Tag Archives: Ella Cook

Writing Wednesday: Tips for Writing Love Scenes.

Guest Post, Writing Wednesday, , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
As this Writing Wednesday falls on Valentine’s Day, I have joined forces with my fellow Choc Lit (Joffe Books) romance writers to share top tips for writing love scenes …

Carol Thomas (that’s me). I write feel-good contemporary romance and romantic comedy novels that will make you smile.

  • Having a strong emotional connection between characters, built in earlier chapters, adds to the moment.
  • Building physical tension through anticipation, subtle gestures, longing glances, and dialogue hints adds to the satisfaction of the love scene when it happens.
  • Physical intimacy needs to be consensual and driven by shared enthusiasm.
  • The love scene itself should involve a balance of passion, emotion, and sensuality, some of which will be played out before the audience, while some won’t.
  • I like leaving readers space for their imagination to take over; the things that fulfil the desires of my characters might be a turn-off to the reader, and I wouldn’t want to jolt them out of the moment.
  • Love scenes should never appear for the sake of being there, they should enhance character development and add to the story.

Discover more about me and my novels here.

Lucy Keeling is the author of fun, sexy stories with all of the happily ever afters.

  • If you’re writing your first ever steamy scene and it reads a bit like flat pack assembly instructions (insert part A into part B ), go back and remember to use all the senses.
  • This is an opportunity to show off a deeper understanding of your characters.
  • Oh, and keep an eye on the logistics.

Discover more about Lucy Keeling and her work here.

Ella Cook writes emotional, heartwarming romance that will lift your spirits:

  • I’m going to be controversial and say that, much as the best moments of intimacy in life aren’t planned, neither were the ones that got the best feedback from readers for me. I guess what I’m saying is let the characters go with the flow. If they’re the type of people – or at least one of them is – minded to privacy, then don’t feel like you have to fling the door open and show the ins and outs of their love life.
  • But equally, if your lead character is the type who thinks nothing of keeping her (admittedly rather more subtly shaped than most) vibrator in her bathroom, then she’s probably not going to shy away from talking about sex, either. So, if you want to write about it – write in line with our characters: get into their head spaces and let the reader see what they’re thinking, how they’re reacting and feeling.
  • Oh, and avoid biological terms – it’s a romance novel, not a biology textbook!

Discover more about Ella Cook and her work here.

Kirsty Ferry is the writer of spellbinding timeslips, unforgettable romantic comedies and uplifting contemporary romance novels.

  • I always leave the reader at the bedroom door. I’d never try to write a scene like that!
  • It’s nice to do an ‘almost kiss’ scene and have them get interrupted by a phone or something. I was told they’d kissed too early in my first book, so I usually try to hold off a bit for them.

Discover more about Kirsty Ferry and her work here.

Liv Thomas is one half of the writing duo who writes the utterly enchanting love stories set in Ireland by Isabella Connor.

  • It depends on the context and the relationship between the couple. If it’s a solid relationship, I tend to make it emotional as much, or more, than physical and let the reader feel a slow tempo.

Discover more about the work of Isabella Connor here.

Sue McDonagh writes uplifting, unputdownable romance novels:

  • Hilariously, the sex in my first novels had to be toned down as they were a bit too explicit. The pivotal sex scene in my last book was so toned down (less is more) that my poor editor wasn’t entirely sure whether they’d actually had sex or not, and I had to re-write it several times. I’ve learned that balance is the key.

Discover more about Sue McDonagh and her work here.

I hope you enjoyed our tips and they prove useful next time you write a love scene. Have a wonderful Valentine’s Day, and happy writing!
Carol x

Writing and Mental Health with Ella Cook.

Guest Post, Writing & Reading, Writing and Metal Health, , , , , ,
Today, I am delighted to welcome Ella Cook to my blog as she talks about the importance of writing for mental health; over to you, Ella …

It’s not too much of an exaggeration to say writing is one of the most important things in my life: it’s how I make my living (in the business world), how I met my other half, and how I stay sane.

I was only a teenager in my first year of study when the proverbial rug got yanked from under my feet as I was handed the diagnosis of bipolar. Initially, the treatments and therapy were difficult and confusing. But, as luck would have it, the degree I was studying was Communications, Authoring and Design – so lots of writing was required. And it was that writing which gave me a focus, a place to be, and feel safe amongst all the crazy going on around me.

Writing has brought me through the hardest and worst parts of my life: through stresses, family illnesses, bereavement – and, yes, covid lockdowns. While other people were struggling with the idea of restrictions, I’d disappeared off into a fictional world filled with love and magic and sparkle.

Working in Health & Social Care, where mental health and emotional wellbeing is a specialist interest topic for me, I’m very aware of how useful writing can be from a therapeutic point of view. Research shows that writing can enhance self-awareness and self-understanding, which ultimately decreases depressive symptoms, anxious thoughts and how we experience stress.

Below are a few of the key techniques:

Expressive Writing: Often used in therapeutic settings to encourage people to write about their emotions and stresses and face them in a safe environment. You could think of this as the angry letter you write – to get the feelings out – but maybe never send. Or creating a character to face the scary things in life, so you can ‘try out’ options ahead of time (I do this one a lot!)

Creative Writing: Links very strongly to expressive writing and can give people a way to explore topics that might be too complicated or too overwhelming to put into words – J.K Rowling famously commented that her Dementors were a fictional manifestation of depression (which explains why happy memories in the form of a patronus, or chocolate can beat them).

 Reflective Writing: Regularly used in professional settings to explore self-performance and learning. It’s about asking questions of yourself and seeing how you can learn from experiences. You may well have already done this in supervisions at work or when putting together a CV. It can be a great tool for improving personal and professional relationships.

Getting Started

For a lot of people, there can be a lot of worry about how/where to get started writing, what to put down on that blank page, and whether or not what you write is good or interesting enough. Some people worry about how they can possibly write anything without having built their whole (fictional) world first.

It shouldn’t be that pressured. You can start with a single scene or image. Or one character. Or pick one question. These are called writing prompts. If you go onto any social media platform or search engine and type in Writing Prompts, you’ll get plenty of inspiration. But as it’s mental health week, how about opening a document or beautiful notepad (or, in my house, finding a random bit of paper to scribble on and a not-too-blobby pen) and just spend 5-10 minutes looking at the pretty picture below, and writing down whatever pops into your mind. You might be surprised.

The book I’m currently working on started with the image of a lighthouse. Now it’s heading to 50,000 words and growing!

Thank you so much for the great post, Ella. xx

Ella Cook’s novel Summer’s Christmas is currently available in paperback, ebook, audio and is free on Kindle Unlimited.

Bringing the spirit of Christmas to a summer’s day …

Summer by name and summer by nature – that’s how people describe Evelyn’s happy, outgoing daughter. Even if her favourite time of year is actually Christmas!

But Summer has gone through more than any eight-year-old ever should, and that’s part of the reason Evelyn is leaving everything behind to return to her childhood home in the village of Broclington; just her, Summer and Summer’s best friend – a Shiba Inu dog called Tilly. Unsurprisingly, Evelyn is hesitant to let anyone else in, although local vet Jake MacPearson seems intent on winning her trust.

When Evelyn receives the news that every mother dreads, it’s Jake who comes to the rescue. With the help of the Broclington community, could he be the man to bring festive magic to August, and make all of Evelyn and Summer’s Christmases come at once?

About the Author:

Ella is one of those people who is addicted to the written word. She’s been obsessed with books since before she could walk. She decided to become a writer as soon as she realised that stringing letters together in the right order could actually be a career.

She grew up in the outskirts of London, where fairies lived at the bottom of her Grandma’s garden, so it isn’t surprising that she still looks for magic in everyday life – and often finds it.

When she’s not living in a fantasy world of her own creation, she writes bids and develops programmes for children’s services and lives in rural Warwickshire (where there are probably more fairies). She shares her house with two small parrots, one of whom likes to critique her writing from his favourite spot on her shoulder, and her husband, who is ever-loving and understanding and makes her gallons of tea in magical cups that can keep drinks warm for whole chapters.

Discover more about Ella and her work here: Ella Cook Writes.