All's the Same in Love and War

Thought I would continue a bit on what I posted about yesterday: sex.

Typically, and historically, I have not written much about sex, at least not directly. For years I convinced myself it was because I was taking a moral high ground, but in time I was forced to admit that wasn't true. I'm just not that morally "high". The reason I have not written many sex scenes is the same reason I've been involved in so little of it in real life: fear and ignorance.

Writing about sex is embarrassing for me. And yet my most powerful writing comes from sexual energy. How does a battle scene derive from sexual energy, you ask? Well, I don't know if I can explain it well, or at all, but I believe that is exactly where the energy comes from. It is just redirected.

Writing a battle scene is kind of like choreographing a dance. Combatants must flow with - and against - each other. There are moves and counter moves. Actions by one stimulate reactions by the other. The climax of a love scene is ecstasy. The climax of a battle scene is death. And while the end (of a happy scene) is satisfying, it is the building up to it that is key. Without the build up, the ending is just that: an ending.

Generally, I have been well complimented on my battle scenes over the years. I have also done a reasonable job with emotional pain, especially as it relates to despair. What I have avoided for years, though, is even the attempt at writing a satisfying love scene.

The problem is the fear of being silly. For one thing, in order to write a convincing love scene I must be convinced of it myself. This means writing things which are a "turn on" for me, possibly. Not always. Depends on the scene. But even the thought that others will laugh at what I find romantic is intimidating. And so I have not done it.

That began to change with one of my later revisions of Swords of Fire: Book I. The story, while interesting enough, lacked real energy. It was difficult to truly care about the characters. In time I had to confess that it was because I was denying the characters their sexuality. While some were highly conservative (even prudish), it just wasn't realistic for all of them to be so. No society is perfect, and neither is any character. I had to accept the fact that my main character was entering the peak of his sexual youth. There was simply no way he could walk through life ignoring that. It was going to affect him. And so I began to write love scenes.

These scenes were written in a paper journal instead of in the computer. There's something more private about writing with a pen than with a keyboard. Don't know what it is, but it is how I feel about writing. So, like I often do when seeking a release for words, I just 'wrote what came to me'.

Reading it afterward made me blush. I even looked around to see if perhaps someone might be reading over my shoulder. I hadn't believed myself capable of writing something like that. And while the scenes all made it into Traitor, none did so with the same - how shall I say it - detailed description. The journals are all boxed away and sealed right now, but if memory serves me right, I wrote three or four pages for the once scene. It takes up a paragraph in Traitor.

What I found, for myself anyway, is that avoiding silly comparisons is key to writing a successful love scene. It's the comparisons which make people roll their eyes, or laugh at the imagery. Writing intent and reaction is far more important than other things. Like a battle. There is dominance, and at times it shifts from one to the other and back again. There is give and there is take. There are respites. But in everything, the action must flow like a river, with both the calmness of deep water, the suddenness of rapids, and perhaps the plunge of a waterfall. (Talk about silly imagery, right?)

Perhaps I am silly for having taken the approach I have. But I do tend to write my battles like love scenes and my lovemaking like battles. They're kind of akin. Only, in a battle there is a winner and a loser. In a love scene - just winners. Hopefully. If it's done right.

I'm still not a great writer of love scenes. But I like them now. The truth is, it has nothing to do with morality. It's passion. That's all.

How Do You Tell a Good Story

It's Music Saturday, and in honor of the occasion I have changed my music playlist at the top of this blog. It's a short list of fourteen songs by female artists - mostly Carly Simon. Some of my favorite songs are not available at playlist.com. But as the service is free I'm not in much of a position to complain.

I love music, and I envy those who can produce it. My personal efforts in the matter have been sporadic at best, and non-existent at worst. Having a voice like beef jerky (no middle ground: either you love it or you hate it) I have received more than a few weighty criticisms over the years. Been made fun of for my efforts in piano, harp, guitar and bass, too. Also, not being able to produce the sounds which touch my very heart is frustrating. So I don't practice my instruments. Do sing, though. I can still express myself to tears. My singing has the same effect on others, too, only I have my doubts it's as emotionally moving for them as for me.

A number of years ago I watched a 60 Minutes piece about music. A famous woman of broadway (and I apologize for not remembering her name, but class and I have never been exactly on a hand-shaking basis) was at Julliard talking to students. They were all thrilled because they understood the potential to "get discovered". The woman had some of the students get up and sing. I only remember the one guy. He got up, nervous, but clearly determined to give his best. And he had a nice voice. But his song was about as moving as constipation. Nothing. I remember thinking to myself, why don't they ever teach people how to interpret a song. Anyone with a voice can sing, but few people seem to know how to "tell a song". Look at some of the more famous artists in history. Not always great voices. In fact, some had/have voices which makes one wonder how they became successful. I know how. They can "tell a song".

The famous woman (FW) interrupted the guy before he had sung more than two minutes. She told him he had an excellent voice. Then she asked him a question.

What is the song about?

The guy began giving all kinds of background. Once again FW interrupted him.

No. You're wrong. That's not what the song is about.

Guy was a bit put off, but daren't contradict the professional. FW was no fool, though, and she continued.

Do you want to know what the song is about?

He did. (He wasn't a complete fool either.)

Sex.

Everyone laughed. FW got angry with the class and turned on them.

I'm serious! And if you are going to make it in this industry you'd better be, too. ALL great songs are about sex. You do not sing them with your voices, or even your hearts. You sing them with your loins. Focus on that and you will sing better than your voices. It isn't the voice which makes you great, although that helps. It's knowing what you're singing about.

That's all I remember about the piece, but it has stuck with me for years. Every so often I think about it. I think FW was right. The songs which touch me deepest, which make cry, or feel cuddly, or whatever, they all speak somehow to sex. How odd. Or is it?

We are sexual beings. It's a large part of our make up. For some it's larger than for others. [smiles] But that's the breaks. Right?

Writing is kind of like that, too. Well, mine is. My writing can all be boiled down to relationships, and sex is part of any relationship - even non-gay friendships. This is true whether we like it or not. Or maybe I'm just talking about myself. Sex is the tension used to keep interst longer than any other kind. And I don't mean it always (or ever) has to result in intercourse. Realistically, it seldom does. But it's the awareness of sex which creates the tension. And it's that tension which keeps interest high. How far is this going to go? This is why when characters consumate their relationships it is generally done at the end of the story. Once the question of "will they or won't they" is answered, interest wanes. But it can't be strung out endlessly, either.

I think that's what makes my second book in Swords of Fire so much more exciting and fun that the first. Prophecies of Madatar is filled with sexual tension from beginning to end.

Meanwhile, I'm listening to Carly Simon, Dido, and the others. Some of the songs remind me of heartbreaks and failures in my past. That's a different kind of sexual tension. It can also inspire great stories. Swords of Fire uses that, too.