Last summer I went to a great fun day for erotica writers organised by Smut UK. They put on lots of events for writers (and readers) of naughty stories – I’ve been to several and usually give a talk or boss a session of some kind. At the Leeds one in August, I ran a session on using dice to get story ideas, which went down well. At the end of it, a couple of people mentioned that it would be ‘really useful’ to have a whole book of story charts to choose from and, well, that became my main project for the autumn.
Now I can happily inform you that Dicewriting for Erotica and Erotic Romance is available in paperback form via Self-Publishing Shortcuts, a new site offering help, advice and inspiration to writers. For those of you going to Shenanigans on Saturday, I will have a few copies for sale, and maybe one or two left for the BBB on Sunday. Also, if you buy one from me direct, you get a free six-sided die with it.
Want to know more? Here’s the introduction to tempt you…
Dicewriting is, first and foremost, a fun way of getting your imagination moving. Beginner or experienced veteran, every author has times of not knowing what to do next, or wanting to write a story for a particular submissions call, but not knowing where to start. Giving yourself a set of random options (the story features an older man with an intimate piercing, it’s set up a mountain, and a major plot point involves a cucumber) can send your writing brain off on a variety of journeys, some of which will suit you better than others. If you’ve been stuck for a long time, it might be the case that a completely absurd juxtaposition of character, prop and ambient climate will get you back in your creative zone: what could you do with a masked stranger, a balmy spring evening and a lost buttplug?
There will quite probably be a few Dicewriting sessions organised in the near future, as well – more information on those will be on here or on the DSW Twitter or Facebook when relevant.