I’ve been thinking about sex a lot lately. (And not just because I sell romance and erotica, but we’ll keep things professional. 
) Apparently, I’m not the only one. Not only is romance one of the strongest genres on the market, the media is covering our corner of the industry with particular verve these days. I was delighted with the first line of the Washington Post’s article on RWA national, a quote by Colleen Gleason about aiming for at least one orgasm in every chapter. Personally, I don’t need it that often, and our genre isn’t all about the sex, but with a line like that, the Post must’ve drawn in a lot of readers, I hope resulting in some extra buyers in the romance section of the bookstore. If any publicity is good publicity, then I’m fine with the jokes and hyperbole—as long as they result in newly hooked readers and more sales. I feel the same way about vampires. People like Msnbc.com reporter Paige Newman can complain all they want about the trend, because as long as they keep bringing attention to it, we’ll get more people watching or reading Twilight and Dead Until Dark just to understand it, and from there they’ll hopefully move onto other paranormal romance and YA authors.
At an art exhibit in a wine bar in Seattle last week, when I described my latest project—a deliciously sexy new vampire series—I heard the comment, “Aren’t vampires dead yet?†Of course they’re dead. That’s the point, I wanted to say. Instead I asked the questioner—the male artist whose work was being exhibited, actually—if he’d seen True Blood. Obviously the answer was no. I don’t know anyone who actually doesn’t like that show. If the questioner had been a woman, and that’s pretty often the case, I would’ve asked if she’d read a good vampire romance yet and then pointed her in the direction of JR Ward. I’m proud to have spread the vampire obsession to at least five or six friends and family members (hi, mom).
But back to sex: how much is too much in a romance novel? A recent PW article discussed the “robust market for paranormal-themed erotica and erotic romance†but from what I’ve heard recently from editors at Avon, Pocket, Harlequin, and Heat, the market for print erotica is actually still pretty conservative (heh heh) compared to romance. (E-book publishers, on the other hand, continue to do well with short-form erotica and long-form erotic romance.) The PW reporter may have been confusing erotica with just really hot romance. Multiple sex scenes per book are the norm now, and I’ve heard it said that “once you go hot, you don’t go back.†There’s no doubt that super sexy, super steamy romances are what’s selling. But erotica? Not unless there’s plenty of emotional pull. Not unless there’s love. A love story. And “story†is a key word here—there always has to be a great plot. How much sex can you take in the romances you read? How much of it can you write?
Two weeks ago, over a lunch meeting with several agent friends for a recap of RWA National, someone said, “It’s a lot easier to tone down sex in a manuscript than it is to amp it up.†That makes sense and I don’t argue with her experience, but I immediately thought of three of my own clients who’ve added sexiness successfully. Two of them write gorgeous, witty Regencies, where dialogue is of the utmost importance. We worked together, and they’re working with their editors, to add heat, and it’s going great. By focusing on the five senses—a look, a glance, a scent, a feeling in the heart or stomach, the touch of a hand or knee—they’ve added just what the market wants. I’d venture to say that while a Regency romance writer should be able to write pithy dialogue and a paranormal romance author should be able to do solid world-building, great sexual tension and hot loves scenes can be taught and improved upon. What say you?
No related posts.
Any writer’s sexual tension and love scenes can be improved upon – including mine, or especially mine.
I think the trick is for each author to approach those moments from the perspective that works for them. There are “subgenres” of sex and what gets me hot may leave you cold.
If you’re into the verbal then focus on what they say – dirty talk, humor during sex, words for the feelings, words for the actions that don’t match the feelings, etc. If you’re into the visual, then describe the grubbing in sizzling, steamy detail.
I’m into the feelings, which isn’t surprising given my charter membership to headhoppers anonymous. For me, the feelings makes those scenes where the heat is kindling AND those scenes where it’s blazing hot enough to scorch the senses.
So I think everyone can be taught and everyone’s sexual scenarios can be improved upon if each author focuses on what works for them. If it’s written the way it comes naturally to the writer, it will feel that way to the reader.
Great post!
I like a variety of heat levels with my romances. I read both sweet and erotica and everything else in between.
Sex scenes for sex scenes sake don’t do it for me. They have to advance either plot or character. Make the scene special for that couple.
If the hero or heroine are into non-traditional love making (like BDSM or spanking or being covered in nutella), I like to know WHY. Otherwise it feels like the author is using it as a gimmick.
Most importantly, the sex has to match the mood of the story. I’ve read steamy sex scenes obviously tossed into what would otherwise be a sweet romance. Those are jarring.
I wrote my first sex scene in my fourth book. I asked my friend Lori Armstrong (aka Lorelei James) to read it and let me know what she thought. Her response: “It’s short.”
Have to ease into these things slowly!
And I’m sorry to say I’m not a fan of True Blood. I really tried to like it, but it just didn’t do it for me. And not because of the vampires. It was just the whole thing, for some reason.
What Kimber said…
I’ve learned a thing or two about this as a blogging book reviewer.
1) Authors should not write hotter than their comfort level just to sell a book. Readers are tired, but they’re smart. They’ll groan and toss and never read you again.
2) A skilled author can woo a reader (myself included) into a hotter book than she’d normally read. If the story and characters are compelling, she won’t be thrown out of the story if it’s hotter than she normally reads.
3) *Readers are also DRIVEN AWAY* by the abundance of Romance novels with multiple graphic sex scenes in them. This is because there are so many now, there are few Romance novels in the New Release section for more sensitive reviewers. As a consequence, they abandon the New Releases and rely on used bookstores and libraries which are populated by books already thoroughly vetted by people they know they can count on to recommend books they’ll like. *The Point Is,* sure, the sexier books are selling well, but *you could be selling* even more books if there were more books for everyone and not just for those who like graphic sex scenes.
4) Readers’ tastes in Heat Level have *many reasons.* Don’t assume all readers who dislike Erotica, for example, are religious prudes. It’s insulting.
5) Vampires may be hot, but they’re not hot all the time with all Paranormal Romance readers. Variety please! A Vulcan once in a while would be nice.
I believe that if you’re not feeling it, you shouldn’t be writing it.
I read a lot of erotic romances and sometimes wonder if the writers get a charge out of their own stories, because the stories I read leave me completely flat. It’s not that I’m looking for titillation. Please… Has everyone forgotten in this great rush for more and more sex that the last (and operative word) in the category is romance?
I keep tossing books against the wall because at the end of the story there’s a lot of fucking going on, but damn all romance, just something tacked on the end as a passing nod to make the story “legitimate” in the eyes of readers and publishers. I write as hot as the next person (MMF urban fantasy…I think that qualifies), and I LIKE it that hot, but for me the emotional content is at least as important as the sex.
So while we’re all worrying about the sex, let’s not forget the romance, huh?
Mary Anne: I completely agree! Thanks for bringing up the dirty talk
Kimber: I feel the same way. I like variety! I’ll go for the short erotica one day and sweet romance or general women’s fiction the next.
Karen: Thanks for talking about how your sex-scene writing evolved. Wow, you don’t like True Blood, huh? Well, I didn’t like Six Feet Under when everyone else loved it, so I can kind of relate. Is it just not believable/convincing enough for you?
Teal: I agree that sometimes the sex scenes can feel gratuitous–it just depends on the book. There can definitely be too much sex in a romance, to the point that it overwhelms the story. I like a good balance.
As for True Blood, it’s not that it’s not believable or convincing enough…I can’t get past the Holly Hunter accent that Anna Paquin has and I really couldn’t get past the sex scenes with the brother. It just seemed like sex for the sake of sex. And very violent.
That said, I like Hung, the new HBO show. Maybe because it’s not as graphic, there is more “romance” and emotion. Does that make sense?
I find that a lot of authors have forgotten how to write sexual tension. I love a great love scene, but it’s the sexual tension between the characters when they’re not in bed that I find most interesting and most enjoyable. A lot of authors send their characters to bed very early in the book, and after that, the tension and sizzle are gone. It’s possible to write a book that has sexual tension after the characters have had sex, but it’s probably more difficult. And without any sexual tension, the book falls flat for me, no matter how often the characters are “doing it”.
Sex without love is like eating chocolate without tasting it.
G.
I totally agree. A great story definitely needs that emotional pull along with the sex scenes.
For many of today’s women, sex is important, but just having it isn’t the be-all/end-all in a relationship, nor does it guarantee a happily-ever-after. There needs to be more. I think that’s why erotic paranormals and erotic historicals are so popular. There’s a lot of inherent conflict in those relationships–both internal and external–even if they have had sex. Sex is dangerous (or scandalous) again.
At a conference once, I heard Deb Werksman from Sourcebooks say a good romance makes you wish you were the heroine and that your husband was the hero (or something to that effect). Since one of my first “crushes” was Chris Sarandon as the vampire in Fright Night and I dreamed of being “Amy,” I’m thrilled with all the vampire romance on the screen and between the covers of a sexy book. It’s like I’m reliving my adolescence again, but in a very grown up way.
The sex scenes should be different before/after the characters fall in love. I usually show relationship development that way. Before characters fall in love, the sex is selfish, all about themselves. As they fall in love, it becomes more and more about the other person.
If the sex scenes are the same on page one as they are on page 300, the character arc is a flatline.
I agree with all of the above. More isn’t always better when it comes to sex in romance novels.
As for True Blood: I don’t know anyone who actually doesn’t like that show.
[Raises hand] Here! The gore outweighs any enjoyment of the story for me. I gave up at the end of the first season after watching most of it with my hand over my eyes. Again, too much of something is never a good thing.
Must say I wish people who aren’t comfortable with love scenes, not write them, would rather a lower heat level, then stilted sex scenes which can ruin a book.
I love my erotic romance and never thought I would say this, but also wish those a bit comfortable with it, would sometimes use the scenes a little less. A bit tired of having the HH jump in bed within the first couple of pages, when knowing each other for a day to a week.
that should have read “who aren’t comfortable with writing love scenes”
And probably should have said ruin the romance for me, not ruin the book per se.
I always wonder about this sex scenes need to advance the plot, it leaves me asking “How?”
How does having a sex scene advance anything?
I don’t need to know the sexual practices of characters in minute detail, and am rather not, but I usually don’t mind those scenes if they are handled tastefully or with charm and are kept short enough that I can flip over them with jumping half of the book.
It’s just that I have a feeling that it all comes down to “having sex” in novels these days, and there’s seldom a emotional pull behind it but only animal drive.
Give me some old fashioned chaste fading out any day.
Karen: You’re so right–I love feeling the tension between characters when they’re not in bed together. In conversation, at dinner, in transit, working on something together, etc.
Genella: Great analogy!
Hi Laurie! I also think Laura Kinsale has written about how a strong hero appeals to our male side and represents the masculinity in us all. Interesting to think about.
Kimber: I do love to watch the love scenes change over the course of the relationship, as the couple gets to know each other better. I have to admit to being a fan of Larissa Ione, even with that intense sex scene in the very first chapter of her first Demonica book. The characters’ love-making change over time.
Jennifer: I can see how the sex and violence could feel too intense. There are cringe-worthy scenes, but I’m still hooked!
Gerd: I think sex scenes advance the plot the way sex advances a relationship…
I’ll just gonna trust on this.
Personally I don’t like too much. I tend to start skipping it if an author includes too much of it. Especially if the scenes are similar and don’t advance the plot. I try to include more than one scene in my books, but I try not to make it the main focus above and beyond the story.