by Rebecca J. Clark
Characters are kinda like your kids—you can tell them what
to do, but they don’t always do it. In fact, sometimes they do
the exact
opposite of what you told them to do.
I’m experiencing that right now. I’m working on the follow
up to my best-selling book Borrowed Stilettos (we’ll call this WIP Stilettos
#2). It’s supposed to be a steamy book, yet I’d reached the midpoint and they
hadn't yet had sex. I’d tried to get them to do it earlier, but they had
other plans. In fact, they seemed interested in doing everything but sex. That’s
a problem in a steamy romance where readers expect sex. And lots of it.
Well—finally--they did it. Whew and hooray! But now they won’t
stop. They did it on the living room floor. Okay, great. We’re good for now.
But no. They had to do it in the shower. Then in the car. I’m like, “Come on,
you guys! You have an interesting story to tell that doesn’t involve being
naked.” So then they kept their clothes on and had sex again.
Sheesh! What’s an author to do?
I decided to let them have their way. They can have as much
sex as they want, in as many places as they want, in as many positions as they
want.
But when it’s time for revisions, I’M in charge. You hear
that Ava and Rod? You can have your fun now, but it’ll be up to ME if I share
all your escapades with my readers.
So, dear readers, I’ll ask you: Am I being too hard on my
poor hero and heroine? Is there really such a thing as “too many sex scenes” in
a steamy romance novel? Or should I just let them have their fun?
Rebecca J. Clark is the best-selling author of Borrowed Stilettos and the Passionate Kisses boxed set (still just 99 cents for 10 novels!!!)
This is an interesting topic. Some would say lots of sex in a steamy story is fun to read but my critique group leans the other way. Timing is everything and too many graphic sex scenes can be a problem. That's not to say they can't have a lot of sex. But I'm sure you'll figure out how to balance the story. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely. If I want to read non-stop sex, I'll read erotica (which I do!). But in non-erotica, there is a limit. My characters, however, have other ideas. LOL
ReplyDeleteYes, characters can have too much sex in a story, in my opinion. But then, I don't particularly find detailed sex scenes all that interesting. Although, many readers do. It's difficult, though, when your characters won't listen to you. :) Good luck with that!
ReplyDeleteNot all of my characters are so ornery. I wrote one book where they refused to have sex no matter what I threatened them with. Not every story needs love scenes. :)
ReplyDeleteHey Rebecca. If your readers know you write that type of thing, they come to expect it. If you're not erotica, you may want to limit the frequency or degree of description. I don't know about you, but I don't want to hear that someone "skimmed through THOSE pages" or paragraphs, in one of my books. I want people reading my pages, not skipping them. :(
ReplyDelete