Let's Write About Sex, Baby

Is it hot in here, or is it just your writing? Birds do it, bees do it…so why is it so hard for writers to do it—or rather, to do it well? Writing about sex, like the very act itself, can be difficult, funny, embarrassing, intense, evocative, compelling, sad, political, boring, mind-blowing, exciting, and exhausting. How much is too much? When is it not enough? What will others think of us? And what about our own self-censors? We will consider these and other perils and joys of getting believable, effective, sometimes beautiful and literary sex scenes on the page. We’ll look at published samples, and cover tips and traps to avoid—starting with the fact that sex in literature is rarely just about the sex at all. Join us for this afternoon delight!

And note—this OnDemand webinar is about writing sex scenes in works of fiction and memoir, NOT about writing erotica or porn. Rated R for Real—all participants must be 18 or older.

What You Will Learn:

• What makes a sex scene hot…and what makes it flop
• The four organizing principles of a sex scene
• How to write a sex scene that doesn’t read like a sex manual
• When the reader needs to know “how it works” and when they don’t
• Traps to avoid to keep your scene from being cringeworthy
• How to discern the correct language to use in intimate scenes
• That a good sex scene doesn’t have to be about good sex
• That a good sex scene is always about more than the act itself

Who Should Attend:

Writers of any genre:

• Who have been avoiding a sex scene in their work
• Who have written a sex scene that they’re afraid to share
• Who is wondering if such a scene is necessary in their work
• Who struggle with whether or not an intimate scene belongs in and will benefit their story
• Who wants to learn about craft and hone their use of sensory description (in sex scenes and beyond)
• Who wants to develop a new tool in their writer’s toolbox

Instructor: Katrina Kittle’s newest novel Morning in This Broken World was an Amazon First Reads pick for August 2023. Katrina is the author of four other novels for adults—Traveling Light, Two Truths & a Lie, Kindness of Strangers, and The Blessings of the Animals—and one novel for tweens, Reasons to Be Happy. The Kindness of Strangers was a BookSense pick and was the Fiction winner of the 2006 Great Lakes Book Awards. She teaches creative writing for Word’s Worth Writing Connections, is a Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Dayton, and is a frequent public speaker. For more information on Katrina or her books, or to sign up for her fun, monthly newsletter, visit Katrinakittle.com.