Issues with writing erotica 5 — dirty money?
There are a number of issues I face due to my choice of genre for the books and short stories that I write, so I’m going to go through a few and see if others have similar thoughts — and any insights!
One of the concerns that my OH has about the dark erotica that I write is that the money that comes in from this is ‘dirty’ in some way. If the stories I tell are morally dubious, which they are in all honesty — or at least would be if played out in real life — then are not the funds that come in from this source of income also morally dubious?
Fine, I say, if I was working for a criminal gang then sure, I’d agree with that, but does writing stories that I’d not want to read out in front of my mother mean that any income I get from them is tainted in some fashion?
The suggestion has been made that I give my profits to a women’s refuge — or similar — that might deal with people that have had issues in real life that the characters in my stories might have been put through.
If I was to give it all away — and, let’s be honest here, there is that much of it anyway as I’m not exactly a bestseller! — then that seems reasonable. That’s a big ‘if’ though.
Writing is not the hardest of work. It is not physically difficult like being a miner. It doesn’t take training of the sort you need to be a brain surgeon. And it is not something unspeakably dangerous after all. However, it does take a lot of thought and effort to get what is in your head onto paper.
To then sort out plotting, characterisation, grammar, and spelling to come up with a decent end product is not simple. Not to speak of images for book covers and then designing them, ISBNs, dealing with the requirements of the various selling platforms, and income tax requirements.
Emails from delighted — or maybe less so — readers come in from time to time. I could ignore them, but that only seems rude and could put people off, affecting future ratings and sales. I also like getting comments from readers on Medium (and will always respond to each individually), but they also take up time and effort!
Anyone that can do all of that even moderately successfully jolly well deserves a reward!
I’ve been trying to think of another field of writing that falls into this same sort of area and see what happens to writers there. I can’t though. Thrillers, fantasies, or romances may all have bits of the story that are questionable in some fashion, but the overall flow is probably either uplifting or interesting rather than titillating for effect — as much erotica is.
And the stuff I write is also pretty dark and so usually not even close to the borders of uplifting. The reader would need a map and a compass to get them close to uplifting!
My question to you on this post then is simple. What do you think? Is writing about dubious activities in any way equivalent to doing them — in which case this income stream is indeed tainted — or are those that think this way fooling themselves? Is money earned writing erotica free of contamination in the same way as, presumably, a horror or romance story would be? Or does having sex and a large element of impropriety in a tale change that for you?
Let me know what you think!
This is part of a series and the others can be found here — but check out my profile for other works as well!
