Post(coital)script To Last Post On Book Sex


In the process of writing the last post (Fifty Shades Of Book Sex?),I was Googling around for some Sidney Sheldon background and came across Writing a Sex Scene by writer Jessica Barksdale Inclán who actually taught this at UCLA Extension.

Humorous, informative and on target. Read this if you’re thinking of writing one. The entire post is great, but I liked this part:

So my tack was this. Stay with the plot and stay with the feelings. While in a romance the hero and heroine HAVE to end up together, it doesn’t have to be a circus act. The sex arrives out of their connection or growing connection.

And then—stay “in” the body. Don’t focus on the body itself. We don’t have to look at the parts but feel the parts. And sex doesn’t have to be in the genitals but in fingers and rib cages and toes. Things don’t have to be literally explained, either. As one writing teacher told me, avoid fluids. I am big on avoiding fluids. There are enough fluids everywhere, so can we please stay with the feelings?



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