I have a question for my fellow erotica writers: do you belong to/attend general, non-themed writing groups or events? If so, how much do you talk about what you write, and do you ever feel like you're out of place?
I feel like writing erotica can be a bit lonely at times. It's not a genre that I'm keen to discuss with my family or a lot of non-writer friends. And I've encountered a lot of writers over the years who either looked down on erotica as a genre or who just weren't fond of sexually-explicit stories. The latter is understandable, obviously, and I tend not to get involved in non-genre specific critique groups because while I do write other genres, I write erotica a lot and there's no guarantee that I would have non-erotica projects ready for critique. Even online, I find the AW forums refreshingly welcoming to writers of various genres, but I've belonged to some forums where the people weren't necessarily dismissive of erotica writers, but you were definitely part of a tiny minority if you wrote erotica, and it would have been awkward to discuss it.
But I enjoy attending events like author talks, and social events for writers. My area has a large writer's group that hosts various events, and I've been thinking it may be interesting to join and try to go to some of them. But I guess I'm nervous being put on the spot or not having much to talk about.
I feel like writing erotica can be a bit lonely at times. It's not a genre that I'm keen to discuss with my family or a lot of non-writer friends. And I've encountered a lot of writers over the years who either looked down on erotica as a genre or who just weren't fond of sexually-explicit stories. The latter is understandable, obviously, and I tend not to get involved in non-genre specific critique groups because while I do write other genres, I write erotica a lot and there's no guarantee that I would have non-erotica projects ready for critique. Even online, I find the AW forums refreshingly welcoming to writers of various genres, but I've belonged to some forums where the people weren't necessarily dismissive of erotica writers, but you were definitely part of a tiny minority if you wrote erotica, and it would have been awkward to discuss it.
But I enjoy attending events like author talks, and social events for writers. My area has a large writer's group that hosts various events, and I've been thinking it may be interesting to join and try to go to some of them. But I guess I'm nervous being put on the spot or not having much to talk about.
