Three Rules When Writing Longform Erotica

If I can claim to specialize in any form of writing at all, it most certainly can not be in writing short pieces/stories (proof: I could have just written ‘I write short stuff’ instead). Stroke stories get the most attention on sites like these, but because of one reason or another, longform erotica is very popular in and of itself. Perhaps you wrote a solid story and your audience demanded a part two (don’t be flattered by this, 90% of stories here have at least one comment asking for a part 2). Perhaps you want to develop characters/plots. Perhaps you’re like me and want to blend erotica and ‘normal stories.’ Perhaps you’re comfortable with familiarity and like to just write about the same characters over and over instead of constantly making new ones and by extension, constantly making new reasons for characters to bang, which must get old quick.

At any rate, welcome to the world of longform erotica. It may sound bizarre, but longform erotica is entirely different from shortform erotica, and the rules of writing completely change. That’s why so many people comment on standalone stories asking for a ‘part two,’ and yet you rarely see a comment on a part two of said standalone saying ‘Wow, this turned out better than the original, I’m so glad I asked for this’. There are times longform is needed. There are times it is not. Do not be confused – no one form is superior to the other and it’s possible that as an erotica writer, longform is not for you. If so, this essay will be of little use to you. That said, while shortform erotica is the greatest way to get attention to start off your hobby/career, longform erotica is the best way to gain dedicated readers who will be eagerly awaiting every move you make, unless that move is, say, writing an essay on erotica writing that no one asked for. Random example.

A great way to find out which kind of writer you are is by asking yourself for what purpose you’re writing. If the purpose is to portray characters primarily, and have the sex be things that happen to these characters, not the main focus of the story, you may very well be a longform writer. If you’re writing only for the primal rush of sex, and love writing the kinkiest, most palpable sex scenes, you may be a shortform sex story writer. There are exceptions, like mypenname3000, who writes longform erotica clearly just for the sex, but as unpopular an opinion as it is, I don’t think he’s a very good writer at all. I often wonder if it’s truly a coincidence that longform erotica writers who clearly write just to showcase sex have stories that all sound the same. That’s a blanket statement, but speaking as someone who writes and critically looks at erotica, I can say this of 90% of longform erotica writers who write only to showcase sex. This is obviously one guy’s opinion, but especially if you’re starting out, you’re 30-chapter-long story that isn’t about character development, just sex, isn’t going to have to many dedicated readers sticking around for chapters ten and up.

Why is this? Hell, this is the case with longform erotica that focuses on character development too. Is longform erotica a game you’re destined to lose from the start? Not quite, but it’s less bent on instant gratification. A ‘part one’ or ‘chapter one’ of a story will get, in theory, as many readers as a standalone story. Now, let’s say we have two writers, Writer A and Writer B. Writer A felt comfortable leaving his story there and moved on to make a standalone story. Writer B writes her stories as a consistent chain of events and wrote a part two to her story. If we pretend quality and initial popularity isn’t a factor, Writer A’s second story will reach just as many people as his first because it’s another story and there are no prerequisites needed.