Thanks! Yes it does.
So um...guys I have a question for you. I am reading a lot of past work and I have this MST story I stopped writing because a chapter got really "hot and heavy" and I realized...one day my kids are going to read this. Do you think we have to have graphic sex in our novels these days? The scenes actually drive the plot forward. There is some strong physical (not violence) sexual scenes in it and it splits two characters apart that I needed split up for the plot.
I'm...gosh...I'm so prudish...I was shocked I wrote it and dropped it but it's actually a good story. Ideas? Thoughts? Have you had this experience? Some of you may or may not know this but, I'm...um...technically Mormon...though not active these days...and the sex scenes are fighting with my morals a bit.
I don't have your specific religious objection (although I have my own prudish lines!) - but I do sometimes find my stuff going in directions that make me uncomfortable. I had an interrogation scene in Book 1 that grew very dark, and I'm still not sure if I took it too far or not far enough. What I settled for in the end was pushing
just a little bit past my own comfort level; but that actually involved toning it down a bit from earlier versions.
I suspect, in this situation, that revisions are your friend. You could write it the way it feels like it needs to go, and if it's still making you uncomfortable, try dialing it down a little.
And no, I don't think graphic sex is necessary in a novel. I do think there are times when the story may work better with such scenes; but I also suspect there are ways to work around excessive detail and still get the point across. I don't think there's anything at all wrong with the "fade to black" strategy, or even skipping the whole scene in favor of the characters communicating what happened after the fact.
It's all in the execution, IMHO. I've read steamy scenes that show nothing, and I've read explicit scenes that leave me cold. I would suggest you follow your own instincts about what will work for your story; but I don't think you
must have anything.
As for your children reading it someday: I like to think if my daughter ever reads my novel, she'll mostly be thinking "Wow, Mom wasn't just making me dinner and nagging me about my homework." Eventually they figure out we're human, and sometimes that's nice.