Author confession: I am completely incapable of writing sex scenes during the day.

Sadly, during the day is when I usually write. Which means I’ve developed the terrible habit of just leaving the sex scenes for later and carrying on with the plot. As a result, I now have a completed manuscript; completed, that is, apart from huge chunks of missing sex scenes.

So I have an evening ahead when I have to write nothing but sex scenes. I know for many authors, this is very much not a problem. For me, I’m really not looking forward to it. Even writing this post is an avoidance tactic for getting on with it. Why? Because writing a sex scene badly can turn a good book into a laughing stock.

I know I have read countless books that have been excellent: good characterisation, an engaging plot, tension in all the right places. Then along comes a cringe-worthy sex scene, filled with all the wrong words and impossible positions and the urge to keep reading is over with faster than the improbably quick first roaring/raging/tumultuous orgasm of character A.

So I want to get the sex scenes right. I don’t want to win any bad sex awards. One of the biggest joys of being a writer is the privilege of bringing worlds alive for others. That includes all parts of the book, even the ones that are hardest to do. Getting a sex scene right means I can leave the reader wanting more.

Getting a sex scene wrong is more likely to put people off their dinner.