April 15, 2008
Peter-meter
Okay, so one of the times when, as a writer, the dh can help (one of the VERY few times, because I swear he is never as obtuse as when I ask him for writing help) . . . the sex scenes. If I am ever unsure as to how good/bad a sex scene is, I let him read it and er, uh . . . with the title of this post you can tell how I, um, gage it.
I was reading a Aphrodesia book today–no not one of Ames, but hers has been known to melt popcycles 
–and the scenes were VERY . . . well written. To the point I was cursing the fact the dh is in Vegas all week. But I digress…. (A LOT!) It got me wondering how authors “gage” their sex scenes.
Have you ever noticed I ask a LOT of questions–I have had some strange looks and reactions by the questions I ask. . . so let me say this, “No I don’t like girls that way, No I am not allergic to eggs, and No officers I am not trying to mouth off!” 
So anyway . . . I have varying degrees of sex scenes in my books. I have yet to reach the popcycle melting works yet, but I up my writing comfort level every little bit. But there are times where I worry the current level is staid or contrite. Or, god forbid, 
down right boring. As writers, how do you judge your scenes? And as readers how do you know when it’s . . . husband-outta-town-BOB-worthy?
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-ETA: Its Raine’s birthday!
First, I always have to not think about my parents ever reading it. Then I let the characters at it. I move on to the rest of the story. So by the time I get back to the scene I’ve forgotten what I’ve written. Now how I gauge? If I get hot under the color or dear me blush while I’m reading it, it’s a good scene. If I’m thinking in my head this is a sex scene then I attack the characters motivation, check the underlining conflict, question if it feels more like “insert tab A into…” Then I repeat step 1-3.
BTW, Peter-Meter…snort.
lol @ ‘peter-meter’.
If it makes me squirm, has my pulse rate elevated, etc, it works for me. But, not every scene is about that. It can be short and sweet, or funny, or whatever, depends on what you’re trying to accomplish for the plot/characterization. Off hand I’d say I write pretty darn hot. Hot enough that I’ve had peeps ask why I don’t try writing erotic romance. But trying to ‘deliberately’ write hot just doesn’t work for me.
What Jaq said….and I try to make sure that it’s more than just F*cking, that it pushes the plot forward and accomplishes something. Speaking of accomplish……. *poof*
Both Amie and Vanessa write VERY hot stuff. Not a matter of position, how long the scene is, the acrobatics involved, but the way they write the scenes. Verra nice.
It’s a tricky question, because what’s hawt to me may not be to other people. I figure, though, if I start feeling a little warm when reading it, or can’t put it down until I’ve finished, it’s probably doing it’s work.
And thanks, Dennie.
Melissa LOL - my mom has read many of my works–we won’t go into that
that’s a good plan though, unfortunately i will often writer {add sex scene here} and by the time I have come back to it, there is little o no mood to write it…dernitall
Vanessa ~ I think the hotter stuff is a gradual process for me. The first book I ever wrote they did it, but I didn’t really write about it
Cece ~ I know what you mean–it needs to “mean” something for lack of a better term–if you want rabbit screwing there’s always penthouse etc…
Raine~ HAPPY BIRTHDAY (I think Ames added that–but I didn remember… I swear!)
I think that anticipation is a big part of making a sex scene hot, though the scene itself has to be good.
That’s so funny that you have your DH read them! I will quiz DH from time to time on various male POV things. Men are very helpful that way.
Lately, the love scenes I’ve been reading have been blazing hot, to the point where my eyes are beginning to glaze over. I think NY is nudging writers to write hotter. I prefer sex scenes that are character driven, be then lukewarm, hot or sizzling, as long as it fits the story and characters I’m satisfied, but gratuitous sheet scorchers bore me to tears.
Tanya……me too! And I write it