Erotic Writing Muyang
“In touch with the erotic, I become less willing to accept powerlessness, or those other supplied states of being which are not native to me, such as resignation, despair, self-effacement, depression, self-denial.”
– Audre Lorde, Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power
“...properly a noun, eros acts everywhere like a verb. Its action is to reach, and the reach of desire involves every lover in an activity of the imagination.”– Anne Carson, Eros the Bittersweet
“Imagination is the core of desire.”– Anne Carson, Eros the Bittersweet
WARM UP EXERCISE
make a list of words that are sexy to you
EXERCISE 1: FANTASY
write down a recent fantasy or experience that you found incredibly erotic
write down three things you find hot about that fantasy or experience
in what ways did this fantasy or experience satisfy you? in what ways did it leave you wanting?
EXERCISE 2: PHYSICS DON’T MATTER BUT WORDS DO
• Social realism is a genre that tries to deconstruct moralism
• Believability in this genre usually relies on relatable characters
• Social realist stories don’t have to teach but usually try to be relevant in some way
• The fable is a genre that tries to educate or teach
• Believability in this genre usually relies on moral continuity
• A fable can be elemental or mythic but the characters usually stand for something
• Erotic stories don’t have to be realistic or moralistic
• Erotic writing is a genre on its own
• Your characters don’t have to be relatable or stand for anything
• Believability in this genre usually has to do with whether someone is willing to be turned on by your story
WHAT IS THE TEXTURE OF A WORD?
some words that are used to refer to bodies. Choose a word from the list that sparks your physical or emotional interest. Share, by unmuting or in the chat, how you experience the texture of that word when you encounter it on a page.
leaking, ass, knot, muscle, nub, shaft, thrust, cock, cunt, pussy, coo, moan, drool, broad, lips, clit, clitoris, clitty, mound, slit, stick, nudge, jerk, fist, spank, open, gaping, twitch, rigid, hard, soft, long, muffle, strict, urethra, perineum, vagina, penis, cunnie, tdick, bussy, please, pleasure, good, bad, scream, yell, whisper, wet, spill, release, suck, suckle, buzz, vibrate, anal, anus, finger, loose, tight, stroke, rub, nudge, pull, push, feet, foot, palm, sole, gasp, hug, kiss, tongue, split, cling, edge, cum, come, orgasm, hot, cool, sticky, slime, mechanical, flinch, swell, blood, rush, head, belly, stomach, heat, hump, rut, cycle, phallus, oral, dick, big, penetrate, skin, inside
EXERCISE 3: CHARACTERS GIVE OUR DESIRE FREEDOM
Erotic writing allows us control over how we experience our own desire and how we process experiences. As a writer, we determine all the coordinates. As a writer, we have complete agency.
What is wonderfully freeing about writing through characters is that characters can do things we never would and be who we have not yet become. Characters can have bodies that we long for but don’t yet have the means to access (e.g. flat-chested, different genitals, possessing the ability to shapeshift between genders).
Characters can experience sex in a way that we might not be comfortable doing so IRL. We might write from the POV of a character who loves bottoming greedily, when we ourselves have trouble receiving. We might be asexual, and prefer to experience desire through writing and reading erotica rather than direct sexual stimulation with another person. Writing can be a tool for exploration, a way of imagining infinite possibilities for pleasure and embodiment.
Erotic writing allows us to shapeshift.
EXERCISE 4: CHARACTERS WHO PLAY IMPERFECTLY
SHAME
• Characters who don’t believe in another character’s playfulness might expect shame
• They fear that their own playfulness is too messy or inappropriate
• They fear that other people will judge them
ENVY
• Characters who don’t believe in their own playfulness can envy another character’s apparent playfulness
• They fear that someone else’s pleasure will compete with their own
• They fear that they won’t be enough
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PHRASES AND IMAGINE A SCENARIO AROUND IT:
“You don’t want to play with me”
“Your greedy ____”
CHOOSE ONE OF THE FOLLOWING PHRASES AND IMAGINE A SCENARIO AROUND IT:
“Look at me”
“Look at you”