Hello There
Having just reread an old MS I wrote eighteen months ago to send off to Carina Press (it originally got a revise and resubmit from Harlequin but was never heard of again...) I noticed that the sex scenes felt rather rushed, as if I had hurtled through writing them. This, along with a post on Kaily Hart's blog, got me to thinking about my own personal inhibitions when it comes to writing the lurve scenes. Since writing that particual MS I have completed three more (and abandoned a couple of others half-way) and so I've had a read of the sex scenes in those. The more recent ones certainly felt, to me, a lot more confident and I think the main reason for this is that I've finally managed to get the image of my mum reading them out of my head. I honestly do not think my mum will ever read any of my books whether they get published or not. My mum is not a 'reader', which in itself is weird as I've been a bookworm since I chucked my dolls out of my cot and cuddled my books to sleep!
Anyway, now that I have ridded myself of that mental image, I've found tackling the sex scenes less of a terrifying event to be dreaded and more of a natural part of the storytelling process. I've always preferred the steamier romances - I once read a 'straight' romance and felt very short-changed when there was no bedroom action so it took me a long time to understand why I felt so daunted writing about such a fundamental, natural part of life. Not any more!
So, was it just me? Or has anyone else had a stumbling block over a particular writing issue?
Take care, Michelle x
