First person scenes…
March 6, 2007
Yesterday I wrote a short story in the first person and having read a great extract on Julie Cohen’s site, I asked her about writing ‘first person’ sex – i.e. was it more challenging to write than third person sex.
Click here to see Julie’s post then my comment is below. Do comment and tell me what you think, how you write different narrative viewpoints and how you feel about reading them.
Wow – thanks for blogging about this. I’d love to try writing a first person novel and last night I wrote a first person short story that set me wondering. As for the sex in my current books, I have got over the ‘invisible mum/aunty’ quite a while ago. I do admit to empathising with the characters in all the scenes, sensual ones included. However,those scenes are appropriate to the characters and plot – they’re not the ‘author’. Sorry to disappoint you!
My new novel, Wish You Were Here features more tentative, tender encounters (early on at least…) unlike Decent Exposure which focuses on the characters circling around each other and playing power games with their sexuality.
I’d love to hear how other writers approach this.
In a separate, unrelated but spooky incident, ‘someone’ who shall remain nameless 🙂 decided to bring a smile to my face by sending me a fascinating book called The Joy Of Writing Sex by Elizabeth Benedict. It’s a serious, literary exploration of the place of sensual scenes in all genres of fiction and how writers can approach/improve them.
Posted by Phillipa @ 5:05 pm | Leave a Comment
Liz Fenwick Says:
This is a great discussion. Thanks for raising it with Julie. I don’t do sex…I hint at it, allude to it but just don’t write it. The thought of writing it in first person without making it sick making is something I could never acheive! Julie did realy well. I’m looking forward to her next one.
Looking forward to your next one as well. You handled the sex well in Decent Exposure. It felt credible……:-)
Charlotte Says:
Decent Exposure is now in Waterstones Oxford 🙂
chillamola Says:
wicked ford theater chicago
Mary-ow Says: