Now Write! Mysteries

VICKI HENDRICKS is the author of the noir novels Miami Purity, Iguana Love, Voluntary Madness, Sky Blues, and Cruel Poetry, the latter a finalist for an Edgar Award in 2008. Her collection Florida Gothic Stories was published in 2010. Hendricks lives in Hollywood, Florida, and teaches writing at Broward College. Her plots and settings reflect participation in adventure sports like skydiving and scuba, and knowledge of the Florida environment.

I hope not to disappoint, but writing a sex scene is not as much fun as participating in one. You’d probably already guessed! A sex scene, whether in the crime genre or a mainstream novel, is basically the same as any scene, but generally with less dialogue. It requires specialized vocabulary, ranging from gutter to romantic to clinical, but must perform normal scene functions: developing character, moving plot, and cementing theme. There are usually just two characters, although your imagination is the only limit. (Warning: Same-sex partners wreak hell for pronoun usage.) The action can range from normal to eccentric, and the coitus doesn’t always have to be successful, and/or beautiful.

One of the most highly acclaimed sex scenes in the past twenty years can be found in Harry Crews’s novel Body, where an obese young virgin is seduced in her bathtub by an obsessive bodybuilder who claims to be a “skin technician.” I originally set out to mention this scene as an example of less than beautiful sex, but Crews’s ingenious humor and descriptive technique create a scene that, in the eye of this beholder, renders uncanny sexuality.

Developing character (see Jason Starr’s masturbation scene in Twisted City for a hilarious, character-revealing scene) and cementing theme probably come naturally into the sex scene when you’re in the midst of a novel or story, but in order to move plot, there must be an arc and a climax—maybe two climaxes! (but not necessarily)—that cause a change. Since there is often a lack of pithy dialogue, the subtext—underlying emotions, beliefs, motivations, and unspoken thoughts—becomes extremely important in building conflict to create the arc of the scene. Even if the conflict is mainly internal on the part of the protagonist, it should spill over into action.

Although writing a sex scene is no different from writing any scene, and a sex scene in a crime novel is similar to a sex scene in any mainstream novel, sometimes motives can relate to the crime or perhaps motives might develop that set up a crime. Think of James M. Cain’s sliver of a sex scene in The Postman Always Rings Twice, when Frank and Cora first meet. In Cain’s day, he couldn’t write much beyond a kiss—in this case a bite—but he creates enough passion in a few details to have us believe that these characters will be satisfied only by murdering Cora’s husband.

In another possible case, perhaps the protagonist wishes to manipulate the other character or to give up his or her own control. If the writer is particularly clever, the conflict can go so far as to be between the protagonist and an antagonist of the novel. An interesting sex scene that demonstrates this deliciously is in James W. Hall’s first novel, Under Cover of Daylight, where longtime adversaries overcome their motivations long enough to have believable, wonderful sex. Since connection and disconnection are an intricate part of any plot structure, a literal coupling of bodies can supply the dramatic action for change or development.

In my novel Miami Purity, the main character is a stripper obsessed with sex, so the many sex scenes bring out her character, as well as blind her to manipulation. In Cruel Poetry, the main character is a freelance prostitute, and her enticing sexuality in multiple scenes binds the other two narrators to her decadent and dangerous lifestyle.

It is especially important when creating a sex scene to build up enough subtext in advance, so that the reader can interpret the actions for full intrigue and emotional power. Once the clothes are off, there’s no time for explanation. My exercise will require you to put the emphasis on subtext, so that the scene has legitimate purpose and no one will label it gratuitous. For the best results, use two characters that you already know well.

EXERCISE

PART ONE

PART TWO