From First Blush to Climax: Writing Sex Scenes
A well-crafted sex scene can move a story from mundane to unforgettable, while a badly written sex scene can ruin an entire book. Beginning with the premise that sex scene is at the most basic level an action scene, we will explore ways to effectively use a sex scene in any story. Topics covered will range from pacing, to character arcs, plotting, heat levels and more. Due to the adult content of this workshop no one under 18 will be allowed to take the class.
Specific Learning Outcomes:
By the end of this workshops, participants will:
~Identify the heat level of their work in progress.
~Understand personal comfort with chosen heat level.
~Determine how to combine action, narrative, and emotion to create a compelling sex scene.
~Explore and define the terms scene, pacing, time manipulation, dialogue, description and setting as well as how they are used in writing sex scenes.
Jennifer D. Bokal penned her first book at age eight. An early lover of the written word, she decided to follow her passion and become a full-time writer. From then on, she didn’t look back. She earned a Master of Arts in creative writing from Wilkes University and became a member of Romance Writers of America and International Thriller Writers.
Jennifer is the author of author of several books, including the Harlequin Romantic Suspense series, Rocky Mountain Justice, the connected series, Wyoming Nights, and several books that are part of the Colton continuity. The first book in her upcoming Texas Law series, Texas Law Undercover Justice will be released in December 2022.
Happily married to her own alpha male for more twenty-five years, she enjoys writing stories that explore the wonders of love. Jen and her manly husband live in upstate New York. They have three beautiful grown daughters, two very spoiled dogs, and a cat who runs the house.
Sponsor: Music City Romance Writers
Fees: $22 for MCRW Members, $27 for other RWA Members, $32 for Non-RWA Members
Contest Opens January 1, 2019
Deadline: February 28, 2019
Eligibility: Open to published and unpublished authors over the age of 18. The manuscript entered must be the author’s original work and be unpublished and uncontracted at the time of deadline and unpublished during the contest itself. Manuscript must also meet minimum word count lengths.
Entry: First 25 pages or a maximum of 7,500 words.
Categories: Contemporary, Mainstream/Women’s Fiction, FF&P (Futuristic, Fantasy, & Paranormal), Historical, Young Adult. All heat levels welcome.
Judges: Judging is on a point basis, with all manuscripts judged by three authors from a pool of PAN, PRO, and trained general members. Judges are highly encouraged to comment and critique each entry.
Final Round Judges:
Contemporary Romance: Megan Broderick (Assistant Editor, Harlequin) and Ann Rose (Agent, Prospect Agency)
Futuristic, Fantasy, & Paranormal Romance: Lexi Smail (Associate Editor, Hatchette Book Group, Forever Yours) and Marlo Berliner (Agent, The Jennifer De Chiara Agency)
Historical Romance: Sarah Blumenstock (Assistant Editor, Penguin Random House) and Katelyn Uplinger (Agent, D4EO Literary Agency)
Young Adult Romance: Annette Pollert (Editorial Director, Bloomsbury) and Elizabeth Poteet (Agent, The Seymour Agency)
Mainstream/Women’s Fiction with Romantic Elements: Norma Perez-Hernandez (Editor, Kensington) and Janna Bonikowski (Agent, The Knight Agency)
Three finalists per category. Finalist entries will be judged by one editor and one agent.
Top Prize: Finalists in each category will receive a certificate and announcement in the RWR (RWA’s print and online publication), on the MCRW website, and across MCRW’s social media. The overall winner of each category will be announced at MCRW’s June meeting and will receive: a $50 cash prize, a 50-page critique by a published author or editor, and a commemorative Melody of Love pin.
FMI, check out our full rules at https://musiccityrwa.blogspot.com/p/melody-of-love-2019-rules-in-full.html and the simplified registration page at: https://musiccityrwa.blogspot.com/p/contest-registration.html It is recommended you read the full rules and category descriptions and such before entering.
You can also mail our Contest Coordinators Jody Wallace and Dana Brantley-Sieders at contest@mcrw.com
Do you know what you need from your environment in order to write?
If not, it is time to find out.
Our physical surroundings are immensely important to our writing process.
Far more important than most people think.
We cannot work if we are distracted, annoyed, or constantly interrupted. We need to feel inspired and comfortable in our surroundings in order to be creative.
If your home office is cluttered with papers, laundry, and stacks of research materials, it is not the right place to write.
The mess might distract you and make you miserable, because it sends a signal about the kind of work environment you think you deserve.
It is just as bad if your office is empty. Writers work best in a creative atmosphere.
If inspiration disappears when you sit down to write you must reassess your surroundings.
Sometimes removing the clutter and reorganization of your work area will do the trick. Other times, you need a more drastic approach.
Create a Place to Thrive.
I need privacy to work on big projects like a novel. My Pandora app on my iPhone and my BOSE speaker create the perfect blend of music that centers me in my storyline. New Orleans Jazz now, but it was country and western when I was writing my rodeo romance. As a rule, I type or dictate to my computer while writing, but I keep a pen and composition book close by to make notes.
Do You Feel Inspired in Your Writing Place?
If not, what do you need to do to make your workspace inspirational?
Perhaps you are a writer who must have activity all around, all the time– 24/7. Since my day job is at a middle school, I am unable to relate to such a need. However, the library café, coffee shop, or park picnic table may be your perfect writing place.
Ditch the Distractions.
Television blasting, cell phone ‘pings’, Facebook alert messages, the must ‘do list’ at the corner of your desk, all must be out of sight. I must have all other work in progress or notes on future projects in my filing cabinet. If I have my notes visible, I am excessively tempted to work on this project too.
Make Your Writing Workspace Beautiful.
Sit on a quality chair, fresh flowers (or display your roses from OCC), candles, a window, favorite mug, favorite pen. Any item that makes you spend more time in your writing space. What makes you happy?
Of course, a tailor-built writing space, or even a room dedicated as your office, is not always possible. Be creative. Find your personal writing space.
Remember the quickest way to writing success is sitting down and making it happen.
Happy Writing!
Connie Vines
Coming Soon from BWL |
What a wonderful meeting we had this last Saturday!
In the morning, we had a guest in PAW, Dawn Vaeoso of All Romance eBooks. I was already familiar with ARe, but mostly as a reader. Dawn and Debra led a lively discussion and I think we all learned something. I missed the morning workshop by Jackie Barbosa, but heard it was excellent.
But I want to riff a little on something our afternoon speaker, James Scott Bell said in his fabulous talk. When talking about creating unforgettable characters, he listed several characteristics that will make your characters jump off the page:
In passing, he noted that the last quality, nobility, is underused, but also discussed characters who are willing to sacrifice to attain their goals or to save someone else. I was busy listening and taking notes, but still thought at the time that nobility isn’t so rare in romance. I’ve been in critique and plot groups for years and can’t begin to count the number of times we’ve been plotting, usually toward the end of the book, only to have someone ask: What is he/she going to sacrifice? Or at least be willing to sacrifice?
Of course, the classic example of character sacrifice is The Gift of the Magi. Such a beautiful, romantic story. But that kind of sacrifice isn’t at all uncommon in romance. We’ve all read romances where the hero or heroine jumps in the path of a bullet to save the other. But it needn’t be a life or death matter. Is one willing to give up a job opportunity to be with the other? Or willing to uproot his/her life and move far away? There are lots of possibilities.
Here’s how the mutual sacrifice works in Rogue’s Hostage, my captive story set during the French & Indian War. Toward the end of the book, Jacques and Mara are trapped in the besieged city of Quebec. Mara’s brother, Gideon, is with the besieging British Army. Jacques knows the situation is dire and tries to have Mara ransomed to the British. He is willing to give up the woman he loves in order to keep her safe. When things go wrong, Mara risks her relationship with her brother, her only living relative, to save the man she loves. I could say more, but that would be giving away a spoiler, so I’ll refrain.
What do you think? Are romance characters more noble than most?
Linda McLaughlin
Twitter: https://twitter.com/LyndiLamont
Rogue’s Hostage buy links:
Amazon: http://amzn.com/B00BJO26OY
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/books/1005663623
Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/291719
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Trouble is coming…coming by land…coming by sea. Coming for you…and coming for me.
More info →A rash Christmas Eve quest to save a young woman lands a Baron’s daughter in the lap of a jaded Viscount…and he’s not letting her go.
More info →A Slice of Orange is an affiliate with some of the booksellers listed on this website, including Barnes & Nobel, Books A Million, iBooks, Kobo, and Smashwords. This means A Slice of Orange may earn a small advertising fee from sales made through the links used on this website. There are reminders of these affiliate links on the pages for individual books.
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