To some extent, emotions are...

To some extent, emotions are...

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To some extent, emotions are universal and can be treated that way; no matter what the participants’ orientation or preference, they have sex for the same reasons and can experience the same array of emotions in the process. But there are three important distinctions to be made: 1. The logistics of physiology 2. The basics of sexual attraction 3. Cultural impact on character and situation

- Diana Gabaldon
"I Give You My Body . . .": How I Write Sex Scenes
diana-gabaldon sex writing

Other quotes by Diana Gabaldon

Men have external genitalia, while women have internal genitalia. This simple difference makes a lot of difference in how they write about themselves—and how you might write about your characters. Male writers don’t often address internal sensation in a character, because they don’t experience it (and probably often don’t realize consciously that it’s there). This accounts for a lot of Really Terrible sex scenes written by men (if you look at the “Bad Sex-Scene Awards” in any given year, you’ll see that the vast majority are done by male writers).

- Diana Gabaldon

There’s a little trick called the Rule of Three: if you use any three of the five senses, it will make the scene immediately three-dimensional.

- Diana Gabaldon

Good sex scene is about the exchange of emotions, not bodily fluids

- Diana Gabaldon

If you can’t look a line of dialogue in the face and say exactly why it’s there—take it out or change it.

- Diana Gabaldon

Don’t go overboard in avoiding “said.” Basically, “said” is the default for dialogue, and a good thing, too; it’s an invisible word that doesn’t draw attention to itself.

- Diana Gabaldon

You want to anchor the scene with physical details, but by and large it’s better to use sensual details rather than overtly sexual ones.

- Diana Gabaldon
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