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I've been creative writing all my life, though with various haitus(es) along the way. IFrom 2010 I started this blog and enjoyed sharing writing and other information with everyone. illness and bereavement supplied the more recent hiatus.

Friday, 4 February 2011

Kissing With Confidence

So on 14th February Christina at Write Brained is holding the Just Kiss Already Blogfest.

I've already enjoyed doing an Almost Kiss excerpt for Frankie's Blogfest and so I thought  'What the hell I can go all the way this time, why not?'


And then I thought, 'I've never written a kissing scene before'.

And then I remembered my 1996 M&B fledgling MS, so I fished it out and had a look for my kiss scene...








Okay, so now I am squirming with embarrassment.
No not over the kiss scene but over using the word earnestly. 


So I decided to research the topic of writing kiss scenes and came across some great posts:


So what did I glean?

  1. Think about which genre I wanted to write my kiss scene in.
    It doesn't have to be a full blown romance /woman's fiction genre, it could be YA or Sci Fi fantasy for example.
  2. Is the kiss invited? Is it successful?
  3. Is it a first kiss? A longed for kiss? A placatory kiss? A stolen kiss? Long and Lingering? Quick and perfunctory? How are your characters feeling?
  4. Make sure you describe it well enough that your readers buy into it emotionally.
    Build the scene.
  5. Think about the setting to provide atmosphere and to hook the reader into the moment.
    Are they alone or in a crowd?
  6. Stimulate the senses, using smell, touch, taste, visual elements, maybe sound if it's not inappropriate or too intrusive /distracting.
  7. Try to avoid the obvious clichés
So how do you approach kissing scenes?
Is there a difference between the way men and women approach such scenes as readers or as writers?


So why not have a go yourself on 14th February
and don't forget to add your entry to Christina's Write Brained linkey.


In the meantime here's a fun nostalgia trip:


Don't forget to hop back here and read my kiss scene on 14th Feb


Posted by scribbleandedit.blogspot.co.uk at 07:00

15 comments:

  1. Unknown4 February 2011 at 08:20

    Lovely tips on the kissing scene...might just sign up for the blogfest myself :)

    The word verification is eat hell...is it trying to tell me something? lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. Old Kitty4 February 2011 at 11:45

    Thanks for the kissing tips!! :-) They are quite difficult to write! I think do I do coy or funny or out and out voyeuristic?? LOL!! so thanks for these tips! Take care
    x

    ReplyDelete
  3. kolembo4 February 2011 at 14:11

    Fun, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Laura S.4 February 2011 at 15:21

    Great tips! I'm writing a middle-grade novel right now, so there's no kissing scenes in there lol. But as a reader I do like romantic kisses but also sweetly silly kissing scenes, like in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum series.

    ReplyDelete
  5. scribbleandedit.blogspot.co.uk4 February 2011 at 15:25

    Ooh I've not heard of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum Series. I will have to look her out. :O)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Ellie Garratt4 February 2011 at 19:39

    Ooo. . .I could kiss you. Well, not literally of course. What I mean is that I decided not to do this blogfest because I've never written a kissing scene, ever. But I need to write one for my WIP. So thank you for the awesome tips and research!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Ellie Garratt4 February 2011 at 19:40

    I almost forgot - love your new header!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous4 February 2011 at 20:45

    I don't know if I've ever written such a scene. No. Wait a minute. Yep. An estranged husband and wife reunited while an artificial intelligence looks on... Might have to revisit that one.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Notes Along the Way with Mary Montague Sikes4 February 2011 at 21:53

    Love the sculpture on your blog.

    Thanks,
    Monti
    NotesAlongTheWay

    ReplyDelete
  10. M Pax4 February 2011 at 22:11

    I'm sure there are gender differences to approaching kissing.

    I have some kissing coming up in my WIP. Will think about your tips and mark your links. Thanks.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Ann4 February 2011 at 22:38

    I haven't written a kiss scene. I will be back to read yours. I am interested now.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Abby Minard4 February 2011 at 22:42

    Ha, it's hard writing kissing scenes without sounding cheesy. It takes a lot of re-writes for me!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Denise Covey 5 February 2011 at 01:58

    Oooh, a whole lot of kissing going on. Ha ha with the 'earnestly'. Now how does one kiss 'earnestly'? Sounds serious. I'll be back to read your entry!

    Denise:)

    Publication Party!

    ReplyDelete
  14. dolorah5 February 2011 at 04:17

    Kissing scenes are a lot of fun to write - and thanks for the tips - but they take a lot of energy when I write them. I think about them too much, and I'm not very romantic either.

    Not sure if I'm joining this or not . .

    I liked your "earnest" kissing scene. Way cool.

    .......dhole

    ReplyDelete
  15. Arlee Bird5 February 2011 at 05:23

    I haven't written many kissing scenes, but when I have I can remember becoming very distracted as I tried to imagine the scene--oh, what the heck, I started fantasizing.

    Lee
    Tossing It Out and the Blogging From A to Z April Challenge 2011

    ReplyDelete

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