Ahhhhhhh, Spoooooooky Seasonnnnnnn!!!

Ahhhhhhh, spoooooooky seasonnnnnnn!!!

Ellis Reed

Let's talk about s*x baby...

Or more specifically, let's talk about sex scenes. I spent all day yesterday binging some stories on my favorite terrible book app that I won't name. They're mostly very bad, but highly entertaining. I read one that was actually good, even the sex scenes (which is usually where even the decent stories falter). But it was odd. Despite being well-written, the end of every steamy scene fell flat. After the third one, I realized the problem. Every sex scene ended with a sparsely detailed orgasm and someone climbing off the other and putting on their underwear. There was no emotional break between the act of sex and the next action/dialogue. The writer completely neglected the afterglow. Think of something similar to this:

His thrusts sped and he tightened his grip on her hair, as a harsh growl ripping from him as he came. He rolled over and reached for his underwear and she sighed contentedly as he slid them on and headed for the bathroom.

It was so fucking abrupt, I was like, wait what? No amount of well-placed similes or delicious dirty talk can save a scene that doesn't leave you with an emotion, and that's what was missing. The author didn't get that the details of sex aren't as important as the emotions they invoke. Every romantic sex scene should (ideally) have an emotional purpose. It should either push the relationship forward or further apart. Love scenes are really just emotional catharsis disguised as someone getting their back blown out.** So we need a moment. A space to breathe and feel something before the scene moves on:

His thrusts sped and he tightened his grip on her hair, as a harsh growl ripped from him and he came. He breathed heavily against her neck, his body quivering with aftershocks, his world tilted sideways from the feel of her shaking beneath him. After catching his breath, he pressed kisses to her neck and she giggled. Then, he rolled over and reached for his underwear.

It's not a huge thing. I didn't make the afterglow a super deep and profound moment, but I put a space there, a single emotional reaction between the orgasm and the aftermath, so the reader can catch their breath. He recognized how good it felt and then, they shared a little cuddle. If you want to take it further, you can add a tiny bit of banter.

His thrusts sped and he tightened his grip on her hair, as a harsh growl ripped from him and he came. He breathed heavily against her neck, his body quivering with aftershocks, his world tilted sideways from the feel of her shaking beneath him. After catching his breath, he pressed kisses to her neck and she giggled. "Wow," she said. "Mmm," he rolled over and reached for his underwear before pulling her back to him and kissing her soundly. "Give me twenty minutes and we can do that again."

That's not great, but hopefully you get the idea. I feel like this advice still works for non-romantic smut as well. Even if the sex is rough or antagonistic, you should put an emotional beat in between the orgasm and the transition.

There are few things worse than unfulfilling sex and the same is true for sex scenes. In many ways, they're the same thing. If you want it to be good you have to pay attention to pace and rhythm, appreciate the moment, and don't get up and put on your underwear immediately after coming, like your partner is a video game NPC you're done engaging with.

Happy writing!

**I kept visualizing sex scenes as a singular emotion wearing a trench coat and hat, like the three kids in a coat on Bojack Horseman. Which made me snort laugh, but I couldn't figure out a way to incorporate that description into the post itself. So you get it here. You're welcome.

Shame never serves, it's true. I'm not sure about cringe though. I think being comfortable in your skin and confident enough to let yourself be cringe sometimes DOES slay. But I definitely agree about fear. It's okay and normal to be afraid, but living in fear isn't cunty at all.

Do it.

Hey, can y’all rb this if it’s okay to send you messages asking about your ocs, cause on god I wanna interact with y’all but I am terrified of being annoying lol