Karen Winter - Writing the Love Scene: An analysis of how to write romantic love scenes like the experts

Writing the Love Scene

An analysis of how to write romantic love scenes like the experts

With excerpts from 10 New York Times Bestselling Authors

Karen Winter

Writing the Love SceneFirst Edition (2018)Copyright 2018 Karen WinterAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the publisher.ePub Edition ISBN: 978-0-473-43234-8Amazon Edition ISBN: 978-0-473-43235-5Web PDF Edition ISBN: 978-0-473-43236-2iBook Edition ISBN: 978-0-473-43237-9Print Edition ISBN: 978-0-473-43233-1Published by Fountain Pen Publishing LimitedKaren Winterwww.karen-winter.comEditing by Lesley Marshallwww.editline.co.nzCover Design by Steven Novakwww.novakillustration.comInterior Design by Jacob Hammer

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Contents

Dedication

For World Wildlife Fund.

For 50 years, WWF has been protecting the future of nature.

The worlds leading conservation organisation, WWF works in 100 countries and is supported by more than one million members in the United States and close to five million globally. WWFs unique way of working combines global reach with a foundation in science, involves action at every level from local to global, and ensures the delivery of innovative solutions that meet the needs of both people and nature.

Their mission:

To conserve nature and reduce the most pressing threats to the diversity of life on Earth.

Introduction

Some authors, especially those new to writing romance, consider the love scene to be one of the most difficult scenes to write, but it is the scene that readers look forward to the most.

In this scene we get to see the hero and heroine finally making love, consummating the feelings they have for each otherin either the sweet, loving style of traditional romance, or the more lascivious style of sensual and erotic romance.

A well-written love scene will have your heart soaring and may even have you believing the hero is making love to you.

So how do these experts write such heart-wrenching scenes, when yours leaves you flat after youve rewritten and tweaked it for hours if not days?

Perhaps youve studied the love scenes of your favourite authors, trying to understand how they wrote them so skilfully, but now youre more confused than ever.

Well, Im going to take you through the love scenes of ten New York Times Bestselling authors and show you the secrets of these beloved experts of the romance genre. Then Ill summarise the common elements and techniques theyve used so that you have a Cheat Sheet to guide your own writing.

But firstly well discuss some theory relating to the love scene to get your mind thinking analytically before we jump into the excerpts.

A Bit of Love Scene Theory

The love scene is basically an action scene, but a special type of action scene.

As with any action scene there is a sequence of action and then reaction. So when one of the characters does or says something, then the other character will react in some way. And this is how the whole scene plays out.

A characters reaction can be any one of the following, or some kind of combination of them:

• Verbal saying a word or sentence, or even a moan or some other sound
• Action a reciprocating touch, a physical withdrawal, moving forward, or an escalation in intensity. And of course, since were talking about the love scene, an action can be carried out with any part of the body i.e., hand, tongue, lips, genitals, breath, skin, etc.
• Thought an internal thought related to what is physically happening, or a thought brought about by something that has been said, or a memory
• Feeling a visceral response to what is happening to her/his body, or when they touch the heroine/heros body, i.e., faster heartbeat; shallow breathing; sensation of heat in the body; shivering; bodily responses such as nipples becoming firm, penis becoming erect, and the swelling and moistening of the vaginal area.

Depending on the type of story youre writing and the heat level, you may simply hint at these types of reactions, or you may go into explicit detail.

Also, as with any action scene we dont want a great dissertation of the characters backstory thrown into the action. Snippets are fine, but no rambling on and on about some aspect of their past that they have either suddenly thought of, or that you as the author think is prudent to pop into this scene. A characters time to ponder on memories brought about by this scene is afterwards when theyre reflecting on it. This may be while the two of them are lying quietly in each others arms, or sometime later when the character is alone.

The only exception to this would be if the characters thoughts or memory caused them to pause during the lovemaking or stop it altogether. Though unless this was important to the story or characterisation Id probably shy away from stopping the scene for a character to have a reflective moment.

The steps for writing a love scene are essentially the same as those for a first kiss. These steps include the following:

1. The setup
2. Getting your characters into position
3. Turning up the heat
4. The kiss/lovemaking
5. The aftermath

Ive described in detail what happens at each of these steps in my book Writing the First Kiss, so I wont repeat myself here and instead suggest that you read this book and apply the same steps to your love scene.

How the Experts Write Their Love Scenes

The following are love scenes taken from books written by New York Times bestselling authors.

I have included comment sections throughout these excerpts explaining aspects of the scene, techniques employed, and other noteworthy observations that are specific to this romance author or may assist your understanding in writing romance.

Ill analyse the first extract in reasonable detail. Then as we work our way through the other love scenes Ill just highlight important details and differences, or things that I feel are significant to understanding the technique used by the author.

Jayne Ann KrentzThe Private Eye

The Private Eye

1992 Jayne Ann Krentz

Kindle version

(Contemporary)

Book Description from Amazon

After an unfortunate encounter with the wrong end of a knife, Private Eye Josh January is in desperate need of some time off.

The proprietor of the Peregrine Manor B&B needs an investigator, and while the pay isnt great the offer of one full month of 5-star hospitality is just what the doctor ordered. Josh figures he can get some R&R while taking on a simple, small-town case. He hadnt planned on a hot affair with his new client but one look at Maggie Gladstone changes everything. Hes sure the instant attraction is mutual.

Maggie Gladstone has other ideas. She needs a hero. The investigator standing at her front door looks like hes been run over by a truck. And he s on crutches! Okay, hes definitely the most interesting man she has ever met but she had hoped to hire a private eye ready to face serious danger. In his current condition, Josh January probably couldnt even take down a toddler carrying a teddy bear.

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