Teaching Authors What I Know About Writing Sex

Last year this time I was getting ready to attend my second Florida Writers Association Annual Conference. My editor created two presentations and a workshop. I was excited to see her work and experience her magic and catch up with old friends I’d met the year before.

An unexpected request occurred over the conference which finds me here writing this post. The faculty coordinator asked to create some specific workshops about sex for the group this year. It flattered me and terrified me. This group is not focused on sex per se like other presentations have been. But I said yes and here’s what I did.

My first presentation is How to Write Better Sex Scenes. This is the description.

When it’s time to write sex scenes, do you freeze? In your draft, do you include: PUT SEX SCENE HERE and then come back to it? Do you only create the sex that comes into your “characters” head? In the US we aren’t educated on how to talk about sex openly, so how would we learn to write about it?

In this workshop, a sex-positive framework will be presented. It will aid you in integrating sexuality as an equal aspect of your characters’ development across your story. You will learn how to create sex scenes with targeted elements to enhance the readers’ connection. Attendees will learn to:

1. How to incorporate the “holistic context” of sex into story and scene
2. How the individuality of the character’s sexuality pushes the scene forward
3. The elements that make a good sex scene

My Second presentation is How to Start in the Erotica Market. Here’s the blurb.

Have you considered taking a walk on the wild side of writing? Maybe you want to branch out into the “Pen Name” honored tradition of writing erotica, but you’re not sure how to go about it?

Dr. J. will share her guide, an erotica writing template that launched her career. It includes: crafting quality sex-positive and literary erotica, using the latest in sexual science and research to create erotic fantasies and locating the erotica reading circle where stories can be read. If you want the basic how-to “do erotica” this workshop is it. (Pun intended!)

I am a panel member for Love, Sex, and Rock & Roll. The facilitator is totally in charge and plans to launch questions at us. Who knows what those will be like? I’m sure it will be a blast.

The fun part of this trip is that my SKYPE novel writing class will be together. We can have face to face playtime. They will be a wonderful support system.

The FWA annual writing competition committee selected my story, When Worlds Collide, to be included in their themed publication 2019 Florida Writers Association Collection, Volume 11: Writers @Work. The writers will be acknowledged at the Awards Banquet.

So, on October 17, I head down to the land of the mouse, Orlando, and begin a new chapter in my writing life with FWA. If you’re a writer in Florida, I’d love to see you there.

It’s going to be a good one.