How do you write several sex scenes in a novel without it becoming Twister?

Evelyn Aster

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Recently I'm feeling like the sex scenes I read and write are a game of Twister with plot. Do you use emotion, setting, anything to add to the tension in a scene without making every sex scene a different position?

Thanks for any advice.
 

Filigree

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The emotion has to come first, and thread through everything else.

Head over to Scorching Book Reviews and start reading the short excerpts in the ongoing Sex Scene Championship. You'll very quickly see the difference between physically-centered 'Twister' scenes and emotionally-heavy scenes.
 

Beachgirl

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What Filigree said. Any scene consisting of nothing more than "insert tab A into slot B" isn't going to cut it. And Scorching Book Reviews is providing some great examples of how to do it right!

ETA: Oh, my. I just read tonight's entries over at Scorching and...um...is it hot in here?
 
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Maryn

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There's all sorts of "tricks" I've used to keep it from becoming Twister: The Adult Edition. (Although now I can't help thinking of Bill & Ted II and Keanu playing Twister with the Grim Reaper, only naked...)

Oh, pardon me, did I trail off there? Anyway, I'm with Filigree in that for my characters, emotional connection comes first, even when it's not love or anything like it. They click in some way, or have that fairly rare animal-like lust for one another and choose to act on it.

I'm also seriously into my point of view character's thoughts, memories, hopes, fears, and physical sensation. I can spend a page, easy, on what a fingertip brushing a nipple does, and two on a character's first up-close look at a scar hidden by clothing.

I'm also mindful of the physical. Even when my characters are fine physical specimens (not in my current WIP), they're not gymnasts. They use only a few positions, settling on ones which most please them early on, with some variations on angles--sort of like real sex. (OMG!) I minimize descriptions of the Tab A-Slot B variety, focusing a lot more on how the POV character experiences the lovemaking.

Maryn, inside heads
 

Evelyn Aster

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Thanks for the advice and examples. Perhaps today will be more inspired.
 

veinglory

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It is also the case that, if you look at the large scale sexual behavior surveys, normal people use quite diverse positions and behaviors considers "kinky" are not rare.
 

CharleeBeck

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The plot has to come fist. The sexual act in itself is like the "drop" in an EDM track; it only works if the build-up is strong enough. Fucking is just like killing or traveling, there needs to be a reason for it in the plot. It needs to be done in a way unique to the situations and characters.
 

Evelyn Aster

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The plot has to come fist. The sexual act in itself is like the "drop" in an EDM track; it only works if the build-up is strong enough. Fucking is just like killing or traveling, there needs to be a reason for it in the plot. It needs to be done in a way unique to the situations and characters.

Yeah, I agree. I just found it easier in a novella to keep the sex scenes hot, tight, and relevant. I'm working on a novel and find the execution much harder in the frequency that seems to be expected by the industry. I read a best seller to get some inspiration, but was disappointed. The emphasis seemed way more on frequency than quality. The examples on the Scorching site were much more helpful.
 

Filigree

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Some publishers and their core readerships do value frequency over quality - or even relevance. It's just a different type of market. And you'll find, looking deeper, that the variety and quality of scenes varies widely within a publisher's catalog, too.
 

Elly_Green

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Consider building up to the "main event" along with inserting the emotional aspects. Couples can do more than just sex and still be erotic... oral sex is not just foreplay... the couple doesn't always need to reciprocate... finger play and kissing can be just as hot. It is all in how you view the building climax. Spread out the acts as they become more desirous of each other.
 

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The plot has to come fist. The sexual act in itself is like the "drop" in an EDM track; it only works if the build-up is strong enough. Fucking is just like killing or traveling, there needs to be a reason for it in the plot. It needs to be done in a way unique to the situations and characters.

I am curious about your phrasing. Because my sex scene are part of the plot and progress the plot I do not need to build up to them like jumping over an obstacle. They are just another scene in which something is happening with as much or as little "reason" as any other scene.
 

Ken

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honestly, a better question would be, "how do you not write several sex scenes w/o the novel becoming boring?"

haven't read many, myself, but the ones I have have had three or so which was cool

one or two with one left me wondering why it was dubbed "erotica"

"dull disappointing stuff" would have been a better label
 

Evelyn Aster

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honestly, a better question would be, "how do you not write several sex scenes w/o the novel becoming boring?"

haven't read many, myself, but the ones I have have had three or so which was cool

one or two with one left me wondering why it was dubbed "erotica"

"dull disappointing stuff" would have been a better label

No, I stand by my question. I posted it in the Erotica section where people enjoy writing and reading erotica. My experience is in novella's and I was just having a hard time with the breadth of a novel. No need for snark.
 

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Ohhhh- the Scorching Book Reviews link looks like a useful resource.

*bookmarks page*

*settles in for a marathon reading of sex scene after sex scene*
 

CharleeBeck

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I am curious about your phrasing. Because my sex scene are part of the plot and progress the plot I do not need to build up to them like jumping over an obstacle. They are just another scene in which something is happening with as much or as little "reason" as any other scene.
Honestly, if a reader if picking up an erotica, they are looking for sex scenes. However, the reason they are reading their porn instead of watching it is because they want some sort of secondary psychological payoff. In almost any other genera, the sex is just another plot point. However, just like with horror, this happens to be a genera fueled by money-shots and subsequent release that they provide for their audience (adrenal release in horror, sexual release in erotica). The plot, the characterization, it should all be built up around creating as much "tension" as possible, for the purpose of making that neuro-chemical release heavier for the audience when that payoff moment (the sex in erotica, the scares in horror) finally hits. To put it in musical terms, it's like the build up in a dance dong before the "bass drop".
 

Viridian

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The plot has to come fist. The sexual act in itself is like the "drop" in an EDM track; it only works if the build-up is strong enough.

Liked this analogy. I listen to EDM when I write, though, so maybe I'm just biased.

I love it when a song starts out well, then part-way through: that beautiful, perfect drop. Gives me chills.
 

Ken

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No, I stand by my question. I posted it in the Erotica section where people enjoy writing and reading erotica. My experience is in novella's and I was just having a hard time with the breadth of a novel. No need for snark.

Not a snark. Scout's honor.
Valid question, like you say. Just offering my perspective, in general.
 

A.P.M.

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With an erotic book, or series, you can develop characters through sex scenes as well. Sex scenes don't always have to be the "payoff" to a relationship, and inserting tab A into slot B is far from the biggest payoff you can have.

How are your characters using sex to explore each other, or what they want? It's never done in just one session, and plot and development can be stretched over several sex scenes. In one of my book series, there are a lot of sex scenes, but as the characters go on, Character A is discovering he really likes being dominated, wants to take it further and further, but when it gets to a certain point/certain act he doesn't know how to ask for it and is afraid of what Character B will think. So there can be sex scenes with the typical physical climax, but the emotional climax and the discovery of whether or not Character A will get the courage to ask for what he wants or how Character B will react is saved for the next scene. Stuff like that is fun to write and keeps readers interested in the character's bedroom lives, even long after they've gotten together.