05 | August | 2019 | R&R Book Tours

Welcome to the blog tour for Good Writing is Like Good Sex: Sort of Sexy Thoughts on Writing. This cheeky and handy writing guide is by C.S. Johnson, and if you read through to the end, you can try to win a copy of your very own!

Good Writing is Like Good Sex: Sort of Sexy Thoughts on Writing

Publication Date: March 31st, 2019

Genre: Non-Fiction/ Writing Guide

What makes a book sexy?

I’m not talking about erotica, per say, but what is the difference between a book you eagerly devour and a book you slum your way through?

While there are individual exceptions, the most objective difference between a good story and a downright terrible one is simple—it all comes down to the writing.

It’s either good writing, and we can forgive the technical flaws a little more easily, or it’s bad writing, and bad writing is just bad.

Good writing is more than just good writing.
Good writing is sexy.

If you’re a fiction writer looking to improve your writing skills, this is the perfect, provocative read to encourage you to get down to business and write your story.

Inside Good Writing is Like Good Sex, you will find:

• A titillating perspective on the writing process
• The secret to why your story is special, and how you can make it sexier
• Tips on romancing your readers
• How to write irresistible characters
• Basic writing and story concepts with advanced insights

… and all in a non-gratuitous fashion with a lot of innuendos.

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Excerpt

But here is where good sex and good writing have a lot in common, which can offer a great deal of relief when it comes to being a writer.

Here’s the good news:

Good sex comes with limits. After all, there is such a thing as bad sex.

Just like you would not want to fall in love with, and marry, and have sex with everyone in the world, you most likely don’t want to write something everyone in the world will read. God is obviously the big exception to this, of course, but for us mere mortals, not everyone is suited for romance, not everyone wants a mystery, or violence, or war, or Amish robots battling against zombie superheroes just outside the gates of hell, etc.

Not everyone wants the things that you write.

And please note, your attempts to please everyone will be counterproductive. I see this all the time: when writers attempt to please their fandoms at length, the writers soon lose their way and no one, except possibly the loudest, most obnoxious critic in the room will be happy, and if you are the loudest, most obnoxious critic in the room, you are probably not a happy person.

If you think I am wrong about this, all you have to do is tell five people you love the most you are taking them all out to dinner together, and they get to decide where—so long as they are in complete agreement. Anyone who has a family should be laughing at this moment, because getting five people to agree on where to eat just about never happens, despite any Olive Garden marketing campaigns you’ve seen.

You will have a much easier time, and a much more pleasant experience, if you just tell them that you are going to take them with you to a restaurant of your choice. If they do not want to go, they can stay at home, and you will not have to worry about them making the experience less pleasant for the people who do want to go.

The same thing needs to happen with our writing. We will discuss this more in Chapter 4.

Good sex is special.

When you look at you and your spouse, or Bella and Edward, or Romeo and Juliet, or Jamie and Claire from Outlander … why is sex so special when it comes to them? Why do we root for them to be bonded together in this way?

In novels, we have shorthand signals for this. Sex often represents, in these love stories, true love between two people. There is often a selection of physical, scientific, biological, sociological, psychological, and religious reasons that support our story’s favorite characters in getting together.

Most characters, for example, are physically attractive. Emotionally, they seem like good people, or people we can cheer for. Mentally, a lot of their appeal in the idea of love conquering all things and breaking through any barriers. And spiritually, we all long for those same things: we long to be wanted, we long to be needed, we long to feel complete.

And that is why it is special when they come together. They are in love—in deep, everlasting, all-consuming love — the kind that makes you grab the one you’re destined to spend the rest of your life with with all your strength, forcing the last constraints of your flesh against theirs in hopes that your bare souls can touch.

Sex is not ever “just sex.” The process of communication has eight stages—yes, really, talking to someone is actually that complicated—so it should not be surprising to find out that sex is more complicated than just “doing it.” It is a physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual act.

Sex is good when it has consideration for all of these elements. A good story should strive to do the same.

You don’t just fall in love with anyone. You fall in love with someone special.

Good sex gets better with intentional

The saying goes that “practice makes perfect,” but I tend to agree more with the version that says, “practice makes permanent.” If you practice making cakes with dog poo in them, you’re always going to have a bad product, even if you add more sugar and throw on extra rainbow sprinkles.

So, practice doesn’t make perfect, unless that practice is intentionally focused on improvement.

Both sex and writing get better when you are intentional about optimizing your performance, and that includes practicing. No matter how talented someone is as a writer—because there is a natural talent that some people are really just born with—dedication to their craft will always allow them to get better.

Available on Amazon!

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About the Author

C. S. Johnson is the award-winning, genre-hopping author of several novels, including young adult sci-fi and fantasy adventures such as the Starlight Chronicles, the Once Upon a Princess saga, and the Divine Space Pirates trilogy. With a gift for sarcasm and an apologetic heart, she currently lives in Atlanta with her family. Find out more at http://www.csjohnson.me

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