Passion Creek: The art of writing a love scene {Guest Post by Avery Flynn}

Sex, Sex and More Sex

By Avery Flynn

I love Tina Fey.

(I know, probably not the first words you expect when reading a blog titled Sex, Sex and More Sex, but I swear it fits in.)

In her movie Date Night there is a scene at the beginning when she comes to bed wearing a ratty old T-shirt and her retainer. Her husband (the adorable Steve Carell) looks at her and says, “I guess were not having sex tonight.” This leads to a discussion of whether they can rally, i.e. change their mindset and get up the energy for sex.

This scene made me laugh out loud. Not because it’s a situation my characters Josie Winarsky and Sam Layton encounter in Passion Creek. No way. Those two are so attracted to each other they have to practically sit on their hands not to touch each other. However, as the chronicler of their story, I had to rally a time or two to get in the mood to write hot sex scenes. Face it, even we writers get headaches.

So what do I do to rally? How do I get in the mood to write a sex scene?

Music. I break out the old school Prince. Slow Love is at the top of my list for great songs to write sex to, along with Adore, Soft and Wet and When You Were Mine. Some sample lyrics from Slow Love, “U can see through race car drivers / Let me show U what I’m made of / Tonight is the night 4 making slow love.” The man cannot spell to save his life, but oh can he write a damn good rally song.

No Distractions. Most of the time my house is a zoo with animals, children and a husband wandering through my office (I swear one of these days I’m putting in a door.). This is not conducive to writing a love scene. So I save them for mid-afternoon when everyone has wondered away or late at night when they’re all sacked out.

Motivation. Not my motivation, the characters. In Passion Creek, Josie and Sam are attracted to each other from the get-go, but when they finally make love it’s not just about sex. It’s about that connection they have forged with each other that is expressed through what their bodies do together. Like in real life, plain sex is good but emotionally-charged sex is amazing.

A glass of wine and a back rub sure help too, but those are my top three requirements for writing a sex scene. I’m tempted to say a visit from Mark Wahlberg (who plays the hot security expert in Date Night) would help, but I can’t imagine I’d have any energy left over to type. 🙂

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