X. Epilogue

Developing any skill requires a lot of practice and the courage to fail. How many hours do piano players practice scales and etudes before their first concert? How often do ballet dancers stumble before they are perfect at their pirouettes?

Samuel Beckett said:

‘Ever tried? Ever failed? No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.’

That’s true even for writing sex scenes.

If you want to get more comfortable writing sex scenes, if you want to get better at writing them, you need to keep reading them, and you need to keep writing them.

Try. Fail. Try again. Fail better.

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P.S.: Many thanks to Aranel Took for beta-reading and to everyone who has contributed to the discussion so far with comments, ideas and links!

P.P.S.: Bibliography (of the main resources, in alphabetical order.)

• Almond, Steve: ‘Writing Sex’, online at: http://www.bostonphoenix.com/boston/news_features/out_there/documents/02844055.htm, last accessed on October 19, 2008.

 

• Barksdale Inclan, Jessica: ‘Writing a Sex Scene’, online at: http://www.redroom.com/blog/jessica-barksdale-inclan/writing-a-sex-scene, last accessed on October 19, 2008.

 

• Bell, James Scott: Plot & Structure, online at Google Books, last accessed on October 19, 2008.

 

• Benedict, Elizabeth: ‘The Joy of Writing Sex’, Souvenir Press, London, 2002.

 

• Bickham, Jack M.: ‘Scene and Structure’, online at Google Books, last accessed on October 19, 2008.

 

• Browne, Renni/King, Dave: ‘Self-editing for Fiction Writers’, Harper Resource, New York, 2004.

 

• Cheney, Theodore A. Rees: ‘Getting the Words Right’, Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, 2005.

 

• Clark, Roy Peter: ‘Writing Tools’, Little, Brown and Company, New York-Boston-London, 2006.

 

• Greta Christina: ‘How I Write Porn’, online at: http://gretachristina.typepad.com/greta_christinas_weblog/2007/10/how-i-write-por.html, last accessed on October 19, 2008.

 

• Huggins, Marie: ‘Writing Love Scenes’, online at: http://www.pamcrooks.com/writers_tips.htm, last accessed on October 19,2008.

 

• Ingermanson, Randy: ‘Writing the Perfect Scene’, online at: http://www.advancedfictionwriting.com/art/scene.php, last accessed on October 19,2008.

 

• Lake, Lori L.: ‘Writing Sex and Love Scenes’, online at: http://www.justaboutwrite.com/A_Archive_WritingSex.html, last accessed on October 19,2008.

 

• Lisle, Holly: ‘Scene-Creation Workshop — Writing Scenes that Move Your Story Forward’, online at: http://www.hollylisle.com/fm/Workshops/scene-workshop.html,last accessed on October 19,2008.

 

• Scofield, Sandra: ‘The Scene Book’, Penguin Books, London, 2007.

 

• Stein, Sol: ‘Stein on Writing’, St. Martin’s Griffin, New York, 1995.

 

• Whitfield, Kit: ‘Let’s Talk About Sex, Baby’, online at:http://www.kitwhitfield.com/2007/02/lets-talk-about-sex-baby.html, and ‘Writing Sex Scenes Versus Writing Porn’, online at:http://www.kitwhitfield.com/2008/04/writing-sex-scenes-versus-writing-porn.html, last accessed on October 19, 2008.