"I'm here baby," he whispers in my ear as his hand slides up the skirt of my expensive dress... I'll say this about my ex; he knows all the right erotic buttons to push. After a few minutes and some close encounters of the erogenous kind, I feel..."
The above scene was one of the milder hot and steamy ones in my private investigator thriller, FOR I HAVE SINNED. I have to admit it was fun to write. For me, I like to see my character Cate Harlow's personal life as integral to the story and definitely not part of the background. She's sexy, she wants the hot and steamy, she has sex.
We all know that sex sells everything from food to vacations to just about everything in-between, so when it comes to writing about sex, it shouldn't be difficult to pull off. The topic of sex in fiction is important for writers. The question is: Can you write sex into your stories in a way that fits the characters, the story, and reader expectation?
From the S & M themed 50 Shades of Grey to the milder but steamy love-story romance novels, most authors will put sexual encounters into their books. It makes sense; the characters are human with all the desires and physical needs all humans have. They eat, they drink; of course they're going to have sex. As a writer you have the option of making the sex scenes as explicit as you want or you can simply imply what happens without description. You also decide the frequency of the hot and steamy between your characters. As long as it fits into your story and your characters' profiles, it will work.
Writing hot and steamy scenes can be done in many ways. The author can make it dramatic by building sexual tension throughout the story line ending in a passionate "we-finally-got-together-let's-rip-our-clothes-off" scene. The tension buildup titillates readers and the final sex scene makes for a satisfying climax, no pun intended.
Another author may want to make add some humor to the hot and steamy while still going for the same satisfying end scene. I've done the humor prelude to sex. A scene of "word-play-foreplay" between Cate Harlow and her ex, Detective Will Benigni, in FOR I HAVE SINNED goes like this:
Cate: "May I remind you that I am one tough woman; you think about that."
Will: "Uh-huh. Okay.' He smiles. "But let me give you a reminder from our past. You were never too tough for me to spank. You think about that."
Cute, funny, filled with sexual innuendoes. Feedback from readers was positive and they told me they liked the "word-play-foreplay" between the characters of Cate and Will.
Other authors, myself included, write the sex scenes as two adults with very healthy libidos and sex drives, thoroughly enjoying erotic encounters with willing partners.
As Diana Galbadon, author of the highly popular Outlander series and an author who is excellent at creating highly erotically charged sexual encounters writes: "A good sex scene is about the exchange of emotions, not bodily fluids. That being so, it can encompass any emotion whatever, from rage or desolation to exultation, tenderness, or surprise."
Perfectly said.
While a good sex scene can enhance a novel, it shouldn't be inserted if it doesn't fit the characters or the storyline. Certainly a gratuitous hot sex scene in the charming popular series, The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency would have been completely out of place. The hot and steamy only works if it's a natural part of the story and the lives of the characters.
The questions concerning the writing of good sex scenes that will engage your readers are few. The first, of course, is how do you go about writing a good, solid sex scene in your book? It goes without saying that imagination, experience, and memory are an author's best bets on that one. What about love; does there have to be love between the two characters engaged in sex? No, love doesn't have to be a component but it pays to note that some of the best, hottest, and steamiest sex scenes ever written had the characters involved on some level of love.
It doesn't pay to over think any scene when you're writing. You do need to plan scenes, the hot and steamy ones included, but mainly what you need to do is get inside your character's mind and know their needs and desires. As I said before, they eat, they drink, they have sex; it's all matter-of-course. Think of your character's sexuality as a process similar to breathing then write your scenes as a natural part of her or him and that's perfectly normal.
Unless you're writing an erotic novel, (and if you are let me know, I have some great ideas and we can get rich together!), the scenes containing hot and steamy are just one of the many parts of your novel. As with any part of writing, make it a part you enjoy writing and let the creative juices flow.
Happy writing!
The second book in the popular Cate Harlow Private Investigation series is now available where all books are sold.
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