"Elizabeth Benedict is here to help you craft compelling sex scenes that are just right for your fiction - whether your story calls for an encounter that sizzles or one that fizzles." "Benedict has explored sensuality in her own novels with great success. So in The Joy of Writing Sex, she covers all the issues head-on - from how to handle creating fiction your grandparents might not approve of, to writing about sex in the age of AIDS." "You'll learn to construct scenes that hinge not on the mechanics of sex, but on the freshness of characters, dialogue, mood, plot - all the ingredients of powerful fiction." "Throughout, you'll benefit from the voices and experiences of some of today's most prestigious writers - among them, John Updike, Dorothy Allison, Russell Banks, Joyce Carol Oates, Carol Shields and Alan Hollinghurst." "For absolute clarity, Benedict uses examples from the finest contemporary fiction to illustrate her points. She takes care to examine each excerpt in context of the whole piece, to help you develop the skills you need to objectively analyze your own work." "In the final chapter, you'll find exercises to help you master elements such as dialogue, setting and tone."--BOOK JACKET.

Includes index.