Dick Lit?

“So, what exactly IS erotic fiction?” my dear friend, let’s call him Charles, asked me a few days ago. I had been telling him that I was busy putting together an erotic fiction course for allaboutlove, and he was struggling to get his head around what I meant. He seemed pretty sure that it must involve “getting my kit off”.

“It’s writing about sex.”

“Like a sort of manual? Step-by-step instructions and all that?” he asked hopefully.

“No – descriptive writing. A novel or a short story, you know, only one in which there’s sex. Normally quite a lot of it.”

He frowned deeply. I counted to ten. Then his expression cleared.

“Oh, you mean with pictures?”

“No, no pictures. Just stories. Just descriptions, words, you know…writing about sex…” I finished lamely.

“But…why?”

I tried to explain to him that while men were largely visual creatures, especially when it cames to sex, women were largely cerebral and imaginative, and could be turned on by descriptions. Of course, women then visualised these things for themselves. But that’s exactly the point – we want to visualise for ourselves, because that way the hero/heroine looks exactly the way we find most attractive.

Which is not to say that there aren’t men who read erotic fiction. There are even straight men who read erotic fiction. Just as there are straight women who buy playboy. It’s just that the majority of erotic fiction readers are female.

But maybe the times they are a-changing. Because the next day, I emailed Charles an erotic story. In the email I wrote: “Put it this way. This is what women fantasise about. Wouldn’t you like to know about it?”

Charles is now an avid erotic fiction reader.

A professional voyeur and international woman of mystery, Karlita is a crusader for passion, and promotes (safe) sex wherever she goes. She seeks to inspire joy and happiness, and a sense of curiosity. She will do anything for the perfect Mojito, and frequently has.

Click here to learn more about Karlita’s Writing Erotic Fiction Course or you can read one of Karlita’s short stories here.