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Welcome, one and all, to the first topic in the Romance Department and the Official Kiss Scene Questions topic!!!
For those of you who have no idea how to write a kiss scene, ask for advice!
Y’all who cringe during kiss scenes, I’m sure I can desensitize you! (Boy, that sounds terrible, but I’m trying to help, not brainwash people. XD)
Consummate kiss scene writers, share tips or examples! (Why do I feel like I’m the only one who fits this category? Tell me I’m not the only romance guru out there!)
I know a lot of you guys shy away from kiss scenes or haven’t a clue how to write them. Don’t be scared! All it takes is a little know-how and practice, and you’ll be writing kiss scenes without being cheesy or cringe-worthy!
Also, let it be noted that there are a variety of kisses out there that I’m more than happy to help define. Not sure which one fits your story? I can help with that as well! Don’t know how to get into the moment? Easy! Don’t want to include a kiss scene, but want something sweet and impactful? Yep, that’s on the list too!
Anyway, just thought I’d put that out there.
@issawriter7 @writerlexi1216 @abigail-m @devastate-lasting (I’m tagging you, girl, ’cause I know you hate this stuff! XD) @e-k-seaver @lewilliams @kayleigh-idea @scripter-of-kingdoms @whoever-else @who-is-writing-a-romance-out-there@gracie-j Oh, my friend, you tagged the right girl. If any of you need advice on kiss scenes, seriously, tag me. PLEASE. I am 100000% glad to help. I’m a hopeless romantic (emphasis mostly on hopeless), so… I can help. XD
staring at the fields
if nothing's really real
i'll make the winter now my home- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@scripter-of-kingdoms I knew you’d like this!! Girl, your sweet cheese moments in The Sunsets of Aedhana were spectacular!
@gracie-j YOU KNOW IT!!! XD the sweet cheese Thanks! I really *loved* writing it *ba-dum-sssss* XD What was your fave of the cheese moments?
staring at the fields
if nothing's really real
i'll make the winter now my home- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@scripter-of-kingdoms You want me to pick a favorite? Girl, that’s almost as bad as asking me to pick a favorite charrie! I loved it all!!
@gracie-j
AAAHH I LOOOVE it when a story has got some good ole *clean* romance!!!! And *cough* I might seriously have waaay too many kiss scenes planned out in the course of all my novels.😜 Anyway, I LOOOVE THIS TOPIC idea, especially ’cause sometimes I have some trouble with my kiss scenes. I will definitely be coming here when I’m in need of some help!!!!!!!
Also, for anyone reading this: I might can offer some advice on the topic, but considering how I’ve only ever written one kiss scene, it might be best to stick with de professionals, like my self-proclaimed twin sista, Grace.
Hey, just a random question, what’s your favorite kiss scene you’ve ever written and/or read and why?
God gives His hardest battles to His strongest soldiers.
TeenWritersNook.com- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
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@issawriter7 Nothing beats some good ol’ romance, amiright?
I’d be glad to help you, girl!
Gosh, my favorite? Eeeee…well, probably my favorite that I’ve written would be easier to pick than read, since I’ve read and loved so many! Here’s one of my favs (for context, my heroine Daisy is barren, and she and Keaton got into an argument over it, which spawned this kiss):
Thought fled me, and it were as though another man had possessed me as I jerked the fool woman to me and kissed her hard on the mouth. Suddenly, understanding of Elliot’s philosophy dawned upon me. One could get a lot done when one simply did it.
The woman writhed and wriggled, uttering a few little grunts of exertion as she attempted to break free by patting me on the chest with a fist that had a very limited range of motion. I seized her wrists and pinned them to the bulwark, holding her in place as I took my time devouring her, teasing each corner of her lips, suckling her earlobe, feathering kisses over her eyelids.
I drained the fight out of her, leaving her body limp and her head tipped back, her chest heaving wildly with every shallow breath she gulped in. I savored the feel of her silky skin and her taste of warm honey and citrus, making my way to the frantic thunder of her pulse in the hollow of her throat.
My Lord, she was wonderful! Every kiss ignited another flame, heightening my desire until I took her by the waist and molded her again me, letting her arms wind about me and her own kiss consume me.
“Woman, I’m not marrying you—” she walked with me across the room, trailing her lips across my jaw as I struggled to get my words out around my gasps for breath and her unyielding pursuit of my mouth “—for kids.”
As soon as I’d spat the sentence, she gripped me by my face and returned my firm kiss with one even more intense, which almost kept me from noticing that we were now butted up to the doorframe and slipping to the floor.
Then she released me—just as abruptly as I’d taken her—and fairly shoved me out from the room. “You’re not marrying me at all, Keaton Clarke. Goodnight.”
The door slammed on me and then silence reigned in the dim, dead corridor.
Well, that went well.
@gracie-j
YOU TAGGED THE RIGHT GIRL!!! YAY!!! *cough cough* All right, I’m sure it was inevitable that I would come here straightaway, but honestly? I’ve gotten to love writing romance so I can’t help it:) So I don’t have any specific questions, per say, though I was going to describe what I had outlined for my main pairing (Newton & Caira) and see if any of y’all had any advice for a poor romance-writing novice like myself. So for them, there’s really two first-kiss scenes. That sounds odd, but let me explain:
So in Book Three, I have planned for Newton to finally confess his feelings for Caira. However, he’s hopeless when it comes to romance, he’s terribly nervous, and he keeps stuttering trying to confess to her. And so, he finally decides to kiss her out of desperation. Caira is infuriated with him when he kisses her (because she’s conflicted with her own feelings), pushes him away, and then storms off. Long story short, Newton ends up splitting up with the group out of embarrassment/feeling like he failed trying to start a romantic relationship, and so leaves temporarily. After finding and reading through his journal, Caira then decides to follow him and apologize for her behavior. She finds him, she confesses her own feelings for him, and then… yup, there’s the second kiss scene, but this time, it isn’t one-sided. I’m sorry if that summary wasn’t very smooth (again, I’m not good at summaries), but any advice is appreciated:) I honestly wasn’t even going to include romance in this novel until finding KP, so this is still quite new to me. Anyways, any advice is completely welcome!!:) I have no idea how to write a kiss scene, so I’m desperately in need of your help.
@gracie-j You are seriously the pro to end all pros. Literally. Destroy everybody else in your path, including me. Do us all a mercy. XD
staring at the fields
if nothing's really real
i'll make the winter now my home@gracie-j @everyone-else
Yes!!! Please desensitize me!!! I just wrote my first kiss scene (if you can call it that, it was a peck on the cheek and I went into no detail) and I think I blushed more than the charries I FORCED together hehehe XD. I’m not quite comfortable with writing detailed kissing scenes (neither are my parents…) but I like reading them, and I will probably have to go into a bit more detail later in this WIP
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by
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This reply was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by .
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
@gracie-j Ah, shoot, I left for too long and my post disappeared…never mind.
Pfft, thanks for tagging me, even with what you know about me. I like to feel included.
Ah, before I read your scene I don’t think I’ve read a kiss scene for maybe 6 years? Not sure. And usually I either avert my eyes during movies or watch with some sort of wide-eyed horror…and obviously I haven’t kissed anyone before. So, yea, experience of writing…I’ve probably written maybe 5 or 6 kisses over the past 5 years, none of them going too deep into detail…probably because it isn’t really my thing to include romantic subplots. Though, of course, I do include romantic attraction…but usually they die before anything happens.
Very rarely am I in the mood to write a kiss scene. And usually once I am, the mood is destroyed when my sister shows me a meme. Usually I cringe my way through it. It’s very painful. I’m in tears. “Why do these characters have to kiss now?” I ask. “Why? Please let this be over…”
As a kid I included significant others, because I was quite naive. Nowadays usually when I’m writing if two characters start to have some sort of tension I just throw them together, if possible. Though usually nothing ever happens and they end up dead. Tis life.
But yeah, kiss scenes…just kiss, no scene….hgngh….
Grace, if you actually convince me to write a kiss scene, you have my applause.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days@devastate-lasting I will convince you. #goals #authorsareevil #muahahahaha
staring at the fields
if nothing's really real
i'll make the winter now my home@devastate-lasting I will admit…I like a good kiss scene. But writing them makes me turn red
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@scripter-of-kingdoms Thank you. I will. 😉
@writerlexi1216 First of all, I LOVE NEWTON AND CAIRA! THEY ARE THE CUTEST HUMAN BEINGS ON WHATEVER PLANET THEY LIVE ON.Second, that sounds fantastic! Your summary is great, and I can totally see all of that flowing well! When you get there, let me know and I’ll be happy to help! One thing to keep in mind when writing a kiss scene is that your characters are in the moment. They’re feeling a hundred million different emotions all at once. It can be a lot to capture, but in this moment, all you have to focus on is the feeling. Not everything else going on. Not their surroundings. Just them. Together. Now.
Best advice I can give you? Read kiss scenes. Watching them doesn’t help at all, trust me. I wouldn’t know about hands-on experience, though. XD But reading them? Best things, seriously. Learn the beats, the language, the rhythm, the different types, the emotions. And yes, kisses have their own language. It’s all in the terms used, really.
@nanisnook I REMEMBER THAT FEELING! It goes away, eventually. The discomfort, I mean. Your parents will never be desensitized, trust me! XDSo, this is what my first ever (that I can recall…I think it was my first) kiss scene (please note I named my English characters weird things like Graivera; I had yet to discover Google and its plethora of actual English names):
Rylan spun Grai towards him. She fell right into his arms.
Rylan’s hands slowly crept up her back, then up the back of her head. The slightest tilt of her head brushed her lips against his. She slowly started to pull away, but Rylan pressed his lips to hers more intensely.
His lips moved over hers, making her shiver with delight.
Grai had never kissed anyone before, so she was finally finding out what she was missing.
His fingers dug deep into her hair, wrapping around the curls.
Her hands, which were splayed on Rylan’s chest, moved up his neck to his jaw. Her fingers caressed his rough cheeks.
Rylan pulled away, joy shining in his dark eyes. Graivera’s gaze met his and froze. Her hands moved back down to his chest. She could feel his heart beating fast. That was normal for a man who just kissed a girl senseless.
Cringe-worthy, right? But you have to start somewhere, so start simple. Get used to the language (this is what I was talking about, @writerlexi1216). Words like “caress,” “splay,” “brush,” “intense,” “senseless,” all convey different movements and emotions. Speaking of movement, kisses shouldn’t be stagnant. Fingers tangling in hair, hands gripping shoulders, arms around waists–they can move while they kiss! It helps define the type of kiss, what they’re feeling, etc.
Anyway, I’d be happy to help whenever you need me! Start simple, then work your way up! But I do recommend reading more to help you grow!
@devastate-lasting Why is is that I actually see you becoming a consummate kiss scene writer? Like, not because of my ulterior motives in making you one, but, like, I just see you like that. *shrugs* That’s just me and my skewed view of people.Anyway, I totally understand. I don’t usually watch kiss scenes unless I’m really invested in the characters’ romance–like Rhett + Scarlett in GWTW. Otherwise, I do avert my eyes at times. And, in spite of my past (I kissed basically every boy I knew when I was two-to-four on the cheek…including my cousin), I have never kissed or been kissed.
#1 There are ways to make kiss scenes not cringey. (Jury’s still out on whether cringey is spelled with an e or not, or if it’s even a word to begin with.)
#2 There are ways to have intense romantic moments without kissing that have a similar affect. For example, I read a book once (wow, what an accomplishment XD) in which the hero washed the heroine’s feet. Apart from being a Jesus allegory, it was THE SWEETEST THING in that whole darn series, and that’s including all of the wonderful kiss scenes too. Then there was the moment (same book) where the hero just trailed three kisses down the side of the heroine’s face. *swoons*
Don’t force yourself if it’s painful. Please don’t ruin yourself like that! But if you’re ever in the mood, just lock your sister out of the room and try! I’d be happy to help! 😉 (Of course I would! I just love annoying people and forcing them to do things they don’t want to! Like with that other guy, who some speculate has vanished from the face of the earth, by no fault of mine, I assure you. He just couldn’t handle my assertive personality, I suppose.)
No, seriously. I really do get it. But you’ll come to change your mind. Eventually.
@gracie-j
Awww, THANK YOU girl!!! <33333 I’m so happy you love them!!! They’re my favorite couple for certain 😉 (For a while, I gave Deek a “girlfriend” and thought they might be my favorite couple, but that didn’t happen XD) I haven’t written many romances in the past, so I’m very thankful that I have such wonderful advice to help me out!!:)
Thank you so much!! I’m glad that made some type of sense. *wipes perspiration from forehead* And yes, I will! Though it will probably be in Book Three, since I would feel like I was forcing it if I wrote it in Book Two, unfortunately. Thank you for that advice!! I have a tendency to write descriptions more than feeling, so that’s a helpful thing to keep in mind!!:) And yes, I’ll definitely try to read more kiss scenes to get more of an overall view of them. Thank you!:D (See? I told you I should start calling you ‘Grace the Wise’) I may have to come back for more advice on some of my other couples when I get there!:)
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