The Complete Rules of Erotica

FOOTNOTES

[i] Characters introduced past the first round of introductions will tend to feel cursory to the story, and should generally be treated as such. Possible but still unlikely exceptions: their existence was repeatedly hinted at early on, their belated arrival has pre-established narrative significance, they turn out to fill some profound hole in the protagonist's life that has already been artfully established, etc. You may notice these exceptions are not mutually exclusive, and indeed kind of repeat the same notion three different ways: if some character's going to arrive late to YOUR reader's story, they'd better have a DAMN good excuse. Cursory characters are okay to have around of course, but especially if you're just starting out with erotica, keep them cursory. (Necessary aside for one of the more famous exceptions to this rule: Yes, Han Solo appears a whopping 45 minutes into Star Wars, but arriving better-late-than-never is a key habit of his character; plus, those 45 minutes are used to establish a humongous sci-fi mythos the likes of which theater goers had never encountered before. Also, hunky though Han may be, we are now well outside the realm of erotica.)

[ii] A common gimmick in harem fiction, and one I admit I kind of love when it's done perfectly. How to get your reader to like your OB the most: a) don't over-include them—give them just as much or even slightly less screen-time than the Non-OBs; b) don't just describe their hotness, or describe other characters drooling over them, but actually demonstrate it—hot people act a certain way; c) keep them largely out of the protagonist's reach, and only occasionally bring them in close (at least in the early stages of their relationship); d) give them a personality and stick to it—it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to feel like a real person's; e) imagine if the OB were to read your story about them—if they would be embarrassed by all the ogling, the poeticizing, and the focus on their genitals, then your actual reader probably will be too.

[iii] Cowardly or prudish characters are tricky to write well in erotica. And characters that stay resolutely afraid of their escalating sexual circumstances are not cowards at all, they're potential rape victims. (Please don't write rape fiction.) Bashfulness can still be sexy, of course, but as the author it behooves you to ensure that your shyer character's sexual milestones with the protagonist are always preceded by genuine bursts of confidence. This becomes tricky over the course of a longer story, however, as the more frequently a character behaves out of character the flimsier and less believable they are.

[iv] Avoid hub-and-spoke characterization, where your central protagonist is the only character who others interact with and vice versa. Seeing others mingle is a great way to display sides of them we might not glimpse otherwise. While you're at it, don't be afraid to exclude your protagonist from scenes altogether. Sometimes it's fun for readers to know things they don't.

[v] If your own protagonist has a distinguishing fetish, then that fetish should shape the story. Within the creative constraints of that fetish, however, there should still be room for exploration, and a sense of inclusivity with respect to other fetishes. After all, if every character your protagonist happens to bed also happens to be into watersports, then all at once there goes a major of source of characterization, a crucial element of surprise, and a major portion of your readership. Sex scenes will hardly seem to have begun until after everybody's pissed on each other, gotten that out of the way, and moved onto whatever else, which hopefully isn't just more pissing on each other.