《How to Write Stories People Will Love》Question 43: Writing uncomfortable scenes
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asks: I feel uncomfortable with writing inappropriate scenes but in my book I want to say that my leading character gets pregnant. And I want to let the readers know what happened without actually having to write a sex scene.
The great thing is, we don't have to write scenes that make us uncomfortable. They can merely be hinted at. Scenes that are necessary for the understanding of the story can sometimes be explicit, boring, or any number of other things that make it undesirable to include in a book. Those scenes can be glossed over in various ways.
In movies, there is often romance that leads to sex, but they find ways to not show it. They instead imply pretty heavily that it's happening. Here are some examples of how they do it:
- The couple is kissing, then they move into the bedroom and shut the door. All we see is the door being closed, and not what's behind it.
- We see a love interest exiting a house in the morning, waving goodbye to the other person at the doorway, maybe blowing a kiss.
- We see a woman wandering around the kitchen in an oversized man's shirt and no pants.
- People in the living room can hear sexy giggling coming from one of the bedrooms.
- An uncomfortable scene begins, like maybe a struggle or groping, and then it fades to black. This leaves it open to interpretation, and can be an effective tool to convey a bit of mystery as to what actually happened.
Uncomfortable scenes can be alluded to in dialogue. Someone can be chatting with their friend about what happened last night. They can go into as much or as little detail as you like, as long as it adheres to the character's personality. (For example, a shy person wouldn't go into any detail at all.)
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A character can think about the uncomfortable event in his or her mind. They can re-experience the elation, fear, or whatever emotion they had again. They can give a narrative commentary about it, like how they can't believe it finally happened, or how they hope it never happens again.
makes a great suggestion: Have a different character stumble upon the uncomfortable scene. Whatever is going on will immediately stop, but the reader will see a freeze-frame of what's going on. For example, someone opens a room where two people are making out. Or someone turns into an alleyway and interrupts a gruesome beating. You just need to describe what the person sees, and no more than that. The reader will put the pieces together.
You don't have to detail out any scene you are uncomfortable with. These scenes can simply be referred to in various subtle or not-so-subtle ways. The reader will figure out what's happened without needing the specifics.
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8 534Iferes: Slaves Of The Gods
Iferes are creatures that roam the world. They are everywhere, and anywhere. From the deepest seas, to the highest mountains. From the heart of volcanos, to the never melting glaciers. Some are weak, some are strong. Some are calm, some are bloodthirsty. What they all have in common, is that they fight for survival. For hundreds of thousands of eras, humans and Iferes lived in a world of war and blood. Ifere against Ifere, Ifere against humans, and humans against humans. But one day, in a very distant past, the twelve Mystic Iferes, and the twelve greatest kings of humanity, joined hands to end that cruel era. Together, they created a contract. A contract that, once made, would bound the two parties, and could only be broken in death. Millions of years went by, and that period of war faded in legends. And a child was born, a child that would change everything. For bad or worse, only time would say. ----------------------------- Hello, everyone! Just a few warnings before you read the novel, so you won't be disappointed. First of all, as you can probably tell, I took more than a few ideas from pokemon and the like. It's almost impossible to write a novel where creatures (Iferes) have a major part in, and not relate it to pokemon. However, as you will see as the novel goes on, I tried (and I think I succeeded) in making a universe of my own. I am sure you will like it. Secondly, compared to pokemon, my novel is a lot darker, as you probably noticed by the synopsis. I also try to give a wild west vibe to it, if you know what I mean. Thirdly, you should check out my fanfic Broke: A Clone Wars Tale. Biased as I am towards it, I think it's a great story, and so do many of my readers. It will also give you a glance at what writing style to expect. Fourth and last, I feel like it's only fair that I tell you I am a student. As much as I love writing, my main priority will always be my studies. After all, writing is just a hobby for me, at least for now (fingers crossed). As such, there probably will be interruptions in the release schedule here and there, but, if you followed me on my other novel, you will know I rarely missed an upload, and, when I did, I always made up for it. So, with all that said, I hope you can give the novel a try, and leave a review. If you are a new reader, I hope we can have a lot of fun along the way. If you read Broke, then we already made a journey together, and I hope you will follow me on a new one. Also, you should check out my patreon, there you can get chapters in advance (although they will all be published normally after a while), and a few other benefits. I appreciate every bit of support you can give me! patreon.com/reis123 PS: there will be romance, but no harem or reincarnation. The MC is just someone who was born and raised on this world.
8 184THE MAN WHO FOUGHT GOD
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8 153Saving Wisdom and Wizards || PJO x HP Crossover
Being a half-blood isn't easy, and it doesn't get easier. Of course, fighting in two wars and being drafted into a third doesn't help. But there are those lucky ones. The ones who survive and move on, have families, education, life.Percy Jackson is not one of them. He's a demigod and apparently, a very powerful and hated wizard. Percy is tasked with helping the Wizard World, and protecting Harry Potter, which is hard to do when Harry wants nothing more than to kill him.*Completed* Sequel is out!Highest Rankings:#1 Percy Jackson #1 Percabeth #1 Annabeth Chase #1 Wizards#1 Dark!Percy#1 Heroes of Olympus#1 Rick Riordan#2 Crossover
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