Writing Sex Scenes with Life

When you read a sex scene, do you ever think to yourself – how did that writer bring that sex scene to life? If you’re squirming in your seat or feeling the urge to fan your face, the writer has probably made the sex scene leap off the page (whoa, there’s a visual!). So how do we do it? Well, first of all, writing sex scenes involves much more than insert tab A into slot B, and if your sex scenes read like that you’ll soon have your reader either throwing the book across the room or falling asleep.

Take this example:

He pulled her panties off and then spread her legs.

Not very titillating, right? Now let’s try this:

Trailing the pads of his fingers up the sleek muscles in her thighs, he reached for the waistband of her navy silk panties. He started to pull ever so slowly, working the material over her hips and now her legs, reveling in the vision he was uncovering with every downward inch of the material. The scent of her arousal wafted to his nose.

Now, yes, I used more words in general in the second example, but what else did I do? I added senses – he’s feeling the sleek muscles, he’s seeing her body revealed, he’s smelling her unique scent. I also added details – what color panties she’s wearing, where his fingers are, etc.

It’s this “layering” – the adding of senses and details that really make a sex scene come alive. So the next time you read a great scene, ask yourself – how did the author weave this story so effortlessly and how long did it take her to make it sound effortless?

To learn more about Cassandra, visit her website at http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com. To read the first chapter of her current release, Talk to Me, check out http://www.loose-id.com/Talk-to-Me.aspx. You can like her Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraCarr or follow her on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/Cassandra_Carr.