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Writing Love Scenes that Sizzle by Deirdre The time has come. Circumstances have led your hero and heroine to a place, both emotionally and physically that they can no longer deny themselves the opportunity to be together. This is IT. Your hero and heroine are about to make love. STOP!! There are a few things you should know before your characters take that proverbial plunge. First off, for a love scene to sizzle, the reader has to want your characters to make love as much as they do. From the first page of your novel, you should have been leading your reader to this moment, through plot, characterization and good, old fashioned sexual tension. If you have shown your reader that this particular hero and heroine are destined for each other, she will cheer their union, both in and out of bed. But how do you craft a love scene, make it memorable for the reader and unique to the couple you have created? As Julie Andrews sang in the classic role of Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music, let’s start at the very beginning ... Basic elements of a love scene The three basic elements of a love scene are: 1. Place--what is their location? 2. Emotion--where are thy in their relationship to one another? 3. Action--what do they do? How do they kiss, caress, respond to each other sexually. Your goal is to blend these elements into a cohesive scene that builds on the plot, conflict, motivation and characterization that you have already established in the novel. Of these elements, emotion is the most important. It is the glue that bonds the love scene together. How do the characters feel about coming together -- particularly the first time they make love? Are they shy? insecure? brazen? driven primarily by lust or culminating a love they already acknowledge? What the characters do and where they do it is not as important as why they do it and how it changes them and their relationship afterward. For a love scene to be ultimately fulfilling for the reader, it must point up some change in the relationship between the hero and heroine. Lovemaking should either deepen their commitment, demonstrate insecurities or incompatibilities, show shifting motivations or goals or some other purpose set up by the author. Lovemaking without purpose or goal can seem like a voyeuristic interlude to readers, rather than a logical progression of the story. You should not be able to lift the love scene from the manuscript and have the story remain essentially unchanged. Feelings .... As in every other part of your story, the action is filtered through the emotions of the viewpoint character. When at all possible, my preference is to depict the entire love scene in one character’s view rather than switching back and forth. The most important reason for this predilection is that it can be confusing for the reader to know exactly who is thinking and feeling what. At this most intimate moment, you want your reader to be with you every step of the way without distraction. When crafting your love scene, don’t be afraid to show strong emotion. Don’t be afraid to show humor, either. Sex between the hero and heroine does not have to be an earnest, sober undertaking if it doesn’t fit your story. There are as many ways to approach a love scene as there are love scenes. Let your characters and your story guide you to the right mix of humor, pathos, drama and passion. Details, details As the saying goes -- the devil is in the details. And so is the love scene. What do your characters see, hear, taste, smell, as well as touch? You want to envelop the reader in the same sensations, the same aura that ensnare your hero and heroine. However, there is no need to reinvent the wheel when it comes to describing sexual arousal and response. Mother Nature has provided an excellent blueprint for every sexual scenario. As humans, we experience a variety of sensations when we are aroused. Adrenaline and endorphins rush through our bloodstream. We perspire, our respiration increases, our pupils dilate, internal juices flow. During lovemaking, we gasp, we purr, we moan, groan and sigh. We move against each other in ways designed to heighten our own experience and that of our partner. We use our whole bodies, to touch, to explore, to arouse, to respond to pleasure. Know and use natural sexual responses to heighten sensuality in your scenes. To euphemise or not to euphemise Which brings us to the dreaded euphemism -- at least, I dread them. However, many writers do feel more comfortable using euphemisms than the less mellifluous Anglo-Saxon words for sexual body parts. However, there is the danger of slipping from the sensual into the silly. One euphemism that had me laughing until I cried was “the triangle of her femininity.” All I could picture was a musical triangle that the hero would ring with his “stick.” Not the reaction the author intended me to have, I’m sure. My personal preference is to be as realistic as possible, describing bodily parts rather than naming them something specific. Remember, you can get a lot of mileage out of implying action rather than stating it flat out. That leaves the reader to fill in the blanks to her own satisfaction. Above all, you must enjoy writing a love scene for your reader to enjoy it as well. Remember, romance is fantasy. Let your imagination be your guide as you navigate your characters through the most intimate experiences of their lives. But don’t be afraid to leave out anything that you feel uncomfortable writing, even if you think it’s expected. For example, don’t include oral sex if it doesn’t ring your own personal bell. Readers, like lovers, have a way of picking up on it when you’re faking. And if all else fails, think of what you’d do if you got Denzel Washington (or the hunk of your choice) alone and willing in the confines of your boudoir. Now that’s sizzling!! Have the Writing Gods Forsaken Me? (a/k/a Do I Have Writer’s Block? Do You?)By Bonita Lee Penn July 2006 “I know you didn’t bring me all the way down here, buy me these skimpy bikinis, and you going to be staring at some other bitch all day.” She screamed, as I felt a stone hit me in the back of the head. I turned and was on the verge of slapping the crap out of Carlotta, when, she, walked by. All I could do from having my lips drop down to the hot sand was to stare, she was the most finest woman I’ve seen in a long time. There was something familiar about her, and I’m not talking about them four big azz hood bodyguards following her. She wasn’t no celebrity, as I knew her from the hood. I’ve seen her, but I can’t remember where, or more importantly, in this game, with who. “Ouch, girl you better stop throwing stones at me, or your azz will be swimming back to Those are the last words in my manuscript I wrote before the sickness got a hold of me. It's a painful and demoralizing sickness and can be humiliating and worst of all, it doesn't make any sense. I don’t understand, the doctors don’t know the cause; the researchers can’t find a cure. What am I to do? I must complete my manuscript, I need a cure, has anyone found a cure? Since an antidote has not yet been developed for my sickness, I decided to go the route of self-healing. I placed my list of symptoms in Google, the search came back with more than enough helpful suggestions, when I clicked each they came up with the exact prognosis, I have Writers’ Block. I was relived to know I wasn’t the only person inflicted with this sickness. Some of you reading this, at this very minute, may have the same sickness. If so, read on, I have pulled several helpful articles dealing with Writer’s Block, they have assisted me back on the road to recovery, I am feeling better, I feel like writing again. By time you read all the articles I’m sure you will be feeling as good as I. Let’s start from the beginning, the onset of the sickness. One evening I sat down to continue writing my manuscript, at first I thought nothing of it. It’s not unusual for me re-read what I wrote the night before, but this time I was different, I kept re-reading, without writing new pages. I had a feeling something wasn’t right. I went to type in words, my fingers would type letters, then my finger would press repeatedly on the delete key and the page would be empty. I gave up and thought, “Ok, I’m a little tired tonight, tomorrow, I’ll write.” Tomorrow night came, the next night, the next and the next, and the computer screen was still blank. I became even more frustrated, and more angry and then just plain confused. A talented person like myself, a great writer with a vivid imagination, someone who always has words of inspiration for others and now, I can’t find words to help myself? Pitiful, that must be me, a pitiful writer, no, a wanna-be-writer. I put up a great facade to everyone, but when it comes to backing up my words on paper, I’m a fake. I spent so much time beating myself up, telling myself my writing is not good enough, who wants to read this crap, it’s stupid, it’s not interesting, I’m wasting my time, I’m a fake. To deal with these personal frustrations, I spent my time focusing and assisting other writers. I now lived my dreams through the success of others. Oh, my goodness I’m a failure, the writing gods have forsaken me. Oh, someone please tell me why they have forsaken me? Why Me?
Click here to read entire article.
Equally well known as the Hero is the Villain. And just as the Hero is actually made up of several distinct qualities, so is the Villain. In fact, for every quality the Hero possesses, the Villain embodies a counterpart.
And, of course, just as there is a difference between being heroic and being a Hero type in a story, so too is there a difference between being villainous and being a classic dramatic Villain. In real life, we cast all kinds of people as Villains because they are mean, hurtful, or self-serving at the expense of others. But that is only one quality of the story Villain, who must fulfill other very specific dramatic functions as well.
In this article, we'll explore the make-up and nature of the Villain type, and define exact what qualities it must possess.
"Curses, foiled again!"
When we think of classic story Villains, it conjures up the image of the evil and sinister cad, with a black heart beneath his black clothing, taking perverse pleasure in the pain and suffering he can inflict on others. But that image is just a stereotype, focusing more on the personality of the character than its dramatic function.
In truth, the sadistic nature of such a character is not at all a necessary part of the dramatic Villain, just as being a "Do-Gooder" is not an essential part of the dramatic hero. To be sure, the Villain is a bad guy, since he either wishes to cause harm or to benefit himself even though it causes harm to other. But to revel in that pain - that is the mark of a Villain who has become melodramatic. In a similar manner, a Hero who is not just a Do-Gooder but carries it to the point of being a "Goodie-Two-Shoes" becomes a melodramatic Hero. So, let's put the melodrama aside for the moment, and consider the Villain as a character with very specific functions in a story. The Villain Breaks Down So what is it, then, that defines the story Villain? No matter what other elements you may wish to include in that definition, there are four key elements that absolutely must be present. The dramatic Villain must be:
1. The Antagonist
You are likely familiar with three of these four terms, but the concept of the Influence Characters may be new to you. In fact, though the other character types are commonly recognized by name, their qualities presented here might surprise you.
The Antagonist The Antagonist has but one function - to prevent the Protagonist from achieving the goal. This might be accomplished by defeating the Protagonist, or just by beating him or her to the prize. There doesn't necessarily have to be any hatred involved, or even any emotion at all. The Antagonist might have the greatest respect for the Protagonist, but just not agree with what he is trying to achieve.
The Influence Character The Villainous counterpart to the Hero's quality of being the Main Character is the Influence Character. While the audience or reader sees things from the Main Character's point of view, the Influence Character represents the opposing moral outlook, alternative view, or contrasting paradigm. In short, the crux of the message is argued between the Main Character and the Influence Character. It is the function of the Influence Character to provide the strongest temptation for the Hero to change his point of view. Now, with stereotypical Heroes and Villains, the Main Character point of view held by the Hero will be the correct one, and the Influence Character point of view held by the Villain will be wrong. But this doesn't have to be the case and, in fact, it is often swapped around the other way.
For example, in Part One we looked at how the Protagonist and Main Character functions had been split into two characters in To Kill a Mockingbird. Similarly, in that same story the Villain's functions as Antagonist and Influence Character are split. To recap, Mockingbird's Atticus is the Protagonist, attempting to defend a black man wrongly accused of raping a white girl. The Main Character, however, is Scout - Atticus' young daughter. The father of the white girl, Bob Ewell, is the Antagonist, doing everything he can to prevent Atticus from achieving the goal. But the Influence Character is Boo Radley, the mysterious Boogey Man who lives in a basement down the street.
Scout is prejudiced against Boo without ever meeting him because all the neighborhood legends cast him as a monster. But Boo is actually the children's protector. And in the end, it is through his actions that her prejudiced point of view is changed.
The Second Most Central Character Sounds like a mouthful, but the Second Most Central Character is the star of the show, save for the Hero. Just as people rubber-neck at auto-accidents, their attention is often drawn to the potential for disaster interjected by the Villain. As a result, it is sometimes difficult to keep a particularly charismatic Villain from stealing the
As with the Hero, the nature of being Central is partially created by the amount of Media Real Estate vested in that character, and the intensity with which it is drawn or portrayed.
A Bad Guy Once again, being a Bad Guy doesn't necessarily mean the Villain wallows in the thrill, but simply that it is his or her intent to cause trouble for others or to benefit oneself at the expense of others. There can be an infinite number of reasons, motivations, or excuses for being bad, but the bottom line is not why the Villain does it, or even how he or she feels about it, but simply that this character is bad.
The Classic Villain The classic story Villain, then, attempts to thwart the Protagonist, represents an alternative point of view and forces the Main Character to grapple with a moral dilemma. He or she is the second most memorable character and does damage to others, often for personal gain. This combination of qualities makes the Villain a formidable foe for the Hero. It also makes him or her truly melodramatic. That is because everything that opposes the Hero centers on this character, and all important counter-dynamics flow from it.
Selling your book will be ten times easier as soon as you can accept this one, think-out-of-the-box strategy: your book doesn't have to be inside a bricks-and-mortar store to sell copies. Too many self-published authors get caught up in trying to figure out how to get distribution which will get their book into big box stores such as Borders and Barnes & Noble. The process can be expensive and daunting. But these days the best grass-roots marketing that can sell tons of books happens on the internet. Using a few tricks of the trade you could reach a wider audience, sell more books and do it while spending less money!
Create a Website That Does More Than Look Good
Enlist Others to Assemble a Special Offer Package
I'll give you an example so you can see how this works. I recently participated in a special offer for Christine Martinello to promote her new book, The Momager
Use Many Tools
E-newsletters, like this one, are a great way of establishing rapport with your readers and keeping them up to date on what's coming next. I recently signed up
Don't overlook your email signature. I still get people interested in my book just because they saw it mentioned in my email signature. Keep it simple:
Show Up in Many Places One last note: Because the internet is practically limitless in its reach, it's easy to get overwhelmed by all the marketing possibilities. Take a deep breath
Author and Writing Coach Sophfronia Scott is "The Book Sistah" TM. Get her FREE REPORT, "The 5 Big Mistakes Most Writers Make When Trying to Get Published" and her FREE online writing and publishing tips at http://www.TheBookSistah.com
An author gets the spark of an idea. Then the story’s black moment streaks the sky like lightning, and the poignant or exciting ending unfolds in the author’s mind. But what happens in the "sagging" middle—the fifty or eighty thousand words between the beginning and the end? This is one of the most profound and disturbing questions for every fiction writer. memorable story.
When I first started working on my manuscript, there were bits and pieces of the characters' history that needed to be revealed. The story starts off with action, conflict, confrontation, denial, of course someone being hurt. The character a successful stable and very responsible woman, ups and run away to parts unknown. The readers first question may be, How did she end up making such an irresponsible decision? And why did she decide to go to these particular places? Is she running away, or is she taking a break? What happened to her that lead her from being a stable successful and responsible woman to a woman running here and there trying to hide from her denial? And what in the world is she deny?
For my story to be successful these questions would have to be answered. This is where the Backstory comes in to play. I was warned that writing a backstory is not as easy as it may seem and it may not come off as planned. The backstory isn't just a set of incidents to explain the situation. It's really a story that took place before my main story began. My backstory would highlight several traumatic (good and bad) events in my characters' lives that influences them to make certain decisions.
I don't have one backstory, I have several. Each is placed strategically throughout the book as not to confuse the reader, but to give them relief, now knowing what and why. They each come at those times in the story when the action has died down a little, and gives the reader time to catch their breath in between the story action.From reading my manuscript I feel my backstory is successful, the real test will come when my Editor reads it. Until then let's just say it works.
For another view of writing the backstory, click on here to read Back Story: Too Much, Too Soon? By Cynthia VanRooy
Dialogue Tags:
"There are two main school of thoughts about the use of dialogue tags. One states that dialogue tags in general, and dialogue tags that use the word "said" in particular, are repetitive and annoying. The other states that the word "said" is invisible--or at least unobtrusive--and therefore not a problem. "
While reading over your manuscript there are many easy self-editing tips to follow, such as removing the majority of the times you used the word "that"; check for too many italics, exclamation points; the use of too many metaphors, too much profanity. Also make sure you are using the right form of the word, such as; their/there/they're; its/it's and who's/whose.
At one time I had a long list of don'ts, I was so busy looking for the don'ts I started second guessing every word I wrote. Which brings us to today's tip, the use of Dialogue Tips. He said, She said, They said, We all said something or other. There are two main thoughts regarding dialogue tags, one-they're repetitive and annoying; the second-the word "said" is invisible and it's no problem, even if they are used in every other sentence.
I found a great many saids in my manuscript, I revised some to say, "she looked at the phone while it rang and thought to herself, I should throw that phone out the window" instead of saying, she said to herself, "i need to throw that phone out the window." I tried my best not to use the word said. After reading over hundreds of pages, certain words begin to stick out, and "said" was one of them. You see there was nothing wrong with all those He said, She said.
To read more on the using of Dialogue Tags, click on these articles Invisible Said and Using Said in Creative Writing. As the author says to each his own.
Your favorite book store is having a 2 for 1 sale, you know you can't pass up a sale, especially when your most recent dates have been a good book and a tall hot cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows. But, darn it, you left your book list at home. So what's a girl or guy to do? Do you run to your choice of sections (sci-fi, drama, comedy, politics, cooking, self-help, black author section)? Or do you opt to wonder up and down, each, and every, row, reciting 1,000 titles and praying you recognize one?
How do you choose a book? By the Title? By the Cover? By the placement on the shelf? Look for familiar authors, then deduct the books of their you read, and if a new one is on the shelf? Or, do use your cell and call a friend, of course, that'll only work if your friend has similar reading taste.
Picking out the right book could be as hard as picking out the right outfit. I have a routine for choosing clothes when I don't know what I'm looking for. First, I find the color, then I feel the fabric, next I check out the style, lastly, I see if my size is available. I everything is in order, I'll try it on. If it looks good, it's a buy.
I choose my books in a similar fashion, first I find an interestingTitle, I check out the cover, next I read the book's summary or if it has short reviews on the back cover. The title is the first thing that grabs my eye. As a writer my biggest problem has been choosing Titles for my books, as a poet, I've hard time choosing titles for my poems. I can get away without using a title for a poem (calling it my "style"), I'm sure I couldn't get away with no title for my book.
If you're experiencing the same difficulities in choosing a Title for your manuscript or if you feel the title is not important, read the article What Every Writer Needs to Know About Titles by Julie K. Cohen (click here) Hopefully this will offer you more suggestions on choosing that Oh, So Important Title.
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