A day in the life of an erotic scriptwriter for an ethical porn website

“The only difference between writing a script with sex and without is that the climax we’re building to isn’t a murder or a death or a cathartic revelation but an actual climax.”

There have been entire publications, social media accounts, books, TV shows, movies and podcasts created to explore how successful people structure their days. While 5am start times, fresh green juices and daily Pilates regularly feature, the stereotype of perfect routines is often in stark contrast to what’s really happening.

And if you work in a particularly unconventional field, like ethical porn, you might encounter a lot of assumptions about what your day-to-day actually entails. For erotic scriptwriter Ava Sinclair, a day in her life is a lot more conventional than people might think.

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An award-winning romance author and scriptwriter for Sssh.com, a sex-positive, ethical porn website for women, Ava’s books and scripts cater to readers and viewers who want erotic content with believable plotlines. Below, she takes us through a day in her life.

How I start my day

It’s a sexy job but someone’s gotta do it, and it’s little wonder readers would want to know what a day is like for a writer like me who pens steamy scripts for the adult film industry. My morning starts no different from yours. My alarm goes off at seven and I exit the bed carefully so as not to disturb my handsome, muscular husband who enjoys the benefits of having a spouse with a lusty imagination.

I go downstairs and have a cup of coffee while listening to the morning headlines on NPR. I feed the cat. My husband usually comes down a bit later. We chat a bit before he heads to work and kisses me goodbye. He tells me I’m beautiful before he walks out the door, because I am.

With my spouse gone, I head back upstairs and change into fresh lingerie. Yes, you read that right. Jeans and sweatshirts are for regular writers. I write about sex, so I have to feel the part. In my office, I turn on my computer. I like a little eye candy, so my screensaver is a picture of Cillian Murphy – not his Oppenheimer character, but his Peaky Blinders character because today I’m writing about a very bad boy and need inspiration.

Most people listen to music, but I prefer to listen to porn tracks while I work. The sounds of moaning and groaning put me in the mood for writing erotic content, because it’s all about sex, right?

Debunking the misconceptions

Wrong. In fact, everything I’ve written here is wrong except the part about the coffee, NPR, feeding the cat, and the screensaver. (Yes, I am guilty of having a major crush on Cillian Murphy.)

The truth is, I’m an ordinary woman living in an ordinary house with an ordinary spouse and in that way, I am no different from 99 per cent of other writers who pen erotic content. I’ve written erotic romance books for over twenty years under various pen names, the latest being Ava Sinclair. A few years ago, I added scriptwriting to my resume when I began creating content for Sssh.com, which produces ethical porn, and other adult studios.

Many writers have literary backgrounds. I’m a former journalist, but I also know erotic content writers who have transitioned from writing for technical companies or businesses. Several I know have MFAs. Some have no formal training at all. What we do have is a good imagination and a lack of shame when it comes to writing books and scripts that balance good plots with hot sex.

If you passed us on the street, you would never know what we are up to in our home office because we are so unassuming. Most erotic content creators are in their thirties, forties, fifties, or even older. When we get together for conferences or workshops our conversations aren’t particularly sexy unless you find talk of kids, spouses, writing techniques and genre shifts a turn-on.

Some writers do rely on branding to promote the myth of erotic writers as sexy vamps. Years ago, when I was on my way to a writing conference in San Antonio, I had the good fortune of sitting next to a grandmotherly-looking woman in her late fifties who was also on her way to the conference too.  She gave me one of her business cards. On the front was the torso of a svelte woman in a bustier that clearly wasn’t her.

When I pointed this out, she laughed and told me it was all about branding. Her books were set in strip clubs, and she flew around the country doing ‘research’ – a woman living her best life if there ever was one. So, if we seem more exotic and exciting than we are, it’s thanks to a combination of misconceptions and good branding.

I won’t lie and say that this kind of work isn’t fun or interesting. Who wouldn’t want to get paid to write about sex except for people who don’t think writing about sex should happen? But it’s work. It’s a living. And the only difference between writing a script with sex and without is that the climax we’re building to isn’t a murder or a death or a cathartic revelation but an actual climax, which is a good thing.

The other misconception is about who we write for. The face of erotic filmmaking has changed. In the past, there was no need for professional scriptwriting because there was no need for a plot beyond a pool man getting it on with a horny housewife or whatever. Today things are different.

Viewers of ethical porn want sexy movies, not movies about sex, and there is a difference. Plot is important. Dialogue matters. The viewer wants to feel they are watching people in a genuine relationship. They want to feel like the physical encounters occur organically and aren’t contrived. That all comes down to writing. That’s what I do at Sssh.com.

My day actually starts in the office where I settle into my desk, usually in blue jeans and a sweatshirt. I listen to classical music or soft jazz while I work and I write scripts that tell stories – stories that include sex.

You can keep up with Ava here, and explore Sssh.com’s content here.