Sunday, June 19, 2016

Guest Post with author Nikki Steele

How to write a great sex love scene by Nikki Steele

Hi, I’m Nikki. I like to read about strong heroines, dashing billionaires, and romance with the saucy bits left in. So naturally, I write steamy billionaire romance!

It turns out, writing a good love scene is hard (pun intended). I mean, anyone can do the mechanics – bit A inserts into part B (and if you’re into the more kinky stuff, parts C, D & E as well), but to write something with feeling and emotion? That takes work.

There’s an art to writing love scenes, and I’d like to share some tips with you. I won’t say that I’m an expert but I have discovered a couple of secrets during my travels. Please be aware though that the contents from here on down are NSFW – there’s some saucy bits!

It’s all in the Mind

First things first. A good love scene is all about emotion. It’s about what the heroine (or hero) is thinking and experiencing. Sure, things are happening on the outside, but it’s what’s inside (the mind) that counts. Take for example this passage from my short story A Song for One.

I ground myself into his leg, frantic at the feel of his tongue against my throat and hands upon my breasts.

He didn’t release me. Instead, he sucked the nape of my neck, kneading my breasts and then pinching my nipples. I ground upon him harder and harder, crying out with a raw voice until suddenly I stiffened, gripping him with all my might. I shuddered, trembling, as a wave of emotion swept through me. My heart stopped beating and the whole world narrowed down to just the two of us, and the convulsions I could feel inside.

When it was over, I didn’t open my eyes. I was mortified—I couldn’t believe that had just happened to me. He hadn’t even taken my clothes off! What must he think? What type of person just went and did something like I’d just done?
Yet, he still kissed me. And his member was still firm—harder, even, than before. He flexed his hips ever so slightly, grunting as his mouth moved down to my chest. He didn’t hate me. He wanted more.
So did I…
The physical act is important—without it we have nothing to base the emotion on—but the last two paragraphs, where we learn what the heroine is thinking, are what the scene so interesting.

Watch Your Language

Did you notice my choice of language in the above scene? No swear words, no dirty words, no expletives. They have their place, for sure, so I’m not saying here don’t use them. But be aware that how you choose to say something reveals a lot about the character that those words are describing. My heroines are all sweet, and my heroes are all charming. For me, the swear words are reserved for the bad guys.

Be Original

The first sex scene I ever wrote came easily (is there a pun there? I don't know). The second was easy to write too. But then my third, and my thirtieth book came along, and things got harder and harder (another pun?).

While writing any old scene is easy, writing something unique becomes harder each time you put pen to paper. I try to be original with my scenes. It takes extra effort, but I think occasionally the practice is rewarded. Like in this scene from my The Billionaire and the Best Friend box set, where the hero discovers, of all things, clothes pegs…

What? My eyes flew open to see him pick up the clothespins. He dangled them before me. Was he going to do laundry?
He saw my confusion and pressed one open, letting it spring closed with a sharp snap. My eyes widened. Oh. They were for me.

He pressed one open again, moving it to the soft skin just above my left nipple. He puckered a fold of it between thumb and forefinger, then…
“Oh God!” I groaned. The clothespin clamped onto my skin, pinching tightly. He placed another, an inch to the side. Then another, slowly moving in a circle around my areola. The sensation was… hot. The pain was producing pleasure, a deliciousness that was generating an ache of a different sort. A giddy rush swept over me, endorphins flooding my body. Each clothespin pinching my flesh was an anchor to reality. A reminder of the body I lived in. A reminder of the feelings I was capable of.
He held up the next in the series. “Do you know where this goes?” I bit my lip and nodded…
Little Details Count

Yes he’s handsome and she’s breathless. Yes you need to be giving an overview of what’s going on. But it’s the little things that make love scenes believable – biting the lip when she’s excited, or the rough scratch of his stubble on her chin when they kiss.

Make it Relevant

Make the love scene relevant to the story. A sex scene just for the sake of a sex scene feels wonky. You’ve all encountered it – you’re reading along nicely and then -bam!- a random scene hits you out of nowhere, and deep down you know it’s only there because the author knows they’re expected to write it.

A great love scene has a reason for being there. It furthers the story. And I don’t just mean ‘She’s being blackmailed,’ or ‘he has to get her pregnant to protect her from aliens,’ (seriously, I recently read a book like that).

A great love scene furthers the plot through how the characters feel and act. If he treats her rough, does it scare her? If he’s a bad boy but plays nice in the bedroom, how does this make him act around his friends? A great love scene has ramifications beyond the bedroom in which it occurs.

Size Matters

Believe it or not, how long a sentence is influences the pace of your story. It all has to do with breathing.

Each time we see a full stop, as a reader we’re conditioned to take a breath. It comes from when we learnt to read by doing it out loud. The shorter our sentences, the faster we breathe.

Why does this matter? Well, in a love scene I want things to end breathless. I can influence this by writing shorter and shorter sentences as the scene progresses.

Consider these two scenes paragraphs from my Song for the Billionaire box set: In the first the heroine, Rachel, is wandering aimlessly down the street:

I walked down dark, chilly streets after leaving the restaurant, my thoughts bouncing off each other like rubber balls, rebounding through my brain; images of Dan, the things we’d been through. What he’d put me through.

It was the lost time that bothered me the most—all the possibilities I’d closed the door on; the friendships which had fizzled away because he didn’t like them or, more often, because they didn’t like him. Chances to travel— Dan didn’t like to travel, therefore, apparently, I hadn’t either.

Now compare it with this scene, where Rachel and her Billionaire lover have *ahem* found themselves in each other’s company.

I pushed up on straightened arms, forcing him to sit back on his calves. He reached around to my front, taking my breasts in his hands. My sensitive flesh tingled under his fingers. I cried out in approval when he pinched my nipples. “Yes! More!”

I begged as we thrust our bodies together. I felt free. Wanted and accepted by this man. With Chase, I could be myself. I could be curvy. I could be pregnant. I could have multiple orgasms. Speaking of which…

Notice how the sentences are shorter in the second section, and hopefully you’re reading faster? Well, that’s the idea anyway.

Hopefully you’ve found these tips helpful - thanks for reading!

Nikki

About the author:

Amazon best-selling author Nikki Steele first began writing romantic erotica for her husband, Max. She has two cats and a dog - she doesn't write for them, though they occasionally watch her while she works. She suspects they know more than they let on. Sign up for Nikki's newsletter and get 3 FREE books at www.nightvisionbooks.com/nikki-steele/


A Song for the Billionaire
Curvy Rachel suffers from low self-esteem, but that all starts to change when she meets a sexy stranger with an English accent.

He treats her like a goddess, and she quickly finds herself falling for him. They even share a mutual love of music, one of Rachel’s secret passions.

But then Rachel discovers that she’s pregnant—to the ex-boyfriend. Now she has to face one of the most difficult decisions of her life - does she do what’s right for the baby, and stay with the father, or follow her heart, and run off with the stranger?

Then there’s the biggest question of all: How will both men react, now that she’s pregnant?

Music is a large part of the romance and storyline in novel, as are the struggles of being in a failing relationship whilst wanting another. Read the series if you enjoy sizzling romance, classic music references, hunky billionaires, and a forbidden passion so strong it creates its own rules of right and wrong!

A Song for the Billionaire is available on Amazon here.



1 comment:

  1. Thank you for sharing your experience with me about writing. I have read several of your books. My favorite being the Puppy and the Prince. You sent me a copy of the book. I see the rythm and flow much like writing music. Thanks again. Shadow says hello.

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