“A kiss may ruin a human life.” -Oscar Wilde
Passionate Moments
How does one write about a kiss? Make that sensuous moment of two lips meeting; explode out of the page ensuring that the reader is panting for more, desperate to turn the page and melt into your words?
Regardless of the genre, writers understand that every detail and action they add has a reason – somewhere within the piece. If your characters kiss, then there needs to be an emotional buy in; some description and hooks for the readers, otherwise you risk disconnecting from the readers all together. Just as you wouldn’t write a scene and throw in “they walked up the stairs” and then carry on without referring to it or linking it somewhere along the line, to write “they kissed” will more often than not leave your readers feeling cheated or lost.
If it embarrasses you or you simply don’t know where to start – try some of these tips.
A kissing scene is no different than writing any other. People move around, dialogue assists the pace and direction, decisions are made, actions carried out and the scene moves forward.
The essence is the most important factor within a kissing scene. Before you start to write, think about how you want the reader to feel, see or connect with the characters afterwards. The kiss may be hesitant, a stolen one, confident, demanding, lustful, tenuous or passionate. With this in mind, write the actions which surround this essence.
Don’t make the scene like a shopping list of events – ie. blow by blow, devoid of emotion. (boring…)
Make it memorable . The setting and scene of a kiss is as important as the act itself. A kiss in the shadows of an alleyway is completely different to one on theme park ride, or at a family picnic. Write the scene with as much detail so that the reader can picture the environment. Reflecting parts of the environment as facets of the characters inner turmoil, uncertainty or confidence will reinforce the scene.
Romance will nearly always happen slowly, with a sudden blossoming of realization near the end of the story, when the romantic connection is complete. Reflect this within a kissing scene; slowly, sensuously where the couple see one another in a different way afterwards.
Detail, detail, detail. Engage every sense possible when writing the scene. Readers are involved when their senses are stimulated. Include smells (eg the grassy freshness of the air, his cologne, her hair) the heat of bodies together, the feelings of skin contact; especially neck and lips, the deepening of breath.
Keep it simple, short and familiar. Allow the reader to interpret some details and don’t vary your tone too far from the rest of your writing style.
With all of this being said. A kiss is the most incredible, seductive and sensual public act a couple can participate in. If the other person is “the one” and not “just some person”, a shared kiss with them makes the world stop and heals all wounds. Sink into the sensuousness of their soft lips, warm and yielding skin and body, wet and willing tongue, surround yourself in the smell of their perfumed or musky skin, experience the the tingle down your spine as they touch you for the first time, leaving you with that giddy light headed feeling.
Write what you know and use your imaginative skills to bluff the rest. If you connect with your readers on a sensual level, they will key into their first “most amazing” kiss – imagined or real; and you will have them hooked.
Image of The Kiss via Wikipedia
This article first appeared over at Write Anything.
Annie On Writing 