SEX

[Prawn]

I thought that might get your attention, you perv!

I have noticed that in my novels, sex between singles can be graphic, but sex between married couples happens off scene. I didn't do it on purpose, but there it is. If you include sex in your novels, does it tend to be less graphic among marrieds?

[Azraelsbane]

I only have three in depth sex scenes across four books, so maybe I'm not the best person to answer this, but since when has that stopped me from posting? ;)

Of those three, two happen between a married couple and the third is between two people in a long standing relationship, though not married.

Most of my singles sex is off camera. I never really thought about that before now. Good question! :D

[ClaudiaGray]

I think it's easy to fall into the trap of considering married people sexually settled -- read, "boring" -- both for reader and for writer. Novelty's charms are many but obvious. OTOH, I think there could easily be a lot of room to write about married sex (or sex in a long-term relationship) and reflect the deeper psychological dynamics going on.

That said, I don't think you have a problem concentrating on the "new" couples. It is what most readers would anticipate, and ultimately, you've got to write what you feel.

[Celia Cyanide]

I think we tend to think of characters the way we think of our friends. We tend to assume that our married friends have sex. If a married friend told me that she had sex with her husband, I'd wonder why she was telling me. If a single friend told me she had sex, I'd understand why, because she would be explaining a new development in her relationship.

[Devil Ledbetter]

The most graphic sex scene in my novel happens after my characters marry. However, what happens in that scene drives them apart. So it's plot-worthy sex.

Maybe most married sex happens off stage because it's not plot-worthy.

[Julie Worth]

Sex between married people? That's disgusting.

[Azraelsbane]

I've done exactly the same thing. Sex between married people? That's disgusting.

Hmm, I guess I'm weird. Oh well, I'm totally not cutting the sex scene where one of them sets the other on fire. :LilLove:

[maestrowork]

The basic question is: What is the purpose of the sex scene? Does it move the plot along, develop characters, or enhance the themes? Where is the conflict?

To me, it doesn't matter if the characters are married to each other or not. It's all about drama and conflict. Or else the sex scene is gratuitous (unless you're writing erotica).

[CaroGirl]

Hm, thinking, thinking. I don't think I've ever written a scene with sex between married people. Perhaps that's your answer right there.

[Elodie-Caroline]

Gawd no. Once my heroine is happily married, in between plots, she lets her hair down and goes at it like never before! Eat your hearts out Rabbits. She's happy and has complete trust in her man, something she's never had before, so she doesn't try and hide her pleasure :D


Elodie


If you include sex in your novels, does it tend to be less graphic among marrieds?

[Elodie-Caroline]

Agreed. I write the sex scenes, nothing graphic, to show the emotions that go with the lovemaking; how they talk and think before and after the act.


The basic question is: What is the purpose of the sex scene? Does it move the plot along, develop characters, or enhance the themes? Where is the conflict?

To me, it doesn't matter if the characters are married to each other or not. It's all about drama and conflict. Or else the sex scene is gratuitous (unless you're writing erotica).

[PeeDee]

There is no sex. The overbearing man beats the woman, who finds her inner strength and goes on a deep journey of self-discovery and getting in touch with her feelings until she starts her life over.

...oh. Wait, I'm getting "me" confused with "Lifetime Network."

Yanno, I've never had to write an explicit sex scene. If I needed to, I would, but it's never come up in the course of my stories.

[sunna]

Interesting question. As all of my characters are thus far unmarried, I haven't run into this one yet. But the sex scenes I enjoy reading the most and the ones I write (I hope) all further character development and plot: and I guess most people assume that married couples have already settled whatever needs settling in that department. Not always the case, of course. There's always room for improvement, or hey, just invention. :D

I guess I'd decide based on whether the scene was, as Devil put it, plot-worthy.

I don't think I'd do a fade-out on a married-sex scene if there was a reason for a play-by-play description; nor would I give details on any sex scene - single, married, or group fun - if it was purely gratuitous.

[Sassee]

Less is more, imo. Make hints... no juicy details. Leave that to the reader's imagination.

Although you're right, I never noticed married sex being off stage. I think it's like what Celia said up there - it's more important to single people when they have sex because they aren't in that serious relationship. "Getting physical" is a step towards that (usually), so it's more important character development (usually).

Also, if there does happen to be an "on stage" sex scene with a married couple, it automatically clues the reader in that something is going to change for them. Good, bad, whatever. Something significant will happen. Sex "off scene" usually means everything is hunky dory unless otherwise implied.

[Prawn]

I have sex in my novels (HA!) between married people, but it happens off-stage, like an affectionate kiss in the morning as a reminder of what happened the night before.

It's plot-worthy sex.


That's what most men want from their wives, something plot-worthy!

[PeeDee]

"Honey, I'd really like to have a passionate night of sex with you and your newfound twin sister, however I feel that it would be an extraneous scene which does not add to our character and would be redundant, so I think we should skip directly to the next morning over breakfast."

[Prawn]

My wife does have a twin sister, and I have always thought she looked pretty plot worthy.

[Voyager]

I thought that might get your attention, you perv!

I have noticed that in my novels, sex between singles can be graphic, but sex between married couples happens off scene. I didn't do it on purpose, but there it is. If you include sex in your novels, does it tend to be less graphic among marrieds?

Dude! What is THAT all about? I do the same thing. I think Ray is on to something, though. By the time my characters are married, most of the tension and conflict is resolved and at that point, it just becomes gratuitous. While in real life, gratuitous sex is my favorite sport, it doesn't do much for a story.

[scarletpeaches]

No-one in my WIP is married, but I do have inter-species sex. ;)

Oh, and it's lesbian inter-species sex. Does that get me more WOO-HOO points?

[PeeDee]

No-one in my WIP is married, but I do have inter-species sex. ;)

Oh, and it's lesbian inter-species sex. Does that get me more WOO-HOO points?

Ah...no. Because the species are probably "Heifer & Welsh"

[scarletpeaches]

Shapeshifter and human, actually.

Care to rethink, PeeDee?

[avid-dreamer]

The characters in my first novel and the ones in my WIP are not married and I do have a graphic imagination so there are some really steamy scenes. I do try to keep it poetic and beautiful and not sleezy. There is a fine line between the two.
I don't think we should skimp on the married sex. We should make it just as sexy and ...uh..mouth-watering. :D

[PeeDee]

Shapeshifter and human, actually.

Care to rethink, PeeDee?

no, no, welsh and heifer is burned into my mind. I'm going to go have a lie down.

[JoNightshade]

Okay, I do the exact opposite. If unmarried characters have sex, it's off camera. My married couples get to do it on screen. My mom once told me (when I was a young'n, thus scarring me for life) that everything in your married life is reflected in the bedroom. For that reason I think sex between marrieds often does have a lot to do with the story.

I think the only reason my unmarried characters do it off-screen, however, is because most of my main characters are married. Or get married in the course of the novel. And the kind of people I write about are usually not people who would be brave enough to have sex before marriage.

[Prawn]

no, no, welsh and heifer is burned into my mind. I'm going to go have a lie down.

PeeDee is lying down. Any takers? It had better be plot-worthy!

[Prawn]

And the kind of people I write about are usually not people who would be brave enough to have sex before marriage.

Then what is it about them that makes them interesting enough for a novel?

[scarletpeaches]

You think people have to be sexually active to be interesting?

[David I]

If you include sex in your novels, does it tend to be less graphic among marrieds?

No. But the important point is that a sex scene is only in my book if needed in the first place, and therefore serves to advance the plot and characterize. The first sex between characters usually has all of those things going.

Between people who have sex all the time, the scene only belongs there if something unusual is happening, and that tends to make it just as graphic as between those who aren't married.

[PeeDee]

You think people have to be sexually active to be interesting?

That's what The Internets seem to be telling me...

[scarletpeaches]

It doesn't mean you get to do the smexytime with yourself, my dear. That doesn't count.

[MMWyrm]

I don't have any married people. I just realized that. No one in any of my novels is actually married. Even the ones who were married are now divorced or widow(er)ed.

[PeeDee]

It doesn't mean you get to do the smexytime with yourself, my dear. That doesn't count.

WELL YOU'RE NEVER AROUND ANYMORE! *bursts into tears*

[Prawn]

You think people have to be sexually active to be interesting?

No, but I am not sure I would personally be that interested in reading a whole novel about a couple who is too scared to have sex before marriage. It's not that they are not having sex, it is that I would rather read about courageous people.

[scarletpeaches]

So...do you think if someone is celibate it means they are scared of sex?

[PeeDee]

All my characters do all sorts of things completely unrelated to sex. That's why I haven't written a sex scene. Because they're doing other stuff. Sometimes, the question doesn't even enter into a novel.

[Sunkissed27f]

I'll have some please.

Oh sorry....ha ha ha.....uuummmm yeah.

My married couples......well before they were married they had sex like they were at Woodstock......and now they have sex like its 1985!

Sorry.....I will be serious!!

**crosses fingers behind back**

[JoNightshade]

No, but I am not sure I would personally be that interested in reading a whole novel about a couple who is too scared to have sex before marriage. It's not that they are not having sex, it is that I would rather read about courageous people.

All I have to say is, you have some interesting notions of what courage is.

My novels are not ABOUT people being scared to have sex (duh). And bravery takes all sorts of forms. If you've been wounded badly enough, just holding someone's hand can be an act of amazing courage. I know it was for me, personally, and I don't happen to think I'm a boring person!

My characters are not weenies, but they are damaged. And in my opinion, they are quite interesting.

[scarletpeaches]

It takes courage to remain celibate in a world obsessed with meaningless sexual encounters, too.

[JoNightshade]

It takes courage to remain celibate in a world obsessed with meaningless sexual encounters, too.

Amen, SP. To actually have a backbone and risk the relationship because of something you believe in? GASP! How boring.

[Sunkissed27f]

Don't you just love the scenes where it's supposed to be all "get your freak on" and it goes like this:

Janet kissed Ron and Ron kissed Janet. Ron felt up Janet's breast and Janet went in for Ron's manly manhood....... and then....turn the page........the next morning....the birds were chirping and the sun was shining and Ron woke with a big stupid grin on his face....while Janet rolled out of bed and waddled to the bathroom..........the end.

ETA:

Alternate ending.....Janet smiled back a Ron...he reached for her breast.....she pushed him away' "How about breakfast." "This is breakfast," he said .....They kissed....look on next page....Janet is at the stove frying bacon, while Ron is sitting on the couch a beer in one hand, the remote in the other....the Colts flickered on the big screen....the end.

[PeeDee]

Don't you just love the scenes where it's supposed to be all "get your freak on" and it goes like this:

Janet kissed Ron and Ron kissed Janet. Ron felt up Janet's breast and Janet went in for Ron's manly manhood....... and then....turn the page........the next morning....the birds were chirping and the sun was shining and Ron woke with a big stupid grin on his face....while Janet rolled out of bed and waddled to the bathroom..........the end.

Well, I was keen on it until waddled to the bathroom and then it was dead to me.

[Devil Ledbetter]

Amen, SP. To actually have a backbone and risk the relationship because of something you believe in? GASP! How boring.Yeah, when it comes to celibacy, I'll admit, I'm a huge coward. ;)

[Prawn]

So...do you think if someone is celibate it means they are scared of sex?

Ask Jonightshade who said "And the kind of people I write about are usually not people who would be brave enough to have sex before marriage."

That might a compelling read, but it is not to my taste.

[ZannaPerry]

Doesn't the sex die when you're married for so long? I don't have any idea. . . maybe it's more mature to put the married sex scenes off scene.

[JoNightshade]

Ask Jonightshade who said "And the kind of people I write about are usually not people who would be brave enough to have sex before marriage."

That might a compelling read, but it is not to my taste.

I think we're talking about two things here:

1) Timid people who are too afraid of sex being uninteresting to Prawn.

2) SP's valid point that just because someone's celibate doesn't make them scared or uninteresting.

And you're right, Prawn, my books are probably not "for" you. ;)

[PeeDee]

I expected a lot more from a thread called "SEX"

[scarletpeaches]

It's illustrative of how twisted we are at AW that a thread called "SEX" has developed into a discussion of celibacy.

That tickles me. :)

[JoNightshade]

I expected a lot more from a thread called "SEX"

And here I thought you enjoyed Sunkissed's post.

[Sunkissed27f]

Well, I was keen on it until waddled to the bathroom and then it was dead to me.



Snicker....well its realistic at least...JK.

[PeeDee]

And here I thought you enjoyed Sunkissed's post.

No, no it was as dead to me as Scarlet's Welsh Heifers.

[Sunkissed27f]

Okay ....please scroll up and read my alternate ending...maybe that will make PeePee head happier!

[sneakers145]

I can't say I've ever had a married couple in any of my novels, let alone a sex scene between married people (and I agree with David that it would need to further the novel somehow; most people assume the marrieds are doing it, unless the not doing it is causing problems, which goes back to plot...)

Since my novels do have a romantic element there is usually a sex scene, but it's not just gratuitous.

I've certainly read a bunch of novels where there have been no sex scenes at all, and some steamy longing that gets unfulfilled (not because the characters just 'weren't the kind not to have sex before marriage) because of circumstance (one or the other dies or is maimed, or the plot veers in another direction, etc).

[Prawn]

I like sex, and I suppose that I would expect the characters that I identify with to like it too.

[scarletpeaches]

I like sex too, which is why I don't have it with just anyone.

[PeeDee]

Okay ....please scroll up and read my alternate ending...maybe that will make PeePee head happier!

Oh, like anyone is watching the Colts. Give me a break.

[Prawn]

I like sex too, which is why I don't have it with just anyone.

Not having it with anyone is something else entirely.

[PeeDee]

I like sex too, which is why I don't have it with just anyone.

http://www.bloglifetime.com/images/blogs/5-2007/purchase-the-borat-book.jpg

[JoNightshade]

Anybody ever run into one of those old couples who want to tell you all about how amazing sex is after 40 years of marriage? They used to kind of scare me but now I think it's cute.

Okay, maybe I'm the only one who attracts these people.

[RedScylla]

Hmmm...In my most recent book I do have a rather graphic sex scene between a married couple, but they are newly married, and the scene is mostly about cultural difference/expectations. Of course, this is the same book in which the wife also has sex with something that is not quite human, so maybe it's not the best example...

[scarletpeaches]

Not having it with anyone is something else entirely.

You mean not having it with anyone, ever? I don't have a problem with people who choose, for whatever reason, to remain virgins.

And me? I'm no virgin but freely admit to celibacy.

If people want to think I'm scared of sex, so be it. My ex-boyfriends would argue differently.

I prefer to say I have standards.

[Sunkissed27f]

**PFFFFTTTT**

We will see little man... when they win the Super Bowl AGAIN!!

[Prawn]

You mean not having it with anyone, ever? I don't have a problem with people who choose, for whatever reason, to remain virgins.

And me? I'm no virgin but freely admit to celibacy.

If people want to think I'm scared of sex, so be it. My ex-boyfriends would argue differently.

I prefer to say I have standards.

I am glad to find out you are the kind of person who is "brave enough to have sex before marriage," in the words of JoNightshade.

[PeeDee]

**PFFFFTTTT**

We will see little man... when they win the Super Bowl AGAIN!!

All my knowledge of football was used up in my previous post. Sorry. :)

[Devil Ledbetter]

Doesn't the sex die when you're married for so long? I don't have any idea. . . maybe it's more mature to put the married sex scenes off scene.It doesn't die, Suzy, it just becomes non-plotworthy.

[PeeDee]

It doesn't die, Suzy, it just becomes non-plotworthy.

Well put, I think.

[JoNightshade]

I am glad to find out you are the kind of person who is "brave enough to have sex before marriage," in the words of JoNightshade.

Prawn, quit twisting my words. Thanks.

[ZannaPerry]

who doesn't like sex?? :D

[PeeDee]

who doesn't like sex?? :D

When Scarlet was talking about the Welsh and the Heifers, I began to think she sees it as punishment...


:D

[Prawn]

Sex as punishment belongs in another thread, unless of course it is plot-worthy.

That reminds me of "sponge worthy" from Sienfeld.

[Soccer Mom]

Doesn't the sex die when you're married for so long?

Uh....not if you're doing it properly! Sheesh. You're a writer. Use your imagination.

[Jean Marie]

Uh....not if you're doing it properly! Sheesh. You're a writer. Use your imagination.
Again, only if it's plot-worthy :D

That's gonna be my new favorite line.

[PeeDee]

Uh....not if you're doing it properly! Sheesh. You're a writer. Use your imagination.

....They told Prawn that and he got arrested for cruelty to animals! ha ha! and then they took away the sheep! ha ha ha!

[Prawn]

So...do you think if someone is celibate it means they are scared of sex?

The only celibacy that might interest me would be my wife's.

[Prawn]

....They told Prawn that and he got arrested for cruelty to animals! ha ha! and then they took away the sheep! ha ha ha!


We are not lovers. I am brave enough to wait for a more committed relationship.

[Alexandra Little]

SEX?!?! Where?!?!

Oh, sex SCENES. Geez, I thought we were going to have an orgy. Nevermind then.

(You dirty little liar you.)

[sneakers145]

It doesn't die, Suzy, it just becomes non-plotworthy.

Exactly!

Unless there is a good reason for it...

(though now that I think about it one of my MCs is married...but her husband is about to kill her (literally)...and then, well, he's not who he said he was, so is she really married to him?! LOL)

[RedScylla]

(though now that I think about it one of my MCs is married...but her husband is about to kill her (literally)...and then, well, he's not who he said he was, so is she really married to him?! LOL)

Well....according to the Pope, he's still your husband even while he's trying to strangle you. ;)

[Elodie-Caroline]

I guess a shag's out of the question then? :D


Exactly!

Unless there is a good reason for it...

(though now that I think about it one of my MCs is married...but her husband is about to kill her (literally)...and then, well, he's not who he said he was, so is she really married to him?! LOL)

[Novelhistorian]

What I find most interesting about this thread (aside from the barbs being thrown back and forth across the Atlantic) is the comparison with another recent thread on what kind of love stories people prefer. Many, myself included, signed on for unrequited. Which need not mean unconsummated, of course, but probably does more often than not. So if unrequited love makes a good story, why must the protagonists be sexually active, at least with each other?

[sneakers145]

I guess a shag's out of the question then? :D

You'll just have to wait to find out. ;)

[sneakers145]

Well....according to the Pope, he's still your husband even while he's trying to strangle you. ;)

But is he still your husband even if he's using someone else's identity, and you thought you were marrying that identity?? Lines blurred....but then, I'm not the Pope...

[PeeDee]

Well NONE of you can have sex with me right now, so just forget about it.

[ZannaPerry]

Uh....not if you're doing it properly! Sheesh. You're a writer. Use your imagination.

Ah, but my married couple don't even like each other anymore so, to me, the sex has been dead ever since they said "I do."

Don't ask....just understand. ;)

[Soccer Mom]

Then that's a "never was" and not "dead of natural causes."


Seriously, Soccer Dad and I have been at it for 15 years.



ETA: Doh! What I meant is we've been married for 15 years. Not that we're going for some sort of heroic record or anything.


I'm going to go blush now.

[PeeDee]

That's all our time for tonight! G'night everybody!

[scarletpeaches]

Join us next time on Lifestyles of the Poor and Infamous, when our special guests PeeDee talks about the time he got his manhood stuck in a George Foreman grill.

[davids]

Join us next time on Lifestyles of the Poor and Infamous, when our special guests PeeDee talks about the time he got his manhood stuck in a George Foreman grill.


Flakey Dick-Scoych egg-and spam bean and bum on toast!!!!

[PeeDee]

You take that back! You take that back right now!

[Soccer Mom]

Ew. Not after it's been in the grill, PeeDee.

[PeeDee]

It's a Foreman grill. It's healthy!

[Azraelsbane]

Anybody ever run into one of those old couples who want to tell you all about how amazing sex is after 40 years of marriage? They used to kind of scare me but now I think it's cute.

Okay, maybe I'm the only one who attracts these people.

I tend to attract 25 year old crazy people who make me feel like a sexual retard by insisting that I should be having sex seven days a week.

I hope that 37 years from now my husband and I are still going at it like horny bunnies, but you know what, seven days a week? Am I a bad wife for thinking that sex 365 days a year would be more annoying than anything else?

[scarletpeaches]

And put it this way, there are times for a woman when it can be a tad...uh...you know? About 5 days each month? Yeah.

[PeeDee]

This has been the most consistently creepy thread in a long time...

[JoNightshade]

I tend to attract 25 year old crazy people who make me feel like a sexual retard by insisting that I should be having sex seven days a week.

I hope that 37 years from now my husband and I are still going at it like horny bunnies, but you know what, seven days a week? Am I a bad wife for thinking that sex 365 days a year would be more annoying than anything else?

Oh, I'm with ya. I like sex as much as the next girl, but every single frickin day is a bit much. I mean, sometimes there are other things to do! I think we average [TMI] days a week, and we don't do it during my time of the month. Actually, I think a week of abstinence spices things up quite well. ;)

[sunna]

Am I a bad wife for thinking that sex 365 days a year would be more annoying than anything else?


Nope, I'm with you there. Or maybe I'm a bad wife too. :D A few times a week is fine with me.



(unless he's been gone for a while, in which case all bets are off for the next 48 hours)

[Voyager]

My husband is out of town on location a lot, we do a great deal of making up for lost time, so it's feast or famine in our house. And when we feast, it's not champagne brunch, it's the all you can eat buffet.

[JoNightshade]

Perhaps we should all be moving over to the "getting laid" thread... ;)

[Voyager]

hehe, I know, I'm getting dizzy

[Azraelsbane]

Perhaps we should all be moving over to the "getting laid" thread... ;)

There's a getting laid thread?! Ugh, I'm supposed to be cleaning up my manuscript. *cracks the whip* Oh, perhaps the wrong thread for that...

[Shadow_Ferret]

Oh, great. I rush home to open this because I was afraid sirens would go off at work and I find it's just another thread that's degenerated into silliness.

Anyway, I don't have sex scenes in this novel. In the first scene my MALE character says no, he wants to be sure of his feelings.

In the second scene, it's after the climax (of the story, you pervs), and the female character does a slow striptease and the male character...


falls asleep.

[PeeDee]

That sounds much more interesting to me all around than a hot-n-heavy sex scene. :)

Oh, great. I rush home to open this because I was afraid sirens would go off at work and I find it's just another thread that's degenerated into silliness.

Anyway, I don't have sex scenes in this novel. In the first scene my MALE character says no, he wants to be sure of his feelings.

In the second scene, it's after the climax (of the story, you pervs), and the female character does a slow striptease and the male character...


falls asleep.

[Azraelsbane]

Anyway, I don't have sex scenes in this novel. In the first scene my MALE character says no, he wants to be sure of his feelings.

I have a male character who is doomed to always say no. The poor guy has so many emotional issues he could probably make Dr. Phil quit his job. But as his creator would say, solitude builds character. ;)


In the second scene, it's after the climax (of the story, you pervs), and the female character does a slow striptease and the male character...


falls asleep.

Poor girl. I'd be pissed, unless the guy had just saved my life or something. Then I'd probably be satisfied with shifting his body into ridiculous positions and taking blackmail pictures. :D

[davids]

You take that back! You take that back right now!


Alright but the Flakey Dick gets awfully crusty if you have to re heat it!!!! The Scotch egg is managable-but the spam is strickly not edible after ten or twelve days with the bean on toast and the mold-well I suppose one can always scrape off the mold prior to re nuking


some folks will do anything for a bit of Flakey Dick spam and egg-bean on toast but hey one man's meat is another man's Petunia garden they say!!

[Voyager]

Dick and flakey. I try to refrain from putting those two words together at all costs, much less in my mouth.

[Shadow_Ferret]

I have a male character who is doomed to always say no. The poor guy has so many emotional issues he could probably make Dr. Phil quit his job. But as his creator would say, solitude builds character. ;)
Yeah, my character is "shy."


Poor girl. I'd be pissed, unless the guy had just saved my life or something. Then I'd probably be satisfied with shifting his body into ridiculous positions and taking blackmail pictures. :D
Actually, he had just finished saving the world. So I guess that includes her.

[davids]

Dick and flakey. I try to refrain from putting those two words together at all costs, much less in my mouth.

No problem then with Scotch egg and spam and bean on toast?

[scarletpeaches]

I like beans on toast but keep your flakey bits away from my Scotch bummy!

[Voyager]

No problem then with Scotch egg and spam and bean on toast?

And mashy peas, I love me some mashy peas. And Nutella to top it all off. Or Branston pickle if I'm in the mood for a gag fest.

[ChaosTitan]

At the risk of posting something On-topic, when this thread seems to be begging for a punt down to TIO, all of the sex scenes I've written have been with unmarried folks. In fact, I don't think I've written any novels that contain happily married couples. Divorced an/or widow(er)ed, yes.

Probably says more about me than anything else....

[imagoodgurl4]

In my current WIP my MC's are a married couple and I wrote this scene that involved them having foreplay and then all the emotions and psychological aspects come into play and the sex doesn't actually happen. It was a very fun scene to write and useful, because it built character and allowed a little soul bearing. I think it's better than the meaningless sex (not that meaningless sex isn't fun) I've found in some novels I've read which I believe is only there because it's expected.

[leenakincaid]

I don't include a lot of married couples in my writing. The sex is filled with euphemisms, when there is any sex, or vague details. In the novel I'm writing...it's the most graphic I have ever been. I am still using euphemisms! When I describe the act of sex in my speech, I use medical terms and am rather detached. In my writing, medical terms aren't even mentioned. I feel like such a prude.

[Prawn]

I think sex is interesting, and I want my characters to be interesting, so my characters have sex. We may not get to see it, but I think it shows that the fact they are do it shows they are healthy people

[jodiodi]

My characters have great sex regardless of marital status. I have a married couple who, because of the nature of marriage among their people, can barely keep their hands off one another and constantly crave to be together. I suppose in that book, the married sex is much hotter than any other kind.