Writing: Erotica and Originality

How can a writer be original?

This is what my dictionary says original is: existing from the beginning, inventive, creative, not derivative or imitative, firsthand…

Suddenly I feel inadequate as a writer.  I truly believe there is nothing new under the sun.  All the stories have been told and written.  What is a writer to do?

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I started writing erotica because it got more hits then my literary flash fiction.  I learned how to write literary flash fiction by imitating people like Hemingway.  So, when I started writing erotica I took what learned from Hemingway about writing literary flash fiction and applied the same lessons to my erotica.

There is nothing new about erotica.  All the erotic stories have been told.

This situation brings to mind a true story.  When I was a young man, my brother and I went to check out the adult movie theater in Pittsburgh on the North Side.  We got our tickets and entered the dark theater.  As we walked down the aisle my brother looked at the hot action on the screen and said, “Wait a minute.  I’ve already seen this movie.”

I laughed at his joke.  Neither of us had seen this particular adult film but I got the joke.

So, in trying to make my erotica original, I know I can’t depend on what my characters do.  I have to depend on how I present what they do.  In this way I hope to write something original.

Presentation is everything.  Think about it.

The End

Sex Videos is a flash fiction story.

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