Lessons on Creativity and Productivity From the Man Who Wrote 400 Porn Novels

After noticing the poor quality of writing in a book he ordered in the 1960s, Andrew Offutt hurled it across the room and announced to his wife that he could do better. Thus began his switch from insurance salesperson to pornographer.

Chris Offutt, his son, authored a book about growing up with a father who wrote porn and the impact of his father's death. Chris provides a vivid portrayal of his father, the man who improved the quality of American pornography, in his book My Father, the Pornographer.

In his lifetime, he wrote 420 novels, including Bondage Babe, Sex Toy, Gang Swap, & Bruise. His incredible productivity as a writer, & what we may learn from it. This book paints a personal portrayal of a writer while also providing fascinating insights into his creative process.

The Process: Offutt’s writing process was old school involving extended periods of intense focus with no distractions. He'd start by brainstorming a few ideas before diving into the first chapter and drafting an outline for the rest of the book, which he painstakingly followed.

He wrote 20–40 pages in longhand in a single session. He edited it as he went along while transcribing the first draft into his typewriter. His personal best was 94 pages in a single day. This concentration & organization are undoubtedly responsible for his prolific productivity.

Environment: Offutt believed that secrecy was essential. He worked in a 2nd-floor office that no one in the family was allowed to enter. This solitude made him happy. Offutt considered himself the happiest man alive a year before his death. He truly enjoyed the writing process.

Inspiration and Immersion: A passionate researcher, Offutt did research in & out of the books with gusto. Chris found a decade's worth of pornographic material of all kinds while cleaning out his father's study - magazines, older erotic paintings, postcards, & hundreds of books.

The intense involvement and environment resulted in natural inspiration. In Offutt's world, pornography was everything. By being surrounded by it for 10–12 hours a day in his studio, he could come up with ideas quickly. To be great at something, you have to make it an obsession.

Velocity: Offutt worked under extreme. The family relied on his work for financial support. The faster he wrote, the more money they had. Switching from insurance to pornography made speed essential. People usually become far more productive when their time is constrained.

Portfolios: Offutt worked in a methodical manner. Offutt would create portfolios of material to be used in books. These ranged from sentences to entire scenes. By keeping them in organized folders divided by topic and theme, he could quickly assemble a book in a month, minimum.