WRITING A LOVE SCENE FROM A MAN’S POINT OF VIEW

By E.J. Rand

I'm a guy, and not young, but if I say this is unique, well, so are each of you. Love scenes can be dull or without effect if there isn't a buildup. That means valid resistance from at least one party. The purpose of such a scene in non-erotica is not the use of genetalia but reaching an emotional state that evolves characters and plot and propels the reader forward. A way to create such a connection is by having the resisting one recognize what's going on. In your own lives, each of you might recall a moment of losing oneself in churning emotion--of concern--then gazing at the loved one and. . . . Do I need to add to the dots? Note the following from my novel #9:

...She waved him quiet.

"This is so difficult to put into words. I'm beginning to sense what I never had. What I never could allow myself to have. I'm different with you. You're in my thoughts, my dreams, as if. . . . So you tell me what this is."

He pictured himself with a tin helmet on his head and a lance in his hand, keeping a safe distance. "You don't need to feel obligated."

"Obligated? Phillip, you've saved me and I don't only mean from Fredrick." She got up, stepped over to his couch, and sat facing him. "You're a gift."

"He'd heard that from Diane. It's what you bring to the table, Aaron had told him.

"I'm so bad at this," Emma said. "What I'm trying to tell you is that I love you. How or why or how fast it happened doesn't matter any more. I love you, Phillip Lewis."

She reached out and touched his cheek. "We have tonight. Give us a chance and maybe I can save you."

If I found the place, would I recognize the face? the song lyric went, and he had, from the moment he'd seen her photo, and he passed beyond safety and reason but gazing at Emma he knew the fear meant nothing. Warmth poured into him.

There was no distance between them.

That waited for 322 pages. I don't need to describe that night--until the next morning. ###

Ed Rand has had four books published by Deadly Ink Press in his Reluctant Sleuth Mystery series, has gained four award contest honors for them, and has received an advance for a fifth novel. Rather than continue writing for a small publisher, he opted for more and has gone beyond the Reluctant Sleuth series. His novel #6, LABYRINTH, was a 2010 Killer Nashville Claymore Award finalist. But it needed work and Ed hasn't submitted anything to agents until this month, when LOVE HER TO DEATH, to which the above quote belongs, went out. He's 20,000 words into Novel #10. Ed lives with his wife Ellen. He loves writing, and her. Visit him at http://www.ejrand.com/.