Crafting a sex scene, Julia Style

I have a confession to make.

I like to write sex. Sometimes editors tell me I didn't need a sex scene here or there because it doesn't move the story along. Sometimes reviewers say my book was all sex, no plot. The biggest blow recently was for an erotica editor to tell me that the sex was pleasant but not erotic. O.O

Ouch

So I've been doing a lot of looking lately at how I craft a sex scene. I'm actually very organic about it. I put the characters in question together, and they tell me if they're talking or fucking. Sometimes talking is fucking. I write a lot of men. Men communicate better physically. In a menage, my boys are often together and talking about their girl, which makes them horny enough to just go for it.

I do take into account how sex moves the story more in my sweeter romances. In my erotic ones, I know people are looking for sex, so I put a scene in when the characters are together and horny. I try hard to vary what happens, but characters have their own kinks, just as we do, right?

The time for craft in a sex scene, for me, is during re-writes. When the editors get involved, I start to tailor them to house style or to their reading audience's taste. This is where I get to see repetition, or if this scene allows them to learn about each other.

So what about you? Do you like lots or little? Do you want sex to be organic and fun or just move the plot forward?

I want to know! Tell me and win a copy of Literary Lover, my self-pubbed short.

XXOO

Julia