The Devil Made Me Do It by Amelia James

There’s no reason, aside from plot development or character growth, to bore a reader with repetitive sex scenes. I’m so disappointed when I’m reading a romance novel and the first time sex is mind-blowing, but the following encounters are the same or more often cut short because the author didn’t know how to keep it exciting. Listed below are a few methods I use to keep sex scenes hot throughout a full novel.

1. Change the location. This is probably the easiest trick. Take your characters out of the bedroom and put them in the kitchen, living room, dining room, or the bathroom. Shower sex is steamy! (No pun intended.) Take them outdoors to a private or not so private place. Sometimes even changing from “your place or mine?” makes a world of difference. Different locations offer opportunities to get bold. Grab a spatula off the kitchen counter and spank her. Make him watch in the bathroom mirror. Take a chance getting caught groping in a movie theater.
2. Change the circumstances. Why are your characters hitting the sheets? Are they just looking for a good time? Are they searching for their true love? Understand their physical and emotional attraction and explore it. Is there some reason they shouldn’t have sex? Find it and exploit it. Emotionally charged sex scenes are never dull.
3. Use sex to reflect the state of the relationship. A couple who were previously strangers to each other may have a first encounter that’s awkward or inhibited, but a couple with a history will have all kinds of issues to address the first time they get undressed. The subsequent encounters won’t have to be abbreviated if you explore how their relationship has progressed (or hasn’t). If they’re feeling secure with each other, let them experiment—get bold. If there’s conflict between them, take it to the bedroom. Angry sex scenes are some of the hottest I’ve ever written, and makeup sex can be equally passionate and loving.
4. Use sex to grow the characters or advance the plot. A sex scene puts characters in their most vulnerable, ahem, position. Reveal something new about them, or give them an emotional dilemma that changes the plot direction. Readers shouldn’t be able to skip the sex scene without missing something important.

The key to writing an exciting sex scene in any chapter is to know your characters. Know their wants and needs, fantasies and inhibitions. Push their boundaries and make them learn something about themselves or each other. Leave them satisfied but craving more, and your readers will be skipping pages to get to the next brain-melting sex scene.

About the Author: