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New York, 3:11 PM
Wed Dec 2
70 posts in the last 24 hours
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12/01/09
I'm glaring at you, Smeyer.
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Suddenly, "He spilled his seed into her womanhood." actually sounds kind of nice.
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that fleshbot description almost made me gag.
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[news.bbc.co.uk]
If it makes me laugh more than the Nick Cave execerpt I'll be happy with that result!
12/01/09
However, I will say the Anita Blake book where they used soap as a vaginal lubricant will forever be the worst sex writing ever. I almost got a yeast infection just reading that.
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We all know how sex works, so a play-by-play is usually boring. By the time we realize a sex scene is happening between the characters, we've already got it unfolding in our heads, so what we need is those details to tack onto it, to make it unique.
Other pointers- we all know it feels good. There are other ways of conveying pleasure than saying it feels good or using really convoluted metaphors. A line or two of good dialogue can break up the too-tight condensed nature of some sex scenes. Engage the five senses. And lastly, do the well-chosen details. If you haven't reduced your original sex scene's length by half after editing, you have more work to do.
This reminds me- I haven't read a really good erotic book in a long time. I'm taking recommendations!
12/01/09
What I did before getting started was ask every single writer/author I knew or was Facebook friends with if they had any advice.
It was definitely scary to write--not in the least because I was raised Catholic, which leads to a whole bunch of other issues. I've gotten good feedback on it, though, and I got a writing residency based on the scene, so I guess it went well.
But yeah, writing sex is TOUGH. Not sure when I'm gonna tackle it (pun intended) again.
12/01/09
Don't you think that writing REAL erotic erotica is a problem because we all find different things arousing.
12/01/09
That too. But maybe it's even harder to write like Literary sex scenes because readers also expect them to be, um, Literary? Though I don't know if there's any point in distinguishing between Literature and erotica, or between literature and genre fiction, etc. -- but that's another post.
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"The door at her back and Mr. Muscle in front was the absolute definition of being stuck between a rock and a hard place."
"She was a dinky toy compared to his usual cars."
"He has a way with steak that no one can duplicate."
12/01/09
The military romances can also be rather hilarious. I only read Blaze regularly, but they publish several of those a year in that line. Single Special Forces guys seem to be in long supply. And of course, they're all looking for that special woman, who is doing some sort of social services work somewhere, just waiting to be swept off her feet.
12/01/09
Ooh, now that I'm looking, they have writing guidelines, too! I always thought Harlequin was supposed to be tame, sexy-wise, but if you want to write for their "Spice" line of books, look what they ask for:
"All Spice Books should be engrossing stories about women's lives, relationships and whatever turns them on, woven through with several explicit sex scenes that have context within the plot. We expect writers to be graphic—using the kind of frank language typical of the genre—as well as daring, exploring any and all sexual situations, even ones considered "taboo." Please avoid euphemisms and clichés, and keep in mind that Spice Books are not traditional romances, nor do they require a happily-ever-after ending."
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or
So You're Writing a Porno!
1. If you're going to write about sex, you bloody well better be able to actually use sex terms or at least adult metaphors for those terms. What are you, 12?
2. Choose your audience. Men and women will respond to different imagery, and younger people will want different things than older people. Writing for a younger audience you will want to follow step 3, for an older audience you may want to do the exact opposite.
3. She does not have "a flower" between her legs, it is not a "wetness" and he doesn't have a "hardness" and nobody has a "sex." Also, nobody has a "button" anywhere unless they are a robot, so putting his thumb on her button is not a magic recipe for ZOMG HAWT!!!
4. You're going to have to write about orgasms, which means you're going to need to know what one feels like and what actually happens during one. You can call it an "explosion of white hot light" or "waves of pleasure coming faster and faster" or "a climax" or even "cumming." I don't care, just don't make up something that is CLEARLY incorrect.
5. Think about how sex makes YOU feel. What goes through your head when you think of sex. Heat, light, waves crashing, and the idea of floating or rising up on something are excellent metaphors.
6. For the love of all that is sexy, ORAL SEX IS YOUR FRIEND, PEOPLE! I know it can be giggleworthy to talk about going down on a girl, but if you're going to write a realistic sex scene that includes a female orgasm, there should be some cunnilingus. You can dance around it a little bit, but the sexiest stories I've ever read were the ones that had lots of oral sex.
So, to recap, pretty good:
"As their passion increased, so did the intensity of his thrusts into her. She felt her body rise to meet his for passion as one of his hands wandered down her body seeking her clit between their bodies. He massaged her there as he thrust into her over and over, his cock pressing deep and filling her entirely. Suddenly, she felt a hot flash of light radiating from within and she felt momentarily as though she were floating above herself. As he reached his own climax, he shook and collapsed on top of her, their limbs intertwining with one another."
Not great:
"He took his organ in his hand and slid it deep into her depths, pumping in and out as she called his name louder and louder before reaching a pinnacle of pleasure."
Really, hilariously bad:
"He took his hard sex and put it in her soft sex and they had sex."
See, that wasn't so hard. In fact, I wrote all three of those scenes at work in like, 15 minutes with no outward appearance that I found anything I was doing to be particularly amusing. You can write this without giggling, people! It is not hard!
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That last sentence? Sex scene.
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But I know this is a lonely crusade.
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