A Long Wild Ride
Mar252009
The Wild Ride revisions are at last over. I know, I can’t believe it, either. What took so long? Sex.
Jen’s revision letter said, “I wouldn’t mind a sex scene between Mab and Joe.” Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh. If you’ve read my opinions on sex scenes, you’ll know that (a) I don’t think a book should ever have a sex scene just to have a sex scene and (b) I don’t think a scene should ever be about sex; it can have sex in it, but it has to be about character or plot arc. So “add a sex scene” is my least favorite editing request.
But this is Jen and Jen is a genius. Also, she didn’t say, “Add a sex scene,” she said, basically, “You know, as a reader, I’m missing a sex scene here.” That is, it felt like there should be an explicit scene where I had done your basic “And now, dear readers, let us close the door and leave our characters to their rolling around in the sheets.” The thing about Jen is, she’s a fabulous reader. So when she says, “I’m missing something here,” I pay attention.
I especially pay attention because inevitably what she’s missing is something I’m ducking, something I don’t want to say on the page because I’ll have to go deeper into the book and get closer to the bone and frankly, that kind of writing is upsetting. And since it’s never bothered me in the slightest to write explicit sex scenes before, it became clear, once I stopped stomping around and grousing, that Jen had once more put her finger on the part of the book I was avoiding: developing Mab’s character fully.
So I went back and studied the relationships Mab has in the book–she gets a lot of action in two weeks and not all of it is demonic–and started to dig deeper and all kinds of things turned up, not just about Mab, and the book took another turn and got much better, all because Jen said, without saying it, “You’re not going deep enough.”
So now the book has two sex scenes. She’s going to be so happy.
And the book is done, so Bob and I are both ecstatic.
Until the next editing letter.
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30 Comments to 'A Long Wild Ride'
On March 25, 2009 at 11:57 pm purplelev said...
Is the title of the post in any way related to the two sex scenes?
*hoping & laughing*
On March 25, 2009 at 11:58 pm Courtney De said...
Well, really, this calls for a celebration…involving publishing another excerpt!! Really! I think that’s a fabulous idea. Very celebrational, which, by the way, is not a real word, but I don’t have an editor, so I can thumb my nose at spell check. Ahem. Congratulations! That’s really what I meant to say. A little punchy over here.
On March 26, 2009 at 12:28 am robena grant said...
Yay! The sexpert is back! Ha ha. I love your sex scenes and hell, what’s a Crusie without sex? I’ll bet you even had a smoke afterward. Okay, okay, I’m leaving now.
On March 26, 2009 at 7:56 am Cathy said...
Woohoo!! So it *is* a romance! ;>
*ducking and running*
On March 26, 2009 at 8:42 am Danielle said...
Yay! I’m so excited for you. Hopefully the stress level dies down now.
On March 26, 2009 at 10:56 am Theresa said...
Hmm, I find this all very interesting. I really wish I could read the version you sent to your betas (which had sex scenes that the betas questioned), the version that went to your Jen, and now this final version. How does the last one give a deeper picture of Mab’s character? Why didn’t the earlier sex scenes work, but these later ones were needed?
These aren’t really questions I’m expecting answers to, more must musings going on in my brain. It makes me wonder about what I would and wouldn’t notice as a reader.
On March 26, 2009 at 11:43 am McB said...
Book fix!!
And as I’m reading your praise of Jen the wonder editor, I can’t help but think that she probably has fond thoughts about the author (you) who doesn’t take offense at every editing suggestion.
On March 26, 2009 at 1:07 pm Ellie said...
Way to go! I agree, posting an excerpt would be a highly appropriate way to celebrate. Or you could post one just because we are shamelessly greedy readers who take advantage of every opportunity to feed our Crusie/Mayer addiction. You pick.
On March 26, 2009 at 1:49 pm Victoria Janssen said...
Word.
I tried to think of a more insightful comment, but really, “word” says it all.
On March 26, 2009 at 2:07 pm Jenny said...
Thinking back, I don’t think the betas ever saw a sex scene. The one that I had done was completely useless, it did nothing for the book, so I think I cut it before they saw it. Jen definitely never saw it. So when I went back to look at it, I looked at what I could show in a sex scene, and realized it was an opportunity to show character arc and plot movement between two, one at the first turning point and one right after the third.
I’d explain more, but then we’re in spoiler territory.
And then I had to go back and tweak the rest of the book because of what those two scenes had shown me, so they were needed. Still not sure how good they were.
Biggest thing I learned while revising them: sex scenes are about verbs not nouns.
Discuss.
Or maybe not.
Never mind.
On March 26, 2009 at 2:08 pm Louis said...
Hey, Ms J
Now that Wild Ride is ,uh, finished, uuuhhh, maybe a small paragraph or three or more about a scene in the book???
Us readers would, uuhh, like to read a few……
maybe????
On March 26, 2009 at 2:10 pm Jenny said...
Revised first chapter coming up shortly, Louis. So those of you who went through it the first time can see how we changed it. Those of you who couldn’t care less can just skip that next post.
On March 26, 2009 at 2:31 pm Becke Davis said...
I want to read an excerpt, but it will make me impatient to read the book. Now I’m really curious to see how you handled these scenes.
On March 26, 2009 at 2:49 pm Stephanie said...
verbs not nouns… sounds like fantastic writing advice;)
On March 26, 2009 at 3:23 pm GatorPerson said...
I remember when “verb” was dumbed down to “action word.”
Maybe here it’s appropriate, since there should be some action in a sex scene. After all, basketball and hoop are just nouns. It’s in the scoring that there is action.
Ummm, tongue in cheek here.
On March 26, 2009 at 5:12 pm Louis said...
Thanks Ms. J
Looking forward to next post.
Definitely!
On March 26, 2009 at 6:07 pm DownUnderGal said...
So now all is right with the world.
Just saying…
On March 26, 2009 at 6:18 pm Susan D said...
Ohhh, lovely.
“And the book is done, so Bob and I are both ecstatic.”
Ha! You and Bob are ecstatic. Well, how do you think WE feel??? Ecstatic barely scratches the surface.
Meanwhile….”Sex scene between Mab and Joe.” Joe? Where did this Joe come from? It matters not. Sex with a guy named Joe has just got to be wonderful. Wasn’t there an old song, Happiness is Just a Guy Named Joe.
And finally… Cathy says, “So it is a romance…” Oh, Cathy, you romantic, you, to equate Sex with Romance. That’s so sweet.
On March 26, 2009 at 8:00 pm Jenny said...
NOT a romance, NOT a romance.
Sigh.
On March 27, 2009 at 7:50 am Cathy said...
Susan D – (snickering) I *know*! I’m hopeless. Or naive. Possibly both. “All is right with the world” and “word” pretty well sum up my thoughts on the addition of the (non-romantic) sex.
On March 27, 2009 at 8:49 am McB said...
“sex scene are about verbs not nouns”
Well, yeah. It’s all about the journey. A good wossname, metaphor for life.
On March 27, 2009 at 8:58 am JulieB said...
Not a bunch of flowery and manly adjectives? Huh.
Actually, I have a serious question: if you added a sex scene with someone named Joe, did that affect Bob’s stuff, or is Joe your character? I know when you started writing DLD and Agnes you had the characters divided up and would pass stuff back and forth, and I’m wondering if it worked the same way this time around, and if you can tell us who created what for this book. Although, by the time it’s in our hands we might forget.
On March 27, 2009 at 9:32 am Susan D said...
Me too, Cathy.
Of course, I just realised I made one of those ultra-het assumptions–that Joe is a guy.
On March 27, 2009 at 10:14 am Jill said...
NOT a romance, NOT a romance.
Got it. But, are the sex scenes going to foster ‘this is a romance’ thinking in the reader ? Or not.
On March 27, 2009 at 11:18 am Marta said...
Yeah, once sex scenes get to the noun stage, the action’s pretty much over. It’s like champagne, but I’m not saying how, because it’s so much like champagne talking about it sounds deliberately suggestive. Not that anybody around here would take offense.
I absolutely agree that unless you’re writing an instructional manual, adding sex scenes that do nothing to move the plot is wrong. There are certain authors whose work I enjoy who routinely add unneeded sex scenes. I just as routinely skim/skip those scenes in my rush to follow the story, because the story’s why I’m reading the book.
Actually, I remember a conversation that took place several years ago at a Protestant Women of the Chapel meeting (yes, fact IS often stranger than fiction). It was at that period of time when sex scenes were becoming de rigueur in romance novels, and someone mentioned how they were embarrassed to read them in public. That started this huge discussion, the gist of which revealed among those who read romances, there were two camps. One group read for the story and skipped over the superfluous sex. The other group read for the sex and skipped over the story.
What I want to know, though, is what door in Mab’s psych was Jenny hesitant to open?
On March 27, 2009 at 11:32 am Cathy said...
“I made one of those ultra-het assumptions–that Joe is a guy”….
Hmmm…What would be the cover description be on that? ‘While battling demonic clowns, Mab delved deep into her psyche and took a new look at her pal Joe’.
On March 27, 2009 at 1:33 pm Kate G said...
I love reading this blog! Not only is Jenny fun to read, but your readers are fun to read too.
I thought sex scenes were about feeling rather than words. Of course you have to use words to create the feeling and i guess vebs are as good as any to use.
Thanks for adding a lift to my afternoon – all of you. And of course I can’t wait for the BOOK! I try not to read excepts because they make me crazy for more!
On March 27, 2009 at 2:16 pm Jenny said...
Which characters are mine and which are Bob’s?
I tend to take over a lot of them.
Mine are the heroine, Mab, and her roommate Cindy, and Delpha and Frankie and Skinny and Quentin and Young Fred and Joe and Fufluns and Vanth and Sam and Carl Whack-a-Mole and Dead Karl and Jerry Ferris Wheel, and Drunk Dave and the guy with the glasses.
Bob’s are the hero, Ethan, and Gus and Selvans.
We both worked on Ashley and Weaver and Kharos and Tura and Glenda and Ray and Ursula.
On March 28, 2009 at 8:02 am JulieB said...
Holy Cow! Great names!
On March 30, 2009 at 11:13 am Kira said...
Did you ever notice that the Bible uses verbs to show feelings? As in, “He ate, he drank, he got up, he left – Esau dissed the birthright”.
I always thought that was a subtle yet effective approach.
Looking forward to the non-romance with two verb-laden sex scenes in it.