" go right out the window. Just because I read it poorly done or wrote it poorly done doesn't mean others can't do the same with exceptional results.

Well, to be fair, I started off writing REALLY bad purple prose. After about two years I realized that not only did no one want to read about every throbbing follicle of pubic hair on a cock, I didn't want to write it. So now I write what my best friend (and the woman I owe more than I can say for reading, critiquing and being brutally honest with me on everything) calls "mental smut." Not necessarily physical (although there's plenty of that) but definitely gettign into the character and the reader's head to make them feel what I want to feel. But that's vanity and gloating (guilty on both counts) and not a complete true view of my writing. I suck at dialogue... it comes out either snobby and stilted or completely inane.

To be honest, I enjoy a little purpleness when it's well done :) I've seen some that's utterly awful though... :lol:

LOL, feel free to check out any of my stuff for the purple factor: http://www.xanga.com/wormwoodandsilk www.loveinaminor.livejournal.com On the LJ there is a piece I did for the Cardinal Sins of Writing challenge in Literotica's AH. Category, purple prose. It's under a cut titled Aubergine on the lj.

Hey... your LJ links dead. Who are you on Literotica?

Hey... your LJ links dead. Who are you on Literotica? grrr... proper link this time: http://loveinaminor.livejournal.com/ And I've been a lot of people, but right now I'm FallingToFly. I took all my stuff down from Lit though :P

Bad dialogue, bad plot, bad anything really. I think that it doesn't matter what genre of fiction you write. I have never understood why erotic fiction can't be taken seriously with some people. Erotic fiction doesn't mean it's bad. I hate it, when people think it is.

Bad dialogue, bad plot, bad anything really. I think that it doesn't matter what genre of fiction you write. I have never understood why erotic fiction can't be taken seriously with some people. Erotic fiction doesn't mean it's bad. I hate it, when people think it is. That's irritating to me too. I can't remember where I read it, but I read an article that stressed, "Writing erotica is not slumming it." I think there are authors and readers out there that thing erotica is less than other forms of writing and thus lower their standards. I don't think people realize that an erotic story needs all of the same elements as a non-erotic story, but also includes erotic elements.

I think authors who do erotica well have worked harder to get to that point as a writer.

Exactly what I mean.

what i hate sometimes is when you find an otherwise decent pairing and stuff in erotica and you get to reading it but then you quickly notice something about it yes thats right its probably just a newbie problem and an enthusiasm to get the words down on the page but you think perhaps they might have read a book or two and realize that theres something different between THEIR story and how a book is formated yup you got it for some reason the author has forgotten any punctuation whatsoever and even worse and this is my biggest grump and what i consider to be the most unforgivable mistake that author decides that their work needs no paragraph breaks whatsoever it doesnt matter what talent you have as a writer if my eye cant flow over the page properly then im not even going to read it "oh crap" thought mauiPotiki "maybe they wont even read my post!"

ROTFL. Yeah, worst case scenario, no formatting/punctuation whatsoever.

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