Do people want erotica?

[NateHyphen]

People want erotica. They're just not getting it from me. I belong to an online writing
club. Different genres(Erotica, Crime Fiction, Young Adult, Classics) are represented
by different groups. The moderator of each encourages participation by holding contests or providing prompts so that the members have a metric to measure progress.
Progress is usually measured(for myself, anyway) by the ease with which the tools discussed(voice, pace, POV of narrator, format chosen that provides easiest "read" for
the audience) are applied to the task(1000 words or less, first time with your special someone). I joined the "Sex Sells" Group six months ago. My efforts to date are deemed "pornographic" by the Mod(she's a girl, she just doesn't understand). There's
"steamy" and then there's me(the pariah. I'm glad my mother's dead. I wouldn't want
her to see me "pilloried" publicly. I'm given to cliche, another crime to add to my Scroll.) The women in the Group don't seem to have nearly as much trouble as I do.
It must be socialization. Gentlemen(like me) simply don't talk about sexual conquests
with strangers. It just isn't done. I gather that many of the women in the "SS" group
consider themselves entertaining. Perhaps. Harumph. Here's the deal: Women are more comfortable sharing
their "inner goddesses" with the world. And men tell dirty jokes. Our angle of attack
is, at best, oblique. If anyone bothers to read this, Thank You. To the ones who read it,
How will you conquer Erotica? Or have you conquered it?

[Vimtuous]

Every readers going to want something a little different. Some are going to want more hand holding and timid kissing and others are going to want full blown hardcore sex. I'd say to write what you feel comfortable writing and the readers who are interested in that will read it and those that aren't are just going to move onto something else. I've written all over the spectrum and there's always someone who's interested in the level of eroticism(or lack of)that I've depicted.

[DickDatchery]

I don't mind sensuality in what I read at all. What I object to is works written with the sole purpose to titillate. There has to be substance and thought in what I read, or I'm not interested.

[Vimtuous]

I think there's still a place for titillating erotica. Every once in a while I just want to read something hot and steamy just for it being hot and steamy. And I'd argue that it can still have substance when written in such a way.

The main thing would be what the reader is looking to get out of their reading that would entail how substantial it is right?

[benedictusk]

I think erotica to a certain extent is almost necessary in a good story. It is after all a fundamental part of life, and so if a story deals with life it should deal with love, sex, etc.
Erotica isn't tantamount to porn, which is basically sex for the purpose of sex (*). I can't see myself reading more than 2 pages of a book dedicated to porn (I get the impression it would be too impersonal, but I haven't looked into the genre and I'm sure someone's written great porn), but many books I've read contain lavish erotic or sexual scenes.
Catch-22 for example is full of them. Here, they allow the author to delve into the themes of lust and love using a large pool of diverse characters.
1984 includes erotica as the spark of love and humanity in the darkness of dystopia.
Game of Thrones (series, I haven't read the books) has many many sex scenes, well placed either between moments of tension to show the burning love and passion driving the epic transpiring conflicts, or between moments of calm to build relationships and create tension between characters.
Anime also is almost always strewn with sexual imagery for an infinite variety of reasons - sometimes it feels silly or unnecessary, but even when this is the case, it's frivolousness hints at an important part of the nature of sex and love in a fun entertaining way.

Since erotica is so widespread in all forms of media, from classic to contemporary works (Shakespeare's works even are full of erotica, literal and metaphorical), I can only conclude that people do want it - and this makes perfect sense since we dedicate so much thought and feeling to love and sex.
My favorite examples of erotica are in The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, 1Q84, and I Have the Right to Destroy Myself, all in which sexual scenes and conversations portray completely the exposed unguarded pristine nature of the characters involved, and create a truly special locked or hidden world of love sex and passion.

*sex for the purpose of sex actually can and should be a wonderful thing if the full invisible implications of the word sex are included; however, in typical porn sex loses all meaning except for the literal meaning of sex, debasing the beautiful activity into mere meat smacking together, which can, as was said, be well written/performed, but it will always (maybe not if really well done - perhaps adding in something like a mysterious background story and tension between the participants would make it good) lack the special force that really hooks our full desires

[Aussie-reader]

Cant answer what people in general want - but answering purely for myself - No I do not want erotica.

It annoys me when a book detours into explicit description of character's sexual encounters.

Of course, some books like 50 shades of grey are written as erotica - and that's fine for those who want to read them - but when I am reading a historical novel about, say, King Henry 8th, I do not need the author to imagine detailed sexual encounters with his wives for me.

[SidnayC]

When it is tastefully done then yes - and the same old cliches are not used. For me less is more - a single sentence can have more power and effect then a long-winded cliched paragraph documenting everything that happened.

[Sciadoe]

Erotica has been something that I have dabbled in (both reading and writing) for many years. I've found since I've grown up however that some of my friends are in search of it a lot more than they used to be. In fact I find it a bit alarming that it's progressed the way it has in the mainstream.

[alex_]

Some types of people do. Why was 50 Shades of Gray, so popular?

[H0LD0Nthere]

People want erotica. They're just not getting it from me. I belong to an online writing
club. Different genres(Erotica, Crime Fiction, Young Adult, Classics) are represented
by different groups. The moderator of each encourages participation by holding contests or providing prompts so that the members have a metric to measure progress.
Progress is usually measured(for myself, anyway) by the ease with which the tools discussed(voice, pace, POV of narrator, format chosen that provides easiest "read" for
the audience) are applied to the task(1000 words or less, first time with your special someone). I joined the "Sex Sells" Group six months ago. My efforts to date are deemed "pornographic" by the Mod(she's a girl, she just doesn't understand). There's
"steamy" and then there's me(the pariah. I'm glad my mother's dead. I wouldn't want
her to see me "pilloried" publicly. I'm given to cliche, another crime to add to my Scroll.) The women in the Group don't seem to have nearly as much trouble as I do.
It must be socialization. Gentlemen(like me) simply don't talk about sexual conquests
with strangers. It just isn't done. I gather that many of the women in the "SS" group
consider themselves entertaining. Perhaps. Harumph. Here's the deal: Women are more comfortable sharing
their "inner goddesses" with the world. And men tell dirty jokes. Our angle of attack
is, at best, oblique. If anyone bothers to read this, Thank You. To the ones who read it,
How will you conquer Erotica? Or have you conquered it?

Oh my, NateHyphen, this made me laugh! All I can say is, MEN! So, women take a self-absorbed approach to erotica (inner goddesses and all that), and men take a crude, impersonal approach (deemed porn by the women)? I think you nailed it!

[LimeRicky]

Until I joined OBC, the sexiest thing in my life was the diagram of the female and
male reproductive systems. Prominently displayed on the backs of all the doors at
my doctor's office. Some of the doors are asked to multi-task and have a warning
about the over-prescription of antibiotics in the present medical milieu. Lucky for
me I don't get sick very often.
I'm counting on more exchanges like the one between
NateHyphen and NOT SO FAST, PUNK er, uh, HOLDONthere to rekindle my joi'd'vre. I hope you two haven't rolled up your tents and gone elsewhere.

[H0LD0Nthere]

LimeRicky, your post made me laugh out loud! I love what you've done with my handle. Unfortunately, I am only that tough on line.

[LimeRicky]

You're talking to the UserNamesOozingWithSelfDeprication Maestro. It's my gift to
the world. If I had enough points I would have put Clint Eastwood in the avatar spot
(with that constipated grimace on his face) and done it up royally. I spent about an hour
reading some of your other posts. You're a writer. And way out of my league. We can't even afford uniforms yet. My moniker, limeRicky, reflects the entirety of my contribution
to the world of literature: Limericks. I figured when Bennett Cerf was called to that
beautiful shore, the turf would be mine. Then a deep voice from above issued this warning: NOT SO FAST, PUNK! Happens to the best of us.

[H0LD0Nthere]

Thanks for reading my posts. I dunno, looking at your post above, I think you're a pretty dang good writer. After a few weeks on the forums you will be able to add an avatar and you can grimace away.

[LimeRicky]

Thank you for your encouragement. I'm curious about your response to my original
post. I meant it to be self deprecating, to turn the gun on myself. How much of it
do you think was true? "I'm glad my mother's dead. I wouldn't want her to see me
pilloried publicly." I gave up on erotica about the third week I was with the Group.
I wasn't reproved by anyone in the Group. In fact there were no comments about what I had written at all. And the stuff was funny! A couple of days later, I read ALL the posts
that had been submitted since I joined. A lot of it WAS self-absorbed. One woman was
a virgin and referred to her virginity at the beginning of each piece(when I'm finally
deflowered........I hope it's in the shallow rather than the deep end of my swimming pool. I'm a terrible swimmer) I just wrote everything after deflowered. I should email
to her. It'll be the only bright spot in an otherwise dreary homage to masturbation.
Anyway, this carries with it the usual caveat: If you've read this far......Erotica was never
my forte. I knew that a long time ago and honestly bear no one any ill will about. My post was meant to underscore how ridiculous it would have been for me to think
otherwise.