Is It Hot In Here?

Writing sex scenes for romance novels is pretty much required. Of course, you can write sweet romances, inspirational romance, or even young adult and avoid this area, but for the most part, sex is required.

At first, I was embarrassed to write those scenes. Now that I've gotten more involved in the business and made friends, I've learned just how popular the romance genre is. Romance is the highest selling of all the fiction genres. There are a lot of people reading them, so why should I be embarrassed to write the sex in them?

For one thing, it's a very personal subject. Some people can't even talk about sex without blushing. I'm not that embarrassed, but I do believe sex can be a touchy subject. Let's face it, it happens. Everyday, every hour, probably every minute, somewhere in the world, someone is having sex.

I got past my embarrassment well enough. Once you write your first scene, it gets a lot easier from there.

They are difficult to write though, because you have to convey the emotion of the moment. That's not an easy task. You can't just write about the mechanics because that doesn't get people emotionally involved. We want to know how she's feeling, what her thoughts are. And what about him? It's even harder to write from his point of view. As I've never been a man, I don't know what he feels like.

Someone gave me the good advice that to write a good sex scene, you should have a 50/50 balance. 50% should be mechanics and 50% should be emotion. That sounds like pretty good advice to me.

I'm still working on improving my writing. I probably will until the day I die. I believe that you never know everything there is to know about a subject. You can be the worlds leading expert on something, but I'm sure, there is more you can learn. There is always room for improvement and ways to better your craft. So, for now, I will keep learning and keep trying to write the best story I can.

Do you have trouble with writing sex scenes? As a reader, do you have difficulty reading them, especially if they are poorly written? I'd love to hear your thoughts.