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.