Sex Scenes

Do you prefer the author only vaguely hinting at sex (ie She spent the night at his house), a toned down sex scene (He took off her blouse as quick as he could), or something incredibly descriptive (Engorged)?

edited 9th Jan '11 9:01:25 PM by Carbonpillow

The second option, usually. Something brief, maybe one or two sentences, that makes it clear what they're doing without going into lots of detail.

Depends on the work: if the relationship has no real relevance or is just 'there' then the first option is good.

If the relationship is important to the plot - or the character - in some way, then the toned down one.

There is no reason for the 3rd option unless it's a 'bodice ripper'. a.k.a. something I never read.

I'm actually with Sand on that one... didn't think of them separately before. eh.

edited 9th Jan '11 9:09:14 PM by StolenByFaeries

Most scenes of passion I create focus mostly on the foreplay. The actual sex turns me off.

Depends on what mood I'm in

Unless the author is writing an erotica or something, then I really don't care for explicitness if it detracts from the story. If it adds something to the work then I don't mind.

edited 9th Jan '11 9:17:03 PM by snailbait

it depends on the kind of story/the context of the sex. As far as writing them myself, I can never do it and feel comfortable. I either feel like a sleaze or like a personal part of my mind is on display for all to read. Or a little of both.

I made a full on sex scene in Viandas. It looks like Fetish Fuel, but later it turns full on into Fan Disservice when its revealed the woman was sexually manipulating the hero into being her attack dog due to a Wounded Gazelle Gambit.

edited 9th Jan '11 9:33:40 PM by NickTheSwing

A lot of posters in other forums seem to say option 3 is best avoided in most situations, though that's just the impression I get. I have no hard data or polls to go off of.

I say option 3, all the way. Definitely my favorite, no matter the genre or tone. I find graphic sex scenes entertaining no matter how well they're written (though the very best and very worst are the most enjoyable, for different reasons).

Sure, like any other topic or scene type it can be gratuitous, but that's no reason to discount it on the whole.

There is no reason for the 3rd option unless it's a 'bodice ripper'.

I disagree with this sentiment. IMO, just about any subject matter can be worth exploring in any genre. It's one of the things that makes genre fun—filtering aspects of existence and human life through so many differing lenses. Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Western, whatever. Like an orgy, the more the merrier.

I think it's possible to use graphic sex in such a way as to show how the lovers relate to one another, or how one lover feels about the other. In fact, the only story I've written that I feel is magazine-worthy has a level of sadomasochistic content that would currently be considered unprintable. I also don't believe, as some people seem to, that sex can only be acceptable if it's Fan Disservice—we don't necessarily need to hear that the guy hasn't bathed in so long that his crotch smells like mushrooms.

Quoting here, because it's becoming more and more difficult to find on the net:

On the Subject of Penises By Sailor Jim Johnston

edited 1st Jun '14 7:47:34 PM by Madrugada

boingy, boingy, boingy

I will never unsee some of those mental images, and for that I thank you.

On topic... one. One all the way. I really don't care. Two if it's integral to character development. Three will cause me to skip pages until it's done. Blah blah, tight hot lovetunnel, blah blah angry red cock, blah blah and they came together screaming their passions. /yawn.

Sorry, I didn't mean to imply you were off topic. I was being off topic for being all "lol moonwalking penises lol"

edited 10th Jan '11 9:59:02 AM by Bur

It actually was kind of On-topic — as silly as it is, it's also a pretty clear exploration of the problems inherent in writing a style-three sex scene, and a good example of why style-one and style-twos are so much more common.

I will admit, I also think it's a great piece of comedy writing and I love inflicting sharing the mental images it conjures up.

edited 10th Jan '11 9:21:20 AM by Madrugada

Best not to describe the physics in too much detail — it'll veer off into something sort of Body Horror if you're not so versed in handling nuances.

i.e.: A big, bouncing, 19-inch piece of manflesh doesn't sound so appetizing now, does it? "Too beaucoup!!! NOOOOO!!!!!" (As much as size matters anyway.)

For me, I prefer some passion in my love scenes. Too often I find people just creatively describing how Rod A is jammed into Hole B, as if that would get readers on.

edited 10th Jan '11 10:12:53 AM by QQQQQ

^^^^^Funny, and a damn fine piece of writing. It illustrates the challenge of picking the best verbs and nouns in order to create great fiction and avoid invoking Narm, or unintentionally hilarious or disturbing mental images.

But copping out is copping out. And there's more than one way to write a great sex scene without describing the appearance and boinginess of various body parts, just as IKEA Porn is not the only option. Character emotions, actions and reactions are probably better, more involving, and benefit from explicit description. Cutting to a shot of a curtain billowing in the night breeze, or the characters making coffee the morning after is not necessary if that's not what one wants to do. You could write a very explicit and passionate scene and never once describe any part of their body. Overly describing any body parts, sexual or not, in action scenes is typically awkward, I think.

edited 10th Jan '11 10:46:09 AM by MildGuy

At first I did a Spit Take when I read the initials at the bottom of that thing Maddie posted but then realized it wasn't my handle initials.

edited 10th Jan '11 11:55:45 AM by SandJosieph

Oh, geez. I didn't even think of that. Sorry, SJ.

Mild Guy, what you're talking about is sort of a type-2.5 — more explicit than "he took off her dress..." but far less explicit than full-on porn-style explicit. Me? Outside of porn-porn, I don't want to read type-3. It virtually never adds anything to the story, and often detracts from it.

edited 10th Jan '11 12:08:02 PM by Madrugada

@OP: It depends on the genre of the work and the skill of the author.

edited 10th Jan '11 2:39:11 PM by LeighSabio

You know, I've always heard that sex is most interesting in a novel (outside of pwp) when it's not actually sex — metaphors, basically. The actual act is boring.

Bad Lines to Say during Sex...

"My god! The zombies are coming in through the window!"

My favorite sex scene is from The Ashes of Eden (allegedly by William Shatner, but pretty much all the prose came from a more talented pair of writers).

It runs something like "They made love then. For the first time, for the hundredth time, it didn't matter."

The one time I've had characters have sex, I pretty much cut to the next chapter just before anything happened, but on a romantic note.

I loved the scene all the way up until the time I actually had to write it, when all sorts of Fridge Logic kicked in. They lived in a virtual reality world, but it was important to one of them to do it for real, so he came to her interface pod. The exchange about how she'd never done that in Reality seemed romantic to me until I realized that raised virginity implications I didn't want to go into, and then suddenly my internal censor is taunting me about describing hymen blood mixing in the water of her sensory deprivation tank.

@OP: I prefer sex scenes to be just like other scenes in a novel or movie: well-executed, believable and relevant to the plot. Nothing takes me out of a story (particularly a novel) like a badly-written or tacked-on sex scene.

Story sex is just like real sex - it's only titillating or moving when it means something.

EDIT: Mad, I just noticed your post. I spit beer on my screen. I love you. You have enriched my life.

edited 10th Jan '11 8:56:12 PM by drunkscriblerian

XD, Madrugada that example was priceless!

It does bring up a good point, that it's incredibly hard to write a sex scene and make it erotic and not turn it into a hilarious comedy.

edited 10th Jan '11 8:20:42 PM by MarkVonLewis

I like a few sentences to convey their deep and abiding love for each other and make it clear that they are indeed having sex.

@ Madrugada: My eyes just lost their virginity.

I first read that probably close to ten years ago, and I still can't get past "sounds somewhat he owns a badly named seeing-eye dog. 'Sit, Hard Manhood ... good boy.' " without breaking into giggles. And of course it has carried over to every bodice-ripper or romance I read, since it's a guarantee that they'll use "hard manhood" at least once.