Monday, February 11, 2008
My Latest Aha! Moment - Creating Sexual Tension
In writing we are inundated with talk of conflict. Having it in our plot is absolutely critical. It can be internal or external and without it we have nothing. It guarantees a page-turner, puts our hero and heroine at odds or in danger and makes the HEA all the more satisfying.Alas, I can hear the groans already but this is not just another lecture on stirring up trouble for your characters. No, my friends, this is about using conflict to crank up the tension – the sexual tension.
First I have to say I highly recommend taking Mary Buckham's wonderful e-course "Sex Between the Pages" in which I have found this AHA! moment. I take no credit except for the fact I paid my money and signed up. The rest of this is all Mary. *g* (Aside: Mary offers other classes too. Synopsis anyone?!)
For the majority of romance writing, sex is a crucial part of the story but we all know there's more to sex than…well….sex. It's the anticipation, the build-up, the sexual tension. But how do we create that tension? Is it by having those "jet pools of warmth" showing up from a casual handshake? I believe the Captain would say "GOOD GOD NO!" And she would be right.
We crank up the tension by cranking up the conflict. The characters need to be conflicted about their reactions and responses to each other. Notice the change from the word conflict to conflicted. It can be that simple. If there is the slightest reason, whether real or perceived in the mind of your heroine, for her NOT to be attracted to the hero, then you have officially created conflict. And in turn, created sexual tension.
First, I'll give you something I've come up with.
Kid walked into the room with the swagger of a rock star. His long blonde
hair reflected the light off the neon sign over the bar and his eyes remained
hidden behind dark shades. A familiar itch started in the pit of Amy's
stomach and had her crossing the room before she realized she was moving.
Pressing her breasts against Kid's back at the same moment he
lifted a beer bottle to his lips, Amy whispered in his ear, "I've got something
much better than a cold bottle you can put those lips against."
Kid
pulled her around to trap her between the hard bar and his already hard
arousal. "Your place or mine?"
Attraction? Yes. Sex? Obviously. Tension? Nope. There's no conflict here. No reason given for either of these characters to fight their attraction. And though this might work in an erotica, there is nothing other than finding out how good these two are at sex for the reader to turn the page.
Now, I'll give you an example of sexual tension as created by a woman I consider a master of the art, Elizabeth Lowell.
This man's deep stillness brought out in Elyssa a reckless desire to pry beneath
his composed surface to the heat and seething life of him.
But Life
had taught Elyssa that recklessness could be very costly.
Warily
Elyssa measured the cool reserve in Hunter's eyes. A deeply feminine part
of her wondered where he had been and what had happened to take from his soul
all but ice and distance … and an echo of pain that cut her like a
razor.
Why should I care about this man's past? Elyssa asked
herself fiercely. He evaded whichever Culpepper was on guard out in the
pass, and that's more than Mac with all his hunting skills managed to
do.
That's all I should care about. Hunter's
skills.
Yet it wasn't all Elyssa was concerned about, and she was
too intelligent not to know it. This man drew her as no other ever
had.
(Lowell, Autumn Lover, p 4)
Attraction? Yes. Sex? Maybe. Tension? Hell yeah. This is a woman alone in the wild west trying to keep her ranch and herself from being devoured by the evil Culpeppers. She's seen enough to be wary of any man and this is a complete stranger who has shown up out of no where, strode silently out of the shadows and offered his protection. She has no reason to trust him, every reason to be afraid of him, yet she wants to crawl inside of him. Tell me you could resist turning the page at this point?
It's important to note the perceived obstacle or conflict does not have to have anything to do with the overall conflict of the story. It can be as simple as a past negative experience with a jock in HS leaving a heroine wary of large, athletically built men. Which means when she meets and is instantly attracted to a very athletic, virile man, she fights the attraction telling herself she couldn't possibly have anything to do with him.
Now, am I the only one who didn't know all this? Are you a master at cranking up the sexual tension and your work is brimming with the stuff? Or are you now realizing what you've been missing and running off to add little bits of conflict to all those highly charged run-in with your hero and heroine? Also, what author(s) do you think is a master at creating the kind of sexual tension that has smoke pouring off the pages?
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23 comments:
Best writer for conflict with sexual tension is Toni Blake... I study her books closely for the sheer enjoyment and for the ability to write so damn good. just thought I'd say that! My battery is dying in my comp. I'll be back later!
also her lacey alexander... lol... they are one in the same.
Terri, let me tell you how much I admire you for jumping into romance ed with both feet. You are way ahead of me, and I've been writing longer. I feel like I've been stumbling around in the dark sometimes. Of course, right now I'm pruning every bit of sexual tension out of WB...and there was quite a lot of it, I'm happy to report!
Great Blog Ter!
I like the way you explained this. Sometimes I feel like I might intuit some of this stuff, but having it explained concisely helps me to clarify my thinking.
I think most of these kinds of sexual tension conflicts are internal conflicts, but I loved Sherrilyn Kenyon's Fantasy Lover because the conflict that kept them out of the sack was also an external conflict. It was wonderful.
Oh, and Lynn Kurland's Stardust of Yesterday was the same way, at least for part of the book.
Tiff - I'm reading Toni right now and both she and Lacey *w* will be visiting the ship in the next few months. Though I'm not sure Lacey has as much tension as she has anticipation and just raw sex. LOL!
Maggie - It's happened more than once that learning something new stifles me. By all means, use what works. You are eons ahead of all of us.
Marnee - There is much more to the class as there are 12 stages of intimacy and I'm only in the second week. But this was the first thing we learned that just never occurred to me before. Amazing I could always recognize good sexual tension when I read it but now I understand why.
I need to check this lady's course out. :) It sounds really useful.
Very timely, blog, Terri!
I got stuck and decided to re-read one of my favorites in this area - The Bartered Bride by Mary Jo Putney. What I love about her books is that if you told the synopsis to someone they would really sound over the top or very '80s bodice ripper type novels, but in MJP's hands her stories are so much more due to her characterizations. I think she is awesome at creating sexual tension.
Authors that have great conflict and build perfect sexual tension in MO...Lisa Kleypas, Susan Johnson,and Julie Garwood. I love how they have the ability to make you scream over the conflict. You want to throw the book across the room, because the heroine won't let go and take a chance. You cheer them on throughout the book, hoping that the next page you turn will find them giving in to their inter most desire.
Great blog Ter, sounds as if this class has really done some positive things for your writing. That's awesome!
Irish - MJP is an awesome writer. You know I have the entire Fallen Angels series and have yet to read them? I think it's just daunting to know there are so many of them. LOL! But she does do the ST so well.
Lisa - you bring up a great point. This conflicted thing is also a fine line. I hate when the heroine holds out TOO long. When I'm saying, "Enough already just jump him!" then I'm not enjoying the book quite as much.
I think that might be where you throw in some kind of external factor that keeps them apart. Maybe have them keep getting interrupted, no time alone or even him playing it cool. I just can't take the same "Oh no, I just can't" thing happening on page 250 the way it did on page 15.
You took a sex class and had an "AHA" moment? Tell me you didn't write that with a straight face.
I'm with you on holding out for too long aspect. I think we walk a fine line as writers on how much is enough. You don't want the heroine to appear as a push over, you want her to have strong convictions. I like to tease the reader, I like have the heroine on the precipice of giving it all, and then something justified happens to pull her away again.
The beauty of a talented writer is the tease factor, you drop bread crumbs along the way, but you hold the whole loaf ransom until just the right moment:)
I love how Sherrilyn Kenyon does sexual tension...and Julie Garwood. Teresa Medeiros.
I do think it can be a fine line--though I read more historicals than contemporaries, so I believe it more when the heroine holds out IF the situation isn't "right". I'm not saying we invented pre-marital sex; but I do think it is an "easier" decision with the fact we have so many birth control options available to us. (Not that many seem to choose to use them.) ANYWAY, if a historical miss wants to hold out to protect herself from scandal and the possibility he'll ditch her, who am I to argue? Sounds about right to me.
I did type that with a straight face thankyouverymuch. LOL! And can you tell I was watching the Grammies when I made up that little bit? Kid Rock was singing a bit and then presenting an award. I don't find him particularly attractive which helped keep any heat out of that snippet. LOL!
And I don't just mean holding out on going all the way but holding out even in giving her heart or admitting she's fallen. I love Mary Balogh but in one of her recent releases, the heroine is clearly in love with the hero, gives it up to him when they are practically strangers and even after he follows her around from town to town and proposes like three or four times, she still tells him he doesn't *really* love her and to leave her alone.
I so wanted to throw that book against the wall.
Some of my favorite authors for sexual tension are Pamela Clare, Janet Evanovich (in regards to Steph and Ranger) and Katherine Kingsley. Kat Martin does a fabulous job too. Diana Palmer. Oooh and JR Ward.
I could go on and on.
I agree Tiff. I love Toni Blake. I devour her books. And she's not too bad as Lacey Alexander either...
Which is the understatement of the year. LOL
I've often wondered about great sexual tension and if I go about it right. I'd just rather skip all that and have them have sex. Is often as possible too.
This class sounds super cool, Ter. I'm glad you're having a great time and learning and having "aha" moments. :)
Great blog to start the week off right, Ter!
Sin - this same conflict can build the tension in the actual sex. Your characters are so great at acting like they don't like each other but then not being able to keep their hands off. It gives your stories and tension a very primal aspect that is just hot, hot, hot.
I actually think sexual tension is less effective in many books now because some writers confuse sexual tension with foreplay. Some of the best creators of sexual tension write books that are sweet or warm rather than hot.
One of my favorite scenes in romance fiction is the opening of Loretta Chase's Lord Perfect. Bathsheba sees Benedict and writes him off as the typical “bored aristocrat” until he turns so that she sees him in pofile. Then–”It wasn’t what she expected. She couldn’t breathe.” A few pages later, Chase reverses the situation. Benedict sees Bathsheba, also in profile: “A weight pressed on his chest. He couldn’t breathe.” That reluctant, overwhelming awareness is established in the first four pages--and their awareness of each other increases as the story and their relationship develops. Superb!
Janga - that's another one of the tips. When characters first see each other, give the reader the emotional response, not just an inventory of hair, clothes, height, weight. If the hero sees the heroine, says she has long hair and nice chest then goes hard, there's nothing to make the reader keep reading.
If the hero sees the heroine, notices her curves but has an emotional response - i.e. can't breathe - then you've let the reader in. We want to know that emotional response.
You are right, Janga. You don't need a lot of sex to make the tension work. You just need to hit an emotional level with it.
I like sexual tension, and I think I add a fair amount of it in my stories. I like writing it the most well it ranks high with writing the sex scenes.
And Ter, the class does sound like a great one!
I agree with Janga. There is a big difference between sexual tension...and just sex on the page. I think it's easy to get the two confused as authors are asked the boundaries more and more to keep up with "mainstream" fiction. The trend is to have "hotter" fiction, but hotter doesn't always translate into sexier.
After all, you can have vibrating butt plugs in your manuscript--and it be construed as HOT, but is it sexy? I mean, isn't it sexier if the guy you're attracted to is the best man of your best friend's wedding, whom no one else can stand--and technically you can't stand him either, but he catches you as you fall off a ladder and you exchange this sizzling look between you as he rights you...brushes your hair behind your ear. Then he seems to close up before he turns and walks away.
That scene you describe sounds like the making of great tension but don't knock the buttplug scene until you've read it. LOL!
And for the record - *I* did not write a buttplug scene. We're talking about another author here. A very good and prolific author who writes in a genre where buttplugs are the everyday norm.
Who'd a thunk I'd ever have buttplugs in a sentence with the word norm?
Now, tell us how that little ladder scene made the heroine feel? That's where you get into the good stuff.
Like the heroine's name in book 2. LOL. I actually read EL's book too.
She does great sexual tension.
One of my favorite writers who does sexual tension is Susan Elizabeth Phillips... you just want the characters to have sex! And if you've read Match Me If You Can you know there's a very memorable balcony scene.
HOT doesn't even begin to cover it.
Jennifer Crusie has conflict galore in her books but you never feel like you're weighed down by it. It is just such an intregal (?) part of the story.
Ely - I did think of you when I found that snippet. I just love what Lowell writes and the fact she went from historical (westerns) to romantic suspense so seemlessly is amazing. I don't think she gets the credit she deserves.
Santa - I haven't read Crusie but I've listened to one of her audio books. I loved it because the people were just normal people but they had known each other forever and the hero was once married to the heroine's sister. There was the transition from best friends to lovers that was anything but smooth but by the time they finally did it, I was ready to leap out of my seat.
That's the audio book that taught me I can't listen to a hot up-against-the-wall love scene and keep my truck under 80mph. LOL!
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