Sex: In or Out?

“Remember Newvember” easily slides into the genre of Chick-Lit, with its young protagonist daring to take on the world around her. However, the book does not highlight shopping, shoes or chocolate. In fact, it’s really just a snapshot of one month in the life of Willow Mae Pillbean – an atypical Chick-Lit heroine who journeys through her own life and discovers a self who has more confidence, more strength, and a more adventurous spirit than she realized.

There is a “love” interest in the book, which inevitably leads to a sex scene; probably one of the most difficult scenes in the book I had to write. The words flowed easily enough to the page, but then the question of how much is too much arose.

I wrote two versions of the same scene – the second was simply an extension of the original, with a tiny . . . . er . . . a whole lot more detail. Some readers who had a sneak peak at the entire book said I left them “wanting” with the original version, others said it was just enough.  

In my opinion, a detailed sex scene should be present only if it adds to character and plot development. The detail and length of the scene should be in keeping with the voice, point of view and writing style already in use. Adding a gratuitous sex scene for shock value does not add to the quality of the book. In fact, it just might detract from it.

So, which version of the sex scene will be present in “Remember Newvember” when the e-book is released at the end of May? If it’s written well enough, you’ll never really know, will you?