tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post2063905945479643648..comments2024-03-29T03:28:22.296-05:00Comments on Writing In The Crosshairs: ARE YOU INTERESTED IN SEX?Roland D. Yeomanshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00338410857990551352noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-7875366823061090572013-06-09T22:29:58.018-05:002013-06-09T22:29:58.018-05:00Donna:
Wow! That sounds like quite the novel! No g...Donna:<br />Wow! That sounds like quite the novel! No graphic detail for me -- I have a faint heart!<br /><br />No, really -- as I've said -- I am more for tease, leading up, and then fading away to let the reader use her or his imagination.<br /><br />But that is just me. Like Sam, I am a bit of a romantic. :-)Roland D. Yeomanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338410857990551352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-87871977626376620702013-06-09T22:21:18.640-05:002013-06-09T22:21:18.640-05:00It's all in the perspective and good writing f...It's all in the perspective and good writing from the author. I like both heightened sexual tension, and the graphic sex. Depends on the story.<br /><br />I read a D&S erotica where the author described in graphic detail the lashes of the whip, the scars and pain and damage accomplished by the punches; yet she waxed poetic at the appendages and intercourse. Call it what it is in a novel like that!<br /><br />........dholedolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-37516091004555695762013-06-09T20:43:30.013-05:002013-06-09T20:43:30.013-05:00Holly:
Like you, I think that scene with Dracula&#...Holly:<br />Like you, I think that scene with Dracula's 3 wives with Harker is erotic in just the right way with tension and suspense.<br /><br />D.G.:<br />Today I was saddened by hearing of Vance's dying. I wanted to write a salute to him. But one that readers would be drawn to more than a simple obituary.<br /><br />I wanted to tease, entertain, while pointing out an author deserving of reading. Clifford D. Simak is another such fantasy and Sci Fi author deserving of praise and attention.<br /><br />Alice still has the Victorian mind-set with which she was raised (which makes her horror at her curse even worse) and Victor, despite his bravado, is shy with his heart.<br /><br />I believe since The Father created sex, He is not offended at it being discussed on His day -- so long as we do it honestly and with the acknowledgement that each woman and man are of worth and not to be used as objects or trophies.<br /><br />Susan:<br />I am with you: implications, teasing, suspense works with sexual situations as they do with horror!<br /><br />Alex:<br />Sex, like a monster in a horror movie, is best appreciated when implied and hinted at. The imagination is the best thing to arouse in a reader!<br /><br />Words Crafter:<br />You're right: it's the sexual tension that propels the narrative of both novels and TV stories!<br /><br />Milo:<br />Yes: leave the details to my imagination. CASABLANCA is one of the most romantic picutres made, and the love scenes were left to the imagination.<br /><br />Lorelei:<br />The popular current S & M novels out there now just make me sad. In my END OF DAYS, I have my vampire priest, Renfield, teach a class about life from DRACULA --<br /><br />Did you realize that DRACULA is a unique novel in that it tells its story as a patchwork of newspaper items, diary entires from different people, and letters from individuals. No one character knows the whole story. No one character tells everything she or he knows --<br /><br />And the reader must make up her or his mind on what happened or is happening -- just like each of us must do in living each day.<br /><br />Siv:<br />Good seeing you here again!! I considered Lady Chatterley's Lover, but as I said earlier -- this post was to slide into talking about Jack Vance -- sneaky guy that I am! :-)<br /><br />VR:<br />I am with you: expicit sex scenes are gratuitous at best, boring at worst. <br /><br />I really don't like to be made to feel like a Peeping Tom. I think that the narrator of 50 SHADES sounding like a 12 year old speaks more of the immaturity of the author. I understand why you got queasy.<br /><br />TWILIGHT always bothered me when I thought about the century old Edward with 15 year old Bella. What did they have in common to TALK ABOUT? Their maturity levels had to be mismatched to an extreme!<br /><br />Victor has had seven years on mean streets to mature. Alice has hidden in her crypt, sick with self-revulsion. The two lonely outcasts have much in common. And I worked hard at making it so.<br /><br />Insightful comment as always.<br /><br />I have worked another 14 hour day again which is why yet again I am so late in replying. Sorry.<br /><br />I need a vacation! :-)Roland D. Yeomanshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00338410857990551352noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-79784593526038822262013-06-09T19:47:49.543-05:002013-06-09T19:47:49.543-05:00I feel as though I'm repeating myself, neverth...I feel as though I'm repeating myself, nevertheless: I'm no more interested in sex on the page than I am in violence on the page. Unless the scene shows a truth that can't be revealed more effectively another way, explicit sex has no place. It is gratuitous at best, boring at worst. <br /><br />Well-penned sexual tension woven throughout a story is awesome, but sexual tension is *not* sex. Once the characters get to the bedroom (or the kitchen table or the backseat), 99 times out of a 100, the tension dissipates, leaving the reader with either an infantile anatomy lesson as in Fifty Shades (where there's no tension in the first place IMO) or erotica—a far more honest approach. If you want to read erotica or erotic romance, don't be ashamed, read erotica or erotic romance. But please don't give merit to books like Fifty Shades that pretend to be something they're not.<br /><br />Explicit sex in mainstream literature doesn't bother me if there's a reason for it to be there, and the only two acceptable reasons are conflict and/or character reveal.<br /><br />BTW, what I find most disturbing about Fifty Shades isn't the demeaning of another human being, but that the book is written in the voice of a twelve year old rather than the twenty-something character Anastasia is purported to be. Frankly, it makes me queasy.<br /><br />I haven't read Jack Vance. I'll see what I think and let you know. :)<br /><br /><br /><a href="http://vrbarkowski.wordpress.com" rel="nofollow">VR Barkowski</a>VR Barkowskihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04927993233682731113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-50240869642964703422013-06-09T18:19:33.768-05:002013-06-09T18:19:33.768-05:00Never heard of Jack Vance but if you say he is wor...Never heard of Jack Vance but if you say he is worth checking out I am sure he is. Surprised you didn't mention "Lady Chatterley's Lover" Sex is not important for me when I read a book, it is more about the longing, the desire :) You did get my attention though...LOL...Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04218651886143284455noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-89594023351792658292013-06-09T17:13:06.793-05:002013-06-09T17:13:06.793-05:00Dracula-of course, my very favorite (I was thought...Dracula-of course, my very favorite (I was thought weird for enjoying the movies when I was a teen-before it was popular to enjoy vampire anything), has been cited as deriving from the good old Oedipus complex incestuous,necrophilous, otal-anal-sadistic overtones.<br />Whatever.<br /><br />Writing a sex scene is not difficult. It's when you write a scene that has nothing to do with sex at all, and make the reader anticipate the one that they hope will come. Delivering upon that hope, you, as writer should be adept at delivering it. I avoid the popular s&m etc. I think it's trash and not worth my while. Dracula, and all these other you mention (thanks for mentioning them, now I'm wanting to check these out) are probably masterpieces of writing. <br />Blessings!Lorelei Bellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03294047277447613989noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-32285581272795150742013-06-09T14:02:32.130-05:002013-06-09T14:02:32.130-05:00"Our parents were interested in it, or we wou..."Our parents were interested in it, or we wouldn't be here" -- truer words were never spoken. I can't remember the last book I read with sex scenes -- maybe King's Kennedy tome. I enjoy them when they're done well, leaving most of it to my imagination.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-5625126729478040012013-06-09T13:59:32.418-05:002013-06-09T13:59:32.418-05:00I, too, like the tension and Dracula had it in spa...I, too, like the tension and Dracula had it in spades. But all to often, when it's graphic, it loses something. TV shows know this. Mulder and Scully. David and Maddie. Ziva and Tony. When they finally give up and write the characters together, the shows seemed to fizzle.<br /><br />I've never read Lyonesse or Lolita and I had to put down Game of Thrones. It was too much for me. <br /><br />Interesting post....The Words Crafterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14520267901489487512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-3061894897827029332013-06-09T11:34:06.653-05:002013-06-09T11:34:06.653-05:00Like Susan, I prefer sexual tension in books. I do...Like Susan, I prefer sexual tension in books. I don't need graphic details. I'm fully capable of imagining it myself!Alex J. Cavanaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09770065693345181702noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-36010003703952336812013-06-09T11:19:52.198-05:002013-06-09T11:19:52.198-05:00I like sexual tension in books, but not necessaril...I like sexual tension in books, but not necessarily graphic or descriptive sex scenes. I think it's better when it's left to the imagination. <br />I have Dracula on my bookshelf, but have yet to read it. Susan Oloierhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07311938400999953443noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-34513599804227681042013-06-09T10:38:12.629-05:002013-06-09T10:38:12.629-05:00I have read Jack Vance, but it was a while back. &...I have read Jack Vance, but it was a while back. 'The Cadwal Chronicles' was one set of three novels. I liked his writing, as I do many of the 40s and 50s old scifi masters(I love the scifi epics). Haven't read much of his fantasy or other work. May Vance RIP, thanks for sharing the info on his passing.<br /><br />I don't get the sexual attraction for vampires, but bloodlust whets some appetites. Mostly it's the 'forbidden-ness' of the idea that appeals to many. (Also applicable to werewolves, and zombies.) <br /><br />I would not include Victor and Alice as typical of this genre as they have a bit of old fashioned 'love at first sight/first mind meld' in their relationship. They continue to hold my interest.<br /><br />As for sex in the story, you can't really ignore it, but someone who I think does it well is Diane Gabaldon. She has a deft way of integrating the scenes in the story. The first book of hers I read where this is shown was Lord John and the Brotherhood of the Blade. <br /><br />Interesting topic for a Sunday, Roland. . .D.G. Hudsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06213237734772028645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8681132888977525688.post-25661532387679611912013-06-09T09:54:34.448-05:002013-06-09T09:54:34.448-05:00I totally agree with you on Dracula's sexiness...I totally agree with you on Dracula's sexiness. The part in the book when Harker encounters the three wives is so erotic--even more so than Coppola's wannabe orgy in the film.<br /><br />And even though I am not a Twilight fan, I do think Meyer can write great sexual tension.Holly Vancehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10113438267020711966noreply@blogger.com