So I…Oh, let’s see. How shall I put this?
I, um… I, um…
<Swallow.>
Wrote my first sex scene this week.
Okay, this isn’t entirely true. I am writing a contemporary romance novel so I have written some rather intimate moments already. Hell, I had better by this point given how far into the book I am. However, actually tackling my first sex scene has been…interesting.
I’ve been telling stories in various ways for a while now. This was a reminder that I’m telling a completely different story, one that I never imagined that I of all people would be telling. It’s frightening, it’s exciting, and it requires some real care and thoughtfulness behind it.
Wow. I didn’t see that coming. <No pun intended. Okay, maybe a little.>
I usually write to music. So of course, I knew that music would be pretty important for this task at hand. So who won the job? Why, none other than Otis Redding. Otis has his own special connection to the story, and that’s all I’ll say for now and leave it at that, as I have no intention of spoiling anything for readers.
As I worked on what clearly felt like a really important scene, pivotal to the path of the characters involved, I was shocked at my reaction. I’m feeling pressure. So much pressure.
Why? Because I have grown to love and hate this genre at the same time. Some writers have such fondness and affection for their fans, and truly deliver a meaningful story and scenes capturing the beauty and honesty of sex and sensuality. Others give it no thought at all, or at least that is how it appears on the page, and seem to think that by throwing in a few vivid descriptions of genitalia and sound effects that this will draw in the reader emotionally.
These writing sessions this week have felt very different, as if for the first time, I’m realizing that I actually have a responsibility. I hold a reader’s heart, emotions and imagination in my hands in that moment, and all could be lost or treasured in a single scene.
Damn. I had no idea what I got myself into when I started to tell this story. I would love to hear from other writers, especially those in the romance genre about your approach to these scenes.
I am so determined to not let down the person on the other side of that page. I’ve been there myself as an avid reader. Your emotions are at that writer’s mercy. And when a reader has so much invested in a character or a pair of characters, the writer must deliver.
Otis awaits…and so do Cate and Oliver.
Happy reading!
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