Let’s Talk About Spice, Baby
It’s only fitting that my debut post for The Arbitrary Editor is about spice. I’m a romance girly through and through, and well, spice is the spice of life… or something like that.
My advocacy for steamy romance doesn’t stem solely from a horny, debauched place (this is a judgment-free zone, folks). I have experienced a lot of healing and liberation through reading spicy books. Years of shame and embarrassment around sex have been healed, and I am more confident and excited about my sexual self because of it. It’s also been great for my relationship—my husband certainly isn’t complaining. *insert awkward wink*
ANYWAYS, here we are. Let’s talk about spice, shall we?
As a chaotic mood reader, if I am asked what type or level of spice is best, my answer will depend entirely on my mood and what I am reading at that moment. I read and enjoy anything from closed-door to is-there-even-a-door-to-close romance. While the details and heat level may vary, I know there is one key aspect to what makes incredible spice for me as a reader: tension.
But I couldn’t come here and throw around my opinions without true, erm, scientific backing. So, I decided to gather data by taking this topic to the depraved streets of Instagram and posing the question to the bookish community there: what makes a great spicy scene, and what makes a terrible spicy scene?
As you can imagine, there was a WIDE variety of answers, and a good deal of them seemed to contradict each other.
Lots of dirty talk!
I hate most attempts at dirty talk. Just get to it!
I love when I feel immersed. Give me all the details and moans.
I don’t need to read every moan and groan. So awkward.
Praise, degradation, hand necklace, kink!
I’m pretty “vanilla,” and I like to stay there. Anything else takes me out of the moment.
I love lots of details and talking!
Out: overused/cliche dialogue, too many movement logistics.
It would seem that the opinions on what makes amazing or awful spice are as varied as the people who read it.
However, I was thrilled to see there was one unifying opinion amongst my admittedly small sample size of responses: great spice is less about how much or how detailed the sex is and more about the tension, desire, and anticipation built up between the characters. The validation of my hypothesis had me feeling like a bona fide sex scientist.
The good thing about these findings? Writers should feel free to write spice how they want. What is hot to you as a writer? Do you want kinky spice in every chapter or no open-door scenes at all? Great! Both options will find the right readers who think your spice level is perfection.
The bad thing? This leaves writers with so many choices, and it can be overwhelming to figure out where to start to write tension and hot, high-quality spice.
So whether you write every juicy detail, or fade to black as your characters get down and dirty, here are three tips for building delicious tension for incredible spice.
Show Restraint (not that kind of restraint… I mean, unless you want to)
In my opinion, this might be the most essential ingredient to building tension. When characters show restraint and beat down their desire with every interaction, tension naturally follows. Even if you don’t want your romance to be slow-burn, there needs to be some level of restraint to build that heart-pumping tension. A whispered taunt as their lips hover centimeters apart will make the eventual first kiss that much hotter.
Here’s a brief sample from one of my WIPs to demonstrate my point. My characters have been dancing around each other for weeks and have found themselves hiding in a shower stall (talk about things getting steamy…)
“I hate you,” I manage to choke out.
“Do you?” he mutters, focusing his dark gaze on my mouth.
My lips are mere centimeters from his—all it would take is a minuscule movement forward to make contact. And, God, do I want that contact. My determination to hate him is eroding with each shallow breath I take. I can feel the quickening rise and fall of his chest against mine as he glances back up to meet my stare.
One blink, two, and he pulls out of my orbit, leaving me chilled and breathless.
These characters won’t share any sort of physical intimacy until several chapters later. They show restraint and deny themselves that kiss they are dying for, and they leave this interaction frustrated and radiating tension-filled desire.
2. Show Readers the Desire and Longing
There should be no question about your characters’ need for each other. From their body language, how they speak, and their actions and behaviors, it should be clear that there is a magnetic pull drawing these characters together. Every interaction is an opportunity to plant seeds of longing and want.
Think about the epic hand-flex in the 2005 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. You know the one.
Darcy shows us buckets of pent-up desire in that single action. We can see in his body language and facial expressions just how much that brushing of hands affected him.
Showing readers a glimpse of the character’s inner battle with their desire, showing how their bodies shift or gravitate toward each other, or even changing the tone in which the characters speak to each other can subtly portray their desire and build tension in their interactions.
3. Create High Stakes
Oftentimes, tension can result from the circumstances and conflicts surrounding the relationship. High stakes don’t have to mean life or death. But ask yourself what conflicts (internal and external) the characters are experiencing in the relationship. What will it cost them to finally give in to their desire?
Maybe the relationship is forbidden or taboo, and giving in would mean accepting hard truths or backlash from others. They might be best friends, and sex would only complicate things. Perhaps they are somewhere they shouldn’t be, and they could get caught at any moment. Or giving in could mean the downfall of kingdoms or lead to sacrifices the characters aren’t sure they can make.
If there are high stakes to giving in to their attraction, the moment the characters finally choose to say “fuck it” will be more meaningful, heated, and oh-so-satisfying for readers.
Hopefully, the very scientific and data-backed findings from my Instagram survey along with the (actual research-based) tips will help make those heated glances, deep moans, and frantic touching of *insert your preferred genitalia name here* even sexier.
