Let's Get It On ... the Page
- susann cokal
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
Big news: In October I will lead a workshop for the good people at HerStry.
If you don't know the magazine (and the group), they're all about championing voices that don't get a chance to be heard much, creating a collective of fresh perspectives in a shared space.
And here's my pitch to you: Are you struggling with (or just plain tired of) the veil that so often obscures, blurs, and otherwise sits between us and things to do with doing it? Do you feel the Big Scene is either awkwardly in your face or elusively in the shadows, unable to find a happy medium?
We will peel the veil away starting on October 7.
Listen to Marvin live in Montreux as you read further: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHLLb7n2xsQ&list=RDmHLLb7n2xsQ&start_radio=1.
Let's Get It On ... the Page
Writing the Sex Scene
October 7, 14, 21, 28, November 4 and 11
Whether your characters’ erotic moment is tender, raunchy, embarrassing, uplifting, upsetting, life-changing, hilarious, explicit, or mostly accomplished in innuendo, it will be as complex as your novel and your characters … because it’s not just about what goes where, it’s about how it all feels emotionally.
In our early sessions, we’ll try out different styles and moods: comic, tender, and soul-stirring. We’ll read some scenes excerpted from novels and stories, then experiment with a few one-off sentences and paragraphs that get at mechanics, tone, and emotional center. In the course’s second half, we’ll really get down to business, working on a fully fleshed-out moment. Through quick workshops of exercises and deeper discussions of the big scenes, we’ll give each other plenty of notes, applause, and constructive suggestions. In six weeks, you will have a polished sex scene just right for the novel or story you’ve been working on—or something that can stand on its own.
A word about trauma and sensitivity: Not every sexual act is great fun, alas, and writing or reading about trauma can be painful. This workshop will be a safe, supportive, and attentive space for all writers and readers. That means that if a writer is working on a traumatic scene, she’s welcome. And if a reader needs to absent herself from such a discussion, we understand. On the first night, we’ll figure out whether it makes sense to have a separate, supplemental session on trauma scenes.
For six weeks of your year, two hours a night … The best (or worst, or silliest) sex scene of your life is just around the corner.
Two ways to register:
About Me
Susann Cokal’s novels include Mirabilis, Mermaid Moon, and Breath and Bones. Her Kingdom of Little Wounds won several national awards, including a Michael L. Printz Honor from the American Library Association and a place on many best-of lists for the year. Her prize-winning shorter work has appeared in magazines such as Cincinnati Review, Electric Lit, Enchanted Living, Hunger Mountain, Prairie Schooner, Gargoyle, and The New York Times Book Review. A former tenured professor of creative writing and modern literature, she is now an editor and freelancer who has written about sex (and emotions) in a wide variety of venues: novels, literary magazines, men’s magazines, pop culture encyclopedias, academic scholarship, and satire. She lives physically in a creaky old Virginia farmhouse and ethereally at susanncokal.com.
And if you'd like to know more about HerStry, their mission statement is lovely and supportive, meet them here:
At HerStry we believe in the power of stories. True stories and stories that reflect the lived experience. We believe in the power of narrative to reveal truths about ourselves and our world. Since 2015 we’ve collected hundreds of stories from cis women, trans women, queer women and nonbinary writers around the world. Stories of love, loss, parenthood, friendship, bodies, sex, and so much more. We are a home for the hard things. The stories you feel can’t be told. The things that are too raw and rough for the other literary magazines. Bring us your broken and hard edges, this is where you belong.
We aim to center the experiences of underrepresented voices. We’re looking for work from bigender/polygender persons, cisgender women, intergender persons/intersex persons, non-binary persons/gender non-conforming persons, transgender women/transfeminine persons, two-spirit. If you are a cis man, we kindly ask that you refrain from submitting. Cis men have many places in this world where their stories are represented. At HerStry we give voice to those who have been overlooked or silenced for too long.
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Amen to that! I am very much looking forward to October 7. Join me!
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