THE WRITE CLUB: 10 GUIDES FOR WRITING SEX SCENES
Sex scenes are hot, but you could as well easily lose your readers if you do it wrong. But what is the right way to do it? Wouldn't its mere presence on the page be a hit already? Nope. Nopity. No. If you must include a sex scene in your book, it has to be done right. It has to do the job of exciting your reader for the climax, of the story, that is. These are 10 points to note when doing it (writing sex scenes, that is) to make it worth the reader's time.
- Be natural as much as possible. Don't create unimaginable actions or impossible, unimaginable scenarios. Of course, your characters are not adult movie professionals, let them do it like regular humans will. You can make it spontaneous but let it flow like normal circumstances would allow.
- The buildup is just as important as the sex itself. In the paragraphs leading to the actual sex, drop some hints of a likely action. You mustn't be explicit about this but let the environment, dialogues or events somehow suggest to the reader some actions might happen. This way, you get your reader either begging for it to happen or wishing it doesn't depending on which character they're rooting for and what the circumstance is. The point is, build up to the sex smoothly while exploiting the suggestion of sex for suspense.
- Let the character relationship guide you. What's the relationship between the characters? Are they dating already? Are they married? Are they neighbours who had a fight in the elevator on their first meet but romantic tensions begin to build over time? Is it a one night stand situation? This will guide you into how the flow will proceed from advances to orgasm. With the existing relationship in mind, you better judge what that relationship allows and accommodates so that you can be as realistic as possible. You could possibly be thinking reality is boring and readers want some unbelievable stuff. All I have to say is, except it's an erotica or a script for an adult movie, make your sex scene relatable to regular folks.
- Allow the readers into the heads of your characters. Let the readers know what the character is thinking and feeling. If she is wishing he touches her somewhere, let the reader know, if he feels an explosion building up in his spine, let the reader know. When a reader can know the thoughts of the characters in a sex scene, they are more engrossed, which is the whole point of the scene.
- Delay reaction for the sake of suspense. This is mostly for the build up to the sex. As the lady is giving signals which your reader is picking up, it would be nice if the man isn't picking it up as fast as the reader. Let him be fooling around for a bit while your reader keeps anticipating what will happen next. Let's say the single mom who lives next door asks our hot male gym instructor to let her join him to watch Big Brother Naija in his apartment because her cable subscription is out. She comes without her child and wearing hot pants. As the show goes on, she's dropping a truck load of signals but our bro is taking the show too seriously to notice she just casually left her hand on his knee after laughing to something not even vaguely funny. Readers who have been rooting for this ship will kill him. This is what you want, isn't it?
- Try surprise too. On the other hand, when the reader doesn't see the sex coming, there could be some good there. If the circumstances are right, sex between two characters not having any sort of romantic build up could startle the reader into taking close note of them. You could use this to introduce a twist to the plot. This is what make-up sex exists for. A couple just had a fight that the reader thinks would be their end. Then they have sex. Damn.
- Use metaphors like a king. In Broken Cloud, the kissing scene between Prince Ikan and Sari, I was trying to show the intensity without being too forceful so I went, "He's a dying king of the world and inside her tongue is the last drop of elixir in the world." Then I left it for the reader to imagine what he would do with her tongue. Metaphors are a great tool to bring your reader into your character's head without making it seem like you invited them. They get into it thinking they discovered it themselves and path themselves on the back for it.
- Utilize body language. Not every mood or feeling can or should be expressed in words. Use body languages like a cock of the head, a deep sigh, curling of toes or an intense stare to express emotions. Your readers are smarter than you think, they will get the message more than you expect.
- Senses are most welcome to play. Let all the senses of your sexing characters be active for the sake of your readers. They want in on the action more than you know and the only way they can enjoy it with the characters is if they can see what our single mom neighbour is seeing, smell the perfume on his neck when bro finally leans over, hear her moan when he grabs her waist, feel the roughness of his palm on her thighs and taste the salty sweat that drops on his lips from her chin. Without these senses, sex is pointless, and so is writing it.
- Sex complicates or at least changes things. Let that also reflect in your plot. When that bro eventually picks our single mom's signal and does the do, things won't be the same ever again between them. She could want it to repeat itself same time tomorrow and he might be expecting a more intended guest which leaves him in an awkward position. She might feel cheap for making the move and then want to set the record straight, thereby acting strange when bro calls to remind her the show is up again the next day. You see, humans are quite a complicated entity and nothing messes that complication up quite like sex. Let your sex scene disrupt things or advance things or shatter things in your plot, otherwise you've done it for nothing.
What can I say, writing about sex is like having sex, you either do it right and be glad you did or fuck it up and be embarrassed about it forever. I hope the next time you make your poor characters do it, you make it worth their time.