Writing Love Scenes

February is the month of romance, and so it seemed appropriate that for this month's writing tip I take a look at the challenge of writing love scenes. Of course, I should say they're challenging for me as writer; many authors I know seem to breeze through them with nary a pause! But for some of us, love scenes pose a special difficulty. At its core, successful romance writing is about capturing human emotion in its infinite variety - an often-daunting task in and of itself - but when a lovemaking scene, with all of its emotional complexity, is thrown into the mix, it can bring even the most fluid writer to a grinding stop.

If you're like me, you want to do justice to all of your scenes, the intimate ones included. So, what to do?

First and foremost, I think it's imperative to let the scene spring from the individual qualities of the characters themselves. There is nothing worse than reading a "generic" lovemaking scene that could easily be transposed to any of 100 novels by simply changing the characters' names. Try instead to look closely at your characters, at their personalities and quirks. Would this couple be more likely to be passionate in controlled, more typical conditions (like a well-appointed bedroom) or would they seem more true to their outlook and love in uncertain, lush, or natural scenarios (like outdoors, in an unlikely room, in a carriage or car, etc)? Although it's not a bad idea to have your lovemaking scene(s) plotted out in the synopsis stage, many writers don't like to develop their ideas in that much detail early on. But as you're approaching the lovemaking scene in the actual writing of your manuscript, the question above should be one you ask yourself - and try to answer according to the characters you've developed.

Next, once the location of the scene is established, you have to ask yourself how these characters would interact with each other. What level of innocence or experience does each character bring to their developing intimacy? Their actions and reactions, both physically and emotionally, should be conveyed accordingly. Try to stay true to your characters and you'll be more likely to write a convincing and moving love scene.

A common error many newer writers seem to make with love scenes is the "body parts" mistake. Their love scenes end up reading like a biology text or a not-very-affecting encounter from an erotic magazine. In order to avoid this, it's important to include, in addition to what's happening physically between your characters, the emotions felt as they consummate their relationship. This can be accomplished by use of appropriate dialog (again, staying true to your characters' personalities/quirks and sense of humor, or level of seriousness) and/or revealing the point of view character's inner thoughts and unspoken feelings during the scene.

A last word of advice - though some writers choose to switch POV mid-scene, in order to show the emotional impact of the lovemaking on both characters, be careful not to "head-hop". POV purists, of course, will call for only one character to maintain POV through the entire encounter, with the other character's thoughts revealed only later, in a post-lovemaking scene - but this is an individual decision. It can be confusing to the readers, however, to go back and forth several times between the characters involved in the intimate scene, so head-hopping is best avoided (as it is in all other kinds of scenes as well, regardless).

So next time you're gearing up to write that all-important love scene with your characters, take a deep breath, grab a cup of something relaxing/soothing to sip (or indulge in a few chocolates!), put on some mood-appropriate music for the tone of scene you're writing, and get down to business. Your characters - and your readers - will thank you for your honesty and perseverance afterward!

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