Writing a Sex Scene

It's official. There now exists a screenplay for the up and coming film:

"Because We Could: An Unauthorized Love Story"

It's not finished, but it does exist.

Early every morning, my studio space, dawn's blue light, loud birds and strong Panamanian coffee all try to kick start me. I'm at the part of the script where Burton Cummings and I are about to make love Don't think that because I've already written about it in the novel that this will be a pice of cake. That's like assuming that because an artist has already captured a model on canvas, sculpting that model would be effortless.

The first thing writers must do is establish what the protagonist and the antagonist want and what obstacles get in their way. Then they must show how the characters react to the conflict (fear, trust/no trust, excitement, disappointment, euphoria, naivety). And finally, they must present the resolution.

Burton wanted a woman who wanted him for what he thought was his real inner guy. I wanted a man that could activate my Variety Club card with a bang. (Our Variety Club Cards were matching imaginary cards that my boyfriend, David, gave each of us thus condoning 'free love'.)

Although Burton, who was the lyricist to the Guess Who's most famous song, often belted out -

     'American woman, stay away from me

     American woman, mama let me be

     Don't come a hangin' around my door

     I don't want to see your face no more ... '

- he told me that the words did not apply to Canadian women. Regardless of my notable nationality, it was really hard to get his attention, to make him want me. If you remember, apart from my girlfriend's say-so,  I didn't know the height of his fame. I simply saw him as a drop dead gorgeous guy whom I could probably entice into bed - thus my naive and bold approach. Burton found this refreshing, his guarded trust was surmounted and he took a stab at being regular Burton with regular Marni.

The flirtation was a long time coming; the chase a dramatic reversal of rolls; the climax a complete surprise for both of us.

Stay tuned - next Blog will be the result of my first attempt to write a screenplay sex scene.