*dodges rotten veg*

[pez]

Neil Gaiman's (officialgaiman) answer to a teenager about the inclusion of sex scenes in his book... whilst I haven't actually read that book and so can't say that much and so don't understand the relevance of the scene, if any, I can empathise with the girl, IF what she said about it being "irrelevent to the plot of the book" is true. Gaiman's answer of "the book's hero wouldn't have been born" is fair enough, but does it justify a descriptive sex scene - does it add to the plot?

Wait, don't lynch me just yet, read the rest of what I have to say...

I'm not saying that Gaiman's wrong. I haven't read the book, can't form any opinion. I'm guessing that his explanation about the relevance is correct. But what I'm trying to say is... that's one thing I'm always asking myself - if I include certain elements into the story, does it only beef it up in terms of length, or does it actually show something? If it's a sex scene, are the motives or consequences enough to justify it (if the story isn't meant to be erotica-centric), if it's violence does the attack/manner of death etc really do anything? Do I want to show the mental state of the attacker, how the ugly death affects those close to the victim, etc? Or do I just want this person dead and be done with?

On a completely unrelated note, people should learn to stop saying "actually" and "basically" all the damn time.

Comments

[anatari.livejournal.com]

*LJ-hops in from scribblemoose's journal*

She's overreacting, in my opinion. I read the book when it first came out, and I was a few years younger then her. The sex scene in question is tastefully done, and the fact that he describes it helps you to understand the characters, and their motives later on.

And now, I shall ramble. *beams* *hopes you don't hate me*

If it's a sex scene, are the motives or consequences enough to justify it
Unless it's PWP, I'd say yes. In a romantic fic, a sex scene can resolve tension between the characters, or do just the opposite and make things worse. Then you have added angst, guilt, or confusion to work with. Well-placed sex scenes can also move the plot along, if it starts to lag. UST gets frustrating, y'know? ^_~

You can usually tell when an author sticks in a sex scene just for the smut value, and I tend to just skip over those. Just like in real life, sex isn't meaningful to the story or characterization unless there's something behind it.

if it's violence does the attack/manner of death etc really do anything? Do I want to show the mental state of the attacker, how the ugly death affects those close to the victim, etc? Or do I just want this person dead and be done with?
When you just want the person dead and done with, you tend not to describe the death and the impact it has. If it isn't important to the storyline, writers (in my experience, anyway) will gloss over the death of unimportant characters. For instance, it's a Youji/Aya fic, and employee changes within Kritiker are part of the plot. The author won't necessarily describe how Manx was killed, though, if the characters won't deal with the killer in the future.

Am I making any sense?

*crickets chirp* Well, this was fun. Bye now!

*LJ-hops back out*