I tell this story quite a lot, but it applies to everything I write, whether it’s erotica or science fiction or comic books.
All of my stories revolve around one essential set of questions:
Who has a secret, what is it, and what will they do to protect it?
Everything in the story is about that. What’s the secret? What are the stakes for revealing it? What happens when the secret is out in the open?
The parallel to sex and sexy stories is obvious. Revealing a secret makes us vulnerable. Learning someone else’s secret grants both power and intimacy. Sex can be a powerful way to unveil your secret self, to be whoever you are, without judgement or fear.
In my erotic writing, I strive for that moment, that revealing of the secret self, and make hitting it the transformative moment in the story.
Originally posted to Mortaine’s blog at Paper Bag Press. You can read/comment here or there.