Writing workshop: Learn to pen good erotica

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Love. Lust. Sex. Passion. Fans of erotica would have had a taste of these moods, and a lot more. If it inspired you to attempt this style of writing, professional blogger, Ramya Pandyan will show you the ropes. She will conduct an erotic writing workshop that will include a set of writing exercises and discussions on what makes for good erotica.

"When looking for material on erotic writing, I didn't find a lot of information apart from erotic books and many other authors agreed that there's a lot of scope for this genre to be developed," explains Pandyan. "People keep quoting the Kamasutra but that's more of a manual. Particularly in India, people are a little uncertain about whether its okay to be interested in this genre; this makes writers uncertain too. Bollywood is the most popular form of entertainment in this country and has a lot of erotic undertones in the lyrics of its songs," she shares.

Tapping into sensation for inspiration, imagining characters as feeling, sensual beings, describing physical impressions in a vibrant manner, will be topics discussed at the two-hour-long workshop along with a few writing exercises .

"50 Shades Of Grey made it permissible for people to be interested in erotica. I didn't find the writing great. A book called S.E.C.R.E.T by L Marie Adeline, is something I enjoyed reading. It uses sex as a literary device to tell a story well," shares Pandyan. Explaining that there is a very thin line between pornography and erotica, she adds, "While the purpose of any porn is to titillate, the purpose of erotica is like any other genre of writing, is to tell a story. For example a crime thriller would use crime or an act of violence as a tool. All popular literature, across genres tends to sensationlise."