Tips for writing a good sex scene: This
is assuming this is the first time for the characters. Details,
location, dynamic etc can evolve as the novel progresses. Put
yourself in there if you like, if it doesn't inhibt you. Otherwise
superimpose famous heart-throbs, or a secret crush, on to the
characters. Even imagine it flowing visually in front of you on a
screen. The best comment I had from a favourable reviewer was when
she put up a photograph of a sensationally beautiful redhead who she
imagined my character Serena to look like.
Make us care for your characters. They
may come from different worlds, or there may be a difference in age
or in the balance of power between them, but they are drawn to each
other like a couple of magnets and once we know how this dynamic
works, we will know how and why they fancy each other, and your
readers will fancy them, too. And remember these characters have one
aim, now that they've gotten to know each other. To have sex. And our
aim is to see them at it. Voyeuristic (see also my character Serena
Folkes) but true! So next, place them in a sexy environment for this
first time. Depending on their age, situation, energy, athleticism
and/or pure machismo, the back of a clapped out Ford Cortina or the
bins behind the Plaza cinema might be just the place for a quick,
rough first time, and that will certainly do it for some readers. Any
good erotic writer is more than capable, like the old Martini
adverts, of creating a sex scene any time, any place, anywhere! But
others usually pick up an erotic novel to get away from the dirty old
mean streets of real life. We're after escapism! So hie your
characters off to a place you'd like to be. A moonlit beach, or a
sumptuous penthouse hotel room, or a soft rug in front of a roaring
fire. Make sure there is low lighting and great music or some other
subtle sound track. Garish lighting and deadly silence are not always
the sexist ambience, at least for the first time. You can really have
fun with your characters as the novel progresses, having them so hot
for each other that after the first seduction they'll do it anywhere.
A lift, a restaurant. A riding stable. An art gallery. And to keep us
on our toes, you can also later on play with the dynamic, too. Have
the meek heroine take the lead, for once. See how the hero responds
to that.
Build up sensuously to the physical act
with suggestive conversation which will either be blatant and in your
face, or playful, teasing, even holding back. Remember that
characters don't stand woodenly about like actors in a bad am-dram
before they get down to it. Have them eating, drinking, dancing,
singing, involve us in that experience, then show us their clothes,
how well they fit, are they too formal or tight, how good does it
feel as they come off? Unbuttoning cut-off jeans can be just as sexy
as unzipping a ball gown. Make it tense, passionate, breathless, but
take it slow. In real life the first time you have sex with someone
new is often urgently desired but ends up fast and disastrous, but
this is fantasy! So although there can be some hesitation, shyness
and teasing, ultimately everyone, reader included, needs to be on
tenterhooks to get their hands on each other. To get down to it.
Restless, like scratching an itch. Salivating, like the desperation
to drink cold water in the desert.
Structure your scene like the sex act.
That is, foreplay, action, climax, wind down. Too obvious? You might
think so, until you start writing the scene. Think of the foreplay as
the aforementioned setting. The removal of clothes, the first
sensation of skin on skin starts the action rolling in the obvious
direction. If it helps, think of a movie scene. I know actors always
say how pedestrian and workmanlike it is simulating sex in front of a
crew of burly cameramen, a bank of arc lights and a demanding
director, but imagine yourself as an extremely involved, generous,
hands-on director with your characters, but make sure the bed is
soft, the studio is warm, and soon they'll take off on their own
towards the strong, satisfying, long-awaited penetration! As for the
climax, well, no beating about the bush, is there? This is when the
glorious pinnacle of where we all want to be is reached, and tread
carefully here with the language (see below). Challenge yourself to
find different ways of describing that rush of ecstasy. Avoid
waterfalls, avalanches, orchestras! What actions or words stimulate
the eventual moment? Slightly unrealistically erotic couples tend to
come together every time but if you want to be more realistic, let
one come before the other and show who is the generous one, who the
thoughtful, who the selfish one? Or are they both equally
considerate, and if not, will they become so as the novel progresses.
Finallyk, the wind down is often the hardest. After the shivering and
shuddering, do they fall asleep, or analyse, or do it all over again?
I often have a knock at the door, or a phone call after the act, so
that in the early days the couple are never at leisure totally to
relax or take each other for granted until the next drama occurs.
Make it dramatic, but human. Not
impossibly athletic, but not mundane either. The characters will
already be attractive and/or beautiful, or arresting in some way to
turn us on. The men have got to be strong and well hung and very
experienced. The women curvacious, soft and wonderfully proportioned,
and if not experienced, then primed and ready to learn. If this is a
romantic setting, lots of kissing and stroking, exploration. If this
is more down the BDSM route, then the participants will get their
kicks from spanking, binding, and pain. But there is always room for
sensuousness and tenderness.
Language. Keep it simple, punchy,
evocative, but not obscene or anatomical. Don't, like John Updike,
veer away from simple words and use hidous ones like 'yam' to
describe a penis. Don't use euphemism or flowery words, either.
'Cock' 'cunt' and 'fuck' are acceptable with some publishers, but not
others, and certainly not in the new mainstream type of erotica. I
have written a trilogy where those words are only uttered in the
words of a character who should know better – not the narrator, or
the main characters themselves. Believe me, you have to use your
powers of evocation very carefully to avoid sounding awkward or coy.
So 'manhood' and 'sex' can be used, but sparingly. Read works of your
chosen genre, or find a publisher's house style, to find what is
acceptable. Next try to get into a rhythm similar to the rhythm of
sex. Slow, slow, quick slow. Yes, that's it. Like a dance. Why else
to you think dancing was considered so daring in the old days? It was
the nearest people could get to each other in public. And have you
ever seen sex better choregraphed than in the Argentine tango?
