Look at all that naffing rain! Teeming down right where I live... sigh. It wouldn't normally worry me all that much, but I need to nip out to the shops today and buy some stuff, because I can't get into the garage to get things from the freezer. :(And as if it isn't bad enough, when I turn in the telly it's raining hard in Beijing too!
Did quite well, writingwise, yesterday, with another useful 1.3K again. It's a bit of a dog's dinner, but it's a dog's dinner that can be edited and improved. My only worry about Kiss It Better is that it's story, issues, emotion and romance heavy, and I'm now wondering if there's going to be enough sex in it. There will be quite a bit, but basically, as I've said before, it's a romance... and you just can't shove in 'extra' sex scenes willy-nilly [LOL!] They've got to be relevant to the plot and the story... well, they have for me. I'd rather write slightly less sex these days, and more emotion and general character interplay. And I do think that this approach actually makes the sex more meaningful and electric when it happens...
Readers... writers... do you see a trend towards erotic romance becoming 'harder' and more sex heavy? Do you see 'erotic romance' becoming slightly sidelined in favour of actual 'erotica' again? Is that a good thing? Bad thing? Or just the way of the reading/writing world? A swing one way... which will eventually be swung back against the other way?
What do you want from Portia Da Costa? Rampant shagfests... or erotic lurrrrve... or a fusion of both?
5 comments:
Me, I would rather not write as much sex as seems to be desired these days because, like you, I prefer more emotion and character interaction in my stories. The erotic aspects of a given story, at least for me, come as much from the characters and their personalities as it does from the sexual positions and/or techniques they engage in.
The sex, again, at least for me, no matter whether it's in romance, erotica, or a combination thereof, has to come from the characters and the plot. I've read enough stories, I'm afraid, where the sex scenes just seemed to have been shoved in, certain words used to suggest titillation where none exists. That sort of thing.
As for where the trend is going, I wish I knew. I make it a habit to wander up and down the aisles of the romance section in my local bookstore every other week or so, in order to to see what books are coming out. Of course, I also remind myself, that the majority of these books were sold a year or so ago, so who knows what's coming down the pipeline.
I'm waiting to hear more reports from the recent RWA conference as to what editors/agents are currently looking for.
Therefore, I will also be interested to hear what others have to say. I don't have a problem with "rampant shagfests" (grin!) but since I'm a character driven reader/writer, I do tend to favor more emotionally-based sex. They say the biggest sexual organ is the brain. And I do love the drawn out anticipation of sex. Unfortunately, so many writers seem to feel (or are being pressured) to have the characters engage in sex right off the bat.
That's too bad. Because I love the sexual tension that arises when two characters want to do it, need to do it, but don't do it. At least not right away.
But when they finally do do it? Yum!
Wow, wonderful response, Jenna! You and I certainly seem to be on the same wavelength.
Obviously we have to be aware of market trends and most importantly, what readers want from us, but when it comes down to it, we have to write the sort of romance/erotic romance/erotica that we *believe* in. That way we write the best books we're capable of and that's got to be good for readers too! :)
As a reader of mostly erotica and erotic romance, I want the love and romance. There's nothing sexier or more of a turn-on than intense emotions going on between the characters.
That doesn't mean that I'd read just straight up romance, I need my sex. LOL
I'd rather there be less sex scenes if it means more build up of a romance or an emotional connection.
If I want just sex, well, there's plenty of straight up erotica to read, but I really prefer a real story in there somewhere.
Everything I've read of yours so far, Portia, has portrayed well developed emotional relationships between the characters even if not the traditional "romance" type of thing. So I'm always very satisfied with your books. :D
Thanks for your input, Madame Butterfly!
I'm working hard to develop my ability to tell a fully rounded emotional love story that has hot, uninhibited sex scenes.
Basically, I want my writing to have *more* of everything. More emotional truth, more story, more nuances... and more heat!
A tall order, but I've got to try.
And thank you very much for your kind words about my work. :)
I tend to like a nice interplay of both. I'm generally reading the book because I want to read about naughty sex, but then the character relationships make a big difference to the sex scenes anyway!
My stories tend to be mainly sex with very little romance, but as I'm currently only writing short stories, that's the way of it. Perhaps when I finally get round to writing a book there will be more character interaction besides just naughty bits!
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