Tabitha Levin

I was asked recently by a fan how I felt about the negative reviews for Stranger Delight.

To be honest, while all negativity can hurt sometimes, I feel for the most part that people are allowed to express their opinions and that if they didn’t like something they should have a chance to express it.

Art is subjective.  What one person likes, another doesn’t.  It’s perfectly natural and should be encouraged – it would be a boring world if everyone all liked the same things.

When you make something free (which I’ve done with Stranger) then it seems that you get more negative reviews that usual.  It’s because people who are not your target audience will read your book and hate it.  They grab if because it’s free hoping that finally they’ll find that one gem that was written just for them.  Often though, they are disappointed.

I understand that.

But it’s also a good way to find those that ARE your target audience.  And Stranger Delight, as battle wounded as she is, has actually found me a bigger audience that I might have found otherwise.

A good author can also learn from reviews about what customers like and don’t.  For example:

Sometimes my short stories get complaints that they are short (which I actually find amusing because they are, well, short stories).  I actually take that as a positive message though.  People wanted to read more.

It’s no secret that most people prefer novels over short stories.  That, and because it’s a natural progression for me, is the reason I’m now writing a novel.

I’m about 25% through the first draft.  And I’m loving every minute of it.  It’s a zombie horror novel – but not an apocalyptic type saga (which I feel has been done), but rather just one zombie – and a scary clever one at that.

Other reviews mention that Stranger Delight is predictable.  That’s fair.  I always meant for the audience to figure out who the stranger was before Claire did.  I just didn’t think they’d be angry that I made it so obvious.  But it’s all a learning curve, and I did write that story many years ago when I was less experienced.  Anyone who has read the later stories in that series knows how much better they are from the first.

But again, it’s all okay.  A good author doesn’t give up when someone doesn’t like what they’ve done – they listen, learn and grow.  Sometimes they take those suggestions on board, other times they stay true to what they believe.

Besides, it’s not as if everyone disliked it.  I get lots of positive reviews for it as well and those are the people who go on to read the rest of the Desperately Delicious series.  If that’s you then I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Tabs xx

With the rise in publishing there seems to be a little rumor circulating writerly forums that I hang out at, that writing erotic romance is a sure-fire way to riches.

Just add a few cock and pussy references, a bit of heavy breathing, and you have a story that will pay for all those expensive shoes that you like to buy.

But is it really true?  Can you make good money by writing erotica?

Err, no.  Not so fast sunshine.  Sure if you write GOOD sex scenes your stuff should sell.  But then, if you write good sci-fi it will sell, or if you write good murder mysteries they will sell.

With the emphasis on good.  Great even.  Mind blowing if you can do it.

Which means

1. you need to be a good writer, and
2. you need to enjoy what you write (and let me say, just between you and me, writing sex scenes can be, well, quite enjoyable, if you get the scene right).

Now I don’t profess to be the worlds greatest writer here (I think I’m good – especially good enough to write nice little sexy stories – but great? I’m always learning.  Nevertheless my lack of self belief isn’t what is in question here.)

What is the point of this post (or it was before I started waffling on about goodness knows what), is writing sex scenes.

If you do want to make good money from your erotic romances, then you need to know how to write a good sex scene.

Writing sex scenes – Some tips …

Limit the words ‘felt’ and ‘feel’.

Since you want to have the reader drawn into the story, you need to make the scene more active.  And that means you can’t just describe what’s happening blow-by-blow (so to speak).  One of the quickest ways that you can do this is to take out as many ‘felt’ or ‘feel’ words as possible.

In my first drafts there is usually a lot of them too.  (Although I’m getting much better at this now).

For example, have a look at these two sentences.  One uses ‘felt’ the other doesn’t, and tell me which one is hotter?

She felt him reach around her back and unclasp her bra.  His nails were long and sharp and she felt their sting as they scraped along her flesh.

or

As he reached around and unclasped her bra, she gasped.  His nails were long, and they scratched her as they scraped along her back, stinging her flesh.

Okay, so not the hottest scene (although it has potential), but you can see that the second sentence draws you in more, making you a part of the action.

If you want your reader to feel the scene.  Don’t use the word ‘feel‘
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Limit the ‘was’ words

And speaking of limiting words (and I still struggle with this one) ‘was’ is another word that shouldn’t be overused.

Again, let’s look at an example.

She was breathing heavily as she walked back into the bar.  Did anyone know that she had just had sex?  Was her bra still showing?  

or

Breathing heavily she walked back into the bar, carefully watching the faces of the patrons to see in any of them looked her way.  She smoothed down her top making sure that the lace of her bra was tucked away, and left no trace of what just happened.

These are only guidelines …

Sometimes you do have to use these words though, so don’t think they are absolute rules.  But if you are mindful of them, it can often help you to make the scene better because you’ll be aware of when you are and are not using them.

One more tip before I go.

Don’t write a scene about something that doesn’t turn you on.  Readers will pick that up.  If it makes you hot, it’ll probably make the reader hot too.

Same with characters.  You need to like them.  Sure they can be bad and have flaw, real people do.  But you should still like your characters enough (even the really bad ones) to make them interesting.

Well that’s it.  I’ve got a sex scene to re-write and I’m behind schedule.

Hope you found these tips useful.

Tabs xx