 | 3 Nov 09 |
I got a D in Chemistry in ninth grade. Let’s just get that out there for the world to know. There didn’t seem to be a thing about this particular science that made sense to my intensely right brained self. Other than the fact that the teacher was kind of cute, I hated everything about the class.
And yet, years later, I have based an entire career on the understanding of chemistry. Sexual chemistry. Emotional chemistry. Physical chemistry. You know, the nuclear reaction when opposites attract and sparks fly and pheromones dance and every atom in the air gets all charged up and ready for some molecular bonding. I may have hated ninth grade chemistry, but I madly love the science of romance.
For me, the magic of combustible chemistry is why I read and write and seek out movies that promise to create romantic thermodynamics. Whether you call it sexual tension or the romance arc or the characters’ chemistry, this element of any story is paramount to me, and why my romantic suspense novels definitely lean more toward romantic than suspenseful.
I have been asked several times to do workshops on sexual tension, to explain how to write combustible sexual chemistry, and to define exactly what it is and how to recognize it. While I’m deeply complimented that readers and fellow writers like this aspect of my work, I always decline, even though I love to give craft workshops. Because no matter how hard I try, I simply can’t think of how to explain sexual chemistry in romance novels any more than I could predict whether a precipitate will form in a solution. I don’t have a list of five or ten tips for guaranteed sexual tension because I believe that creating it is kind of like making magic, and if you give the process too much thought and empirical “evidence,” then you’ve taken away what makes the whole business beautiful and exciting.
But since I’ve been asked, I’m going to try and pinpoint a few things that I grapple with when trying to increase sexual tension in a book. Perhaps being conscious of these elements of a story and a scene will help writers, like me, who struggle with romantic chemistry, and appeal to readers, like me, who gobble up sexual tension and are always on the hunt for more.
First of all, writer, when the characters are on the page together, are your toes curling? Are you smiling? Is your breath caught in your throat? Are you getting a little tingle (up your spine, I mean!)? If so, then you’ve probably got the makings of some chemistry between these two. Think about it…if you feel this way, the characters do, too. That would be a good time to layer in the physical responses your POV character is experiencing, so that the reader can experience them along with the character.
Let me attempt to demonstrate that with a scenelet from my own work. Not because I think I’m All That and a Gin & Tonic in the sexual tension department, but because I don’t pretend to know what another writer was thinking when she wrote a scene. I do know what I was thinking when I wrote this one. The heroine is about to make a huge change of direction and I want two things to force it: 1) hero knows how to do stuff she can’t and 2) he’s sexually irresistible (which is both a plus and a negative right now).
From Then You Hide
“Why are you staring at me like that?” she demanded.
“I’m just curious about how badly you want it.”
“How badly I want…” She raked his face and chest with a slow look, lingering on his wide shoulders and the golden hairs at the top button. “What?”
“To get into the Palm Grove villa.”
She held his gaze, awareness and understanding sparking at the same time. He closed the space between them enough for her to smell the wind on him, and the salt of the sea. So he’d been in an open air car, too. Right behind her on that hairpin turn that she had taken too fast. Warmth curled up inside her, settling low in her belly, tightening her thighs and drying her throat.
“You’d like to go there and see who answers the door, wouldn’t you?” he asked.
Of course she would.
“And if no one is there, you’d like to go inside to look for his things or a clue to where he might be, am I right?”
So, so right.
His gaze slid down her face, settled on her mouth, then returned to her eyes. “How badly?”
“Not badly enough to make deals with the devil.” She gave him her profile again, an act of sheer self-preservation. “Nice try, but forget it.”
He leaned right into her ear. “I can get you in there.” He breathed just enough to flutter her hair and curl her toes. “I can do that.”
She’d bet her next commission check he could. “How?”
“I found you, didn’t I?”
There’s a lot of physicality in that exchange, a lot of senses, a lot of feeling, all buried deep into the real plot point of the scene (him convincing her to let him help). And isn’t that what sexual chemistry is all about?
When this happens is almost as important as what happens. Sexual tension has to unfold and develop in a natural, believable way. While there’s nothing wrong with Lust At First Sight, when to act on it is a huge decision for every writer in every romance novel. The pace of the sensuality is every bit as important as the pace of the suspense plot or any other part of story; it has to move quickly enough to hold the readers attention, but not so quickly that it destroys the build up and promise of a breathtaking love scene.
Let’s talk the infamous shed scene that has generated such a strong and lovely response from readers of Hunt Her Down. In this scene, the hero and heroine are trapped in a pitch black, airless outdoor shed in the mid-summer Miami heat, forced to strip to keep their body temps down and wait for help. But the lesson isn’t how the scene is written – the real lesson is in the fifteen attempts that I drafted and, mercifully, deleted.
Because, of course, if two people with incendiary chemistry are trapped in an enclosed space and forced to undress…sex will ensue, correct? And that’s how I attempted to write it over and over again. And with each frustratingly bad day of writing, I wanted to cry. It was far too early in my story for a love scene, and these two people have way too much history and baggage (much of which took place in the very same shed fourteen years earlier) for them to have a sexual encounter at this point. The solution took some time for me to uncover; but I knew I’d nailed it the minute I wrote it. In the end, they never touch each other once, and yet it has been called by many readers one of the sexiest scenes I’ve ever written. (On another blog, it was decided that my gravestone epitaph will read “She Wrote The Shed Scene.” Which beats “She Got a D in Chemistry.”)
Another hard-learned lesson in sexual chemistry is what I call the Show-Don’t-Imply rule, a distant cousin to Show-Don’t-Tell. I make this error in my first drafts all the time. I figure that if I suggest there will be, say, forced intimacy due to the situation, then just the implication of what could happen will be enough for the reader to “infer” sexual tension. Sorry, but it is not. Far better to show that it will be a Herculean task to keep their hands off each other during their forced intimacy, and if they do give into temptation, it will screw everything up.
I give a workshop on scene structure and use an example of this, found in the first and last drafts of my second novel, French Twist. In the first draft, they are “talking” (oh so much!) about being stuck in a hotel room for three days, and you can just about hear me elbow-nudging the reader and whispering, “Won’t that be sexy?” Implying that there will be sex does not make sexual tension. In the final draft, I cut out all the talking and just have him walk in on her in the steam room in their bathroom (yeah, it’s a VERY nice hotel) to see exactly what he’d be missing while they are trapped together. Once again, they don’t touch or, in this case, talk. But the scene is…steamy.
And my final pointer in today’s chemistry lesson is actually borrowed from the physics department: the laws of nature hold true in books as well. Opposites do attract, although that doesn’t mean every hero and heroine must be polar opposite personalities in order to have electrifying scenes together. But there has to be conflict, and plot complications that evolve from giving in to their burning chemistry. Otherwise it’s not sexual tension, it’s sexual filler.
As well, remember that an object in motion really does tend to stay in motion unless something else stops it with a stone cold sexy smile or an unexpected brush of knuckles against bare skin. Powerful sexual chemistry can and will force that all-important “change” in a character, and really will catapult a hero or heroine into action that he or she might not realize they’re capable of taking.
And speaking of action, remember that every one has an equal and opposite reaction. Meaning, the most powerful sexual tension is a give and take, a push and pull, an in and out (if I must go there, and I must) between the two characters. That should start from their very first banter and never end until their last mutual declaration of love.
Sexual chemistry – in real life and in fiction — is mysterious, magical, and miraculous to this writer, as elusive and arcane as scientific chemistry, but so much more fun. Let’s hear it from the crowds – what makes a sexy scene (not a sex scene!) really work for you? Any tips from the trenches? Fan favorites? (I’m thinking the balcony scene in Linda Howard’s KILL AND TELL. Yikes.) Let’s talk chemistry, kids, and I do NOT mean the periodic table of the elements.
PS. Please don’t tell my kids I got a D in anything. I’ll lose all my leverage.
© 2009 Roxanne St. Claire. All rights reserved.
Roxanne St. Claire is a bestselling, RITA-Award winning author of twenty-four novels of romance and suspense. For the past several years, she's been writing a popular romantic suspense series called “The Bullet Catchers” for Pocket Star Books, featuring a cadre of bodyguards and security professionals. In 2010, she's launching a new series, "The Guardian Angelinos" focusing on an extended family of renegade crime fighters and investigators based in Boston. The first book in that series, EDGE OF SIGHT, will be released from Grand Central Publishing in November, 2010, with two more scheduled in 2011. In addition to the RITA, her books have won the National Reader’s Choice Award, the Daphne Du Maurier Award, the Maggie Award, the Booksellers Best, the Book Buyers Best, The HOLT Medallion, multiple Awards of Excellence, and Borders “Top Pick” for Romance in 2007.
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Yes! Linda Howard’s Kiss and Tell is a book I’ve reread probably 100 times – that balcony scene! I agree one has to ‘be in the scene’ – experience it yourself as you’re writing it – but I’m sorry to say I find myself less and less in my sex scenes and it shows in my books. My first book’s sex was sizzling – my third and fourth books sex puts me to sleep – probably a sign I should switch to writing women’s lit or suspense and veer away from the heavy focus needed in RS for romance (as well as suspense)
by Lynn Romaine November 3rd, 2009 at 4:27 amHey Lynne – sometimes you just need a breatk from what you are writing and the chance to write something different. I’ve been playing with a non-suspense idea for a long time, and am just about ready to start taking a pass at it for fun. Really, writing should be fun. Repeat after me, class. Writing Is Fun. Writing Is Fun. Writing Is….Freaking Hard Work.
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 5:53 amxo
You could teach a master class in sexual tension. With your books, it pretty much starts on page one.
by Kristen Painter November 3rd, 2009 at 5:00 amYou should talk. (Wait, I take that back. You need no encouragement.)
Thanks. xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 5:53 amTotally different from your examples, and not what you’re looking for, but I think one of the ‘sexiest’ scenes was simply a line from one of Sue Grafton’s books (don’t remember which letter). In mystery series, the tension might build over several books, not chapters. Kinsey and her boyfriend had been doing the ‘is this going anywhere’ dance for some time. She accepted a dinner date, and from the way she got dressed, you knew that she was definitely considering that ‘next step.’
As they dealt with dinner, the tension rose. it was no surprise when they decided to abandon the meal in favor of going to his place. She said, “Tell me you weren’t so confident that you put clean sheets on the bed.” He said, “Heck no. For you I bought new.”
(Those aren’t really quotes, just paraphrases from memory).
Love your examples.
by Terry Odell November 3rd, 2009 at 5:06 amWow, Terry. What a brilliant example of a killer-tense one liner. Funny how they are sooooo memorable. Thanks for sharing! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 5:57 amI love sexual tension, whether it grows over chapters/books or just crashes onto the scene. You know you’ve done it right when you sweat as you write the scene. No one does it better than you, Rocki!
by Debra Webb November 3rd, 2009 at 6:50 amLOTS of people do it better than I, Debra, like, um….YOU. Thanks! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 8:13 amAwesome article, Roxanne. I feel as if I must’ve just crawled out of a hole, because this is my first visit to this blog. But it for sure won’t be my last. Everything you said here makes perfect sense, so I’m hoping I can incorporate some of it into my own work. Thanks!
by Carol Kilgore November 3rd, 2009 at 7:27 amHey Carol! Welcome to the msw fold! So glad my thoughts resonated with you! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 8:13 amYour blogs are always the best. It’s always a real writing lesson coming here and reading it. Thank you for sharing your craft.
What makes a sexy scene??? Forest, possession like a certain almost sex in the woods in a book I love! I never stopped to think what works for me and what doesn’t, I just know what I like and what I don’t. Maybe I should think about that, huh???
Ah, school chemistry is the WORST. I hated it.
<— this smile makes not much sense but it is cute and I wanted to use it.
by Barbie November 3rd, 2009 at 8:04 amAh…almost sex in the almost rain forest…that’s my FIRST YOU RUN fan. Of course you hate chemistry – you are my daughter, taken away at birth to live in Brazil. But I shall “hunt you down” and claim you as mine! xo+
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 8:15 amWow! Nice post, Rocky
by Maria Geraci November 3rd, 2009 at 8:04 amThank you, Maria Geraci who has a fabulous NEW BOOK out today called BUNKO BABES GONE WILD!! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 amThis is an amazing post. I feel like going back through my entire current manuscript and making sure my characters aren’t just implying that they’re in a sexy, intimate situation. Thanks for sharing the difference between your first and last drafts! That’s the only thing keeping me from committing writing sepuku right now.
One of the sexiest scenes I can think of is the first meeting between Davy and Tilda in Jennifer Crusie’s FAKING IT. They’re both in a house they shouldn’t be in, separately, but wind up taking refuge in the same closet when the homeowner returns unexpectedly. The chemistry between them leaps off the page–and I think they do eventually kiss, but that’s it in that scene. I mostly remember the banter and the almost palpable tension.
by Louisa Edwards November 3rd, 2009 at 8:14 amNo surprise you relate to that scene, Louisa, your writing reminds me SO much of Jennifer Cruise. I love, love, love those “close encounters” especially when they are the first meet. Great example! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 10:06 amThis is a fabulous post! Thank you. (it really couldn’t be more timely for my WIP!)
Writing sexual tension is hard, but you do it so, so well!
by S. J. Day November 3rd, 2009 at 8:35 amThanks, Syl. You could teach plenty of chemistry lessons yourself! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 amNo, Louisa, I’m not following you. Honestly.
Roxanne, I totally understand about Chemistry class. It was in Chemistry class (I got a C, sigh) that my best friend handed me my first Harlequin Romance. Thus the C I got for the class, because after that my nose was in a romance novel, not my chemistry book. Don’t tell my mom.
by Alice Anderson November 3rd, 2009 at 9:07 amGood reason for a C! I totally support that!!!
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 amExcellent blog advice. Oh to be able to generate the heat like you do! (um, between your characters, not personally
)
by ArkansasCyndi November 3rd, 2009 at 10:02 amVery funny. I know I generate heat…the problem is, that’s a HOT FLASH. xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 10:07 amYou are the queen on sexual tension and your examples were perfect. Thanks for sharing.
by Jean Mason November 3rd, 2009 at 10:04 amExcellent post – loved it! And I understand about 9th grade chemistry – I didn’t too well in it, either – LOL.
by Vicky Dreiling November 3rd, 2009 at 10:10 amI never took chemistry. Maybe I should have, lol! Rocki, you are the queen of setting up the H/H, getting them all hot and bothered, and then dumping a bucket of cold water over their heads!
I’m not sure it’s sexual tension, chemistry, or just plain romantic, but the scene in LaNora’s/JD Robb’s NAKED IN DEATH when Roarke is stroking the button in his pocket while staring at Dallas just makes shivers dance up my spine. (And then I go all gooey inside.)
Always a great blog, Rocki. I want to be you when I grow up to be a big girl writer.
by Silver James November 3rd, 2009 at 10:38 amWhoa, called a queen twice. Am feeling royal. I am so wickedly ashamed to admit I’ve never read a JD Robb book. I’ve heard nothing but glowing reviews, and am so fascinated by how she’s written this never ending romance because readers rave about the hero, but I’m daunted by the sheer quantity of the series. Where to start, how to stop?
Thanks for the comment, Sil. xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 pmFor a scene to be sexy for me there has to be absolute chemistry between the characters first. Without that, even the most skilled writer can’t convince a reader those two are meant to be.
In my second Blood Sword Legacy book, MASTER OF TORMENT, I was sure the story would be Stefan’s. But my heroin who had just burst out of the laptop and said “write my story” one day wasn’t having it. She wanted Wulfson. “But, his story isn’t until later!” I screamed at her. She crossed her arms lifted her nose in the air and refused to budge. The minute I gave in, that book wrote itself. From the first scene when they meet it was explosive. I’ve had a few of those pairings and love when the fireworks begin before I’ve even written on word of the story.
by Karin Tabke November 3rd, 2009 at 12:14 pmWORD! I hate those demanding characters! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 3rd, 2009 at 12:27 pmNow I know what my problem is. I never even took chemistry!
I second that suggestion for your epitaph. Maybe they could add a P.S. — She wrote the steam shower scene too.
Great workshop on sexual tension you just gave in here.
by Marilyn November 3rd, 2009 at 1:20 pmSo maybe I can do the workshop afterall, hmmm? Thanks! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 4th, 2009 at 3:45 amFantastic post, Rocki. (Sorry I’m so late to the conversation today!) I love your examples. I so wish you’d teach that master class.
by toni mcgee causey November 3rd, 2009 at 4:15 pmYou gave me the idea to blog about this, Toni, with *your* master classes on humor, which were incredible posts. Thanks! xo
by Roxanne St. Claire November 4th, 2009 at 3:46 amGreat post Rocki.
OMG the shed scene, but what’s the kicker is what Maggie says when they get out of the shed.
Lizzy and Con… damn… hot from the first scene. It’s funny that you said that didn’t do well in chemistry, but you got the facts right in that scene. Yeah, my high school AP chem teacher would’ve been shocked that I got a BS in Biochemistry since I got a C in her class.
For me what makes a scene sexy is the chemistry between the characters and emotional involvement.
I can’t think of a specific scene, but off the top of my head is Tarien Soul Rain and Ellie’s courtship in C.L. Wilson’s “Tarien Soul” series. Rain sends gifts to her family and even asks her father for her hand in marriage. Only after Rain promises her father that they’d wait to have sex until they’re married, does her father give his blessing.
Not only does Rain keep that promise to her father but also keeps his promise to Ellie that he’d keep her and her family safe.
If that quote from this series isn’t the essence of a romance novel, then I don’t know what is.
by Cassie November 3rd, 2009 at 5:31 pmCL Wilson is a master (mistress), I tell you. She has a brand new book out this month and is already killing it – it was #2 at B&N this week. (QUEEN OF SONG & SOUL.) Great example! xo (PS. I’m going to see Cheryl this weekend, so I’ll tell her you mentioned her book!)
by Roxanne St. Claire November 4th, 2009 at 3:48 amThanks for telling Cheryl. OMG, I love her books. I can’t wait for the next one.
All you ladies I met at RWA in DC rock!
by Cassie November 4th, 2009 at 6:12 am