Erotica and Science Fiction

Some reflections on my plan to write the "Imperial Norway 2053" novel as discussed here:

When getting into writing a novel you invariably hit upon doubts and self confidence. Am I good enough to write a novel? Should I be writing one?

I try to be realistic. I don't think I am good enough writer to make it within normal literature. But I don't have to be. I am reminded of a book called The Undercover Economist, by author Tim Harford. I read that many years ago but the introduction to that book has stayed with me for almost 20 years.

It is a message to all of you with self-doubt. All of you thinking you might not be good enough. Tim Harford in the intro say something about what we call "comparative advantage." Rhetorically he asks "Why am I writing this book when so many others could have written it better?"

Tim makes the point that nobody has unlimited time. Thus people will spend their time on what they are best at in relative terms. J. K. Rowling will write fiction and erotica better than Povel Vieregg. But if Rowling is better at writing fiction than erotica, while Vieregg is better at writing erotica than fiction, then are better off trading with each other. Instead of wasting time writing erotica, Rowling could write more fiction and simply trade with Vieregg to get erotica.

Okay, that is a silly example. Normally the example is about apples and oranges but hopefully you get the point. Nobody has unlimited time. Thus the people who could have written a better economics book than Tim Harford may be busy doing advance economics research that he could never do. That  leaves no time for writing books.

Likewise many people could probably write a much better Imperial Norway 2053 book, but they are busy writing other books. What encourage me to write erotica is that generally speaking most erotica I have read has been terrible. For instance I remember reading The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by Anne Rice many years ago. It was just one sex scene after the other. And it was all very bleak and depraved. I remember thinking it was terrible. No character development. No charm, humor or anything. Just droning on and on with sex and punishment. Every character totally one dimensional.

I figured that if she could have success writing something like that, I should have a shot. I want to write something that isn't merely about sex but also a world that can be interesting onto itself. I have always been a big fan of science fiction. To be fair Imperial Norway 2053 is not typical science fiction. Technology is not that central to the story line.

It isn't something like Altered Carbon, Neuromancer, Blade Runner or the Matrix where the whole plot revolves around something made possible through technology. Instead I would say it is more in line with books like Hunger Games or Fahrenheit 451. Those are kind of science fiction books but they are much more about social structure than technology.

Imperial Norway 2053 is about a society operating under an entirely different social structure from what we are used to as it is a matriarchy of sex addicts. While the premise is somewhat crazy, I love the challenge of trying to make it appear as a real and believable world. One of my great inspirations for that is True Blood. The whole premise of the story is crazy, but they made it in a way that made it all seem very real and realistic.

This is a problem I see with a lot of sex fantasy stories. You might have a bunch of sex slaves doing the most insane things but there is not real explanation for how that came to be, and there are often lots of logical contradiction which makes it hard for your brain to escape into that fictional world.

That is my aim for the novel. Erotica in an interesting world that makes sense with people that feel real and aren't complete one dimensional cliches.