Hmmm...

I've been reading through Huntress, my 2003 NaNo piece.

It's the story of a World Council Senator's research assistant who is 'disappeared' by a corrupt Judicar to a prison planet and her fight, not only to survive, but to return.

There's sex in it. Oh, yes, indeedy, but then there'd have to be, would there? One of the keys to finishing Nano is to put in sex scenes; they take up a couple of pages and an hour or so of writing. That's not to say you should fill your book with rompy-pompy. It still has to serve a purpose. (Unless you're writing porn and then, who cares about plot?)

My indecision is not on how many scenes there are, but how descriptive it should be.

I mentioned in another post that to write intimate scenes comfortably, a writer has to practice. As in, write the most explicit scene you can imagine, keep doing it until you're comfortable with those types of scenes. It works for violence, too.

But that's all about how to write scenes without grabbing a passerby (spouse, partner, stranger) and having your way with them (which is good; if your writing affects you, it will affect the reader), or simply weaselling out at the closed door (Barbara Cartland you are not!).

I guess it comes down to a number of things. The target audience. How comfortable are sci-fi readers with the explicit intimacy between characters? S.L. Viehl isn't shy when it comes to anatomically correct parts in Stardoc; nor is Laurell K. Hamilton in The Killing Dance. Hard sci-fi readers don't like it and throw the books into the romance bin. Sci-fi isn't about smut, apparently, it's about the future and all the wonderful techo stuff.

Plot: Does the scene progress the plot or, if you cut it out, would the story continue? Sex is always a nice interlude for the writer and the characters (theraputic for the writer; a breather from all the fire and brimstone for the characters), but it has to be appropriate to the motivations of the characters.

Characters: is this something they would do? A sequestered virginal nun let loose on the world would either be curious and cautious or willing and able or refuse point blank as it's a 'sin'. A prostitute might be in the business, but away from that business would she? Just because it's her trade, doesn't mean she'll put out for everyone. A soldier, back from a six month tour of duty, what would he do?

Time: Do your characters need time to get to know each other first, or doesn't it matter because it's an opportunity to celebrate life? Is it a mistake that will need sorting out throughout the book?

Motivation: is it done to betray someone else? To further a career, to manipulate someone, to compromise them, to punish? Is it the resolution to the sensual itch the characters have been feeling?

So many things to consider, but I think I have it almost right. I'll have to go back and re-read those scenes.

Once done, I'm posting the first couple of chapters.