Plot-sex. I've spent the last two nights trying to write a plot-sex scene. For those of you that don't know what that is (and it is entirely possible that I've just made up the term), it's when an author writes a sex / love scene that has to not only be sexy and erotic, but has to further the plot in some way or another. Important plot points are told through the sex. Never easy. Although damn satisfying once you've succeeded.
So, last night, I was stuck. I'm almost at the end of this scene. My two characters are doing the deed (and quite well, actually - kudos to me), but I'm still not happy with how I've inserted the plot elements; these little hints that will unfold into actual story lines later on. Really, there's only so much you can put between grunts and groans, and it's got to be inserted (pardon the pun) in such a way that it doesn't detract from the eroticism, but still calls attention to the reader.
So I found myself drifting off as I stared at my lava lamp (that is not a metaphor; I was actually staring at a lava lamp), and after about fifteen minutes of drifting, it suddenly hit me: Karl (character from book one, The Witching Pen) - his mother is murdered with a lava lamp (in the living room, if you must know - it could be the start of a whole new Cluedo concept). I didn't even think about it when I wrote that; I just wrote it. My fingers did that thing where they develop a life of their own and just write the scene.
And that's what I needed to find - that's what I needed to do again, even if it meant the sex scene became all chaotic and they ended up having weird bunny sex, or stilted, interrupted sex, or whatever else sex there is - just write the damn scene, get what you want in there, then tidy it up later.
Well, I'm pleased to say that the scene is now all but finished. There's a tiny amount of tidying up still to do, but part of that involves creating a whole new language, so that may be another strange blog post you will all be subjected to at some point ;)
The point of this post: pay attention to the mundane things around you, they are often trying to tell you something ... and lava lamps are cool.
So, last night, I was stuck. I'm almost at the end of this scene. My two characters are doing the deed (and quite well, actually - kudos to me), but I'm still not happy with how I've inserted the plot elements; these little hints that will unfold into actual story lines later on. Really, there's only so much you can put between grunts and groans, and it's got to be inserted (pardon the pun) in such a way that it doesn't detract from the eroticism, but still calls attention to the reader.So I found myself drifting off as I stared at my lava lamp (that is not a metaphor; I was actually staring at a lava lamp), and after about fifteen minutes of drifting, it suddenly hit me: Karl (character from book one, The Witching Pen) - his mother is murdered with a lava lamp (in the living room, if you must know - it could be the start of a whole new Cluedo concept). I didn't even think about it when I wrote that; I just wrote it. My fingers did that thing where they develop a life of their own and just write the scene.
And that's what I needed to find - that's what I needed to do again, even if it meant the sex scene became all chaotic and they ended up having weird bunny sex, or stilted, interrupted sex, or whatever else sex there is - just write the damn scene, get what you want in there, then tidy it up later.
Well, I'm pleased to say that the scene is now all but finished. There's a tiny amount of tidying up still to do, but part of that involves creating a whole new language, so that may be another strange blog post you will all be subjected to at some point ;)
The point of this post: pay attention to the mundane things around you, they are often trying to tell you something ... and lava lamps are cool.
Lava lamps are cool, but not a very nice tool for murder. :(
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