Save this article to read it later.
Find this story in your accountsSaved for Latersection.
For Greer, the quiet, charged moments just before the act itself make great sex writing great.
Here, Swann has been searching everywhere for his mistress, Odette.
They are finally united in a cab, moments before their first time having sex.
In my new book, Less doesnt get laid at all.
But he has plenty of heavy flirtations that are loaded with questions:Is this really going on?
Is this guy really into him?
Even when they dont do anything, theres a thrill in knowing the attraction was reciprocated.
Great sex scenes are full of this tension, and the best ones bring something new to the subject.
I talk about this with my students all the time.
What have you not seen described before?
Think carefully, pay attention.
Brush away the cliches.
Instead of thinking,How will I describe a penis?, you think,What else is sex?
What else will bring it alive to people?
What are the smells and textures and noises and feelings?
It doesnt have the power of the Odette scene for me.
Titillation has its place.
But Im more interested in the sense of being alive.
Sex is one of the most present-tense moments we can experience.
They capture something that escapes time.
