There are times I really hate sex – literary sex, of course – what else?
Everywhere I went this week, I was confronted with posters advertising the film version of 50 Shades of Grey. Not exactly unexpected, but it got me to thinking about sex in story-telling.
To be honest up front, I haven’t read the three 50 Shades books. I started but didn’t finish the first one… and it had nothing to do with the sex. I have no problems with sex, even explicit sex, in a book – if it’s right for the book and the story and the characters.
I hate gratuitous sex scenes. You know the ones I mean – it feels as if the author suddenly thinks it’s been two chapters since the last sex scene and therefore it’s time for another one.
I hate stupid sexual content. Here’s an example I read recently: Our heroine is lying weak and in pain in a hospital bed, with no idea what happened to her. A man in a white coat is talking to her – obviously a doctor. Three men burst into the room. Our hero grabs the doctor and kills him by breaking his neck. Our heroine is immediately overwhelmed by insatiable desire to have sex with this man. Really? Wouldn’t she be more likely to be terrified?
Then there was the action man hero – a bodyguard protecting his heroine under fire. They are sheltering as bullets fly all around them, and he drifts off into a sexual fantasy about the heroine. It’s nice that he fancies her – but personally I’d rather my bodyguard was thinking out getting me out of there without being shot.
And a personal favourite – the barmaid heroine who is working late on New Year’s Eve – busy, overworked and exhausted and coping with the drunks in the bar. In walks a cowboy she has never seen before, who grabs her and snogs the living daylights out of her. He then picks up two drinks without paying and walks off to join his girlfriend. Our barmaid immediately knows he is THE ONE. Personally, the closest I would get to a sexual interest in this man would be my knee into his groin.
I do believe in instant sexual attraction. I maybe also believe in love at first sight (or very strong like at first sight) – but that only works for me if the characters and circumstances are right.
My books are often described by reviewers as ‘sweet romance’ – meaning there is no on the page sex. Sexual tension – yes. But the relationships in my books are forged as the characters get to know each other. Love comes before sex….. except…
This week I wrote a scene where my protagonists meet for the first time – and there is instant flaring sexual tension between them. Stronger than I’ve ever written before. I hadn’t planned it. It just came out that way. I must point out they are in a bar – so the sexual tension is not out of place.
I wonder if this is the effect of all those 50 Shades movie posters…. but I’m looking forward to finding out over the next few weeks how this relationship grows. But I still have a feeling that they may have to wait a while before they get to act on the attraction…
Comments
2 responses to “On the subject of sex…”
Hallo, Hallo Ms Gover,
I was going to DM you a shorter reply to this via Twitter, as I’m going through #ChocLitSaturday’s feeds, however, in lieu of an absence of DM being avail I decided to pop back and compose a short note! The irony is that I never thought I’d be blogging about half the topics that regular *pop up!* during my book showcases & reviews, as there are a few particular subjects I either felt might not alight and/or wouldn’t need to be addressed; however, explicit content on several counts are a bit of an ‘irked my ire’ way of landing a book to contain a ‘fly in the ointment’ notation! Mostly as I stand in alignment with you! So much so, the book that shortly will be revealed as one of my Top Picks for 2014 (says the girl who has yet to tie together her End of the Year Survey for 2014!) took me by absolute COMPLETE surprise! Seriously. It was light-hearted and a bit of a Romantic romp but within the fluffy bits were a lot of heart, a lot of the kind of relationship quirks that kept me grounded in the evolving story and managed to get me invested in the characters.
Mind you, the sexual content was hotter than I normally read (if there were a spectrum of this, I’m generally just a bit hotter than ‘sweet’ but not on the same end as the film your referencing which is so far removed from what I’d pick up it could be in Antarctica!) but it was tasteful and it fit within the framework of the story.
I’m a stickler for this myself — (in fact, I just composed what I seek out in stories whilst writing up my profile as a betareader whose an early proofreading editor on Bibliocrunch today) and I had mentioned within a paragraph of what ‘explicit content’ I am most critical of as much as (let me just pull my own words! hang a sec!),… “explicit elements that may or may not befit the choice of genre and/or type of story” as much as saying “conception and believability of the story”, and “a full-bodied presence of who the character is vs. how the character translates to the reader”.
I think this is especially important on content per relationship and how two characters spark and/or ignite off each other’s own romantic inclinations w/in the framework of the story they are set. I always lament I am a bonefide reader of ‘relationship-based romance’ (wherein why I ADORE ChocLitUK as much as I do!), and this tends to explain a lot of what I love to read across genres and not merely in Romance. I like to see the build-up as much as the back-story fused to who characters are prior to when we meet them and whilst we are gaining confidence in who they are as they are living within the ‘present’ of their story’s setting.
Just tonight I had the pleasure of seeing my second back to back Hallmark Channel movie (last night it was Kellie Martin’s new one which was quite an emotional one to see but in such a lovely way!) whereas tonight is where a meteorologist had as much to learn about her heart as her tv station’s boss; they both had to sort out who they were at their core and how their actions defined who they wanted to become. The relationship was there but it wasn’t the central focus as much as how they inter-connected to each other both personally and professionally. These are two new additions that simply worked for me as the writing was quite solid even if the endings were a bit rushed (sadly most tv movies are as they upturn the pace towards the last fifteen!).
I love Sweet Romance for the basis that not every detail needs to be writ to the page; some of the best plays and musicals allow you a suspension of what is not yet revealed or what is hidden from sight. Even Bird on a Wire (film with Goldie Hawn) had elements I liked in this regard, where it was a bit of a causal tease of narrative with creative camera work rather than full-on scenes that most movies now take too many liberties with showing. Less is always more despite what the majority tend to think we like or prefer.
*Note: Bird on a Wire is NOT a Sweet Romance, but for some reason it fit what I was trying to say! lol
Best part of that screen capture!? YOUR book is AHEAD of ‘the book Jorie never talks about or ever cared to read!’ (big grins)
Bar huh? The bar in Coorah Creek!? Methinks it would be even more interesting knowing ‘which’ bar in Coorah was electrifying the heat! No matter where our muse takes us, if we own who we are as a writer and we accept the characters and stories that come out of pen, than we can never honestly drift away from being the voice we’ve hoped to achieve within the craft. To give stories to readers who crave honesty and believable incidents of fictional life! 🙂
Hi Jorie,
I agree with you that not every details needs to be on the page. I don’t particularly like the label ‘sweet romance’ – but I am a fan of that type of fiction. I am happy to have the sex there – but only where it contributes to the story or the character’s development. If I feel it’s there just for the sake of having a sex scene – I will put the book aside.
Ah – the bar at Coorah Creek – in many ways it is the centre of the town. Everybody ends up there at some point in time. and you never know who you are going to meet. Stay tuned….
Janet X