How do you write a love scene that's not a smutastic love scene?
I've been actively avoiding the NC-17 in "Thought You Should Know". I didn't want to take the story down to the smut level. Because I've got more to show than TEH SEX. Not that the sex isn't fun. It is. But sometimes you go down that road and somehow the sex takes over. I'm pondering how you write a love scene that's not smut, but that's a love scene that doesn't get so graphic. I cut away from the love scene earlier in the story when Buffy and Spike first found each other. It stayed pretty tame, mostly emotional and left to the reader's imagination.
Any other writers feel like you actively avoid the smut? How do you deal with it without getting overly graphic or sentimental? It's a fine line to skirt.