Writing Sex - Technique & Structure

Art by Royo

Having Sex on Paper
- the REVISED Edition

The easiest way to plot an Erotic Story is to decide on what you want for your climactic sex scene – then build a story and characters around it to make it VITAL for that scene to happen.

Writing Sex is easy because it's formulaic - not the stories but the way the sex scenes are written. I modeled my writing style on Angela Knight and Laurell K Hamilton.

I dug out my favorite erotic stories (Angela Knight is the greatest erotica writer I have ever had the pleasure to read!) and highlighted the sex scenes I liked best. Then I broke that scene down on paper - not the words they wrote - but what order was used to describe what was going on.

SEX = ACTION

The First thing you need to realize is that a SEX Scene is nothing more than an ACTION Scene, with emotional bits tossed in for flavor. And Action sequences MUST be written in the Order in which they happen - Chronologically!

ACTION Scenes = Chronological Order
ACTION > REACTION

Chronological Order is the ONLY way to write an Action (Sex) Scene. If you visualize the characters doing something in a specific order – you write it in THAT order!

REALITY = something random happens to you
- and then you React.
Action > Reaction / Action > Reaction
- In Chronological Order

FICTION = the Plot happens to the characters
- and then they React.
Action – Reaction / Action – Reaction
- In Chronological Order

If you want the reader to SEE the actions that you are trying to portray as a movie in their minds, Chronological Order is the ONLY way to do it.

• Something happened TO the character, starting a CHAIN of REACTIONS.

1. The Character knee-jerk REACTS - Physically.
2. AND the character feels the Physical Sensation of the Happening -- suffering a Physical Reaction.
3. AND THEN they have an Emotional Reaction reflected in their thoughts and/or comment about what had just happened.
4. AND THEN they DO Something in Retaliation.

• This Retaliation Action incites the Other character to do something NEW -- starting the whole Chain of Reactions again.

This order is VERY specific. You may SKIP steps, but you may Not change the order.

Violating Chronological Order is Bad. Okay?
If you knock the actions out of order – the Reader's Mental Movie STOPS and the Reader has to STOP READING to mentally rearrange what they just read into the correct order to get the movie back.

Incorrect:
The flash of pain exploded in my cheek from the slap her hand lashed out at me.

Correct*!*:
Her hand lashed out in a slap. [action]
My cheek exploded with a flash of pain. [reaction]

(*!* Multiple characters do NOT perform Multiple Actions in the same Sentence -- or the same Paragraph, EVER. Each individual characters' Actions gets a New Paragraph in exactly the same same way that each characters' Dialogue gets a new paragraph -- and for the same reasons: CLARITY.)

The confusion comes in because Written chronological action and dialogue tends to look very choppy on the page. It doesn’t look Neat & Tidy.

Neat & Tidy, be damned! Making the scene hard for the reader to PICTURE as they read, is a Bad Idea. Anytime the reader has to reread a passage and rearrange the words to FIT their mental movie, you’ve made a break.

Breaks are Bad – very, very BAD!
A break creates a moment where the reader can Put the Book Down -- and forget to pick it back up again.

Who cares what the words look like on the page? Once the reader has a Mental Movie rolling, they won’t even SEE the words – they’ll be too busy making pictures in their head to even Notice that they are reading!

What about Literary styles?
What about them?
If you simply MUST have stylish phrasing in your fiction; save it for description and dialogue, and Keep it in Chronological Order – or keep it out of the Action Sequences!

Now, on to the Dirty Details!

WRITING Sex
The Magic Formula!

(> = leads to...)

Stimulus > Reaction > Perception > Emotion > Response

1. Stimulus - Something happened TO the main POV character
   
2. Reaction - Their immediate physical reaction (jerk, twitch, kick, punch, groan, shout...)
   
3. Perception- What they sensed physically (saw, smelled, tasted, felt, heard)
   
4. Emotion - How they felt Emotionally
   
5. Response - What they Did or Said* because of what just happened. (*Yes, Dialogue can be an ACTION!)
   

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
External Action
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Act/ what was done TO the main POV character>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Viewpoint Character’s Reaction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Reaction / Did they: shudder? flinch? writhe? Shout? Kick? Punch?>
Sensory Reaction / What it felt like physically >
Emotional Reation/ Internal dialogue or Vocal Comment >
Deliberate Reation / What they did or said in retaliation >
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
External Reaction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Action/Action or dialogue or Action & then Dialogue. >
NEVER INTERNALIZATION! One Viewpoint at a time per scene!

Begin whole thing again:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Viewpoint Character’s Reaction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Reaction / Did they shudder? flinch? writhe? >
Sensory Reaction / What it felt like >
Emotional Reation/ Internal dialogue or Vocal Comment >
Deliberate Reation / What they did or said in retaliation >

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Partner’s External Reaction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Action/Action or dialogue or Action & then Dialogue. >

Begin whole thing again:
Are we having fun yet?

Grammar Keys:
ACTION always goes BEFORE Thoughts & Comments. The body reacts faster than commentary thoughts. Ask any martial artist. A REACTIONARY Comment: "Ouch!" Can go first - as it plays the part of an ACTION, rather than a thought.

ONE Point of View Only in a scene! Or it gets really confusing as to who is feeling & doing what.

Separate each character’s actions from the other. Characters do NOT share Sentences or the same Paragraph - EVER. Having two people doing stuff in one paragraph makes the Reader's visuals muddy. The Reader's mental movie - your story - comes to a screeching halt while they try to figure out what the hell just happened.

NO SHARING. Put each individual characters' Actions -- AND the Dialogue that goes with those actions -- in a new Paragraph**. It may look choppy on the page, but the reader has absolutely no doubt as to who is doing what. The Reader's perceptions are more important than whether or not your type looks tidy.

**(Yes, the dialogue AND the Actions of one character go in the SAME paragraph TOGETHER.)

Use craploads of Adjectives to describe sensations. THIS is where you use all your purple prose. Make every adjective highly opinionated to get the reader right into the action as though THEY are feeling it.

What it Looks Like in ACTION!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Partner’s External Action
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Act/ what was done >
- His lips pressed onto hers and his tongue stroked her bottom lip in obvious inquiry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Viewpoint Character’s Reaction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Reaction / Did they shudder? flinch? writhe? >
- A small moan escaped and her heart hammered in her breast.

Sensory Reaction / What it felt like >
- His lips were soft yet insistent against hers.

Emotional Reation/ Internal or Vocal Comment >
- Why did she hesitate? She had already waited forever for this kiss.

Deliberate Reation / What they did or said in retaliation >
- She sighed and opened her mouth to receive him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Partner’s External Reaction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Physical Action/Action or dialogue or Action & then Dialogue. >
NEVER INTERNALIZATION! One Viewpoint at a time per scene!
- His tongue swept in to taste of her.

On the Page...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His lips pressed onto hers and his tongue stroked her bottom lip in obvious inquiry.

A small moan escaped and her heart hammered in her breast. His lips were soft yet insistent against hers. Why did she hesitate? She had already waited forever for this kiss. She sighed and opened her mouth to receive him.

His tongue swept in to taste of her.

In Conclusion:
AFTER figuring all this out the hard way, I discovered that this whole routine (Action / Reaction) is explained in exquisite detail in : Scene and Structure by Jack Bickham.

Morgan Hawke
www.darkerotica.net
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Monster? I get that a lot..." - Alucard of Hellsing