Tag Archives: writing

Finessing Sex Notes: Post Your Exercise on Irregular Voice

March 5, 2013Blog, Inspirationeroticon 2013, finessing sex, In Media Res, workshop, writing, writing eroticaK D Grace

I’ve been asked for the notes from my Eroticon writing workshop, Finessing Sex and the In Media Res exercise I used at the end, so here they are. Sadly, the forty-five minute time allotted to us meant that most of the people in the workshop didn’t get the chance to share their work. The lovely Mia Moor has kindly taken it upon herself to solve that problem by allowing anyone who participated or anyone who wasn’t able to attend the workshop but wants to do the exercise to post their creative efforts on her wonderful website, Irregular Voice Thank you SO much, Mia, for sharing your site! You’re the best.

Below are the notes from the hand-out I used, which I’ll also pass on to Ruby for the Eroticon site. I’ve added just enough to clarify where needed. Enjoy!

*****

FINESSING SEX

Notes

Part 1: Creating Characters

Create at least two characters, and give yourself five minutes to create a very rough character sketch of each. Feel free to use characters from a story you’re working on and use the scene for your story or simply use the exercise for raw material. Do whatever you want with your characters as long as by the end of your scene at least one character has sex

Number one rule: Write! Keep on writing! Don’t stop!

Setting yourself a limited amount of time in which to brainstorm a topic or a character is a fantastic way to get beyond the internal editor to the good stuff! Allow yourself to play with the words and have fun.

Part 2: Cause some chaos. Ask yourself:

1. How can the sex scene you’re about to create have the most impact in your plot?

2. What are the consequences of this sex scene?

3. Who is affected by this sex act?

4. What revelation does this sex scene bring about?

5. How can this sex scene be used most affectively to drive your story?

Remember! Sex should NEVER be gratuitous. Sex always serves a purpose.

6. When the sex is over, how will the landscape of the story be changed?

Part 3: Choosing a POV. Ask yourself:

1. From whose POV is the sex in this scene most interesting. Why?

(If you choose to write your scene from the third person objective POV, why is that the best POV?)

2. Whose POV will best move your story forward? Why?

3. Whose POV will result in the most chaos?

4. Whose POV will give the most emotional charge?

5. Who has the most baggage?

Hint: Baggage is one of the best tools for helping choose POV. Baggage is what every person carries from childhood, from traumas, from past sexual experiences or lack thereof, from anything within the emotional place where your character is when you write her/him having sex.

Note: Not all of these questions may be satisfied by one character’s POV. You’ll have to choose which POV will best serve the story. Sometimes the most important thing about the POV character is the insights he/she offers the reader into another character!

Part 4: The ‘Photo Shoot’

Think of the scene you’re writing in terms of a series of snap shots. You, the writer, are now the photographer, and you get to choose the snapshots you believe will give your reader the most vivid experience of the story you’re telling. Remember, the ultimate voyeur in the story will be your reader, so make the scene worth looking at. Think in terms of:

1. The physical attribute of your characters.

2. Using all of the senses.

3. What does the person who’s POV you’re writing from actually think about her/his experience of sex. The running internal commentary can sometimes be the sexiest part of a sex scene, or the most revealing. Remember, this is why you’ve chosen this person’s POV.

4. The language used in the sex scene is also a powerful tool for eliciting emotion, arousal, a sense of who these people shagging are, what matters to them, and how they experience sex.

5. Location can raise the risk factor, raise the discomfort level, raise the heat level and affect the pacing of the scene.

Step 5: Write it!

1. In Media Res. Minimise the setup and start in the middle of the action. Tell the story from the inside out.

2. Remember! Editors are busy folks. They may give you as few as three paragraphs. If you hold their interest for three, then you get a fourth. If you enthral them for four, then you get a fifth …

Your job is to start at the point that grips and make the reader unable to leave until they find out what has happened to put your characters in such a position.

The Exercise: Using the above tools, write for ten minutes. Write without stopping; write without slowing down. Start in the middle of the action and create some chaos as quickly as possible.

Now write like the wind!

And when you’re finished, don’t forget to head on over to Mia’s site, Irregular Voice, and add your results and check out what everyone else came up with.

Helpful Sites:

Erotica Readers and Writers Association: http://www.erotica-readers.com/

Erotica for All: http://eroticaforall.co.uk/

How to Write Erotic Fiction: http://howtowriteeroticfiction.blogspot.co.uk/

The Erotic Literary Salon: http://theeroticsalon.com/

My Websites: https://kdgrace.co.uk/ , http://gracemarshallromance.co.uk/

Helpful Books:

Writing Erotica:

How To Write Erotic Fiction and Sex Scenes — Ashley Lister

How to Write a Dirty Story –Susie Bright

Writing Erotic Fiction – Pamela Rochford

Love Writing: How to Make Money Writing Romantic or Erotic Fiction – Sue Moorcroft

Writing Craft and Inspiration:

Writing Down the Bones – Natalie Goldberg

Best book ever on giving yourself permission to write badly in order to get to the good stuff.

Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – Renni Brown and Dave King

Best book on self-editing and honing craft I’ve found.

Eroticon 2013: Community, Creativity and Fun

March 4, 2013Blog, Inspiration, Newsblogging, eroticon 2013, friends and fellow writers, write sex right, writingK D Grace

Writers write in solitude. That’s one of the pleasures as well as one of the hazards of the job. We need other people. We need interaction, but because writers tend to be introverts, extroverted events can be both tremendously exhilarating and totally exhausting. I’m writing this post somewhere in between the two. I’ve been basking in the afterglow of Eroticon 2013 all day, looking at all the lovely tweets and posts, reading the blogs and remembering, and reflecting, and analysing. I’ve nabbed photos from Lucy Felthouse and Victoria Blisse, and I’ve now downloaded my own, which gave me another chance to relive the amazing event. It gave me another opportunity to marvel at the organisational skills of Ruby Kiddell, which absolutely border on genius. It gave me another opportunity to be astounded by Harper Eliot’s ability to hold up under stress with finesse and grace and still pull off a stunning evening of aural sex when things didn’t quite go to plan for the readings! Hats off to both of you! You rock!

As always, I didn’t get nearly to all of the courses I’d wanted to. That wasn’t just because there were too many delicious offerings happening at once. It was also because there were times when I was torn between attending the courses and continuing with a conversation in the meeting room with someone I knew full well I wouldn’t see again for another year, if not longer. The courses were fabulous. For every one I attended, there were two more I’d like to have attended. Though I have to admit for me, who quake at the very thought of writing a poem, Ashley Lister’s poetry workshop was the highlight. Remittance Girl’s fascinating talk on eroticism and romanticism was also amazing and has given me food for thought for a long time to come.

Teaching a writing workshop for the first time ever, and on the afternoon of the last day, meant that I spent a good part of my weekend trying not to angst too much about how I’d manage to convey what I live with and love passionately to a roomful of people I knew all had their own passionate love for writing. I needn’t have worried. I was in good company, company that completely understood where I was coming from and were eager to participate. I came away feeling like I’d gained far more than I’d given.

I had the chance to spend a quiet hour talking to, Hazel Cushion, the MD of Xcite Press. I had the chance to finally meet the amazing Suzanne Noble in person. I had a chance to spend time with Janine Ashbless, Kristina Lloyd, and Rachel Kramer Bussel. I chatted with Maxim Jakubowski. I had a chance to finally meet Anonymous Lily. I had my picture taken by the fabulous Mario Cacciottolo for his ‘Someone Once Told Me’ project, while I shared my adventures in Lapovo with him. I know for every person I’ve mentioned I’ve left out six. And every one of them made me feel richer and deeper.

I won’t lie. I came to Eroticon 2013 for the community. That’s what I came for last year and that’s what I’ll come back for next year. And I SO wasn’t disappointed! On Friday night for the ‘pre-game show,’ I had the pleasure of a fabulous ladies night out filled with burlesque at Volupte. I was in the company of Kay Jaybee, Lucy Felthouse, Victoria Blisse, Lily Harlem, Lexie Bay and Tabitha Rayne. At Volupte, we caught up with Delores Deluxe, the fabulous Kittens of the Kitten Club, along with the totally yummy Dave, the Bear. There was dinner and laughing and cocktails and planning and scheming and catching up.

Last year at Eroticon, Lucy Felthouse, Lily Harlem, Victoria Blisse and I spent a late night after Eroticon at the hotel bar dreaming and scheming what became The Seven Deadly Sins anthology, published in December. This year as we all sat in the hotel bar with the welcome addition of Lexie Bay and Tabitha Rayne, Lily surprised us all by producing a scrap of paper from her notebook. It was the same scrap of paper on which we had schemed The Seven Deadly Sins a year ago! I don’t mind saying my heart did a little flutter dance at the thought of the rich well-textured, beautifully vulnerable, outrageously funny moments that had led to those scribbles on that piece of paper.

The depth of the creativity and the sense of community I feel with my old friends in erotica, whom I can never get enough of, and with those that I’ve just met that I feel like I’ve known all of my life still astounds me. There’s a sense of celebration of what the last year has brought about linked to anticipation of what the future holds. It’s all about community for me, about who we all are together and separately, about what we all can offer up to each other and what we all receive in abundance by being a part of something so vibrant and so hope-filled. There’s also a wonderful sense of permission granted, a sense of encouragement offered, a sense of ‘well, go on then. Just go do it. You know you want to, and we all know you can.’

I came away feeling more than myself on the one hand and more deeply myself on the other. I came away anticipating what I’ll create between now and Eroticon 2014 and what we all will create, because looking back at this weekend, how could what comes from it be anything less than stunning?

Eroticon 2013 — Writing, Bolgging, Creating and Aural Sex!

February 25, 2013Blog, Newsburlesque, cabaret, eroticon 2013, readings, sex, sex blogging, workshops, writingK D Grace

If you’ve not got your tickets yet for Eroticon 2013, don’t fret, there’s still time! And with a full two days of workshops, panels and fabulous opportunities to network with some of the most creative minds of the erotica world, you won’t want to miss it! I’m ironing out the final details for my workshop on finessing sex in writing, in which much creative naughtiness shall ensue. And, wow! What fabulous company I’m in!

After a stimulating day of work-shopping and networking and absorbing so much information and atmosphere, what better way to unwind than relaxing with a nice glass of wine and a bit of Aural Sex! I’m very excited to announce that I’ll be reading along with some of my very favourite erotica writers. Take a look at the line-up! If that doesn’t make you drool, add to it the fabulous burlesque and Cabaret performers Miss Glory Pearl and Miss Maybe and how could it not be an evening to remember! Head on over to The Lock Stock Bar at 8 pm on Saturday the 2nd for lots of aural pleasure!

And now that you’ve checked out the line-up of panels, workshops and events and you’ve got the scoop about all the filthy aural fun planned for Saturday night, all that remains is to make sure you’ve got your ticket! Come join the fun at Coin Street Conference Center in London March 2-3!

Just a reminder. If you are attending my workshop on Finessing Sex, please bring your writing tools. There’ll be lots of filthy writing involved.

Burlesque Meets Mythology: Teaming Up with Moorita Encantada

February 17, 2013Blog, Newsart, Burlesque play, collaberation, erotica, Moorita Encantada, mythology, performance, writingK D Grace

KD: When the lovely Moorita Encantada approached me with the idea that we collaborate on a ‘burlesque play’ based on one of my stories, I was totally intrigued and more than a little bit intimidated. I had seen her perform and was bowled over by the innovative, edgy quirkiness of her burlesque performances. She had heard me read several times and had read some of my work, and the idea of collaborating with her and creating something totally different was very exciting.

Moorita: This project was born out of a beautiful clash of two types of artistic sensitivity – that of a writer, and that of a performer. I love KD’s writing for the way she uses erotica and sexuality as key to understand the magic and mystery of a human being. I have a similar approach to burlesque and cabaret: it’s a sophisticated tool that can be used to uncover deep human truths while being very accessible and simply hugely entertaining!

Having met through Erotic Meet and hit it off immediately, we spent quite a bit of time discussing what a “burlesque play” could look like and what it should involve. We asked ourselves what were the foundations of burlesque (e.g. musicality and humour), and how we could best use them in the context of a theatrical play. We also felt that the genre was often banalised by critics and unambitious performers alike. We took it on as an exciting challenge to explore the true potential of burlesque as an art form.

KD: Once I got brave enough to actually put words on the page, I pulled together some ideas in a three act format. Since I’ve never written a play before I’m still scrambling to understand such a different style of writing while imagining a story that will lend itself to burlesque and to the stage. One of the first decisions we made before our official meeting was that most of my existing work was too long or not really what we were had in mind for this project, so we chose a mythological theme and let our imaginations run wild. We had dozens of email conversations over the rough draft that was beginning to take shape, with Moorita shooting ideas back at me and sharing pieces of music she thought might work along with ideas about the costuming the motivation of our characters. At last we felt we were ready to meet. We had our first serious brainstorming session a week ago Friday in London at Home House, a private club with a very welcoming, very creative atmosphere. In a long evening over lattes and, later, cocktails, our

Coctails Flaming Passion 8 Feb2013 1st meeting

plan began to take shape.

Moorita: I loved how, without failure, we were constantly winding each other up creatively and coming up with ideas and solutions that were a step or two ahead of the original concept. If all this happened during the very first meeting, I just can’t wait to see what happens next!

Also, we seem to be just on the same page in terms of artistic boldness, which is great. We are equally out of our comfort zones and just loving the ride! Based on experience, best ideas tend to come from people who are good enough at what they do to allow themselves complete freedom to indulge in wacky experiments. If that’s the winning formula, we’ve already won 🙂

KD: My job is to get the story down and make it exciting for the audience. That’s always a writer’s job. But in a novel, I have only words to get

that story from my imagination to the reader’s. Moorita, however, sees my word pictures as performances, as that combination of dance, music, costumes, drama and comedy that give the audience a multi-dimensional experience. What writer wouldn’t want to see her story brought to life on a stage? And when Moorita and I met for the first time, the ideas she brought for what that performance would look like made the way I pictured our story come to life and move in directions I wouldn’t have thought of without that added dimension of performance.

Moorita: Since KD is an amazing writer, I have no doubts that the script itself will be of top quality. She already enriched the story with amazing ideas taken from her literary practice, experience and education. I just can’t imagine putting this together without her wisdom, vision and passion for the written word.

My challenge will be to make this workable in the context of the stage, with all its limits and opportunities. Obviously, people involved in this project as performers and their individual skills will be crucial, which is why selecting the right cast is one of the most important points on my agenda. Next, we need to put all sorts of things in place – hopefully with help of an experienced theatre director – to pull this very ambitious project off the ground logistically.

KD: Moorita, I have to say at the moment, I’m most looking forward to getting a solid story written and ready to stage. It’s all there in my head, and thanks to our brainstorming session, the vision is so much clearer and more exciting. I can’t wait till our next meeting.

What are you most looking forward to in the process?

Moorita: The launch of the play itself and the way it will open up other, unexplored avenues for cabaret and burlesque. I can visualise the opening night, filled with curiosity and expectation.. I know it will give me a tremendous satisfaction and will be the beginning of possibly the most interesting period of my artistic development

Next challenges are finalising the script, casting the right performers and finding a fabulous venue to host us. The main objective is to produce something that will be innovative and original while being accessible for a wide audience, and very professionally executed. It’s great that just by spreading the word amongst our friends, we are already receiving plenty of support and collaboration offers from artists of different kinds. These partnerships will be important going forward and have to be thought through carefully. We would like for this project to give many talented people an opportunity to showcase their work and benefit from exposure it will give them.

KD: Moorita and I decided that as we work to create our burlesque play we’ll document our creative process on A Hopeful Romantic. Also because it’s a joint effort and something new, we thought it would be fun to keep it an open experience to share with friends and readers. Journeys are always more fun shared. As for our project, we’ll be giving more details as the process unfolds. But for now I’ll just say we’re taking a story from mythology, bringing it forward in time and twisting and turning it until you won’t believe what you’re seeing … or hearing.

Finessing Sex at Eroticon 2013

February 2, 2013Blog, Newscreative process, erotica, eroticon 2013, events, finessing sex, sex blogging, workshops, write sex right, writingK D Grace

This time next month I’ll be enjoying Eroticon 2013. I’ll be partaking of the feast of workshops on blogging, writing, publishing, photography, art, sex education, and more. I’ll be taking advantage of opportunities for networking and meeting new people. I’ll be enjoying and participating in readings by erotica authors. I’ll be getting to know in person people I’ve chatted with online. And just like last year, no doubt, there’ll be lots of dreaming and scheming and just flat-out fun. I’m looking forward to seeing more than a few of you there.

I have to admit my knees get a little shaky and I get butterflies in my stomach when I think about Eroticon 2013 because this year, there’s a delicious list of creative writing workshops offered over the two-day period. There’ll be workshops taught by some of my heroes in the erotica writing world – Kristina Lloyd, Remittance Girl, Vena Ramphal, and Ashley Lister. I’m very much looking forward to the opportunity to learn from the best.

So why the butterflies and nerves? Well, because this year I’ve been asked to teach one of the five creative writing workshops at Eroticon! It’s a first for me. I’ve never actually taught a writing workshop before, and I’m very excited to have been asked. And to be asked to do so in such excellent and exalted company is definitely an honour.

Everyone who knows me and reads my books or my blog (hopefully both) knows that the only time I’m not talking or thinking about writing is when I’m sleeping, and then I’m often dreaming about it. Yup, I’m a bit obsessive, and to say I’m enthusiastic about it would be an understatement. I hope to bring some of that enthusiasm for sexy stories into my workshop.

My workshop is called Finessing Sex and, while it’s aimed at giving newbies a foot-up in writing and selling erotica, I like to think that everyone can benefit from another peek at the basics — I know I always do. So there’ll be a little something for everyone.

Finessing sex will take writers beyond the slang of the old ‘in and out’ and beyond the biology of coitus to the other levels within the story and the characters where sex takes place. I hope it will show how well-written sex shapes the story and the characters. The session will involve some writing, some brainstorming and hopefully a whole lot of fun.

I also hope to talk a little about how to best make sure one’s story gets and holds the attention of an editor and how to deal with the inevitable rejections that litter the route to those first sales.

For me, writing has always been about fun. I can’t remember a time when it hasn’t been one of the best parts of my life. But finessing that writing, finessing the sex and the story that goes with it is where the real fun begins, and I hope to share the fun on Sunday March 3rd at 2:15 pm.

Please join me for Eroticon 2013!