Sex Vs. Story
Erotic romance is hot right now. It sells. Lots of people are trying their hand at it and some of them are doing pretty well, some have decided it’s not for them and others? Well, the jury is still out.
A few weeks ago, JERR emailed me and asked if I’d do an article to go along with the interview they were doing. I said sure… if I can think of something. Well, I thought of something. I can’t remember if I was reading a book or if I saw a blog post somewhere. But something I saw somewhere got the idea for the article a-brewing.
When LoveSex Isn’t Enough.
Sex isn’t enough. Not for any book. Not even for erotica, I wouldn’t think. I don’t read erotica, but if erotica is about a personal’s sexual exploration or a personal sexual growth, there’s got to be something else besides the sex. A person doesn’t grow through sex alone.
Likewise…two people can’t fall in love through sex alone. But lately I’m seeing so many stories where the plot acts as little more than to give the H&H a reason to jump into bed every five pages.
If we don’t have sex, the world will end.
If we don’t have sex, the villian will kill my mother.
If we don’t have sex, my boss will fire me…
If we don’t have sex, the pack will think we are weak and they will kill us…
Whatever. I don’t much care for any kind of plot twist that hinges on whether or not the hero and the heroine have sex. The sex should be a time to further the relationship between the hero and the heroine. They are falling in love. Ideally, I do like to have the hero and the heroine already in love, or close to it, before they tumble into bed, up against a wall, on the trunk of a car…that’s my personal preference and not everybody may share it.
However, we are talking about romance here. There has to be love somewhere in the equation. Preferably the strong, undying kind of love that makes you almost wish the story wouldn’t end.
Erotic romance or not, it’s still a romance. Take time with the sex. Make them love scenes. Not sex scenes. Look back at the book. If you lift out all of the scenes with sex in them, do you have a cohesive story? Or is it just nonstop shagging?
If it’s nonstop shagging, or you have a 150 page story and more than half of those 150 pages are engaged in some sort of sex act…chances are you need to develop the plot and the characters a little more. Develop the characters. What are their reasons for what they are doing? Who are they? What’s going on in their lives that makes you want to tell their story?
The romance part is as big a part of erotic romance as the erotic part. It’s a romance. Not a sex how-to guide. Erotic romance is a trend. Right now, it’s a popular trend and I don’t know if it will die down any time soon since more and more readers are just now discovering it. Unfortunately, even with all the new readers, we’re losing some of the tried and true readers. Some of them are getting a little soured with the books they see lately. I hear it all the time, at signings, in emails, on blog posts. The reaction to the article I sent to JERR was just more proof.
It seems that erotic romance is losing sight of the romance. If you want to establish yourself and keep writing past the trend, you’ve got to make sure you’re telling a romance, first and foremost.
Filed under: Writing
“I don’t much care for any kind of plot twist that hinges on whether or not the hero and the heroine have sex. The sex should be a time to further the relationship between the hero and the heroine. They are falling in love.”
You are my hero.
I don’t mind if the plot is all about sex, but I’m not a fan of “if they don’t have sex, ________ (insert your catastrophe).” Does that make sense, or am I just contradicting myself?
Oh you are sooo right that erotic romance should be about the ROMANCE!
Now I like sex in the books I read, but only if it’s as an enhancement to the relationship, not an excuse to bonk for bonking sake.
[...] this has been on my mind since I’ve mentioned it twice lately LOL but seriously, go read Shiloh’s post–I’m not sure how much more I can add. I will say this, one of the things I loved about [...]
I have nothing to add but HERE HERE!
Following the disaster book mentioned the other day, i just finished another book of erotica this morning. (i read FAST.) i suppose coming on the tail end of the uber shag book, this one’s parts and pieces stood out in sharp contrast. One of the things that really stood out to me was the second book definitely had been CRAFTED with attention to the story, the characters, as well as technique. The writer did a downright clever job of intertwining three separate story threads into a final picture. There was lots of sex, which was good since i had specifically selected erotica to read, not just a romance, but it was handled as a component, not the be all and end all of the story.
I have read erotica where dealing with sexual issues IS the story and the challenge there has been for the writer to build a unique/original story around that focus and make it evident that without the sex there was no story. Not an easy task. But it can and has been done well. Does all that make sense? ummm - crawling back into my hidey hole now.
Amen.
“Develop the characters” - almost blasphemy these days, Shiloh! I’m awfully glad to see this. I recently read a short story that was pure porn - zero character development and LOTS of humpin’. Just not worth my time.
I feel like we’re taking steps back in women’s literature by doing this. Or perhaps we’re just catching up with men. Haven’t there always been “stag” books?
[...] Off-topic, but here is a nice little rant by Shiloh Walker on the whole Sex vs Story dealie. I’ve been wanting to write about it for some time, but I’m not eloquent enough [...]
[...] becoming weary of the lack of character development in these erotic tales. Shiloh said it best here. I know it is possible - I’ve recently read some short, erotic tales that were very [...]
HALLELUJAH!
I absolutely agree with you, but I’ll go one step further and say the sex scenes themselves should further either the characterization or the plot — preferably both. So if you DO yank the sex scenes out of the book, there are holes in plot and characterization. If you can yank them out and still have a perfectly whole piece of fiction, why are the sex scenes there in the first place? Just for the sake of calling it “erotic?”
I struggle with this, too, and I’m not always successful. It’s hard to make every sex scene work toward another goal and keep it hot at the same time, because it requires dialogue or at least serious inner monologue for the POV character. It’s a very fine line, but well worth the effort, in my opinion.
I’m not the lone voice in the wilderness?