forum HOW TO WRITE KISS????

Started July 11, 2021 by @sheabutter group

tune

hello its me if youre waiting for me to compliment your characters, im getting to them but first and very important question:
how do I write a kiss scene???
it's a contemporary story that takes place over the summer and the not-quite-couple are watching the fireworks on the 4th when one realizes he loves the other and…yea.
how to write??? pls help

I'm not sure how to phrase this. It all depends on what kind of kiss it is, but I'll just go into the basics. Make sure to build up to the big moment instead of just going for it. Also, throughout the scene, write the narrator's inner thoughts. Consider both characters and their feelings, such as whether they're enjoying it or not, if they're astonished or happy, and so on. I also focused on the five senses and the passionate bubble. These scenes are excellent for realization for both partners. I'm not very good at this, but I thought I'd contribute.

Thank you!

I'll give you a scene in my book, and you can get ideas if you want:

“Jack…” Loria said. “Kiss me.”

Jack placed a hand behind Loria’s head, she smiled. He pulled her closer, His mind was racing as it took everything in. He pushed everything away and kissed her. Loria grabbed his neck and pulled him closer. Jack wrapped his arms around her waist. He tasted salt, from both of their tears, but he didn’t care, he kept kissing her; and she kept kissing him. Jack couldn’t stop, he felt the need, the want. Loria melted in his arms. No, don't go, stay here, stay with me. Jack pushed himself closer to her, He felt like if he were to let go he would fly away -so he held onto her and they both hugged one another. Loria’s mouth slipped from his and her head rested on his shoulder, she was sobbing.

“Loria…” Jack sighed.

Loria shook between sobs and held onto him closer. Jack stroked her hair and rested his chin on her head.

. . .

Characters:

Jack: Jackson Samuel Carwright
Loria: Lorianna Rose Thompson

Like Anxiety said, it depends.

Personally, I love emphasizing awkward elements leading up to a first kiss. All the second-guessing, trying to interpret body language, and of course, I'm a sucker for the ones that ask/announce/invite it. ("Can I…kiss you?" "Ireallywannakissyou," "Why don't you shut me up, then?") Then there's the actual kiss, which you can describe as little or as much as you feel like depending on what, specifically, you want the reader to focus on. First kisses are likely to be awkward with teeth clashing, noses bumping, maybe one person's lips are dry or maybe they're wet from licking them. Maybe one of them tries to jam a tongue in there or accidentally bites their own? Then there's taste and smell, and the individual's respective reactions to it. One person might think the smell/taste of smoke on the other's lips is super hot, while another might be repelled by it.

A tip is that you should use this in moderation, and use it appropriately. I would advise against things "he tasted like peppermint and hot cocoa" unless the character in question had recently drank peppermint hot chocolate, etc.

Then there are the different kinds of kisses as in, is it a chaste kiss? A quick peck on the lips? Or is it a full-on making-out? Maybe it's a slow, exploratory kind of kiss? Because that'll also determine how you're going to want to describe it.

I would take everything I said with a grain of salt, though. I've never kissed anyone or been kissed by anyone in a romantic way. I just spend a lot of my time reading and imagining how my characters would kiss…

_{Wow, I sound kinda creepy, huh?}

nono thats all fair 😅 i've never been kissed before either that's why I asked. Thanks for the help!

Okay as someone who just had their first kiss like a month ago I can offer up all the nitty-gritty details. I'm really out here exposing myself but oh well. Anything for a fellow writer.

• It is nothing like you think it is. It wasn't magical, lol. First kisses are so overhyped in books, and I'd love to see more authors acknowledge that fact that it's very messy at first. It was awkward and clumsy. There's a lot more spit than you think there is.
• Neither of us knew what to say afterward. It was awkward. We both laughed. Then we did it again.
• Kissing is kinda tricky if you're not both standing up. It's really easy to miss and accidentally kiss them on the upper lip or a little to the left or right. Also, even with practice, you smash noses a lot.
• I had never been kissed before, he had. I literally just shut my eyes and leaned in, and let him do all the work.
• All that stuff about how someone's lips taste like [insert intriguing thing here] is a bunch of bs. Unless they're wearing chapstick or they literally just put food in their mouth like less than a minute ago, it will taste like nothing. I wouldn't make this up.
• If it catches you off guard, it's really hard to figure out what to do with your hands. Like, where do they go?
• Being a "good kisser" means literally nothing. It's completely subjective.
• I actually was not a huge fan of kissing at first because it takes some getting used to. It depends on the person.
  Hopefully this helps ;)

Thank you so much for exposing yourself like this, this really helped

(Sorry if I just insert myself in here but I thought I'd share a little bit about it :3)

As someone with quite a bit of experience (which I'm not proud of lol) I do agree with almost everything everyone else is saying.
Though for not exactly "your first kiss" in your life but your first kiss with this specific person is really important and nice to emphasize. No matter how experienced I am I'm always a big bunch of nerves whenever our lips So much as get close to each other. It may not be to some people, but I feel like first kisses with that specific someone is a bit under appreciated? If that makes sense?
Again I definitely don't speak for everyone when I say this but it's very exciting and nerve wracking and you (or i) just CANNOT stop thinking about that moment and what led up to that moment for the next like few weeks. I dont wanna sound cheesy but it's like lowkey magical ngl
Like how it gets your chest all heavy but in the best way and your stomach like does a billion flips just thinking about it. It's a really nice feeling and it's really good to emphasize the characters feelings especially before and after, but during too. I know you asked for specifically the kiss scene and you might already know this. I just wanted to emphasize that.
Another big thing I wanted to emphasize is breath.
I'm not meaning the taste of their lips or anything but their breath. Breath, lips, tongue, skin, all have VERY different tastes. Combined, whether good or bad makes you think of that specific human, giving them that special kind of feeling.
Also, right before people's lips touch (especially for the first time with that person) there's that awkward stage where your noses brush against each other in that soft and innocent way and you can feel their warm breath escaping their lips and just heating your face up.
I agree with everyone else too, it's really awkward and it's nice to write that down and make sure you get the awkwardness in. It makes the characters feel more human to the reader and more relatable.
I personally find it really fun to give myself or the readers second embarrassment with how awkward a couple is the beginning stages or even in the flirtatious stage if that makes sense? Again, makes them relatable and more human.
Also, taste and smell out of all of the senses are two of the biggest ones when in a kiss because your mouth and nose is literally intertwined with each other. How their tongue tastes and how their teeth feel and this is especially the time you're definitely going to smell any cologne or perfume or any sweat if I'm being honest. Some find it repulsive and like it and some just don't care?? But boy oh boy it's there. You are just about the closest you can possibly get to another human being. You're gonna notice some things whether you like it or not.
(Teeth touch and clash together more than you expect and when you least expect it. It's when you get really caught up in the kiss and kind of forget how to? You're just kinda on autopilot but in the way that you're just so entranced by this other person,, you forget how to kiss?? But your body just like does it's own thingies? Idk it's weird. But teeth do clash lol.. It's a cute thing to laugh about and not something to be embarrassed of dw)

There's also that feeling of their face so close to yours, it's very intimate and so special I think. Like wow, this person trusts me enough to be this close to them? This special human being really cares for me this much to let me get this close to them.
It's like they're giving you a piece of themselves and trusting you not to hurt them. Trust is a huge thing and when it's actually acknowledged it's really sweet and special.
The feeling of their arms around you in any way is very comforting and warm and there's a sense of safety in that in a way?
The way you just absolutely melt too. I'm not meaning figuratively. Well kind of
Like when you just sink into their touch? Like actually just melt into them.
And vise versa. The feeling of someone just melting into you is (to me anyway) one of the most special things in life. It's so pure and sweet and I just love that. I think it's a really nice thing to add into a sweet scene like that.
The feeling of "I never want to leave" that you hear in books all the time. Well it's so true
Like no you want to stay here forever be it kissing them or just being with them. It's such a warm and comfortable feeling but the second reality hits and you realize "oh…I dont want to go but I know I'm going to have to."
Because unless you are literally immortal, you can't stay in a kiss forever ya know?
And so warmth and comfort turn into that small pain in your chest in the midst of all that giddy excitement and that oh so nice feeling you had a second ago.
It ruins the moment only slightly but I feel like it only deepens it? Showing that this person cares so much about this other human being that they get physically hurt when thinking about how they have to eventually leave this moment.
And when you're out of it, be it whether you just pulls your lips away from theirs for a breath or you're laying in bed that same night smiling to yourself as you replay the scene as if you were in a movie, you're gonna miss it. That feeling of wanting to be in their arms or hold them again or the feeling of immediately wanting to kiss them even though you've barely had time to catch your breath.

Another thing, notice their body. Not their arms or legs or hands and where they are going (that's important too ofc but I'm talking specifically this tho)
But their body. Their torso and their waist. How close their body is to yours and of their body is more tensed or relaxed. Are they pulling your body towards theirs and/or are you pulling their body towards yourself? This can be implied in both innocent and…not so innocent ways if you catch my drift.
Size comparison is important to mention also. You shouldn't do it a ton because that can be overwhelming and give if the "yeah we get it they're different whatever" kind of vibe?
You also don't want to overmention something? Don't run it too far long either? If that makes sense. I'm sorry if it doesn't. I'm trying my best for you :,)
After kissing someone especially for the first time, really makes you want to get to know them a lot more than you did before? (At least for me.) Like nomatter how much you wanted to get to know them before, you wanna know like everything else. What's this person's favorite color? What do they absolutely love to do on their free time? What's their perfect date idea? How do they prefer their eggs in the morning?
Idk if that's creepy.. I always found it kinda sweet in a way? Idkidk

I don't know what kind of kiss you were specifically asking about and I don't really know context (hey there might not even be context. That's not my business) but I just gave you what came to.mind.
Obviously this kind of kiss is different from a lot of others and I could go into depth with some others too but I'm not about to put you through that lol. But if you ever need help with any other sort of kiss, I'm all here for it and I'd be more than happy trying my best to help you (or anyone) out. ♡

I think I've got everything I was thinking about??
Just so you know I'm just speaking from my personal experience. I dont speak for everyone and anyone when i say any of this do take this with a grain of salt babe. I hope this helps as that was all I was trying to do. I dont mean to sound pushy or anything either. Again, just trying to help. I know even for me it's still challenging to write kissing scenes but I hope this helped ♡
Have a fun time writing and I wish you the best of luck ♡

DUDE THAT WAS ACTUALLY SO HELPFUL I JUST WENT AND REWROTE THE SCENE TO ADD IN SOME OF THE THINGS YOU SAID, TYSM <3

Oh my goodness no way? I'm so glad I could help you!! Hit me up if you need anything else! I'm so glad you were able to improve your scene! I hope your story (or honestly whatever your writing) is going well! Have an amazing day love ♡