I was given the honor of being one of 24 writers given a chapter of Alison Kent’s new book, Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance, to review. Kent gave me Chapter 22, ‘The Marriage of Fantasy and Reality.’ Kent’s book focuses on applying all aspects of craft to erotic romance, but it also addresses fiction in general. Writing about sex can be awkward. Yet, most romance sub-genres contain some level of it—some are even based on it. Most genres outside of romance also contain some romance and, with romance comes sex.
When writing sex scenes, questions writers face include:
- How much sex to add?
- How realistic should the scenes be?
- How do you deal with sexual realities such as wet spots and contraception?
These are only some of the topics covered in Chapter 22 of Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. Kent addresses the subject of writing about sex head-on and discusses when and when not to deal with the realities (or inconveniences) of sex.
Kent acknowledges that many readers choose romance novels to escape into fantasy and, because of that, writers need to be aware of what details are relevant and will move the story forward.
Her writing is conversational and to-the-point. Kent has a healthy matter-of-fact attitude that will help any writer understand how to write the best sex scenes for his or her story. Scattered throughout the chapter are quotes from various authors telling how they write sex scenes. Authors quoted in Chapter 22 include Alyssa Brooks, Cheyenne McCray, Shiloh Walker, and Saskia Walker. The book is also sprinkled with little boxes that contain comments and tips from Kent.
I’ve only read one chapter of Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance and it was very insightful and helpful to my writing. Based on reviews of other chapters, the book sounds like a must have for any writer’s bookshelf. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy!
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance is due to be released September 5, 2006 and can be pre-ordered at Amazon.
Links to reviews of other chapters:
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 5
Chapter 9
Chapter 20
Chapter 23
Alison Kent is a best-selling sensual romance author. Her books include The Beach Alibi, Larger Than Life, and The Bane Affair.
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GIVE-AWAY
I’ve actually pre-ordered two copies of Complete Idiot's Guide to Writing Erotic Romance. The extra copy will be a give-away to someone who comments to this post. I want to know: what aspect of writing sex scenes do you find hardest to write, and why?
Deadline for entries is September 5 at midnight.
Update: Check out the profound writer who answers John Baker's 'Five Questions.'
It’s 1:08 a.m. when Carrie’s car breaks down on the highway somewhere north of Lake Superior. It’s dark, the road is quiet, her cell phone is down, and she is alone. She took off from Toronto that morning, running from grief over the death of her boyfriend, and unable to cope with the truth about the events that led to it. The relief Carrie feels as a truck pulls up soon turns to fear after its driver offers her a lift. Frank, her would-be rescuer, is a line painter, putting lines on the road “to stop people from being killed.” But after Carrie gets in the truck, she starts to realize that this will be the road trip of her life—a trip of terror, transformation and forgiveness.
