I used to write pornography. I mean, I would write it and then send it to someone who owned some kind of online bookstore dedicated to porn, and that person would sell it on my behalf and then send me money at the end of each month based upon how well my writing sold. It was never a real job because, a) I did not make enough money doing it to pay my mortgage, b) I never received a T4, and, c) I did not use my real name. Rather than a job, it was exactly the distraction that I needed.
I got the idea of writing of writing pornography from B's wife. When she told me she planned to quit her real job at a bank and write full time, it caught my interest. I read some of her work and became convinced that I could do that too - with fewer spelling and grammatical errors. And this turned out to be true. My writing sold well. (In fact, someone is still making money selling my stuff on Amazon, which is irritating but also entirely my own fault since I lost interest and cut ties with the seller.)
The thing is that writing is work, whether it's porn or legitimate, and work always seems to get boring. I lost interest in writing pornography just the way I lose interest in real writing. It became repetitive. And I guess I do not find it as easy to write a sex scene as I ought to, considering how dedicated I have been to the research. Perhaps it is because I was raised by Brits. It isn't that I'm a prude but I have difficulty finding the right language to say what I want to say without being scientific, crass, or poetic, because I find all three offputting where it comes to sex. Writing about sex, that is. When I was given an assignment in a creative writing class to write a sex scene, I wrote about a pair of seahorses. The class seemed to think it was quirky and hilarious, but in fact it was just a dodge.
So it's odd that I should have taken a brief trip in this direction. I learned how to spin it. Spin spin spin. And then I got tired of it and stopped. I wonder why writing about sex becomes boring and having sex does not.
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3 comments:
Because sex actually feels good? For me, reading about sex is boring, so I don't think I'd enjoy writing about it. I only want to read or write about it in vague details. Truthfully, I'm not interested in any sex that doesn't have me in it.
I think that's a fine attitude; limiting one's interest in sex to that in which one is directly involved. It solves all that gay marriage stuff too, doesn't it?
Funnily enough, after I wrote this post I sent a note to the person who is selling my stuff on Amazon and asked what was up with that. And she said it was a clerical error and she is going to send me a cheque. Of course I won't spend it before I see it, but I was pleasantly surprised to receive any response at all, let alone one that included an apology and an offer to send money. Maybe my interest in writing port is renewed after all. :)
Port? I do not like port. I meant porn.
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