Writing Spicy runs approximately once a year. Add your email to the list (below) to be the first to be notified when registration opens again!
The deep, complex truths about the desires of queer, trans, nonbinary, BIPOC, polyamorous, fat, neurodiverse, mentally ill, disabled, chronically ill folks are still undertold.
Our art has also been our history. We create to prove we were here, to leave artifacts for the next generation, and to share what it’s like to be in this experience at this time.
Writing erotica is one of my favorite ways that I’ve found to document, share, and celebrate my own queer, nonbinary, trans, butch desires.
Join me, Sinclair Sexsmith, for this five week long writing group where we will dive deep into the craft of writing dirty stories.
We’ll look deeply at the parts of an erotic story: the opening paragraphs, the first consent moment, the climax (orgasmic or not), and finally the ending.
We’ll be reading plenty of examples to emulate and learn from along the way, and we’ll be bravely sharing our work to encourage constructive feedback, support, and encouragement.
Come join me and a supportive community, and dive into writing erotica.
Writing Spicy is a five week guided writing group focusing on constructing erotic stories.
Each week, we will:
- Read short erotic fiction and study the craft
- Draft different parts of a short erotic story
- Share work with each other in Google Classroom
- Give & receive constructive, positive feedback in Google Classroom
- Meet on Zoom for a 2-hour workshop, where we will:
- Do a writing promp (or two) together!
- Discuss a craft technique
- Discuss the readings
- Workshop selected pieces (in the Spicy Seat!)
- Answer your questions
At the end of the class, you will have a revised story from writing prompts ready to polish and submit.
This class is for:
- Beginner to intermediate writers
- Writers who want to hone their craft (and maybe publish more work)
- Unpublished writers! You do not have to have published anything
- Experienced, published writers! Who might want to refresh their craft and get re-inspired to write
- People who never “make time” to write, but who want to
- People who want to write in community! With friends! And become fans of each others’ work!
- All genders, all sexual orientations, all experience levels welcome — no specifics required
Queer characters, sex, and kinky acts are not required, but this will be a queer-centered and kink-positive space. The workshop container is trauma informed and includes content warnings.
Who is behind this?
This series will be led by me, Sinclair, with assistance.
About Sinclair:
SINCLAIR SEXSMITH (they/them) is an award-winning queer trans masc writer focusing on queer culture, trauma, dominance, submission, spiritual kink, and transgender and nonbinary issues. Sinclair’s creative nonfiction and queer erotica writings are widely published online and in more than thirty anthologies, including eight volumes of Best Lesbian Erotica series. They are the editor of Best Lesbian Erotica of the Year Volume 4, Volume 5, Volume 6, Volume 7, Best Lesbian Erotica 2012, Erotix: Literary Journal of Somatics, and Say Please: Lesbian BDSM Erotica. Their short story collection, Sweet & Rough: Queer Kink Erotica, was a 2015 finalist for a Lambda Literary Award. Sinclair writes at sugarbutch.net since 2006, recognized numerous places as one of the top sex blogs. They have been teaching about erotic writing, the power of queer narratives, somatic arts, and many sex and kink techniques since 2002. Sinclair is an international leather titleholder and an avid creative journaler, and lives on unceded Duwamish land. Find them all the places online at sugarbutch.net/find-sinclair.
Questions?
Do I have to write erotica?
Nope. You can be working on any kind of writing — poetry, plays, short stories, a novel, comics, visual art. It could include erotic content, but it doesn’t have to. The craft aspects are focused on writings with explicit sex in them, but what you turn in as your writing assignments is up to you.
Will the webinars be recorded?
Yes! Webinars will be recorded and available to you to download after they happen.
Will you have an ASL interpreter for the webinars?
There can be — please get in touch at sinclair@sugarbutch.net. I will do my best to accommodate different access needs.
Do I have to publish my work?
No. There’s no requirement to publish! But, you might find that you want to share your writing with others. We may spend some time going over tips and procedures for publishing, submitting to anthologies, self-publishing, and web & social media publishing.
What kind of feedback will I get?
We focus on giving feedback in the Amherst Writer’s Method, which enhances what is working in the piece and gives the author feedback to encourage them to play to their strengths. The feedback will focus on what’s working, what we love about it, and what stays with us.
Do I have to share my work with the class?
No, it’s optional to share your work. Participants will be encouraged to share their reactions to each other’s work in a particular framework, using primarily positive feedback, and all participants will be able to ask for the kind of feedback that they would like to receive, which could be things like some critique, positive feedback, or just to witness with no feedback at all.
Will there be content warnings? Is this trauma-informed?
Yes, we will use content warnings in this workshop, to let everyone decide what they are equipped to read and make decisions with agency. More details about how to use content warnings will be in the class guidelines. I have studied trauma, restorative justice, and community safety in various forms, and I will do my best to keep the needs of survivors forefront in the structure of the workshop.
I can’t afford it. Is there a sliding scale?
Yep! Details about that will be up when the next round of the group is announced.
More questions?
Email me, sinclair@sugarbutch.net.
Need a new notebook?
Take a look at the blank notebooks with the spicy pepper on the cover! Perfect bound (lined), or spiral bound (dot grid). Can’t wait to see what you write in these!