--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Giving a reader a sex scene that is only…" description: "\"Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half a kitten. It is not half as cute as a whole kitten; it is a bloody, godawfu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/sandra-newman-31393_bloody_giving-a-reader-a-sex-scene-that-is-only_1615191.jpg" --- # Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is… ![“Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half a kitten. It is not half as cute as a whole kitten; it is a bloody, godawful mess. A half-good sex scene is not half as hot; it actually moves into the negative numbers, draining any heat from the surrounding material.” quote by Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/sandra-newman-31393_bloody_giving-a-reader-a-sex-scene-that-is-only_1615191.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/sandra-newman-31393_bloody_giving-a-reader-a-sex-scene-that-is-only_1615191.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/83a/sandra-newman-31393_bloody_giving-a-reader-a-sex-scene-that-is-only_1615191.jpg) > “Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half a kitten. It is not half as cute as a whole kitten; it is a bloody, godawful mess. A half-good sex scene is not half as hot; it actually moves into the negative numbers, draining any heat from the surrounding material.” [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A poorly executed intimate scene feels incomplete and damaging, ruining the narrative's emotional impact. **In simple terms:** Bad sex scenes ruin the story. Key Takeaway Ensure intimacy serves the plot and feels authentic. Themes writing intimacy storytelling Mood frustrated critical Type analytical instructional When to use this quote - novel drafting - screenwriting - editing - author workshops Key Concepts narrative cohesion character development Questions to Reflect On - How can you balance explicitness with emotional truth? - What techniques keep intimacy integral to plot? A Different Perspective A half‑hearted scene can undermine reader engagement and tone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Heat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heat/) [Kitten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kitten/) [Sex](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sex/) [Sexuality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sexuality/) ## Related quotes > [“Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half of a kitten. It is not half as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-mittelmark/giving-a-reader-a-sex-scene-that-is-only-half-right-is-like-giving/) [Howard Mittelmark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-mittelmark/) > [Hot yoga is something that I forced myself to get into. When I first did it, I thought, 'How on earth am I going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-flack/hot-yoga-is-something-that-i-forced-myself-to-get-into-when-i-first/) [Caroline Flack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-flack/) > [My editor and I remain very disciplined. It's just sometimes when you're making a film, you get into the cutting room and you see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-payne/my-editor-and-i-remain-very-disciplined-it-s-just-sometimes-when-you/) [Alexander Payne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-payne/) > [A man in the wrong may more easily be convinced than one half right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-man-in-the-wrong-may-more-easily-be-convinced-than-one-half-right/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [He thought he was a wit, and he was half right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/he-thought-he-was-a-wit-and-he-was-half-right/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“To live your life even half right seems extraordinary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cristina-garc-a/to-live-your-life-even-half-right-seems-extraordinary/) [Cristina Garcia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cristina-garc-a/) > [You think you're a wit, and you're probably half right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-think-you-re-a-wit-and-you-re-probably-half-right/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being right half the time beats being half-right all the time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/being-right-half-the-time-beats-being-half-right-all-the-time/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [Wake up when I bake up that's just somethin' that I do. Pick your favorite sex scene, that's what I'm gon' do to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wiz-khalifa/wake-up-when-i-bake-up-that-s-just-somethin-that-i-do-pick-your/) [Wiz Khalifa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wiz-khalifa/) > [For anyone that has ever done a sex scene, it takes on the feeling of learning a ridiculous dance, like the electric slide. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/for-anyone-that-has-ever-done-a-sex-scene-it-takes-on-the-feeling-of/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [The easiest sex scene I have done was in Mulholland Drive because it was with another woman. There was no awkwardness. There was no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/naomi-watts/the-easiest-sex-scene-i-have-done-was-in-mulholland-drive-because-it/) [Naomi Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/naomi-watts/) > [When you're working on something where there's usually one sex scene in the film, it all gets a little bit of a gray area…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-sheen/when-you-re-working-on-something-where-there-s-usually-one-sex-scene/) [Michael Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-sheen/) > [“There was… uh, in my book, you know,” her legs moved against his and she finished so low he barely heard her, “a really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kristen-ashley/there-was-uh-in-my-book-you-know-her-legs-moved-against-his-and-she/) [Kristen Ashley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kristen-ashley/) > [You don't go, 'Wow! I get to do a nude scene.' But I love the sex scene in this movie. It was scary, honest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meg-ryan/you-don-t-go-wow-i-get-to-do-a-nude-scene-but-i-love-the-sex-scene-in/) [Meg Ryan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meg-ryan/) > [I'd have a sex scene with Whoopi Goldberg or Star Jones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/method-man/i-d-have-a-sex-scene-with-whoopi-goldberg-or-star-jones/) [Method Man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/method-man/) ## More by Sandra Newman > [“My own heart's secrecy been his, my cat insanities of night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/my-own-heart-s-secrecy-been-his-my-cat-insanities-of-night/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“Then I remember ice cream been a food I never taste. I wonder what my mama dream to name me for this food, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/then-i-remember-ice-cream-been-a-food-i-never-taste-i-wonder-what-my/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“Is nothing faithful in the world. Air itself betray.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/is-nothing-faithful-in-the-world-air-itself-betray/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“That sense of the world being the lack of something dogged him for years, and when it stopped dogging him, he felt unmoored. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/that-sense-of-the-world-being-the-lack-of-something-dogged-him-for/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“He says nothing, vehemently. I falter away and we sit, mutually staring into the fouled water. ... With time to kill, I ponder dismally…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/he-says-nothing-vehemently-i-falter-away-and-we-sit-mutually-staring/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“The dream was strongest of all when Kate's heart was broken. Then she fell asleep as if falling out of life, and the dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/the-dream-was-strongest-of-all-when-kate-s-heart-was-broken-then-she/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“How it can be, that Ice Cream ain't existing anywhere. Will be no me to know I ain't there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/how-it-can-be-that-ice-cream-ain-t-existing-anywhere-will-be-no-me-to/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“Then my tears come blinding, and he lead me by the arm. I stumble in the elevator, thinking of that moon rain. Salt that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/then-my-tears-come-blinding-and-he-lead-me-by-the-arm-i-stumble-in/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [Examining the actual contents of my crying, I found a quailing sludge emotion, with a foul insecticide taste. If it was a peanut, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/examining-the-actual-contents-of-my-crying-i-found-a-quailing-sludge/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“You have to understand, it's how we are here. It's like we're all asleep. We grow up, we fall asleep, and then the horrors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/you-have-to-understand-it-s-how-we-are-here-it-s-like-we-re-all/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“It was what Julia had been thinking for weeks, but now she said, You mustn't think that. It was they who made you —…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/it-was-what-julia-had-been-thinking-for-weeks-but-now-she-said-you/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“It was beautiful to be heartbroken, it was as pleasurable as a thing could be. But pointless.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/it-was-beautiful-to-be-heartbroken-it-was-as-pleasurable-as-a-thing/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“Then we all sat around; we were supposed to be awed. I was brattishly unawed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/then-we-all-sat-around-we-were-supposed-to-be-awed-i-was-brattishly/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [You're getting like an attitude. What you get put through for just wanting something more out of life. Makes you vulnerable. Inside, that tug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/you-re-getting-like-an-attitude-what-you-get-put-through-for-just/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) > [“He wear a roo suit - grey-green dapple thing, ain't satisfy to be one ugly color, it be ugly twice.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-newman/he-wear-a-roo-suit-grey-green-dapple-thing-ain-t-satisfy-to-be-one/) [Sandra Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) [Explore all 16 Sandra Newman quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-newman/) ## More Bloody quotes > [Success doesn't have a downside for me. I'm busy, but I've always been busy whatever job I've had. My very first job working in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victoria-derbyshire/success-doesn-t-have-a-downside-for-me-i-m-busy-but-i-ve-always-been/) Victoria Derbyshire > [AHHHHHH! Goyle has set the bloody place on fire! -Ron Weasley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/ahhhhhh-goyle-has-set-the-bloody-place-on-fire-ron-weasley/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My style icon is anyone who makes a bloody effort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-blow/my-style-icon-is-anyone-who-makes-a-bloody-effort/) [Isabella Blow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-blow/) > [If you're going to do something that looks evil, don't smear it with icing and pretend it's good; just bloody well do it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/if-you-re-going-to-do-something-that-looks-evil-don-t-smear-it-with/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Every sensible man, every honorable man, must hold the Christian sect in horror." "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd and bloody religion…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/voltaire/every-sensible-man-every-honorable-man-must-hold-the-christian-sect/) [Voltaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/voltaire/) > [The problem was Le Corbusier was a genius and an enormous artist, but he tried to resolve problems to which there is no solution.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leon-krier/the-problem-was-le-corbusier-was-a-genius-and-an-enormous-artist-but/) [Leon Krier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leon-krier/) > [Sound trumpets! Let our bloody colours wave! And either victory, or else a grave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/sound-trumpets-let-our-bloody-colours-wave-and-either-victory-or-else/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [I was at Mount Tamalpais near San Francisco hiking when a boulder came hurling down the mountainside and smashed my left hand. When I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-casals/i-was-at-mount-tamalpais-near-san-francisco-hiking-when-a-boulder/) [Pablo Casals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-casals/) > [Women are all the bloody sameyou can't love for five minutes without wanting it abolished in brats and house bloody wifery.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-beckett/women-are-all-the-bloody-sameyou-can-t-love-for-five-minutes-without/) [Samuel Beckett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-beckett/) > [Mass ought to be in Latin, unless you could do it in Greek or Chinese. In fact, any abracadabra that no bloody member of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-pound/mass-ought-to-be-in-latin-unless-you-could-do-it-in-greek-or-chinese/) [Ezra Pound](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-pound/) > [“The heart is a bloody thing. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toby-barlow/the-heart-is-a-bloody-thing/) [Toby Barlow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toby-barlow/) > [I'd have opened a bloody library if I'd wanted to be quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anita-roddick/i-d-have-opened-a-bloody-library-if-i-d-wanted-to-be-quiet/) [Anita Roddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anita-roddick/) > [The proud spirit of the original owners of these vast prairies inherited through centuries of fierce and bloody wars for their possession, lingered last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-frank-baum/the-proud-spirit-of-the-original-owners-of-these-vast-prairies/) [L. Frank Baum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-frank-baum/) > [If man had his way, the plan of redemption would be an endless and bloody conflict. In reality, salvation was bought not by Jesus…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-man-had-his-way-the-plan-of-redemption-would-be-an-endless-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [ \[9/11\] was bloody-minded destruction for no other reason than to do it. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-said/9-11-was-bloody-minded-destruction-for-no-other-reason-than-to-do-it/) [Edward Said](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-said/) Browse all 865 Bloody quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Giving a reader a sex scene that is only half right is like giving her half a kitten. It is not half as cute as a whole kitten; it is a bloody, godawful mess. 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