Are Writers Shying Away From Sex Scenes?

Don't concentrate simply on the mechanics or you'll have an awkward "tab A in slot B" scene that will make readers collapse with laughter. – C. Margery Kempe

I have recently discovered that the one award in writing I don’t mind not winning has been awarded once again. It’s Britain’s Bad Sex in Fiction Award. I posted a blog on this last year, when the 2008 winner was Rachel Johnson for Shire Hell.

For those who don’t remember, the award (a plastic foot) was created in 1993 by literary critic, Rhoda Koenig and then editor of the Literary Review, Auberon Waugh, "to draw attention to the crude, tasteless, often perfunctory use of redundant passages of sexual description in the modern novel, and to discourage it."

The winner for 2009 was The Kindly Ones by Jonathan Littell. According to the Literary Review, “The judges used the occasion to praise an ambitious and impressive novel. They said: ‘It is in part a work of genius.’ However, a mythologically inspired passage and lines such as "I came suddenly, a jolt that emptied my head like a spoon scraping the inside of a soft-boiled egg" clinched the award.” The author was not available for comment, but the article said, “We hope he takes it in good humour.”

To read the entire winning exert, click here. You can also read clips by the runners up who included Paul Theroux, Nick Cave, Philip Roth, Amos Oz, Anthony Quinn, John Banville, Richard Milward, Sanjida O'Connell and Simon Van Booy.

According to a separate article I read on guardian.com by Tim Adams, “Sex disappears from the British novel as authors run scared of ridicule,” this award may be scaring authors from writing steamy scenes. The article states that former poet laureate, Andrew Motion, after reading through 138 novels to come up with the shortlist for the Booker Prize concluded that, “… no one was writing much about sex anymore.” Motion said, “It's as if they were paranoid about being nominated for the Bad Sex Award…” He is also quoted as saying that "there were a lot of people writing about taking drugs, as if that was a substitute for sex."

It’s an interesting article about the obscenity trial for Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence and “lust” highlights in literature. Adams says, “In 1961, the year after Lady Chatterley's Lover was allowed to be published in the UK, the book outsold the Bible, with two million copies bought (200,000 on the first day).” He goes on to list books on “Literary Lust: 10 Milestones,” such as Fanny Hill by John Cleland, Ulysses by James Joyce and Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth, which had a part in changing the history of acceptable sex in novels.

The articles left me wondering if authors are shying away from writing about sexual encounters because they’ve all been done before; they don’t have the shock value that they once did; they are too difficult to write; they’re worried about the Bad Sex in Fiction Award; society is reverting back to the puritanical values of our ancestors; drug scenes have become the new sex scene; or they aren’t backing away at all. What do you think?

If you have trouble writing sex scenes and want to be sure you don’t win the foot trophy, check out last year’s guest post by C. Margery Kempe for her tips on writing these difficult scenes.

Other helpful articles I found are:
20 Steps to Writing Great Love Scenes, by Karen Wiesner at writing-world.com
How to Write a Fictional Sex Scene, by Catherine Chant at eHow.com
How to Write Sex Scenes: The 12-Step Program by Steve Almond on Nerve.com

Do you have trouble writing sex scenes? Have you read a scene you think might deserve the Bad Sex in Fiction Award? Do you think drug scenes are surpassing sex scenes in fiction?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next Monday.


Tags: C. Margery Kemp, bad sex in fiction award, writing sex scenes, Jonathan Littell , Lady Chatterley’s Lover , D. H. Lawrence, Fanny Hill, John Cleland,Ulysses ,James Joyce, Philip Roth,

Writing a Book Review

A good writer is not, per se, a good book critic. No more than a good drunk is automatically a good bartender. - Jim Bishop

I never thought about writing book reviews until I was the author of a book receiving reviews. I know how nice it is to have someone who liked the book take the time to post their thoughts. Therefore, I decided I wanted to do a better job of writing reviews of the books I’ve read and enjoyed; especially those by new authors.

Writing reviews, I quickly learned, is not as easy as it sounds.

I know what kind of reviews I like to read—short and to-the-point. An example of what I consider well-written book reviews can be found at Straight from Hel. Helen Ginger’s reviews leave me wanting to read the book even if it’s not in a genre I normally select (the disclaimers posted along with the reviews are also thoroughly entertaining). Click here and here to read samples of her recent reviews. Her blog involves many other book related topics, so if you haven’t visited, I recommend a stop.

I also know what type of reviews I don’t like to read—the tell-all style that reads more like a book report and often gives away important plot twists. I avoid these types of reviews (unless it’s something someone posted on The Ride, and then I read every word). I simply don’t want to know all there is to know about a book I haven’t read yet. And, if there is a spoiler alert, I cringe and close the page as quickly as possible.

In my quest to learn how to write good reviews, I ran across an article by Michelle Kerns at examiner.com, titled “The top 20 most annoying book reviewer clichés and how to use them all in one meaningless review.” Gripping, poignant and compelling are samples of the words on her list. According to Michelle:

“The purpose of reviewerspeak is to force every free-thinking book, movie, and art reviewer into the submissive parroting of only a handful of approved reviewer words to describe any item that may come their way. Call it laziness, call it the incessant demands of the ever-wakeful internet, call it fear of the wrath of Harold Bloom, but reviewers -- particularly book reviewers -- spew out these same, tired old clichés with the force and regularity of Linda Blair in a scene from The Exorcist.”

Then I read another of Michelle’s articles “Book Review Bingo: More book review cliché fun than you can shake a riveting, unputdownable stick at,” that takes these clichés a step further. She added a few words, such as "unputdownable," and developed a Bingo game. She says:

“I hardly think there is anything that drives a stake into the heart of a book review faster and with more determined force than a cliché. Book reviews that use clichés mean nothing, say nothing, and tell the reader nothing. They're like eating a cream puff when what you really want is prime rib -- they're unsatisfying and, ultimately, useless.”

After my “research” this week, I am confident about words I want to avoid and the kind of review I don’t want to write, but I am nowhere near being able to sit down and write a review with ease.

Now I plan to spend some time visiting the 100 Best Blogs for Book Reviews at onlinecollege.org. This site looks interesting as it divides the review blogs by genre, so I can concentrate on the types of books I read the most.

It’s important for me to find my voice in writing book reviews soon, because my stack of read-but-need-to-write-a-review books is about to become taller than my to-read stack.

Do you write reviews? If so, do you review all the books you read or only the ones you really like? How do you feel about tell-all reviews? Do you have any hints on how to write the perfect book review?

Before I forget, I want to thank Virginia Grenier at The Writing Mama for bestowing me with the Versatile Blogger Award. It’s quite an honor coming from a truly resourceful blogger, who manages to raise three kids while writing, running a publishing company, editing…oh and blogging. If you’re not familiar with her blog, you might want to stop by to see what you’re missing.

Thanks for stopping here today. I hope to see you again, next Monday.

Tags: Jim Bishop, book reviews, book reviewers, writing book reviews, best blogs for book reviews, Helen Ginger , The Ride,

The Problem of What to Read Next

Always read something that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. -P.J. O'Rourke

Finishing a good book is a bittersweet moment for me. I don’t like saying goodbye to characters I’ve grown to love. But that’s only part of the problem. Ending one book means it’s time to select what I’m going to read next. With so many books available and so many ways to decide, making that choice is no easy task.

Some readers might visit the new books section at their library; ask for recommendations from their local book store; follow their book club list; or, opt for something a friend or family member mentioned in passing.

Others might go online for advice. Recently lifehacker.com ran an article, “The Five Best Book Recommendation Services.” They included sites I would expect to find, like Shelfari, Library Thing, Amazon, and Goodreads, plus one I wasn’t familiar with called GetGlue. The article mentions the pluses each site has to offer.

There are some people who find an author they like and read without a pause everything by that one writer. Once the author’s books are devoured, the fan can select from a list of books that the author likes. At toptenbooks.net there’s a top ten book list by a wide range of authors. For instance, here are the number one selections from a few random authors:

Kate Atkinson: Persuasion by Jane Austen
Russell Banks: Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes
Carl Hiaasen: Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
Stephen King: The Golden Argosy by Van H. Cartmell & Charles Grayson, editors
Anita Shreve: The Transit of Venus by Shirley Hazzard
Tom Wolfe: L'Assommoir; Nana (tie) by Emile Zola
Jodi Picoult: Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
John Irving: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
Joyce Carol Oates: Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Alexander McCall Smith: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

OK, so they aren’t exactly recent releases…but, classics can always be reread.

Another option, and one of my favorites, is to select books after reading about them from blogger buddies. They might be books they’ve written or books they have reviewed.

While all of the above methods are good, I wanted to work my way through my leaning tower of to-read books before adding more confusion to the selection process, so I utilized a very unscientific approach. I recently finished reading The Tortilla Curtain by T.C. Boyle (passed on to me by my sister). I thought it was an excellent book and I enjoyed it, but it was dark, sad, intense, and addressed a touchy subject these days (immigration). My next read needed to be on the lighter side. I plucked a book from the stack according to the fun-looking book cover (I warned you my method was not scientific).

I selected Delicious and Suspicious, a cozy mystery by Riley Adams (an author I ‘met’ through blogging). The only problem I can see with my selection, after reading only a few pages, is that I might have to go out for barbeque tonight (those who have read it will know what I mean). Check out Mystery Writing is Murder for more information on this author (also known as Elizabeth Spann Craig) and her books.

How do you go about selecting your next book to read? Are you inclined to read all books by an author you like before moving on to something else, or do you like to mix things up a bit? If you made a top ten list, which book would you include as number one? (I didn’t answer this question, because I simply don’t know. Again, there are too many for me to select only one—or ten.)

Thanks for dropping by today. I hope to see you again next Monday.

Tags: P. J. O’Rourke, Lifehacker, top ten books , Delicious and Suspicious, Tortilla Curtain, Stephen King, Jodi Picoult , book recommendation services, Elizabeth Spann Craig, Riley Adams,

Ideas for Recycling Books

Books are not made for furniture, but there is nothing else that so beautifully furnishes a house. - Henry Ward Beecher

If I had my way and lived in the equivalent of…oh, say the Istana Nurul Iman palace (the over 2 million square foot residence of the Sultan of Brunei), I’d probably never get rid of a single book—ever. I’d even allow books I didn’t particularly care for to gather dust on my endless bookshelves. However, I live in a small condo so my limited book space must undergo frequent uncluttering sessions. I generally only keep reference books and signed copies. As painful as it is for me to do, all others are passed along to someone I think would enjoy them or donated.

When my husband sent me this link to Gizmodo, I realized that some talented people have come up with more creative ways of recycling surplus books. The Scanner (seen below), constructed by Slovakian artist Matej Krén, is constructed out of thousands of books. The entry is large enough to accommodate the tallest of adults quite easily. There are mirrors inside the tunnel that create an illusion of an infinite number of books. It's on display at the Museum of Modern Art in Bologna.

To see more photos of this amazing work of art or to view the video, click here.

Viewing this piece made me wonder what other works of art might be made from books. I didn’t have to look far to find my answer. Offbeat Earth offers a photo display of wonderful works of “book art.” I’ve only included a few of my favorites (which were very hard to limit to a few) so be sure to check out the site for other brilliant pieces.

Still haven’t had enough, check out:

Incredible and original Models Made Out of Books at 1dak.com

Works of Art Made From Books at Casa Sugar

The Bittersweet Art of Cutting Up Books at Dark Roasted Blend

And, if you would like to buy book art, check out the gallery at This Into That

What do you do with your books once you read them? Have you found any creative ways to recycle books?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next Monday.

Tags: The Scanner, Museum of Modern Art, Bologna, Matej Krén , recycled books, Henry Ward Beecher, book art,

Having Fun with Your Writer’s Voice

I thought I was clever enough to write as well as these people and I didn't realize that there is something called originality and your own voice. – Amy Tan

The best definition I found for writing voice was from the article "Finding Your Voice "by Susan J. Letham on Write101.com. She says:

“In writing, voice is the way your writing 'sounds' on the page. It has to do with the way you write, the tone you take—friendly, formal, chatty, distant—the words you choose—everyday words or high-brow language—the pattern of your sentences, and the way these things fit in—or not—with the personality of the narrator character and the style of your story.”

I’ve grown comfortable with my voice. I don’t think about it when I'm writing. Though my books and short stories are all different, I feel it's obvious they were all written by the same person—or I did.

Recently an article in huffingtonpost.com, “I Write Like’ Website Goes Viral, Authors Bewildered,” by Jake Coyle, caught my attention. The article discusses the I Write Like site, which analyzes your writing style. It’s quite simple—paste a few paragraphs and click. Within seconds an “I write like” badge appears.

According to the article, a transcript of one of Mel Gibson’s rants was analyzed as the style of Margaret Atwood. Margaret’s own sample came back as Stephen King. Though these examples showed the system wasn’t perfect, I couldn't resist trying it out.

For fun I submitted the first few paragraphs of my first book, The Ride, my not yet released book, Reigning Cats and Dogs, and my current WIP. I evidently have more voices in my head than I ever dreamed.

My badge for The Ride was Vladimir Nabokov of Lolita fame, for Reigning Cats and Dogs, it was Stephen King and for the WIP, Dan Brown's name popped up.

Now while I find it flattering that my writing could be compared to any one of these writers, I was surprised that all three samples came back with different authors. When I first decided to try my hand at writing a novel, I had something Stephen Kingish in mind. However, it didn’t take me long to realize horror was not my genre; I didn’t have a mind like King; and my writing style was totally different.

If I sat around and thought long enough, maybe I could come up with an “I write like” badge for myself. Though I’m not quite sure which famous writer my style resembles, I'm fairly certain it’s no one in this illustrious trio.

If you want to have a little fun, you can go to the I Write Like site here. If you’re having trouble finding your voice or would like to read more on the topic, you might try these links:
Finding Your Voice, Write101.com
How to Find Your Voice, Men with Pens
How to Find a Voice as a Writer, eHow.com
How to Find your Writing Voice, Bukisa.com
Vintage: Finding Your Writer’s Voice, Tumblemoose.com

Have you found your voice? Can you idenify an author by the way they write? Have you tried the I Write Like site? If so, which writing badge or badges did you receive?

Thanks for stopping by today. I hope to see you again next Monday.

Tags: Amy Tan, finding your voice, finding your writing voice, Stephen King, Dan Brown, Vladimir Nabokov, I write like, The Ride,Reigning Cats and Dogs ,Margaret Atwood, Mel Gibson,