Is there such a thing as bad sex? In the flesh, many desperate folks might argue that there isn't. However, as hard up for some sexy time as you may be, nothing, and I mean nothing, makes a bad sex scene worth reading. Sure, it can be fun to laugh over a poorly written bang session, but in terms of intriguing or arousing, the two primary goals of smut writers, a bad sex scene is one that turns the reader off to the character, the story, and potentially your writing in general.
Now there's bad sex and there's a badly written sex scene. I want to distinguish between the two. Many good writers cannot write smut. It's not something we're all required to excel at. It's simply a tool in the arsenal for those of us who can. And some smut writers can't tell a story. The grinding and pounding reads flawlessly, but when it comes to constructing a plot, it's a crap express train to fail town. Rather than talking about writing and how to do it, I want to talk about "bad sex" ie. sex that, if we were to be given the option of experiencing it ourselves, we would quickly walk the other direction. I am talking about the kinds of sex scenes that appear as fetishes on the internet's most secret of hidden Craigslist ads.
When writing Messiah of Monsters, I ultimately decided to leave out two sex scenes. The first is an event that impacts protagonist profoundly, but by putting the story in first person, I had to be realistic as to what someone in Sam's situation would be willing to disclose to an audience. What happened to Sam wasn't good, or appealing, or sexually arousing. I didn't want to lose readers by introducing my character's first sexual experience as something that was horrific and traumatic, with no redeeming features. I decided to avoid including an all-out rape scene.
Rape scenes are an alienating gambit, particularly in erotica. No matter what other categories the book may fall under, if you include a scene where someone is raped, then do not pass go, do not try to point out all the other happy, consensual sex scenes. You have just placed yourself into the "non-consent" or "reluctance" genre. It's your fault, you know. Your job is to entice, and you just gave them sex and they expected to be turned on by it. Now, unless your reader can wrap their brains around the fact that, 100 pages later, the character is fucking and having a great time of it (either in spite of or because of their experience), you've lost them. Maybe years have passed for the character, and they've worked through it however they do, but your reader has only had a few hours to digest the action. Rape is brutal, beyond taboo, so unless your reader buys into the the whole fetish and enjoys rape fantasy on some level, they're gone.
Rape scenes in non-erotic novels usually have less impact on how you view the characters sexually, because the book is not geared toward making you find the characters sexually appealing. And though I did decide to leave out the details of Sam's scene, I did decide to keep the final scene as-is. Yes, there are definate elements of non-consent in the final chapter, but who's to say what part of the act is what leads Danny to want out? My guess is that he drew the line at blood, specifically his own blood. And that's the horror of it. I was writing erotic horror, after all.
There is one other scene that I elected to leave out, and this is one I've come to regret leaving behind. At the very least, it would have been unique. But it also would have placed the squick factor over the top before the novel's end. I'm not sure I would say it that it would have eclipsed it, but on what scale do you compare necrophilia to cannibalism? Can you think of a single book you've read where a woman has sex with a mummy-like body? Me neither, and I'm sorry I wasn't the first.
Marlaena's strange and symbiotic relationship with Tiomir is equal parts sensual and disturbing. As disgusting as it sounds, there is a certain beauty to a love that trancends death and the physical body. Think of all the vampire erotica out there, and you'll see my point. I think I managed to convey the extent of their interaction while remaining in Sam's headspace for the scene. He was an outsider, and so the reader was kept outside as well, forced to make a choice between acknowleging the implications or ignoring the obvious. Confession: I'm looking forward to writing the second book as a collection of interwoven stories, where each character's own tale is allowed a climax (see what I did there?) that remains true to the sensuality of the individual. With enough characters, there are inevitably going to be some boundaries that get pushed.
In both cases, I made a choice not to include these scenes, but I really had to think about it. There are only two kinds of sex scene scream *avoid at all costs* to me. Bet you can guess what they are. And while I imagine I will never need to write a scene involving bestiality (I had to try to spell this word a dozen times, that shows how rarely I have even seen the word in print), I am approaching a project that definitely involves underage participants. Fortunately, it's not erotica, and I can avoid alienating and infuriating the general population by some clever fade-to-black moments, though I will also not be shy in reflecting on how these very real, very human experiences, impact the characters. It's history after all, and sexuality is a dominant part of our growing up, however fast we do it. Our culture and the time we live in gives us the luxury of an extended adolescence. But imagine: Romeo was 15, Juliet was 13, they wanted to get married, and the people of Shakespeare's day didn't think this was odd.
It's all about perspective, which is the point I am driving at: sex scenes are particularly critical in determining the perspective you impart on the reader. Because it's sex, it's LGBT-oriented, and it's horror, Messiah is a book that appeals to a limited audience, and this fact is what led me to choose self-publishing. The sex scenes I left out prevented me from stripping away another large portion of my audience. My treatment of the story as a first-person recollection, and the ability to expound or experiment in-depth in a later volume, keep me from feeling like I was dishonest with my readers. I don't think Sam's rape scene will ever see the light of day; it's unnecessary, brutal, and not at all sexy. Marlaena and Tiomir's will probably get some attention, though. Maybe this is because I rejoice in getting under my reader's skin, or maybe it's because it's a challenge to make such a naturally repulsive thing alluring.
Part of a good sex scene is finding out what pushes someone's buttons, and going there without hesitation. If you hesitate your reader will, too. If you're not sure what I'm talking about, then read some of Brande's philosophy from the novel. He's pretty much got it down; it's part of what makes him both sexy and dangerous. To continue this discussion, later this week I will post my basic 5-step guide to writing a successful sex scene. I'm sure you can't wait...
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