Editing, Rewriting, and Cringing

Back in late spring/early summer of 2012, I sat down at my laptop with the intention of writing 15 short erotic pieces. That number quickly dropped to three when I realized the effort and time—not to mention the incredible somersaults and switcheroos my imagination would have to perform in order to vary all the sexual acts—would drive me crazy. The results were three workable first drafts that I quickly set aside in favor of a new manuscript that I called Cheering Up Zander. That, too, was set aside as soon as I edited it and saw that it wasn’t going to be my first published piece.

So I returned earlier this month to my original three. With editing magic and a better prepared imagination, I was going to see how these stories would be transformed into worthy afternoon reads.

Wow. What a difference nearly a year makes.

Writers usually put their works away for two weeks or even a few months. The longer a writer stays away from a piece, the fresher their editing eyes. My eyes are fresher than laundry washed in spring rain, and, nyargh, what a trio of trash I made.

What’s wrong? Well, the characters are… bland. They exist for the sole purpose of having sex. If I were writing quick and dirty erotica, I wouldn’t have a problem with that. But the thing is, I’d like my characters to be people. I like them to have a couple of quirks and noticeable personality traits. Readers will only be spending maybe 5K with these three couples, but that’s still no excuse to cut out some cardboard figures, pull out Slot A and pop out Slot B, and ram them together in the hopes that someone will find them hot. (Could work if someone has a cardboard fetish…)

There also isn’t a lot of heart or connection between the characters (with the exception of the last couple, but I’m not going to spoil anything). In any kind of romance or erotica, that’s the most important element. Even if it’s a one-night stand, the characters have to be drawn to each other. They have to be saying, “You’re the one who’s going to satisfy my animal craving for this moment.” That brief connection has to matter to the story, the characters, and the reader.

I’m hoping to add that connection to each of these stories. In fact, I’m hoping to add a lot of better elements to these stories. Let the bulldozing begin.

Shorties for sale

It’s been quite a while since I last posted anything. I’ve been meaning to watch a romantic comedy (a real one, not one mistitled as such) for another review, but as usual, life stepped in with its pesky obligations. Work especially has been busy. I try to find some time in the day to work on my projects, but I’m either very tired and in need of extra rest or my husband wants to spend time with me.

Now that the holidays are over, maybe I’ll find some more time to myself and my projects. I had yesterday off work, so I was able to look through a folder of stories. I found a couple I couldn’t believe I actually wrote into existence. (Isn’t it like that with every writer, though? Good thing there are some elements I can salvage from these wrecks, so the effort put into them wasn’t a complete waste.) Then I found a few that aren’t so bad and just need some polishing before they’re safe for public consumption.

The few of these are actually a trio of stories I’d written early in 2012 in the hopes of making my own Zane-esque anthology of spicy, saucy, sweat-inducing stories. There was no way I was ever going to write 50 or more like she had for her first collection, so I narrowed it down to a manageable 15. Turns out that writing 15 erotic stories in a row is still hard work, so I narrowed it even further down to three. Three is still a nice, round number. I wouldn’t burn out so fast, and I wouldn’t use up some of my best material so early in my career. (Yes, there is a chance of coming up with the best material so early in one’s career. Ever heard of one-hit wonders?)

Sweet, Spicy, and Steamy will come out sometime this spring. (I can’t give an exact date because writing and editing don’t usually work like that.) Three short stories: one sweet and gentle for a woman guiding a young man through his first sexual encounter… one spicy for an assistant finally fulfilling a dream of sleeping with her boss… and one steamy for a random encounter at a weekend getaway in the forest.

I’m looking forward to finally releasing these stories and I hope my future readers will enjoy them. They’re quick enough for an afternoon read, but the acts described in them will surely stay with readers for a long time.