The Reason I Avoid Writing Sex Scenes

[dr_pretentious]

What amazes me about having written 3053 words today is that I had several 3K days last November. How on earth did I do it?

Only 7684 words to go. How that will fit into two more days, I have no idea.

42,316 / 50,000 (84.6%)

For the first time, I have written a sex scene that is more than one sentence long. I'm too tired to reopen the file and count, but I would guess that the sex scene in question takes up maybe five or six sentences.

As a matter of general principle, I think one sentence is about the right length for a sex scene, since no writer can titillate the reader's mind as perfectly as the reader can titillate it for herself. If readers didn't prefer to imagine sex scenes for themselves, entirely unfettered by whatever the author has put on the page, there wouldn't be so very much fanfic out there.

Comments

[calene.livejournal.com]

Maybe it's not that you lack the erotic receptor. Maybe the specific factor that turns you on, personally, is missing from most sex scenes because it's different from what your average person finds erotic?

I don't know. I know I don't get a whole lot out of most sex scenes in novels either, but some movies can be different. The closest thing I can see as a reason for me is that most sex scenes in novels just lack the certain level of intense intimacy that gets me going. It's not so much about the choreography or visuals for me; it's about that certain connection some people get when they're together. Perhaps, it's the whole "chemistry" thing. Or maybe I'm totally full of crap (and pain killers right now lol.)

[dr-pretentious.livejournal.com]

I think the lack of intimacy was one of the things that made the sex scenes in Jacqueline Carey's books uninteresting. The characters were getting it on because the protagonist was, um, pumping her clients for information. On the one hand, that made the sex scenes plot-crucial, but on the other hand, it made the relationship between the characters who were getting it on an instrumental relationship rather than an intimate one.

Hope the painkillers are working.

[calene.livejournal.com]

Aye, I had a similar response to her books for the same reason. It also felt like she was pulling her punches in a lot of places that could have been the most powerful, but that's another topic entirely, I think.

Thanks. The painkillers did work well that day.