Happy Valentine’s day, friends! In the spirit of the holiday — and because I know many of the authors I work with are exploring romantic plots or subplots in their work — I asked my friend, fellow editor, and fellow Sarah, Sarah Reside, to lend us her expertise. Sarah R., the editor behind Edits and Revisions, specializes in contemporary romance, and I was ecstatic when she offered to write a guest blog post for you all on what makes spicy scenes sizzle and what makes them, well…fall a little flat.

Here’s what Sarah has to say:

Spice is all the rage these days, and readers are eating it up. But the prevalence of spice means that your readers are connoisseurs and will notice if a spicy scene isn’t working.

As a romance editor, I read tons of spicy scenes and can tell you what to avoid. Here are three reasons your scene isn’t working and how to fix them.

1. There’s no clear reason for the scene

Like any scene in a novel, a spicy scene must have a purpose. The scene has to move the story forward or reveal something about the characters or the relationship.

Tessa Bailey is a perfect example of an author who writes intensely steamy books that still fall under the category of romance novel (not erotica) because the spicy scenes serve a purpose.

Take Wreck the Halls for example. Melody and Beat are super horny for each other all the time and have a lot of on-page sex. But Beat has a problem finishing in front of another person...which causes some tension as Melody feels hurt. The issue of trust and connection is at the heart of the spicy scenes, and this is an important dynamic of their relationship that deserves to be shown on the page.

While not every character has sex-related problems that illustrates a deeper hurdle for the character to overcome, a sex scene can be an intimate experience that brings up buried feelings. Your spicy scene might be, for example, an opportunity for one character to discuss the origins of a scar on their torso and deepen the intimacy.

If your spicy scene feels disconnected from the rest of the book and doesn’t have a clear reason for being there, you might need to cut it or save it for another day.

2. The pacing is wrong

A spicy scene should follow the natural arc of sex itself. Sex often follows a pattern that looks awfully like scenes structure. (Great news for you scene-structure lovers!)

Scene structure requires the author to set up the scene, introduce the conflict, build tension in the conflict, have the conflict come to a head, and then show the fallout and the resolution. If you think about it, a spicy scene needs to follow the same arc. Someone needs to initiate the spice by bringing up the idea of sex, there’s the buildup or foreplay, then we get to the sex itself, the climax (not necessarily the climax if you know what I mean but it can be), and aftercare. Each of these is an opportunity for the characters to connect or to have conflict, much like in any scene. The arc works when emotions are attached, especially when we’re talking about romance and relationships.

There’s sometimes a tendency to get right to the mechanics of the spice, but this can make a scene feel rushed. Just like in real life, going from regular life to spice without any foreplay is jarring. What’s fun is when one partner brings up the idea with a flirty wink and the teasing and buildup to the act itself. You can play around with timings for initiation and buildup, but your spicy scene should include all of the components to feel complete.

If your scene feels rushed or unnatural, come back to the natural arc of the act to see what you might be missing. And don’t forget about the characters’ emotions!

3. Your scene isn’t true to your characters

A spicy scene should feel authentic to your characters. It should reveal more of their personality and the dynamics of their relationship.

This includes the language the characters use, what they decide to do, and how much of the scene is on the page. If a character is shy, they probably wouldn’t be getting it on in a brightly lit room or one with a lot of windows—unless they’re shy except when it comes to their sexuality or if they’ve had a ton of growth in this area throughout the book.

A good example of a spicy scene being true to the characters is in the book The Long Game by Rachel Reid. The romantic leads are two NHL players, Shane and Ilya. Shane is feeling down about himself, so Ilya takes Shane to his trophy room. Not many people would take their spicy time to a trophy room (or even have one), so it highlights that Ilya knows his boyfriend needs to see that he’s actually good at hockey at this moment.

If your readers don’t feel the same connection to the characters in spicy scenes that they do in the rest of the book, it’s probably because you’ve focused too much on the mechanics. Reread your scene to see where your characters’ personalities can shine through.

Spice for spice’s sake isn’t a good enough reason for a scene to exist.

Spicy scenes have to serve a plot purpose and be true to your characters. Otherwise, your readers won’t feel connected to the characters or the scene. And remember, if something feels off about the pacing, think less about the mechanics of sex and more about the arc of the act and the emotions associated with them.

If you’re curious to know more about how I structure spicy scenes, check out this blog post!