By Maggie Nash (Guest Blogger)
Imagine a
life without any surprises. Each day runs a similar routine. We don’t
feel the need to challenge our beliefs, or take chances.
It’s an
interesting part of humanity where many of us don’t like change.
Trundling along in life with a familiar routine doing the same
things, reading the same books and eating the same foods gives us
comfort. On the other hand, change makes us uneasy. We feel
unsettled and stressed, even if we are embracing the changes we are
making.
It’s
amazing in just how many ways we cling to the concept of comfort.
Take this for instance - how many of you always use the same cubicle
in the bathroom at work? You’d be surprised to hear that a very
high percentage of us always use the same one.
Raises
hand - second one on the left for me!
How boring is
that? So what does it take to move out of that comfort zone?
As a writer
I’ve been challenged to make different choices many times, and to
be honest, sometimes it’s pretty scary. Take writing sex scenes
for instance.
When I first
started writing I thought I knew exactly what I wanted to write
about. My favourite books to read were romantic suspense, so that’s
what I wrote. I wrote this exciting tale of adventure. It was a
roller coaster with all the boxes ticked, or so I thought. There was
a woman in jeopardy with a hunky hero who charges in to save her from
the evil villain. I thought I’d nailed it but I was wrong. What I
completely missed in my first drafts was that sexual energy that
raises the stakes in the both the growth of the relationship, and
tension of the story. One of my crit partners sent my manuscript back
to me with one word emblazoned on dozens of pages. MORE!
So how to do
that? I needed to move the characters to the next level, and that
included shaking them up. I added a scene from a strip club where my
heroine witnesses a scene her privileged upbringing would never have shown her. I made her fidget and not know where to look, but still be
unable to look away. I raised her heartbeat. I made her sweat. I
blasted her out of her comfort zone, and at the end of that scene she
wasn’t the same person she had been before it began.
Writing that
scene was a big watershed moment for me. It was the prelude to my
first sex scene. The heroine wasn’t the only one changed by it. I
realised I needed to continue to move up the relationship and they
needed to have smoking hot monkey sex.
Holy cr*p.
I’d never
written a sex scene before, even though I’d read hundreds of them
so this was totally taking me to a different place. I went to
Catholic school. Nuns. Church. Confession and guilt. This was
naughty!
So in my
usual cautious way I planned for it. No one else was at home. I lit
several scented candles, poured myself a long glass of chilled wine,
and played the epitome of schmaltzy romantic music – yes, you
guessed it – Ravel’s Bolero. Then I sat down and wrote it.
Like my
heroine, I felt anxious, uncomfortable, my heart rate rose and I
started sweating. I too smashed my way out of my comfort zone. And
you know what? It felt wonderful and I’ve never looked back.
So at the end
of the day it’s not that difficult to move out of your comfort
zone. You might not be writing a major sex scene. It could be
something as simple as changing your routine and making a different
choice. Just do it. The rewards are amazing.
For a
chance to win an eBook copy of my erotic action/adventure story THE
RELIC tell us
what you’ve done lately to take you out of your comfort zone!
About
Maggie
I’m
Maggie Nash and I write romance novels. Some of them are suspenseful,
some are pretty hot, and some of them are a little bit kinky, but
what they all have in common is a fun, romantic ending. I started
writing more by accident than design when one day I ran out of books
to read so I started writing one myself. And, boy, am I glad I did,
because writing has become a huge part of my life. I live with my
family on the beautiful south coast of New South Wales in Australia.
You can find me most days having a cappuccino at the beach!
