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Sex in non-erotica

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More and more lately I've been spending a lot of time helping others revise and edit novels and series - longer works and the like. One thing I've seen, that somewhat baffles me, is the push to write extremely vague sex in non-erotica stories.

Now, I know the reason: people might feel uncomfortable - or simply won't feel like - reading a sex scene. Publishers might not permit such if it's detailed, etc. So the vagueness makes sense.

However - I was thoroughly stumped when I helped one person edit a novel - and she kept asking me about the 'sex scene - did I handle it okay'.

Well, silly me I guess, I had to ask her to tell me where the 'sex scene' was. It was so vague that when I read it I didn't even catch it - it was more like a brief sentence or two about making out.

And then I didn't know what to do: encourage her to put in a smidge more detail so people know what actually took place? I mean - surely if I didn't get it, me who writes lit-erotica and stuff like that - then others wouldn't, either.

Your thoughts?
Milik_the_Red
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Quote by Metilda
More and more lately I've been spending a lot of time helping others revise and edit novels and series - longer works and the like. One thing I've seen, that somewhat baffles me, is the push to write extremely vague sex in non-erotica stories.

Now, I know the reason: people might feel uncomfortable - or simply won't feel like - reading a sex scene. Publishers might not permit such if it's detailed, etc. So the vagueness makes sense.

However - I was thoroughly stumped when I helped one person edit a novel - and she kept asking me about the 'sex scene - did I handle it okay'.

Well, silly me I guess, I had to ask her to tell me where the 'sex scene' was. It was so vague that when I read it I didn't even catch it - it was more like a brief sentence on two about making.

And then I didn't know what to do: encourage her to put in a smidge more detail so people know what actually took place? I mean - surely if I didn't get it, me who writes lit-erotica and stuff like that - then others wouldn't, either.

Your thoughts?


Tell her to her to spice it up. Advise her to be more explicit without using classic erotic terms. How well this works will depend on how good a writer she is, but she should be able to talk about the 'incredible sensation of be entered by her man' or the way he 'handled her body' or what not. If she stays away from deliberately mentioning his cock or her pussy, she can get away with a lot. She could take him into her mouth, or stroke him until he was hard. He shivered at the touch of her hand as it drifted below his belt.

His hands felt warm in her skin and the way he fondled her made her knees weak. If she is creative, she can write a very steamy scene without actually using any language that could be called explicit.
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I remember reading Peter Benchly's 'Jaws' when I was, let's say 'in my teens'! Now, I read it because I like sharks. In that book there is an INCREDIBLY hot sex scene between The Oceanographer and Chief Brody's wife Ellen. (Which sadly didn't make it into the movie...) It remains one of the most erotic scenes I've ever read, made all the more so because by the time they got into bed together I KNEW them both!

(It embarrasses me to say that after only a few days my paperback copy of 'Jaws' FELL OPEN at that scene!)

You know, erotica/sex ISN'T a particulary easy thing to write WELL. (Very easy to do badly and I should know!)

Smiler77, (One of my favourite writers here) writes this: "The stories started about sex, then they kind of developed into stories about emotion damn it!!"

Wise Words, Little Sister.

xx SF
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oops - I forgot about this thread!

Well I followed through with your advice, Milik smile

Steph - I definitely get what you're saying there's. It's about anticipation and intrigue. One of the most erotic books (to me) is not erotica.
Verbal
Gravelly-Voiced Fucker
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Quote by stephanie


I remember reading Peter Benchly's 'Jaws' when I was, let's say 'in my teens'! Now, I read it because I like sharks. In that book there is an INCREDIBLY hot sex scene between The Oceanographer and Chief Brody's wife Ellen. (Which sadly didn't make it into the movie...) It remains one of the most erotic scenes I've ever read, made all the more so because by the time they got into bed together I KNEW them both!


I remember reading that as a kid too. In fact, I still have a very active fantasy about the part where she goes into the bathroom and takes off her panties for him. I still love that!
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Quote by stephanie


I remember reading Peter Benchly's 'Jaws' when I was, let's say 'in my teens'! Now, I read it because I like sharks. In that book there is an INCREDIBLY hot sex scene between The Oceanographer and Chief Brody's wife Ellen. (Which sadly didn't make it into the movie...) It remains one of the most erotic scenes I've ever read, made all the more so because by the time they got into bed together I KNEW them both!



I don't remember that scene (I hated the novel Jaws, found it rather dull and sudsy, but YMMV). For me it was a hot love scene in Ken Follett's thriller Triple that did much the same thing. A pretty good spy thriller but let's just say that one scene got re-read a lot more than the rest of the book and was often read while holding the book one-handed .

I do write conventional fiction (none of it published but if I can ever drag myself away from erotica, maybe I'll get some of it written for the blue site) and my tendency is to make the sex as detailed as it needs to be. If it's just a throwaway scene, I'm not going to write it out in detail just as I don't write a detailed account of the guy's drive to the woman's house unless it's germane to the plot. OTOH, if the love scene matters, if something that happens between the lovers in that act matters to the story, then I'll write it out in as much detail as I can without pushing it over the line.

I can actually think of an example now: in an s-f story I wrote, two women are ex-lovers. When one convinces the other to help her with what amounts to piracy, they end up in the sack and what happens reflects on one woman's feelings about the whole adventure so I wrote that one in a fair bit of detail.
overmykneenow
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Sex is a something rooted in the id - it's why it's so often associated with violence. Because they are the more base of instincts they're easy to use but at the same time very easy to get wrong.

Sex in fiction, without intrigue or romance, is just porn. Violence without drama or consequence is purely gratuitous. There's nothing wrong with either of those, if that's what you're going for and what the reader expects. Sex scenes followed by violent scenes are a staple of horror and fantasy writing - keeping the reader in a primal state. Of course the most shocking and disturbing scenes are when the two are combined (and those are rightly forbidden on here).

It's probably a good thing the scene with Hooper and Mrs Brody didn't make it to the film. If it had been left in, the story shifts from being a small town america disaster movie to a small town america love triangle - if that's your story, you really don't need to buy a 25 foot mechanical shark to help tell it.
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