storytelling

The first thing step in tackling this rather difficult topic is to make a list of examples. I'm going to start with a variety of sex scenes, some of which work and others that don't. My criteria (and this is, of course, totally subjective) are pretty basic: I judge such scenes as effective if they are evocative, fluid, true to character, and contribute to the development of the story. An effective sex scene can be written in a wide range of styles from minimalist to Proust-ish; the beauty of the prose may add quite a lot, but it's not an absolute necessity in this -- or any other -- kind of story.

Each scene was chosen because it illustrates something instructive, positive or negative. I have tried to construct a list which contains a range in matters of expliciteness, tone and approach. What I'm going to do is this: tomorrow I'll start discussing these scenes one by one on the basis of short excerpts. The idea is look at the choices the author made, the underlying mechanics and process, what works, what doesn't. By the time I'm done I hope to be able to articulate clearly some basic guidelines for effective sex scenes of different types.

A quick word about my personal take on these scenes: it's just that, my take. I expect that there will be differences of opinion. Finally, because it goes against the grain to hold somebody else's work up as an example of things going wrong, I resort, in some cases, to withholding author and title.

The scenes I'm going to analyze (in no particular order) come from these novels:

Welcome to Temptation, Jenny Crusie. A first sexual encounter that isn't working out well for Sophie until Phin takes drastic measures to prove to her that she does have some fantasies, after all, and he knows just what to do about them.

Faking it, Jenny Crusie. There's a scene in this novel which is the only example of a failed first sexual encounter that I know of that works on multiple levels.

Possession: A Romance, A.S. Byatt. In the Victorian era a famous poet of considerable standing, married, and a lesser known woman poet, unmarried, travel to Yorkshire to together in the culmination of an affair conducted by letter.

"The Well Known Act" Robyn Bender. Farscape fan fiction, NC-17. How to go to extremes, and still keep successful control of the story and the characters. The readers are on their own, however.

Endless Love, Scott Spencer. In a scene toward the end of this novel of obsessive young love the author takes some big chances.

Eleven Minutes: A Novel, Paulo Coelho. Maria, a young woman from a small Brazilian village, sets off on a journey of sexual discovery and ends up a prostitute. This is told from Maria's POV, which is... well, you'll see.

The Indiscretion. Judith Ivory. A historical romance which pulls off a number of risky manouevers.

[titles withheld]. Bad, bad word choices and the damage done.

As I go through this process I'll be touching on a number of related issues, including editorial input (there's an interesting comment to yesterday's post which raises the question of changing mores). Also, if anybody wants to suggest a scene from a particular book for discussion, please yell. When I'm done with this, if there's still interest, I may try to repeat the process with a sex scene in one of my books. Sauce for the goose, to quote Robyn.

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