T.D. Severin - Award-Winning Medical Thriller Author

Just finished a meeting of  Mimi's Boys  on Thursday night (don't worry, my bruises will heal) and a very important lesson came up. Best word choice. Now, I've already touched on this subject in the  Ten-Point Revision Strategy , but it came up again in a way that was slightly different, and my writing was to blame. In one scene, I have my character, the ER Department Chairman, a rather big man (or Jabba Browne as one of my group members calls him) lean back in his chair and rest his hand on his stomach. In that sentence I said something to the effect of "leans back and rests his hand on his large gut." Doesn't necessarily seem like the that should be the focal point of a long discussion, but believe me, it was. As we'd  discussed before , each word, every single word, that we commit to paper (printer) has to be exactly what we wish it to be. It must convey exactly what we want it to convey. But more importantly than just conveying information, it has to b...

We've had a few posts about writing that all important  sex scene . Now, I'm not saying that every novel needs a sex scene, some don't. But I have struggled over writing sex scenes before, so I wanted to bring it up here for discussion. Previously, I've made two points about how to successfully navigate your way around this rather sticky subject. 1) Avoid cliché. Be very careful of cliché in every aspect of the scene, from the terms you use for male and female anatomy, to emotions, to setting, to tone. With so much bad daytime television and trashy novels, a sex scene will only work if it's novel. 2) Only introduce the scene if it a) doesn't interfere with the flow of the plot, and b) like all scenes, it must serve the story and move the plot forward. So for our final discussion, I wanted to make one final point. Over at a writing forum , I'd posted a thread in my favorite writing group, searching for opinions from fellow writers on how they handle this subj...

  So then, the real question is; how much sex should one have in their novel? The answer, of course, varies with the genre and style of writing, but in general terms, the title above says it all, sex sells. Now this doesn't mean peppering your legal thriller with scene after scene of hot doings in the jury box, but on the other hand, I have heard an agent say that if a book doesn't have sex, the implication of sex, or at least a strong romance, it won't sell. People enjoy sex (not the physical act, well, yes the physical act, but also the story of sex). They enjoy both romantic sex and steamy sex. Sex that they'd do and sex they'd never dream of, as long as it's not offensive (a difficult line to draw, I know). They love the prelude to sex and the after effects. And I do to. Particularly the character ramifications. There is very little you can do to affect a relationship more between two of your characters than to put them in bed together. I love what happens t...

  Back on the subject of sex. As I mentioned in the  prior post , of utmost importance to me when writing a sex scene is to avoid cliche. There are only so many non-offensive euphemisms you can use for  penis . Even fewer for a  vagina . Most of these are so full of purple prose that I'm embarrassed any time I even think of using one. Breasts  are easy. The word "breasts" works fine. So does  nipple . But when it comes to the male and female genitalia, "penis" and "vagina" seem far too clinical for our writing. So we improvise. That's how things like "pulsating member," get published. I've even read once about a "vibrating stinger." I'm still scared at the thought. My advice on this sensitive topic is to use the real words, or the least of the purple prose euphemisms. It is unlikely that you'll come up with a term that hasn't been used before, or one that is so terrifically original that it will send your scene o...

  No one can deny it, sex sells. Most mainstream fiction today will have at least one romantic interlude. How far that goes towards an actual sex scene is, of course, up to the discretion of the writer. And it raises some interesting questions. Some writers may relish the thought of writing a sex scene. I'm not talking erotica here, but mainstream fiction. Writing a sex scene can in some ways be liberating. A chance to explore fantasies, dreams, ideas that you'd never have the chance, or inclination, to explore in real life. A chance to let the hair (and pants) down and get animal. For others, the sex scene is the absolute hardest scene to write. The constant editor sitting on your shoulder screams and moans with each word you put to paper. What if your mother reads this? What if my colleagues at work or the writing club read this? Will they think I'm strange? A pervert? A sex maniac? Doubts, worries and fears can rage into the brain like never before when it comes to writi...