How to Write a Good Sex Scene

There's a certain sense in which a sex scene is like any other scene: the plot has to advance or we have to learn something important about the characters, something has to shift or change between the beginning and the end of the scene. But, refreshingly, G. Doucette also says this:

2. Sex scenes are not like anything else. The relationship between the reader and the writer is slightly different in a sex scene. The writer is trying to convey a mood and a feeling that... well, there's no easy way to say this: The writer is trying to turn the reader on. This means figuring out how to use words to establish a mood and a rhythm and a feeling that I can't really describe accurately in polite company. It's a skill that is just not really applicable to any other kind of fiction writing. A novel also has to have the kind of authorial voice that allows for the sort of tone necessary to establish that rhythm and mood. And this means...

 Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/g-doucette/how-to-write-a-good-sex-s_b_4957087.html

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Erotica Writing Tips from K.D. Grace

4) Always remember the same rules apply for good erotica that apply for any other story. Sex should never be gratuitous. It should always serve a purpose. Sex should move the story forward. Sex should give us insight into the characters we didn’t have before. Sex is a fabulous tool to create the chaos or the bliss needed to shape the plot.

Source: http://howtowriteeroticfiction.blogspot.com/2014/09/five-tips-from-k-d-grace.html


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Erotica Writing Tips from Justine Elyot

1) Start by writing about what turns you on. Don't worry about catering for every taste – you can't.

2) Don't be coy. Don’t fret about what people will think of you, or your writing will feel watered down and lacking in force.

3) A lot of the eroticism of a story will come from the characters, the predicaments, the settings or other details. Don't invest everything in the acts themselves.

4) Hmm, a lot of 'don'ts' here. Don't take any notice of a list full of don'ts.

5) Do enjoy it, or it won't work.
Almost everything wrong with an early draft can be fixed with thorough revisions.

Source: http://howtowriteeroticfiction.blogspot.com/2014/10/five-tips-from-justine-elyot.html

Erotica Writing Tips from George Storey

1. Writing a story is like seducing a lover. You want to intrigue, delight and ultimately move your reader so that she or he will want to come back to your imaginary world over and over again. It’s a tall order, but the easiest way I’ve found to connect with my ideal reader is to write about what intrigues, fascinates and turns me on. It doesn’t always have to be based on real experience. I’ve discovered many new varieties of sexual pleasure in fantasy, and later in the flesh, through my explorations for a story. However, unlike a lover, a reader can always tell when you’re faking it, so make sure you want to be there and enjoy.

2. When planning a seduction, you dress to look your best, turn on the charm, and give your partner your full attention. How does this translate into a story? Don’t stint on the planning phase. Let the ideas simmer, play around with the plot and characters, let them take on a life of their own. The “charm” is your willingness to make the scenes and all the senses come alive. Paint a picture for your reader, but also write a symphony of language and cook up deliciously naughty scents and tastes. Finally, a strong first line that grabs ‘em by the nose, quick and clever transitions, and a satisfying final line are the literary equivalents of courtesy to your “date.”

Source: http://howtowriteeroticfiction.blogspot.com/2014/11/five-tips-from-donna-george-storey.html

5 Erotic Writing Tips from Tilly Hunter

1. Turn off your inner censor... 

You can’t write about sex with a projection of your mother, father, gran, uncle, priest or teacher sitting on your shoulder expressing shock or moral outrage at every sentence. If you have young children or a sensitive job, you’ll probably need to pick yourself a pseudonym and guard it closely. Then you can give yourself permission to write freely, unrestrainedly, uninhibitedly. Without anyone whispering to you that it’s not art, that it’s cheap and smutty, that it’s wrong or filthy.

2. ...then write dirty 

I mean really dirty. Think of a sexual act that you, personally, find shocking, or weird, or distasteful, or even disgusting. Then write a short scene incorporating that act. And not in a shocking, weird, distasteful or disgusting way. In a way that is hot and positive and leaves you with that tight little feeling in your throat. Even if you never show this to another soul, I think it’s useful to get the worst you can think of out of your system rather than tiptoeing towards more and more risqué things and also to learn how to make anything sexy, even if it’s totally beyond your own experience or fantasies. Another useful exercise is to make something really mundane sound hot. Something like knitting, say...

Source: Tips from Tilly Hunter

The Do's and Don'ts of Writing Erotica

A few years ago at LitReactor they published a great article called The Do's and Dont's of Writing Erotic Fiction. See the excerpt below:

Sex is at the heart of what it means to be human. It’s vitally important to nearly all of us. It’s a driving force in our daily lives (even when we’re celibate), and its mysteries are infinite. So it bewilders me that — as a rule — erotica is seldom taken seriously, either by writers or readers. Intelligent, well-written erotica is a rare, rare thing (and I’ve been looking for it all of my life).
I believe that in order to write well about sex, we have to resist the version of sexuality that’s brandished at us every day by the advertising and fashion industry: most especially the idea that we can only be aroused by superficiality and perfection. How can we make sex — on the page as well as in life — less a performance and more a source of communion? How can we go deeper?
The following are some of my own tips for writing erotic fiction:

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1. Respect The Genre. Respect The Reader

Bring the same attention and regard to writing about sex as you would to anything else you’d write. Assume the reader wants — and is capable of appreciating — something beyond a jerk-off vehicle. There’s nothing wrong with getting off — I always hope my readers are getting off on what I write! — but I want to affect people between the ears as much as between the legs.

See the rest of the article here.


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