Authors get creative in many different genres when it comes to playing with voices. Some people prefer to write in the first person - writing from the Perspective of the main character. This allows you to dive deeper into the character's thoughts and perceptions about other people within the novel. Others prefer to write in the third person, which creates a sense of distance between the person telling the story and the characters. While you can still dial into the characters' thoughts, the story is being told as if you were a fly on the wall.
In Erotica writing, many people choose to write in the third person.
Perhaps it is odd for someone to describe an intimate scene in the first person, as the story is really only told from one perspective, most commonly the female perspective. Even though it is often a third person narrative, you can definitely experiment with first. Many of the more successful erotica novels have been written in the third person and often from a female perspective. This seems to be the go-to perspective for many authors, as the majority of the readers in this genre are female. But as with many rules, there are exceptions.
Man on man
Even though the majority of erotica works are written from a female perspective to a female reader, there are men who prefer to read erotica about other men.
You can definitely specialize in becoming a writer with a focus on men. This particular genre is called M/M - also simply known as man-on-man. Even though this may be a small market it is definitely one worth looking into if you prefer to write for men.
But that doesn't mean that you can experiment with a heterosexual erotica story with the man taking the full lead in your novel.
The author of "50 Shades of Grey" wrote the stories as if being told from Ana's perspective. But many readers called for her to write a novel written from Christian Grey's perspective because they were curious to know what went through his mind. As it turns out, some people are curious to know the mind of a male in an erotica novel.
It is something worth exploring if you're up to the challenge.
Shifting point of use
Some authors have also found success in being able to shift point of views throughout the story. That means you share one chapter from a male perspective and another chapter from the female perspective – if you are writing a story about a male and a female. It has worked very well in some instances, but if you're planning on bringing your erotica novel to a publication company, some editors will frown upon this kind of set up.
In the industry, it is known as "head hopping" because of the constant shift between characters. It might be a good idea to just stick to one character until you feel comfortable writing a novel where you can switch back and forth.
If you want some advice from an editor, consider hiring someone who works closely with publishing companies to hear what they would prefer to see.
Have you ever tried writing an erotica novel in the first person?
