How To Write A Love Scene
Hey guys, welcome back! Because it’s February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day, I thought it’d be appropriate to talk about another question I get many, many emails on and that is how to write a love scene without being an over-the-top cheeseball. I’ve come up with 7 things to keep in mind when writing an appropriate and well-balanced love scene, to get your reader to feel instead of to laugh or roll their eyes. If you'd rather watch the video on this topic, feel free to click play below. Otherwise, read on!
Okay, let’s get to it:
1. Know your charactersa. When writing a love scene, it’s important to remember the characters’ personalities. If they’re shy, nervous, and cautious, then it’s unlikely they’d just hop into bed with anyone, no matter how cute or attractive their love interest is. Use love scenes as a way to illuminate your characters. Even little things can show something about your character to the reader that they otherwise may not have known. Maybe your hero buys his love interest flowers after the love scene, something he’s never done for anyone else. An inexperienced heroine may experience sweaty palms and may stumble over her own two feet due to nerves. You’ve made your characters who they are for a reason, so stay true to them when you’re writing your love scenes (and every other scene!)2. Establish believable reasons for them to fall in lovea. Just because two people are attracted to each other doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be a part of a spectacularly flawless love scene. Animal instincts aren’t always the primary pull for two characters getting it on or falling in love. The reason for their feelings must be credible and clear, not just because they think the other is hot or has a beautiful smile or has washboard abs. Go underneath the surface and dive into what makes your characters tick, then allow them to connect on a deeper and more intimate level.3. What is unspoken is much more powerfula. In reality, people don’t always say how they’re feeling, especially men. Trust me, I know from experience. When people feel vulnerable, they tend to shy away, keep things bottled up, and dance around the issue or their feelings. Your characters’ actions should reflect this human behavior. Think about it – some of your deepest, darkest, most intimate feelings are really hard to put into words. Almost impossible. So don’t spoil a love scene by trying to spell out everything your characters are feeling through dialogue. Try to go deeper than that by highlighting their actions and feelings. And along the same lines is…4. Nix the flowery descriptionsa. Her lips were sweet as honey, his eyes melted into mine and we became one, my heart ached for his presence with each passing of a stormy, tumultuous night. Flowery descriptions or adding too much fluff to your sentences can really kill the mood and the vibe you’re going for. It may make your readers laugh, scoff, roll their eyes, none of which you want after reading your love scene. You want your readers to feel, so don’t overdo it. In a similar sense to number three, less is more. Don’t overstate it. The simpler the better.5. Avoid clichésa. We all know the love scene clichés. We see them in movies and books all the time: kissing in the rain, an airport scene where the girl is leaving and the man comes chasing after her just as she’s about to board the plane to another country, a first date at a carnival where the guy tries to win the girl a prize and ultimately show her his love and every time she looks at that fluffy bear, she’s reminded of him… *Yawn* These have all been done to death and if I were you, I would avoid them like the plague. Did you just cringe when I said that? That’s because it’s another cliché! So stay away from them! Be unique and original and your love scene will come off as authentic and genuine.6. Delay the kissa. Okay, while I have another semi-cliché quote for you, it actually does make a good point for what I’m about to say. I’m sure you’ve heard people say, “The best things in life are worth waiting for”, right? Well, this is definitely true when it comes to writing love scenes between your characters. There needs to be a build-up, a sort of momentum to get your characters from strangers to acquaintances to possibly friends to deeper-than-physical-attraction to lovers. The disappointing love scenes are the ones where the characters are just slammed together without any warning, without any romance. The longer you delay, the more romantic that scene will become and the more fulfilled your reader will feel when they read it.7. If it doesn’t feel right, rewrite ita. As with anything else, if you write something and then read it back later on and it doesn’t sound or feel right, then rewrite it. You may not need to rewrite the whole thing – maybe there’s just a small phrase or word that needs changing. But if it doesn’t sound right, and more importantly, if it doesn’t feel right, or you feel like the message you’re trying to get across isn’t coming through, then rewrite it. It may take a couple of tries and some head-banging to get to the right place, but once you have the right scene in the right place with the right words, you’ll know, because it’ll just flow.
So there you have it, 7 things to keep in mind to help you avoid writing a cheeseball love scene.
Real quick, I wanted to mention that I’d said in a previous newsletter that I would be sending out a sneak peek of the first chapter in my dark fantasy book and I am so sorry, but I’m going to have to delay this a little while longer! With everything I have going on and preparing for the launch of the final installment in THE ALPHA DRIVE trilogy, RESTITUTION, it’s just not possible to get this chapter all prettied up by the time my newsletter will go out, which is tomorrow by the way. But I am aiming to send it out in my May newsletter, after RESTITUTION is released and hopefully when things calm down a bit. So make sure you’re signed up so you don’t miss that! You can sign up for my monthly newsletter at www.kristenmartinbooks.com
Okay, let’s get to it:
1. Know your charactersa. When writing a love scene, it’s important to remember the characters’ personalities. If they’re shy, nervous, and cautious, then it’s unlikely they’d just hop into bed with anyone, no matter how cute or attractive their love interest is. Use love scenes as a way to illuminate your characters. Even little things can show something about your character to the reader that they otherwise may not have known. Maybe your hero buys his love interest flowers after the love scene, something he’s never done for anyone else. An inexperienced heroine may experience sweaty palms and may stumble over her own two feet due to nerves. You’ve made your characters who they are for a reason, so stay true to them when you’re writing your love scenes (and every other scene!)2. Establish believable reasons for them to fall in lovea. Just because two people are attracted to each other doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going to be a part of a spectacularly flawless love scene. Animal instincts aren’t always the primary pull for two characters getting it on or falling in love. The reason for their feelings must be credible and clear, not just because they think the other is hot or has a beautiful smile or has washboard abs. Go underneath the surface and dive into what makes your characters tick, then allow them to connect on a deeper and more intimate level.3. What is unspoken is much more powerfula. In reality, people don’t always say how they’re feeling, especially men. Trust me, I know from experience. When people feel vulnerable, they tend to shy away, keep things bottled up, and dance around the issue or their feelings. Your characters’ actions should reflect this human behavior. Think about it – some of your deepest, darkest, most intimate feelings are really hard to put into words. Almost impossible. So don’t spoil a love scene by trying to spell out everything your characters are feeling through dialogue. Try to go deeper than that by highlighting their actions and feelings. And along the same lines is…4. Nix the flowery descriptionsa. Her lips were sweet as honey, his eyes melted into mine and we became one, my heart ached for his presence with each passing of a stormy, tumultuous night. Flowery descriptions or adding too much fluff to your sentences can really kill the mood and the vibe you’re going for. It may make your readers laugh, scoff, roll their eyes, none of which you want after reading your love scene. You want your readers to feel, so don’t overdo it. In a similar sense to number three, less is more. Don’t overstate it. The simpler the better.5. Avoid clichésa. We all know the love scene clichés. We see them in movies and books all the time: kissing in the rain, an airport scene where the girl is leaving and the man comes chasing after her just as she’s about to board the plane to another country, a first date at a carnival where the guy tries to win the girl a prize and ultimately show her his love and every time she looks at that fluffy bear, she’s reminded of him… *Yawn* These have all been done to death and if I were you, I would avoid them like the plague. Did you just cringe when I said that? That’s because it’s another cliché! So stay away from them! Be unique and original and your love scene will come off as authentic and genuine.6. Delay the kissa. Okay, while I have another semi-cliché quote for you, it actually does make a good point for what I’m about to say. I’m sure you’ve heard people say, “The best things in life are worth waiting for”, right? Well, this is definitely true when it comes to writing love scenes between your characters. There needs to be a build-up, a sort of momentum to get your characters from strangers to acquaintances to possibly friends to deeper-than-physical-attraction to lovers. The disappointing love scenes are the ones where the characters are just slammed together without any warning, without any romance. The longer you delay, the more romantic that scene will become and the more fulfilled your reader will feel when they read it.7. If it doesn’t feel right, rewrite ita. As with anything else, if you write something and then read it back later on and it doesn’t sound or feel right, then rewrite it. You may not need to rewrite the whole thing – maybe there’s just a small phrase or word that needs changing. But if it doesn’t sound right, and more importantly, if it doesn’t feel right, or you feel like the message you’re trying to get across isn’t coming through, then rewrite it. It may take a couple of tries and some head-banging to get to the right place, but once you have the right scene in the right place with the right words, you’ll know, because it’ll just flow.
So there you have it, 7 things to keep in mind to help you avoid writing a cheeseball love scene.
Real quick, I wanted to mention that I’d said in a previous newsletter that I would be sending out a sneak peek of the first chapter in my dark fantasy book and I am so sorry, but I’m going to have to delay this a little while longer! With everything I have going on and preparing for the launch of the final installment in THE ALPHA DRIVE trilogy, RESTITUTION, it’s just not possible to get this chapter all prettied up by the time my newsletter will go out, which is tomorrow by the way. But I am aiming to send it out in my May newsletter, after RESTITUTION is released and hopefully when things calm down a bit. So make sure you’re signed up so you don’t miss that! You can sign up for my monthly newsletter at www.kristenmartinbooks.com
No comments have been added yet.
