Saturday June 12th, we were joined at SU by the fantastic AmeryMarie!!! She took the time to answer these questions for us. We love you like well written smut AmeryMarie :)
1. What is your biggest pet peeve in smut?
Tweens or virgins writing smut. It comes across as awkward – and not in a good way – and ridiculously immature. I just can’t read it. Is it that you can’t write about something that you’ve never done? Yes, but no. I’ve written about sex acts that I’ve never actually experienced, but I’ve at least sex before, so I have a base of experience with which to start.
2. Do you have a smut writing ritual?
Nope, none whatsoever. Much like sex, I just do it.
I take that back. If I’m writing a smut-shot, I figure out the sex first, and then build the story around it. If I don’t, then I tend to spend way too much time developing the plot, and it ends up being really fucking long. It’s backfired on me before, but it tends to curb my verbosity. The original O/S that I planned to use for my Friday Free For All piece is a great example of when it fails.
What was supposed to be a simple, little hate-sex O/S, ended up at like 12k and wasn’t finished, so I had to pull something out of my ass, and get it beta’d in like three-four days. I’m still working on that piece whenever I can spare a few minutes or I need a break from BH. It’s so close to done, that I should really just sit down and finish it, but BH is my focus right now.
3. What is your #1 DONT in smut?
When the tone of the sex, and the action leading up to it don’t match, or the characters are completely OOC during when things get heated. You’re not going to be strolling through the park, holding hands and making goo-goo eyes at each other, and then have angry sex. The OOC part is a bit trickier, because sometimes people almost seem to take on a different persona in the bedroom, or they attempt to be bolder than usually are. In that case, it’s your job as a writer to convey that, because no one is going to believe a geeky, shy Edward when he turns into a dirty-talking, sex god…especially not if it’s his first time.
4. If you could give a new writer just one tip for writing smut, what would it be?
This isn’t really smut-specific, but it’s just as important to smut as it is to the non-smutty stuff. Find someone who is going to be brutally honest to pre-read for you. Sure, you want someone to tell you that you’re amazing, and better than everyone else, but Yes-men help no one. They actually do you more harm than anything, because they don’t help you improve.
You’ll probably get your feelings hurt on occasion, but personally, I would rather that than to embarrass myself in public. Just remember that they aren’t saying it to be mean, but to help you develop your craft.
5. When writing sex scenes, do you find it difficult to strike a balance between describing the action versus the emotions and sensations the characters are feeling?
I don’t think it’s difficult for me. I generally feel that Newton’s (not that Newton) Third Law, at least part of it, applies: for every action there should be a . . . reaction.
For short sex scenes, I tend to focus more on the emotions, and paint a hazy picture of the actual actions. For longer scenes I try to find a fairly even balance, and for really, um…dirty or vulgar ones, I focus less on the emotions/sensations, and more on the act itself.
6. What, to you, are unforgivable errors when writing sex scenes?
Forgetting about anatomy is a big one. Some things just aren’t physically possible. I read something in a fic where E has B bent over and, while fully buried inside her, he manages to kiss her lower back! If he can physically accomplish that that then he can probably also give himself blowjobs, and wouldn’t be having sex with anyone other than his mouth. That’s probably not true, but you get my point.
Um, ULAL is another. Oh, and weird or creepy terms of endearment, especially ‘my lovely.’ I hate ‘my lovely.’
7. What are your thoughts in regards to sex scenes involving the loss of a woman's virginity with no pain or awkwardness?
I understand why writers do it and, yes, some women don’t experience any pain, some even get off, but they’re the exceptions that prove the rule.
Sometimes it works, and other times it’s like, ‘Bullshit!’ Depends on the writer. I think it was maybe Hide and Drink where Bella didn’t experience much discomfort, and it worked for me because of Bella’s explanation regarding why. However, in most fics – for me, at least – it doesn’t work. I kind of read it with a healthy dose of disbelief, and move on.
I usually avoid writing deflowerings for this very reason. I think I’ve only written it twice. One time it was pure comedy, and the other time was kind of sweet, but she certainly didn’t get off.
8. What phrase or term have you come across in reading sex scenes that ruined the scene for you?
I can’t really think of any off the top of my head. I never can! It annoys me that I see shit that makes me go, ‘No,’ but ask me to remember it five minutes later, and I can’t.
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-Don’t forget to register for this weeks class with guest author ANGSTGODDESS003 :)
