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The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers | 
 enlarge | Author: Elizabeth Benedict
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $17.00
Buy New: $3.97
You Save: $13.03 (77%)
New (15) Used (24) from $2.95
Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 163799
Media: Paperback
Edition: Revised
Pages: 256
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8
ISBN: 0805069933
Dewey Decimal Number: 808.385
EAN: 9780805069938
ASIN: 0805069933
Publication Date: February 1, 2002
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com Review
Even though writing about sex probably ranks on the joy scale somewhere between reading about it and having it, Elizabeth Benedict feels that many writers don't do justice to the act. So she has developed a novel idea: a guide book for fiction writers seeking to create better sex scenes. Benedict, a teacher in Princeton University's Creative Writing Program, doesn't concern herself with pornography but rather with a contention that sex scenes are pivotal in carrying the plot, story and character of some novels. Her point is emphasized through many interviews she conducted with authors on their experience with and views on writing about sex. Now, if she would only visit the film industry . . .
Product Description
Five years after it was first published, The Joy of Writing Sex remains the classic guide to writing convincing sex scenes. Elizabeth Benedict covers all the issues, from the first time, to married sex and adultery, to sex in the age of AIDS.
Her instruction, supported with examples from the works of today's most respected writers-among them, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, Alan Hollinghurst, Joyce Carol Oates, Carol Shields, and John Updike-focuses on crafting believable sex scenes that hinge on freshness of character, dialogue, mood, and plot.
In this revised edition, Benedict addresses the latest sexual revolution, intimacy on the Internet; adds new interviews with Edmund White, Darren Strauss, Stephen McCauley, and other writers; and updates her selections to include examples from the best fiction of the past few years.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 The Joy of Writing Sex: a Review June 9, 2008
Susan Hand
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
The book arrive in excellent condition, like new. I have started reading it, and it is very entertaining and informative so far. Hopefully will help me in my own writing. The author, Elizabeth Benedict, collects writing samples of authors writing about sex, and talking about the topic in interviews with her.
A Must Have for Any Fiction Writer! May 8, 2008
Gerald Browning (Flint, MI USA)
Elizabeth Benedict's look at sex in fiction is not only a "how-to" book on making sex matter in a novel, it also includes a collection of novels and short stories that every writer should read. Benedict gives hot and steamy passages from some of the country's best authors and shows us why they are effective. Not only do these passages get us hot under the collar, but they also move the story.
Sex is not meant as an instruction manual in fiction, to paraphrase Benedict. If one wants assistance in how a love scene (no matter how good or bad the lovers actually are) can move a story, it is a great piece of reading.
It took me several months to read this book because after each chapter, I had to go back into stories I had written before and change them! Benedict is quite thought-provoking in her analysis. Also, she includes excerpts from famous authors and their views towards sex in their literature.
Many different avenues towards sex are explored: the first time, recreational sex, gay sex, straight sex, married sex, adultery...the list literally goes on.
Even though I have already read it once, it is still at my computer terminal in my office. I definitely suggest reading her book and the recommended books that are within it.
Don't let the title fool you into thinking this is about dirty books December 31, 2007
David B. Schlosser (Davidson, NC, USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I had the pleasure of hearing a lecture and visiting with Elizabeth Benedict, which inspired me to choose this book when I was pondering the best way to approach the sexuality component of a couple of characters in a mystery novel. I'm glad I did. Despite the title, this book is really about the joy of writing great fiction - and how to use sex as another tool for advancing plot, enhancing characterization, writing revealing dialogue, etc. Although the topic is ostensibly the act of sex, Benedict's book is really about how the act of sex helps readers understand what's going on in your book and in your characters' lives in a way that most people understand is about far more than the plumbing of our human anatomy. Benedict structures her book well and productively, with lists where appropriate and a consistent format in each chapter. Her best advice (which you'll have to read the book to truly appreciate): make sure there's always at least two things going on.
 Very Disappointed September 22, 2007
K. Conley (Reno, Nevada)
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
I agree with the review that says this book is dull, dry and boring. Very hard to get into, and hard to stick with it.
I am an aspiring romance writer and bought this book to help me write the love scenes. It did not meet my needs in any form whatsoever.
This book is more a discussion of the different types of sex: heterosexual, homosexual, masturbation, incest, rape, adultry, etc, and would be better categorized at such. It also seems to be aimed at those who write sex scenes that are just for the sake of sex, not scenes about love shared between two people. While it may be helpful to some, it wasn't to me and my writing.
This is the first time I've ever requested a refund from Amazon, it was that bad.
The Joy of Writing Sex May 12, 2007
Carey Ford Freeman (Austin, Texas)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The information has been very helpful to me during my writing.
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