Sex in YA

I think they could raise the top part of her up just a fraction, that would help, like put her on an incline. This way I always have to stare at her for several seconds. Oh wait, maybe that's good.

kaitiepaige17 said:

She's got an awesome ass! *Now I'm looking at her like a lesbian*

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GOOD.

In my opinion you're not teaching sex ed, so try not to have your personal lessons overwrite the story. Each sex scene depends on the situation, the style of book and the character. And each agent and editor will also have differing opinions--there are no hard and fast rules. Get it, hard and fast.

In my books there is sex--off page. Lots of it I guess by some standards. And SLJ did mention that a condom wasn't mentioned. However in any of the five books that have gone through the editorial process, tossing in a condom was never mentioned by my brilliant editors, mostly because it would be an afterthought and not in the actual scene.

With my two latest books I did go back in copyedits and add a character picking up a wrapper because honestly, I wanted everything to be as real as possible--and who would want their parents finding that?

But the thing is, I don't think an agent or editor will turn you down for having a scene that's "too hot". Because they'll just say, Hm... maybe we could tone this down. It all depends on the book. If you have a character who acts twelve, chances are your editor is not going to let you keep sex scenes.

All of my YA is older, so they were never an issue. In fact, if any of them were toned down, I decided to do it myself for one reason or another. So I would concentrate on writing something emotionally satisfying and move on to the things that editors do care about--writing and plot.

(But I am, of course, pro sex scene)

I don't know, shades. I like how your name hugs her ass...

Shady Lane said:

haha omg really? i thought they fixed it. and the old one isn't public so unless you are a L33T HACKSAUR you wouldn't have seen it, haha. oh nooooo. ah well. maybe she has a weirdly shaped ass. YOU DON'T KNOW HER LIFE.

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haha...maybe it was this one then and now I see it for what it is. When you mentioned they changed it, I thought I was looking at a different cover, but maybe it just shifted my perspective.

From what I can see, her ass is nice.

roskoebaby said:

I don't know, shades. I like how your name hugs her ass...

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I wouldn't want it to be anywhere else, lemme tell you.

There should be a whole thread dedicated to Shady's cover. Forget Helen, that cover has the power to launch ships and start another World War. Lol

But anyways... I agree with what Roskoe said. In order to write a sex scene you have to know your characters. Know what they're comfortable with, know what lines and boundaries they have, and don't just write a sex scene with the intentions of educating or giving the book an edge.

A sex scene depends on your characters, and some readers will lose interest if they feel like they are being educated about sex or if they feel like you are adding in your own personal thoughts about sex, when it has nothing to do with you, but with the characters.

Well I hope I'm not screwed (metaphorically speaking). With the rather massive proviso that neither of my WIPs have been published or are indeed ready to submit yet, I have just one mention of condoms in Paertings and Greetings. One principle I started with was to have my teen (17/18) characters bring sexually active and responsible with it - so they don't catch anything and unplanned pregnancy (from the hetero couplings) is a plot development for another novel not this one. As for any sex scenes, there are three, none of them very detailed, which mark shifts in the relationships between the three main characters. Otherwise I show the lead-up or the characters in bed afterwards, but the act itself takes place during a linebreak with an asterisk centred,

The Plague Years is different. In that, one character has sex with another after she insists he uses a condom. It's in a post-catastrophe setting and pregnancy complications with no medical help available would be dangerous, if not potentially fatal.

These are some of the reasons why I'm aiming both novels at the 14+ age range.

my current WIP has a condom but no sex! that can make up for someone who didn't mention one, right?

**snuggles Elysium** I don't feel bad talking about how much I love it since clearly I had nothing to do with it, haha. I just feel lucky as hell.

I am in complete agreement with Shady--sex can get old, fast. (Hell that's true in RL as much as it is on the page!) So I tend to leave it out, not because I'm writing YA but just because my readers have been to health class. What's unique about the sex in any book is WHO is having it and what they feel, not that tab A got inserted into slot B.

But the advice of seeing what falls onto the page is sound. There's not really much you can't do in YA, and as long as it's well-written and not everywhere, it's unlikely to be a deal-breaker. If the agent or editor feel the scene should be changed, she'll suggest it.

Whoops and I was totally only replying to the posts on page 1. Doofus. I'll leave this here anyway just for giggles.

Shady Lane said:

haha omg really? i thought they fixed it. and the old one isn't public so unless you are a L33T HACKSAUR you wouldn't have seen it, haha. oh nooooo. ah well. maybe she has a weirdly shaped ass. YOU DON'T KNOW HER LIFE.

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I actually thought this the first time I saw it too - had to look closer to really figure it out.

Shady Lane said:

anyway. it comes down to realism and not moralizing, so we're on the same page.

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Definitely.

I'm waiting patiently for more euphemisms.

adktd2bks said:

I actually thought this the first time I saw it too - had to look closer to really figure it out.

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DAAAAAAAMN IT

Shady Lane said:

DAAAAAAAMN IT

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Just a drive by, but Shady, I didn't realize she was on her back until pointed out in this thread...
*Now* I see it correctly, beautiful. And I think if I actually had the book, in real size, the placement of your name would help me see it accurately. But in the smaller picture, I was seeing it wrong, with the model on her stomach, and her butt where (obviously, I see now) her breasts are.

~suki

haha, okay, I'll mention to my editor that people are still seeing it that way. my ARCs are coming today, so I'll look at it on the real cover and see if it's a problem. it isn't too late to make changes. thanks for letting me know <3

I always saw her on her back.

Maybe it's the size of the avatar that's skewing everyone's eyes?

Weird.

I'd hate for you to have to change teh hotness.

i mean on second thought, it doesn't really matter if people think she's on her stomach, haha. it's not like they're mistaking her for a robot or something.

You know if people stop to try to figure it out, that just means they'll spend that much longer looking at your book instead of the one sitting next to it.

hopefully i'll find out today. WHERE ARE MY ARCS AHHHH

I thought she was on her stomach at first too. The problem, I think, is the arm. It looks too thick to be an arm. In fact, it doesn't really look like an armpit at all. But maybe that's just because the picture is cut off in a weird place. The butt, leg, and boob look fine though.

think of it as her arms out not straight up, but almost perpendicular, and it makes more sense. but i would be totally pro giving her armpit some stubble.

Mayfield said:

I don't think anyone wants to be lectured to. But I know that in some adult fiction, there can be lots of sex and the issue of birth control/protection never gets mentioned at all. I guess one is just supposed to assume someone put their nuvaring in, but I can understand the accountability part of not making it "assumed" in YA. Either say they used protection or that they didn't...whichever is relevant to the story/characters. But don't portray that fake world of sterile-non-babymaking booty calls.

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Just a comment here...that is common in adult fiction, but I think times are changing. At least in the erotica and romance worlds, it's becoming more and more commonplace for condoms to be used or at least discussed. At least a few publishers now require it unless there's a good reason for the characters not to. I actually had one book in which the characters didn't use them (I was following suit from a lot of romances I'd read; this was my first romance), and my publisher had me go back through and add condom usage to all of the sex scenes. (That was a pain, let me tell you)

That book aside, all of my characters use them. My books have anywhere from 5-25+ sex scenes (I write erotica, remember), and it doesn't take much to add "...he grabbed a condom out of the drawer..." or something to that effect. It can absolutely be done without lecturing, making a big deal out of it, etc.

That's not to say I think every character should use a condom for every sexual encounter. Sometimes there are reasons not to, whatever. But having them do so in a non-preachy way is not a difficult thing to do.