Man, another great question! And the answer is pretty simple: every character should have their own complex inner world. No paper cut-outs.
For example, her first love, Jorr, seems like the perfect man at first (read: a paper cut-out). But later, he does seemingly cruel things. He acts based on his own internal struggles--struggles which Raena knows little about. As she learns more about him, so too does the reader. This builds mystery and depth and curiosity about other characters--to make them not 100% open-book.
As someone who neither reads nor writes erotica... I also think this is a good question. I think Scottie Kaye hits the basic points. Make her real and relatable. Make it clear that she is deciding to have sex the way she wants it. Even if she wants to be super submissive and get dominated, she can still leave the bedroom and be strong and decisive. Feminism isn't about all women having to be go getters and dominant and assertive in all situations. A woman can decide that she wants to get married, quit her job, and raise the kids, and she can still be a feminist. The important thing was that it was her choice to do, because this was the path she wanted to follow. And so with erotic situations, as long as it's clear that she is doing what she wants, then you should be doing fine. Problems can arise in situations where she says no and he does something anyway, and afterward it's played as though she ended up liking it, or where there are large power disparities between the partners (from what I've heard of E. L. James's recent book "The Mister", it appears to fall into this latter problem). But if sexual encounters are consensual, and if the woman is shown to be her own strong character outside of the bedroom, then you should be in a good situation.
This is a really great question. For me, I just make the character feel as real as I can. Strong women have sex. Strong women also have rough encounters, and some enjoy BDSM. Some get into a fantasy. Some hate it. So for Raena, I just put her in situations and had her react to things the way she was wont to do. Sometimes she got offended, or frightened, or really into it. I would never beautify a non-consensual situation.
(I'm actually writing a male character now who is a king and just wants to be spat on, because he needs a release from being in charge all the time.)
How do you write a lead without overshadowing their counterpart
As someone who neither reads nor writes erotica... I also think this is a good question. I think Scottie Kaye hits the basic points. Make her real and relatable. Make it clear that she is deciding to have sex the way she wants it. Even if she wants to be super submissive and get dominated, she can still leave the bedroom and be strong and decisive. Feminism isn't about all women having to be go getters and dominant and assertive in all situations. A woman can decide that she wants to get married, quit her job, and raise the kids, and she can still be a feminist. The important thing was that it was her choice to do, because this was the path she wanted to follow. And so with erotic situations, as long as it's clear that she is doing what she wants, then you should be doing fine. Problems can arise in situations where she says no and he does something anyway, and afterward it's played as though she ended up liking it, or where there are large power disparities between the partners (from what I've heard of E. L. James's recent book "The Mister", it appears to fall into this latter problem). But if sexual encounters are consensual, and if the woman is shown to be her own strong character outside of the bedroom, then you should be in a good situation.
This is a really great question. For me, I just make the character feel as real as I can. Strong women have sex. Strong women also have rough encounters, and some enjoy BDSM. Some get into a fantasy. Some hate it. So for Raena, I just put her in situations and had her react to things the way she was wont to do. Sometimes she got offended, or frightened, or really into it. I would never beautify a non-consensual situation.
(I'm actually writing a male character now who is a king and just wants to be spat on, because he needs a release from being in charge all the time.)