Hi everyone —
One of the things I get asked most often as an erotic romance writer is “how do you write all those sex scenes and still make them fresh?” First, let me say I have only written seven books (three published, three contracted for publication this fall and winter and one in progress). Ask me again after 17 (I hope to be so lucky) or 70 (I hope to live so long) and I will give you a more authoritative answer. But I will try to reply based on my limited experience.
Some basic principles. A sex scene has to have a reason for being and that reason is (almost) never “to have sex.” Like all scenes, a sex scene needs to advance the plot and/or reveal character both to the character himself and the reader. In my recent release, The Scientist and the Supermodel, for example, my hero Jake has an early sexual encounter with the supermodel, Roan Black. Jake has had homosexual experiences in his past, but he discounts them and thinks of himself as straight. This encounter is designed to set up the conflict of Jake with himself and, of course, to bring my heroes together. Later in the book, Jake and Roan have sex with a woman, Alex. This scene shows Jake how jealous he can be and, most important, it establishes Roan as at least moderately bisexual which is important for the transition to the next book, Genetic Attraction (the next book chronologically, but actually the first book in the series.) In my next book, Golden Dancer, some of the sex scenes are fraught with inner turmoil because Mac, my reporter hero, is both attracted to and investigating Daniel, the art collector, for theft. That gives the sex scenes a very different flavor from the sweetness of the scenes between David and Gareth in Volley Balls.
So, when I consider adding a sex scene to a book I ask “why does this scene exist”? What is it designed to accomplish? What will it show? Answering those questions helps determine the action of the scene, it helps shape the dialogue, the internal thoughts and feelings of the POV character. And, if I stay true to the characters’ voices and back-stories, that automatically makes each sex scene different from others that I’ve written. At the end of the scene I ask myself “have we learned what we need to know from this scene”? Has it moved the reader in a certain way? If so, it’s probably a sex scene unique from others in at least significant ways.
Obviously, sex scenes are designed to make the reader feel, well … sexy! So first they have to make me feel that way. If I write a scene mechanically, I go back and start to add the touch, taste, smell, visual interest, and above all, the feelings of the characters. Because I write in deep point of view (or try to) I lock myself into the experience of the point-of-view character and I know when he feels deeply so will I.
I will add that I also write a lot of ménage – of my seven books, six are centered on or involve ménage in some way. Having three characters to play with does make for a certain level of variety not available from two-person sex scenes.
But then again, ask me again after ten more books. Thank you so much for visiting the blog. : )