A Modest Introduction to a Great Book

By Ashley Lister (Guest Blogger)

At the start of this month I attended Eroticon 2013 in London. I was leading a workshop on writing poetry. At the start of the session I looked up and noted some of the names of the writers attending my session.

They included Kristina Lloyd, KD Grace, Kay Jaybee, Jacqueline Applebee, Remittance Girl, Tabitha Rayne, Lexie Bay, Maxim Jakubowski, and many many others.

If I'd stopped to think about it for a moment I might have choked. I might have asked myself: what could I possibly teach any of these esteemed writers?

I didn't choke. I didn't stop myself. Instead I got on with the session addressing some of the more common short forms of poetry. My belief is that tackling poetry gets us thinking about words in a different way than when we attack prose. Considering the startling, exciting and innovative examples of writing that were produced during the session, I think my assertion was correct.

Writers were producing material that made others gasp in amazement. Writers were producing rhymes that had us laughing, smiling and applauding. It was a marvellous experience and I was thrilled to be a part of it.

Had I taught these writers anything they didn't already know? I sincerely doubt that. I'm fairly confident that most of these authors already knew the poetic forms we studied on that afternoon. We were looking at clerihews, haiku and limericks. But I like to think that the session was a reminder of how important some poetic techniques can be to our personal writing processes.

How to Write Erotic Fiction and Sex Scenes is similarly intended to be a reminder of important techniques. Personally I believe that most people who want to write erotica have a good idea of what they're doing. How to Write Erotic Fiction and Sex Scenes is laid out as a reminder for the important elements (plot, character, dialogue, description, point of view etc). It's filled with examples from contemporary and classic stories to illustrate how certain techniques have been successfully employed in the past and how they can be best used within a modern writer's work. I've also included some exercises to get the creative juices flowing, as well as examples from some of my favourite writers in the genre.

If I was going to try and give a hard sell on this title I'd insist that you have to have this book if you want to reach the highest standard in writing erotica.

But the truth is I can't deliver a hard sell. If you're interested in writing erotic fiction, I genuinely believe this book might be of interest and value. The content has been written by an author with two decades of successful publication history in the genre, and a teacher whose students have gone on to publish through a variety of respected outlets.

And, if this book does help you become the next Marquis de Sade or the next Pauline Reage, then I trust you'll be kind enough to share your success story.

About the Author

Ashley Lister is the author of more than two dozen published erotic fiction novels and countless short stories. How to Write Erotic Fiction and Sex Scenes is available from Amazon US and Amazon UK.

Find out more about Ashley Lister by following his blog http://howtowriteeroticfiction.blogspot.co.uk/ or visiting his webpage: http://www.ashleylister.co.uk