Currently Reading: Finished Rebound by Kellie Kamryn this morning while at the dentist office. LOVED it! Definite Recommended Read! It's an awesome love story about two people caught up in their own ambitions and not being in the same place at the same time, until Fate throws them together again. Definitely pick this up as well as the sequel, The Perfect Score. I was on Ch 4 when my Kindle batteries died. Can't wait to continue! Click the SCP button to the right and search for it!
Last night, at the end of the final word war of the night, I looked at my page number. I'm on page 60, and the ms ends on page 77! Wow....who'da thought turning off the internet and focusing on my edits would make me so productive? LOL!
It's all about determination. And to be honest, when I started this whole editing thing this week, I was already on page 21. So forty pages in three days isn't really all that bad. And I did have a humorous chuckle at myself.
Why?
Imagine you're reading a book by your favorite author. The characters are interacting....sparks are flying...he takes her to his apartment....clothes are removed.....and all of a sudden....
'...spread her
legs and reached down to help him find her entrance. Together they moved toward that wondrous
peak, reached it with an explosive force, then fell away from each other,
panting with total exhilaration."
(needle scratch)
WHAAAAAT?
Do you feel cheated? I feel cheated and I wrote it!
Admittedly, I wrote this ten years ago, before I understood the concept of drawing things out and letting the senses take over while writing. Not wham, bam, thank you ma'am. I guess after getting them to the bed, I tiptoed out of the room and let them have their privacy!
But I could be wrong; I mean, I still find myself skipping over the sex scenes in other books I'm reading. So what about you? Did the above, 3-line sex scene satisfy you, or do you want more description? Depending on what editor I get when this is accepted, she's either going to suggest I add more to it, or scold me for leaving her wanting more.
Go ahead; leave me your opinion. And feel free to laugh about me yada-yada-ing the sex while reading!
10 comments:
Thank you for recommending my series! I'm so glad you liked the books.
I have a friend who doesn't draw out the love scenes but doesn't leave me unsatisfied, LOL The story focuses on the romance rather than long drawn out sex scenes, but if it's a good story, it won't matter. I think how you write it, Molly, is the key not so much the what. If that makes sense... :)
Hey there Molly! Nice piece.
For me, it all depends on a few things:
1. How many times have the characters been together before that point?
2. How much am I in the mood to read about sex?
3. How well have the characters been fleshed out?
4. Does the scene fit the flow?
5. How is the sex described?
Yeah, I know, seems like a lot of points.
Reason for 1 - honestly, I don't care how often 2 characters have sex in a book but I don't need/want every scene to be in explicit detail unless that's what I'm supposed to expect. Besides, sometimes sex scenes take away from other plot points that could be explored further.
Reason for 2 - If I'm not in the mood for that much sex, I'll pick a book that's not advertised as steamy. If it has more than one detailed scene, I tend to put it down and walk away until I'm in the mood for it again.
Reason for 3 - If the characters haven't been fleshed out enough for the scene to make sense, much less get along, I'm not going to like the scene and want to skip it, even if I don't.
Reason for 4 - Sometimes, I find sex scenes that just don't seem to fit the flow of the story, or breaks it up. Honestly, if I'm into a subplot (assuming romance is the main plot) that's moving along, there best be a very good reason it's interrupted by sex, lol! I generally choose not to read books with a lot of gratuitous sex in them, so when I find them when I'm not expecting them, I find them annoying. :)
Reason for 5 - I'm of the use soft words for love scenes and harder words for the impersonal sex and/or implications of rape scenes. The harder words I find to be cold as I'm reading and I tend to detract from them. In fact, often the "steam" fizzles in scenes when harder words are used. That doesn't mean I need my scenes to be flowery, it just means that I differentiate between sex, love and making love. Two characters can be in love, but not actually make love every time they have sex. Sometimes, sex is just sex. I like to be able to tell the difference.
Plus, with sex scenes, if you aren't careful, they can feel repetitive which can detract from the reader's overall enjoyment of a story.
Hope this helps! :)
Kellie, I wish I read your comment before I made mine, lol! What you said is so true! :D
You're both right. When I wrote this, I'd had a steady 'reading diet' of Nora Roberts, Danielle Steele, and Lavryle Spencer. Now I'm reading spicer books (LOVED how Kellie worded her scenes, btw...a nice 'balance' of both!) and at the same time, Jodi Picoult books, where the sex is glossed over.
In this particular scene, my heroine is exploring her options; she's been severely hurt by her longtime boyfriend and is flattered by the attention this particular man is paying to her, in order to win her over. I'll have to see how much detail I give in the final scenes, when she chooses her man. Sort of what I did in Balancing Act....give more detail to the one she ultimately has the better connection with, if that makes any sense!!
Yes, it does! That's what I like - when an author uses every scene to build the character and/or show what a character's thinking.
Hi, Molly. I died laughing. You said we would. LOL And it does seem a bit like "write better here" phrasing which I occasionally do myself. At least, it's caught and fixed--right?
@Vicki: LOL:) I enjoy poking fun at myself, esp when it's something I wrote several years back and can see the humor in it! Yup....definitely a 'go back and see if I can do this better' moment!
All right, I'm anticipating seeing this particular scene very soon under my little red pen. lol
As it stands, I feel a little cheated. However, not much else is needed. It's well written as is. One or two more lines might flesh it better, but it is good.
Like you, sometimes I find myself skipping the heavier sex scenes. Other times I can't get enough. Depends on many things, like Carrie said.
BC Brown Books ~ Paranormal, Mystery, Romance, Fantasy
"Because Weird is Good."
I'm a love scene skipper, so that three-liner would work great for me. It's always about the relationship for me.
Thanks everyone! For now, I'll leave it as is, and see what my editor has to say when she gets to it.
I guess it depends on the 'tone' of the book, and since this is meant to be more sensual than erotic, this fits better. I may add a little more description later; watch for this book to hit the virtual shelves sometime in the fall:)
Post a Comment