In August I'm going to teach a class on writing erotic romance love scenes at my local chapter, Two Rivers Romance Authors.
It's a small group just getting organized but I really like the enthusiasm of our members. I've warned them this class is for adults only - the squeamish and easily squicked should stay home. I'm really excited to have the opportunity and I think I can do pretty well with this, but as with any situation where I need to stand up and talk I'm nervous. Mostly I'm nervous that I'll forget to tell them something important.
I want to talk about the language of erotic love scenes. What words and phrases you can and should expect to find there. I plan to discuss the types of erotic love scenes: vanilla, anal, BDSM, m/m, menage etc. I'll go over how to bring the senses into the love scene and how to make them more emotional.
To me a scene has to mean something to the characters or it shouldn't be in the romance. The characters must have something at stake - something to lose or something to gain by having sex. The sex has to change the dynamics of the relationship - they need to be somewhere different at the end than they were at the beginning. I also want to discuss how love scenes are action scenes with all that entails. Movement certainly but also tension.
So, those are the rough basics. What suggestions do you have for me, fellow writers. What do you wish you knew when you were getting started writing erotic love scenes? Even with experience, what do you sometimes forget that you'd like to be reminded of? Readers, what do you like to find in a love scene and what aspects of a love scene will make you roll your eyes or want to throw the book at the wall? Any and all suggestions appreciated. I want to make this the best class possible.
