Blogfloggery

[easol.livejournal.com]

I swear, this woman's smugness makes me ill.

An audience member had asked the question I get often, something to the effect that lately I'm choosing sex over plot. Mark spoke next and pointed out that sex is part of the plot. He gave an example from his own writing, where he used a sex scene to show the dysfunction of a couple's relationship. Sex is part of the plot, and I use it to show character and build relationships in ways that wouldn't be possible without the sex. Sex is one of the most intimate things we do, why isn't it logical that it shows things about us as people that it would be difficult, if not impossible to reveal otherwise? Next time I get that question I'm not just going to agree, but ask them why isn't sex plot, too? I actually sometimes leave clues to the mystery, the magic system, or other parts of the storyline in the sex scenes. For me, it is part of the plot. Thanks to Mark for making me see that I could say that without feeling apologetic.

First off: A sex scene. Singular. Not forty of them strung together on a date-rape string.

And no, that sex scene is not the plot, or even part of the plot. It may be used as a plot CATALYST, but it is basically there to magnify something that would still be there even if they weren't having sex.

So it can be connected to the plot... emphasis on CAN. Not necessarily is. Anita's shagfests have never revealed much of anything about her, except that her idea of sex is violent, loud and often gross. It IS true that the sex has shown us stuff about the characters that we wouldn't have seen otherwise... such as that all the men are basically big loserweenies, and that Anita is determined to control everything around her.

And this whole thing about asking "why isn't sex plot too?" reminds me of something my mom told me: in college, there was this one woman who wouldn't stop telling people her explicit sexual escapades, no matter how sick people were of it. So whenever she did it, my dad would start loudly recounting his trips to the bathroom. She never got the hint.

So if sex is plot, why aren't trips to the loo also plot? Eating soup? Exercising? Playing with pets? You can find out a lot about a person by those too -- sometimes more than sex. But I guess soup scenes don't sell as well.

It's rather sad that LKH is so hell-bent on having sex replace plot, yet she can't even argue in her own defense -- she has to either yell that we're all zealot prudes, or quote someone else.


Now, if you want urban fantasy you don't know whether to go to horror, science fiction, fantasy, or romance, or even, mainstream fiction.

Oh, I usually know pretty well where I'll find such fusion books. And it's basically the same from bookstore to bookstore -- for example, most stores do not have divided sci-fi and fantasy sections.

By helping make mixed genre popular I'm helping break down the genre barriers.

Well ain't you speshul?