How Romance Novelists Write Smutty Sex Scenes -SmutTok Authors

“You’re so good,” I half-slur, feeling that increasingly familiar fog that comes from being deep inside her while surrounded by her scent that drives me mad. “So good for me.” I pull out slowly just to roll back inside. “Always take my cock so well.”

Imagine reading these words—an excerpt from author Lana Ferguson’s fabulously smutty, forthcoming romance novel, The Fake Mate—on a crowded subway car en route to work. What if someone were to peek over your shoulder? Will the gentleman sitting across from you notice that your cheeks are turning candy apple red? That you’ve practically had to undo the top button of your blouse just to cool down a little? (And is it just you, or is it suddenly very steamy in here?!)

Reading smut is a sexy, naughty, empowering experience—no matter the setting—but, how does it feel to be the authors crafting these scenes? Do they blush? Do they start paranoically looking around to make sure no one’s looking? Do they get downright horny when an idea strikes and they, too, are mid-commute? Unsurprisingly, the answers vary, but know this: Many of the authors behind your favorite sexy scenes have as much fun writing them as you do reading them, which is to say, a lot.

From drafting dirty dialogue on airplanes to sharing spicy pages with their pastor parents, here’s what eight romance novelists had to say about their wildest moments writing sex, and their processes behind the scenes—an inside look at the wonderful world of smut, if you will.

(Oh, and btw: Privacy screens for your phone and Kindle are, indeed, a thing—per Lana Ferguson, “they’re the best thing you’ll ever buy!”)

1. “I can write a spicy scene anywhere–any time of day, no matter how many people are around… I wrote one of the sex scenes for The Ex Talk, my first adult romance, on a flight to Pittsburgh in a middle seat between two older gentlemen… It’s like that scene in Pride and Prejudice when Elizabeth and Darcy are dancing and everything else falls away: It’s just me and the sex scene.” —Rachel Lynn Solomon, bestselling author of Business or Pleasure, and more
2. “It’s very rare that I’m not in the headspace to write a sex scene: I write romance novels so that I can write sex scenes… I let things unfold as they go, so I don’t usually know, Okay, this is the day that the sex scene is happening. But when I know that things are leading up to it, I start planning for the scene itself. You have to think about choreography… Who’s going to be the more vocal person, who’s more in their head? What emotional thing is happening? … I always say I love writing sex scenes because I write what I find delicious to read.” —Adriana Herrera, bestselling author of An Island Princess Starts a Scandal and more
3. “I do find that I need to know the characters well before I can dive into writing an intimate scene… It’s funny—from a very tactical standpoint, I prefer to draft those scenes from my phone versus on my laptop. I think it’s a less self-conscious format because the words kind of almost disappear on the screen a little bit, and you’re not seeing the word count of how long the scene is getting… It can be uncomfortable, but when I do get into that right mindset, it’s fun—you’re writing the tension that you built up, hopefully, over the course of the narrative. So, when it’s going well, those scenes tend to flow pretty naturally… I actually have sticky notes in my office where my husband’s friends are coming into my house saying, ‘Why does it say this on your wall?’ I’ll write, like, choking, (romantic)? Literally, that idea was something that happened—like, could this work? Is this a dynamic for these characters?” —Rosie Danan, author of The Roommate, Do Your Worst, and more
4. “Mood-wise, writing spicy scenes is really fun for me because I imagine how the reader’s going to react to it… I try to write romance, or spicy scenes, the way I’d want to experience it if I were the reader. I want my romance and my sex to feel organic and full of open communication for my characters, because that’s my idea of healthy romance and sex. Rather than focusing solely on what might make a reader sigh or sweat or swoon, specifically, I think about the characters and their personalities and what they would enjoy… I’m not going to say that I’ve never written smut in public… I definitely invested in a very good privacy screen very early on.” —Lana Ferguson, author of The Nanny, The Fake Mate, and more
5. “This is weird, but I’ll go on YouTube and look up ‘100 best kisses,’ ‘top love scenes,’ and I’ll just watch some of those [when I’m writing sex scenes]. One of my favorites is the love scene in Atonement– that’s a go-to… My parents are pastors, and so, the first time my mom picked up one of my books, she was like, ‘They’re cursing!’ And I was like, ‘Just stop right there—it gets worse than cursing, mom!’” —Kennedy Ryan, bestselling author of Before I Let Go, and more
6. “I do think that sometimes people think [authors], like, light candles [when we write sex scenes]. And sometimes, to be fair, I do write sex scenes in the bath… But I think headspace is really important for writing sex scenes [and] for writing smut…. I’ve got to make sure that I’m able to ‘receive the sexy,; so to speak. Sometimes, I don’t need much. I’ll have a little drinky drink and I’ll sit down at the kitchen table and I’m able to bang it out—literally and figuratively. But I’ve written sex scenes in the car in the parking lot at work [for my day job]. It’s less about the exterior setting and more about my interior setting.” —Jodie Slaughter, author of Play To Win
7. “I may be a freak of the week here, but I actually wrote my spicy scenes (and all my book) in public… I got such a little thrill out of writing them at my little corner table, knowing that I was being a little saucy, while everyone around me was none the wiser.” —Chelsea Fagan, author of A Perfect Vintage, and more
8. “I feel like every project is different, every book is different, and the relationships are different. When I’m writing the first sex scene between two people who have never had sex before together, it’s much trickier than if I’m writing, like, a husband and wife… It’s the first time sleeping with somebody; it’s wrought with tension. And I’ve got to be very secretive [about writing to get to know the characters]—it’s like nighttime and I’ve got the doors closed and everyone’s asleep at home or whatever. I can’t do it in a public place at all, I’ve got to write it that way. But by the time I know them well enough and I’m writing the third or fourth sex scene, I can write it in a Starbucks in the middle of the day, because I know them so well.” —Robinne Lee, bestselling author of The Idea of You