I find that the build up to the kiss is more important than the actual kiss. You could say “he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on her lips” but it won’t matter much without the lead up. The heart racing, and the “pulling her closer” and “lips brushing against each other”are what gets me excited.
Well, if the payoff is "pressed a soft kiss on her lips" of course you won't get much if there's no build-up. The pre-game action has to do all the heavy lifting because there's no real 'game' to speak of. But in writing a kissing scene, a fully involved one between romantic partners of some flavor or other, an author should invest at least half a dozen fully formed sentences to the experience. A solid paragraph, hopefully, of liplocked interaction between the couple. There should be a whole hell of a lot more going on than simple lip-touches.
I partly agree, but I think that sudden kisses are also a thing that exist. Like if your book has a lot of action and your characters suddenly kiss after surviving something insane, like Ron and Hermione in Deathly Hallows movie. Unless you just mean for romance novels
@@AndaraBledin while I agree one sentence isn’t enough for a kiss, I find a whole paragraph of kissing to be a bit of overkill. But that’s just a personal preference.
Once I was reading a book and they had the build up but didn’t reveal they kissed until the final line which was “but it would be okay because, Erica kissed me” and it was really satisfying because the main character had a crush on them since the series started
3:30 Years ago my wife and I decided to recreate the classic kiss scene from Lady And The Tramp. We each started nibbling the same piece of spaghetti but when our lips met she kept nibbling and actually bit my lip making it bleed. Sometimes a kiss can have the same intensity as bullets flying and blood spurting.
I have 9 total books planned in a universe, 3 series with three books. Two of the series are Sci fi fantasy’s, but the third series, despite being in the same universe and having multiple Sci fi and fantasy elements, is mostly a crime drama lol. I’ve just started writing, and I haven’t written any “love” scenes and I don’t think there will be any for a while. I honestly think there will only be two characters who are in love. I originally didn’t want any, but when I wrote them in the rough draft and I realized how great their personalities fit together. It was just SOOO easy to write the two of them working with each other, and I ended up loving it. My characters accidentally ended up making a great couple, and it was a total accident
@@trikebeatstrexnodiff love is weird but I think necessary. I have a plan for my book and it’s two spin offs despite not finishing any books and one character I had the idea for was the child of these two character sun the future, and oh my goodness it’s basically like combining these characters and I love this new character! this character may have not happened, but because I went for it I have an idea for another character I think people will really really like. That’s why sometimes we just have to go for it. I also had an idea for a scene in a future book where these to start to realize that they love each other, but both are still a little awkward, and I LOVE IT. Dang I can’t believe I tried to avoid romance!
Your videos posted privately look like mine posted publicly 😂 haha anyway, as always, thank you for the incredible advice! I probably won't utilize this info because I don't write romance, even as a subplot, but one day I might & I know the BEST person to come to for advice!!!
Honestly I am so glad I've found this channel. I've legitimately used so many of Jenna's tips for my personal writing and even for school assignments over the years and they've genuinely helped me improve. Plus I also use a tonne of the products that actually sponsor her and they work leagues better than what I was doing before. Prowriting aid helped me pass my last essay before graduation and I legitimately use Milanote on a damn near daily basis. Thanks, Jenna, you've saved my character's marriages and relationship dynamics.
Yep. Fellow ace here. If I were to write about the first and only time a guy kissed me, it would be QUITE different from how Jenna describes being kissed in this video. I remember feeling violated, frightened, and almost crying afterward.
@@messinalyle4030 damn I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m ace too, only heteromantic so I guess Jenna’s advice would apply to me, but I just wanted to wish you a nice day!
@@MaeAlessa Thank you, I appreciate it. I was only nineteen or twenty when it happened, and I'm almost forty three now, so I'm over it. But thank you for your concern. I hope you have a good day as well.
I've never really kissed someone, and thought I've had a couple of crushes, I never really thought about seriously kissing them (all I did was marvel about their looks, smile/have the urge to smile when I saw them, and silently freak out if they came near me or talked to me). Whenever I try to imagine what getting kissed would feel like, it feels kind of strange. When picturing kissing scenes between my characters (or watching/reading about kissing scenes) I do like to imagine the excitement and anxiousness the character's are feeling (that's the main reason I like reading romance. The emotional roller coaster is thrilling!) but I don't really like to imagine myself in the _position_ of my characters is what I'm trying to say. Whenever I picture two people kissing, it's from a third person point of view, if you catch my drift. So I don't really like imagining how _I_ would react to getting to kiss someone because it either ends with me mentally stopping it, or if I do keep on thinking about it, kind of contorting my face or scrunching up my lips (I really don't know how to describe what my face is doing lol) in distaste. So, no thank you, but I would rather picture my characters kissing then imagining how I would feel in that situation. It's a lot less stressful.
As someone writing a homosexual slow burn romance in a fantasy romance, this is very helpful. I'm terrible at writing romance, but if I get rid of the romance, the plot almost immediately falls apart. Because I'm inexperienced at writing romance, you can bet writing that first kiss scene at the end is a bit stressful for me. Also, I love your videos; keep them up!
The first time I had to write a kissing scene I was super anxious about it.... Fighting? Yep! Kissing... Yikes. So I wrote it, and then read it to my college students one day at the beginning of class. Then they suggested more stuff... being more 20 something and less 'old married lady' they were super helpful. And then my step daughter gave me one of her fave romance novels with the kissing scenes dog eared.... which was brilliant because I don't read romance. Could have used this video then....Thanks Jenna!
I’m just starting a chapter for my book (on wattpad), which I plan to release on Valentine’s Day, in which the main character and love interest will finally actually talk and decide to do romance and probably kiss for real (they kissed before but it was kind of bad) so this video is perfect.
I love your videos!! Their the reason I started writing again last year been on a writers block for years and had no motivation hearing you speak was so inspiring and motivating
To anyone who writes or reads enemies to lovers: do you have any advice (or recommended videos) for writing sexual/romantic tension while the characters are still in the hate stage? I don’t really read enemies to lovers, but I really like my idea, which is of course an enemies to lovers 🙄
Idk but maybe if they think a lot about each other all the time, it might be just hate but it's very excessive so it kinda shows some romantic/sexual tension
Have your characters notice small things about the other. The way they talk, bite their nails when theyre anxious, fiddle with hair when flirting etc. But also make them deny those feelings. I personally like when a side character assumes the 2 are dating and they both quickly deny in disgust, knowing they are completely in love with that person
I'm not writing my current novel in chronological order, so the kiss scene between the male lead and female lead is something I already wrote, because I want to get it right more than most scenes. I found myself tweaking it as I went along listening to this advice. I found the way I wrote it before lacked the intensity it needed. And 'show don't tell' is definitely the most recurring piece of writing advice for pretty much every aspect of writing and the way the scene was before... well it didn't quite make the cut in that way. So yeah... I think I managed to hash out something much better than before.
(disclaimer: I'm not in any way a professional yet but I have written a few books so here we go) So I'm my main book here some of the MCs are an established relationship and my betas rlly love them. So, I would say, just from a personal opinion, that making sure you establish the relationship as both _amazing friends_ over the romance. Bcs these people will have been together a long time (if we're going off long term established ones anyway) and they've most likely got all the steamy stuff out of the way. Their relationship is more comfortable and settled so they have much more banter and friendship-like dialogue and stuff. I just think it's important to show both the fact they know each other romantically and friendship-wise. Altho my established relationship I used this for are late twenties and have been together years, so if ur going on abt teenagers who have only been together a few months then idk how useful this is but yeah. This is super waffly, u don't have to listen to this, but hey I thought I'd share smth that helped me make a likeable established relationship for my betas as more than side characters lol
If you need an example (because let's face it, a lot of books/movies/tv shows barely represent it) about how to write an established relationship and how to make it interesting without constantly doing a "will they won't they" thing, I'd honestly suggest How I Met Your Mother's Lily and Marshall, they're honestly one of the best examples of a dynamic, established couple in which neither's personalities are squashed for the sake of their romance. Plus the show itself, plus a LOT of clips are available on youtube pretty easily. I hope Jenna will do a video on it one day, but sometimes seeing a good example can be really help
❤❤❤❤❤ Excited to see all those battlefield kiss scenes from that challenge you laid down there at the start..... Thanks, this came just in time! Literally staring at the scene and there it is. Off I go, thanks again! Happy writing all:)
I had a very shallow romance that seemed good when i first wrote it, but it really shallowed the love interest. I'm completely rewriting it but ended up making it really complex that even I can hear the readers saying "just F already!" from the future. Making their first kiss now has been trying, considering how i'm going with their relationship. I'm hoping people will like it because recrafting their love story has been vexing considering my F Scott Fitzgerald syndrome I have with getting my stories done.
What I want to try with my kiss scenes is if the scene is focusing on the romance/relationship between two characters, I'll go into more detail about the kiss scene but if it's a scene where there's less romance importance, I'll use simple phrases like "He gave her a quick kiss" or "she pecks him on the cheek". It's sorta still in a telling format but it keeps the affection in the romance consistent when it's not the main focus in the story.
Ok, as someone who A is coming back to this video YEARS down the road (love you so much Jenna) and B a lot older than when I first saw this video, I most certainly can agree that not all kisses are created equal. There are some kisses that are cute, some that are steamy, and some that are just downright awkward. These all happen with your partner all the time. On a regular basis. Sometimes you'll be all snuggled up on the couch at an awkward angle, then you go in for a kiss, but the angle makes it more like bumping chins. You just laugh it off and it's actually super wholesome. I would like to see more representation of these kinds of kisses too.
I once said to milanote through chat that I loved their platform and that it was helping me so much to craft my entire novel and book series and then this employee chated me back and said she showed this to her friends that she works with and that they all agreed to give me 100 hundred free cards. It was a very big surprise but the employees at Milanote are so freaking sweet and wholesome.
Imo, the secret to a perfect 'kiss scene' is like the Doctor's advice for a kiss. "Be a little rubbish at it, you're going to be anyhow, so it's better to act like it's intentional."
Sure, I don’t have to cover this in my series for a while, but I’ll watch it. Because it’s Jenna. Also if you see this can you make a video on how to write a satisfying conclusion to a series?
My kiss scene writing process is almost nonexistent. I get a great fanfic idea and I start to write and it’s all going amazing until the kiss scene. I literally just stop, stare at the screen, and that’s it. I pretty much drop the story because I can’t bring myself to write the kiss scene. There have probably been one or two kiss scenes that I’ve actually ended up writing and they sound okay but they’re mainly just soft kisses and right now, I’m trying to write a heated kiss scene between two best friends who’ve suddenly come to realize they love each other and just can’t hold back anymore. I watched your video and i really think it might help me write this kiss scene a little better because it’s not that I can’t visualize the kiss. It’s how i make my readers see a similar visual that I worry about. Thanks so much for your video! I’m sure it will help me in many ways! ❤❤❤ P.s. if anyone has any kind of advice for how to write this kiss scene i have coming up, pls share! I could really use all the help i can get 😭😅
Any advice for writing a bad romance intentionally? Not like an abusive one but one where it just isn't healthy for either partner to be involved in. Like they're friends who just aren't meant to be in a romantic relationship? Where you want the audience to root for both of their happiness without making them angry or annoyed that these guys are even together in the first place.
Okay I know this is like a year after you asked, but imo: relationships are built on one character getting something they crave from the other. To really simplify it, a bad relationship is where one of both parties get one of their ‘negative’ cravings from the relationship. Also remember, you can get both good and bad things from the relationship, which adds a lot of nuance if there isn’t a clear-cut negative or positive.
in my book im writing, my characters Anya, and Scull kiss! i feel like this video really helped, i needed some ideas. before it went like this: we leaned forward and kissed. i pulled away a second later, "wow," i said. BOOOO! here's the draft: He slowly took off his mask and set it on the coffee table. And what happened next was the last thing I expected. He leaned forwards, tilted his head lsightly. And then, pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was so thoughtful and delicate. Along with the way he held my hand. I put my hand on the side of his face. His skin was pale from wearing a mask all the time, but I didn't mind. I closed my eyes and enjoyed every second. Then after a second we pulled away. There was silence. im not finished yet, but give me some more advise. also, this is more of a teen book, so i wouldn't like to much grown-up stuff. lol im just a kid.
i feel like it’s fine to use more telly language when writing kids books like when annabeth and percy kiss for the first time it’s really just “and then she kissed me”
I always try not to get into the details too much because it might expose that all my romantic naughty scenes are based on pure imagination of this Ace brain😂😂😂
The hardest thing is when you write a romance that the main character isn’t involved in, and then they finally kiss and you have no clue how to write the scene 😭😭😭
Jenna, what if the kiss scene is the first kiss and the writer wants to convey that it's awkward or bad because it's the first time and that with practice they get it right? I think this would be mostly relevant for YA , and I think it should be portrayed as a theme which is supposed to teach young readers that nothing, including sex, will be right the first time/don't be hard on yourself sort of message?
FYI I'm not writing YA, so I guess this isn't relevant to me, but I was curious about how one might apply the things you've said here not to do, on purpose for the intention of showing a good kiss scene later on. Would it work?
Oh yeah whenever I write something, I will go back and reread it and just look up synonyms for words that I didn't feel were good enough and then I will reread it again and do the same thing. I think I repeat that process until I really don't find anything that feels like it should have another word with the same or a similar meaning. Then I will reread it and make sure none of it needs to be re-written because of the synonym changes.
@3:01 *Liam Neeson voice*: I will find you. And I will...complain about your shitty writing."😜 @4:51 "He could taste the Cool Ranch Dorito crumbs on her lips." 🤤
With Kris’s words echoing in the back of her head, she took her shot. Jesalyn told him that all birthday boys deserved to be kissed on their birthday as she drew him in by the front of his shirt toward her and then she planted a soul searing kiss on his lips. The kiss was fueled more by her passion and desire than the tequila she tasted on his lips, it represented in the one kiss everything she was. Her hopes, fears, dreams, and frailties were all transmitted in the gesture. Jesalyn was taking a dangerous gamble with her heart for the first time and leaving her brain out of the equation. The reward was the immediate reciprocation of his affection as he wrapped his left arm about her waist as he slid his right hand up her left cheek to the back of her head to draw her closer to him. For a brief moment in time the world stood frozen in time. That moment two hearts became one to make a complete soul as the passion grew from nervous excitement as their body heat rises together threatening to erupt into a blaze; then it was gone for the next moment as they were brought back from that place by Lauren screaming at the top of her lungs.
The breath part reminded me of when I read a book and they described how they could smell what the other person had eaten for lunch or something like that and it was not supposed to be comedic at all 😶
So, which songs immediately came to mind? "The Shoop-Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", Cher's cover "Til I Kissed You" by the Everly Brothers "This Magic Moment" by the Drifters and my personal favorite, "And Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals
Rewording the process for people confused by the term edit... First Edit/text edit to follow the rules of writing as much as needed (aka character speaking improperly is fine). Second edit/story edit is to make sure your story flows in a consistent manner. This was supposed to be on your "how do I know if my writing sucks?" Video although watching YT on my TV & comments are not possible/not easy so I am doing other stuff on my phone & pulling up YT to comment.
Or you could use slang words if your main character is from what ever country the main character is from, such as Ireland. In Ireland for kissing we would say shifting. In England they would use snogging for kissing
the fact that I keep getting people explaining how to write a kiss scene is starting to make me think someone is reading my mind. I've been considering writting a story with romance but know nothing about such.
Hi Mrs. Jenna, (Excuse my English. It's not my language.) Could the first kiss scene be awkward? For example, you are dancing at a party and it gets intimate and one person misunderstands the situation and ends up kissing the other when the music and dancing stops. The other is surprised and it takes a few seconds for this one to react and ends up hitting the other and almost storms off the dance floor afterwards.
Ive never even thought of having a romance for myself but i dont know how to pace a romantic subplot, i need it to be slow-ish cause its a friendly rivalry to lovers miniplot
in one of my series romance is a big part of it and i feel like there might be too many metaphors but the entire story is told in a fairly poetic/artistic way so hopefully it's fine. i just make sure it isn't cringey and i balance the literal with the metaphorical
Although I agree with a lot of these, there are a few that I find hot just fine in writing (from reading experience), such as a tongue being compared to a snake or wet. It's really up to preference on a vocabulary level. I do agree with some words being used at the wrong moment though, just, I didn't agree with those examples
5:11 um THANK YOU- I've read some funky stuff over the years, including someone describing how sweat pooled in this dude's ears 💀 like bro that's not romantic or hot, that's just frickin gross.
"It's not the same intense as bullets flying" I dunno Jenna, I've read a book where the characters decide to get down in the middle of a galactic war...
question,soo uh,wendigos dont have lips to be exact? like how will it kiss someone whitout just opening their jaw wide in a not soo romantic way just soo the tongue can reach the other person? and i want to make it like they fail to kiss and it ends up being akward, can yall help me?
*gasp* You mean it's MORE then just to holes in opposite peoples' faces meeting and then their tongues proceeding to have a Paper view event wrestling match???
Hands walked up her/his back. (Give the visual of walking on them showing dominance & give pacing.) Hands crawled up her/his back. (Give the visual of being on your knees & therefore subservience & also give pacing.)
Have you ever written one of those really awkward overenthusiastic kisses where your teeth hit each other? It's only happened once or twice, but it's kind of hilarious when it does. You both have to pull back and have that shared embarrassment and concern. It's so undesirable a thing, and yet sort of cute how eager both parties are.
Good morning, I know you've talked about this before, But I am having issues pinpointing the begining of my story. Ive been working on it since 2016 and Id really like to start finishing the book. The story has Evolved as Ive gotten older, started making more sense in places, but now Ive lost the Begining. Do you Have any Advise ??? Thank you for all the wonderful advise you've given us.
A question for everyone here in this comment section, Is a kiss scene at the end (or nearing the end) of the book better than a kiss at any other time of the book?
I used romance to develop my side characters but I made sure to develop them both I was thinking of how to write there first kiss any ideas? Also it’s a 14 year old girl and 15year old boy please nothing really sexual
As someone who intends on writing romance, but has never been in a relationship, I needed this, a lot
😅likewise
I don’t think I’ve talked to a female I’m not related to or is a teacher since elementary school
Same I'm writing a romance subplot and I've never had a crush or been in a romantic relationship 😅
Same 😅
Yuuuup.
I find that the build up to the kiss is more important than the actual kiss.
You could say “he leaned in and pressed a soft kiss on her lips” but it won’t matter much without the lead up. The heart racing, and the “pulling her closer” and “lips brushing against each other”are what gets me excited.
Well, if the payoff is "pressed a soft kiss on her lips" of course you won't get much if there's no build-up. The pre-game action has to do all the heavy lifting because there's no real 'game' to speak of.
But in writing a kissing scene, a fully involved one between romantic partners of some flavor or other, an author should invest at least half a dozen fully formed sentences to the experience. A solid paragraph, hopefully, of liplocked interaction between the couple. There should be a whole hell of a lot more going on than simple lip-touches.
I partly agree, but I think that sudden kisses are also a thing that exist. Like if your book has a lot of action and your characters suddenly kiss after surviving something insane, like Ron and Hermione in Deathly Hallows movie. Unless you just mean for romance novels
@@AndaraBledin while I agree one sentence isn’t enough for a kiss, I find a whole paragraph of kissing to be a bit of overkill. But that’s just a personal preference.
I agree. Even though my book hasn't reached the kiss scene, I wrote the kiss scene chapter. I think it works. :)
Once I was reading a book and they had the build up but didn’t reveal they kissed until the final line which was “but it would be okay because, Erica kissed me” and it was really satisfying because the main character had a crush on them since the series started
3:30 Years ago my wife and I decided to recreate the classic kiss scene from Lady And The Tramp. We each started nibbling the same piece of spaghetti but when our lips met she kept nibbling and actually bit my lip making it bleed. Sometimes a kiss can have the same intensity as bullets flying and blood spurting.
I guess she was hungry?
I like writing kiss scenes. I write mostly crime fiction and it's surprising the amount of romantic scenes (or sleazy ones) the genre can inspire.
I'm working on an art thief / investigator story rn and its totally gonna use this LOL
I have 9 total books planned in a universe, 3 series with three books. Two of the series are Sci fi fantasy’s, but the third series, despite being in the same universe and having multiple Sci fi and fantasy elements, is mostly a crime drama lol. I’ve just started writing, and I haven’t written any “love” scenes and I don’t think there will be any for a while. I honestly think there will only be two characters who are in love. I originally didn’t want any, but when I wrote them in the rough draft and I realized how great their personalities fit together. It was just SOOO easy to write the two of them working with each other, and I ended up loving it. My characters accidentally ended up making a great couple, and it was a total accident
@@trikebeatstrexnodiff love is weird but I think necessary. I have a plan for my book and it’s two spin offs despite not finishing any books and one character I had the idea for was the child of these two character sun the future, and oh my goodness it’s basically like combining these characters and I love this new character! this character may have not happened, but because I went for it I have an idea for another character I think people will really really like. That’s why sometimes we just have to go for it. I also had an idea for a scene in a future book where these to start to realize that they love each other, but both are still a little awkward, and I LOVE IT. Dang I can’t believe I tried to avoid romance!
This is exactly what I need. I'm writing a FanFic and it is leading up to a kiss scene.
Can I see it? I prefer fanfics over normal stories tbh
@@andrewrogers3067 have you seen the hobbit?
@@kaljnes9524 Ye
@@andrewrogers3067 it based on the elf-king, but if you do is called "Dragon Of The Rose" on wattpad, if you have it.
Me writing a kiss scene for a non-literary story: Interesting
Your videos posted privately look like mine posted publicly 😂 haha anyway, as always, thank you for the incredible advice! I probably won't utilize this info because I don't write romance, even as a subplot, but one day I might & I know the BEST person to come to for advice!!!
Honestly I am so glad I've found this channel. I've legitimately used so many of Jenna's tips for my personal writing and even for school assignments over the years and they've genuinely helped me improve. Plus I also use a tonne of the products that actually sponsor her and they work leagues better than what I was doing before. Prowriting aid helped me pass my last essay before graduation and I legitimately use Milanote on a damn near daily basis. Thanks, Jenna, you've saved my character's marriages and relationship dynamics.
"imagine how YOU would react about getting to kiss someone"
laughs asexually
Yep. Fellow ace here. If I were to write about the first and only time a guy kissed me, it would be QUITE different from how Jenna describes being kissed in this video. I remember feeling violated, frightened, and almost crying afterward.
@@messinalyle4030 damn I’m so sorry you had to go through that. I’m ace too, only heteromantic so I guess Jenna’s advice would apply to me, but I just wanted to wish you a nice day!
@@MaeAlessa Thank you, I appreciate it. I was only nineteen or twenty when it happened, and I'm almost forty three now, so I'm over it. But thank you for your concern. I hope you have a good day as well.
😂 SAME THO
I've never really kissed someone, and thought I've had a couple of crushes, I never really thought about seriously kissing them (all I did was marvel about their looks, smile/have the urge to smile when I saw them, and silently freak out if they came near me or talked to me).
Whenever I try to imagine what getting kissed would feel like, it feels kind of strange.
When picturing kissing scenes between my characters (or watching/reading about kissing scenes) I do like to imagine the excitement and anxiousness the character's are feeling (that's the main reason I like reading romance. The emotional roller coaster is thrilling!) but I don't really like to imagine myself in the _position_ of my characters is what I'm trying to say.
Whenever I picture two people kissing, it's from a third person point of view, if you catch my drift. So I don't really like imagining how _I_ would react to getting to kiss someone because it either ends with me mentally stopping it, or if I do keep on thinking about it, kind of contorting my face or scrunching up my lips (I really don't know how to describe what my face is doing lol) in distaste.
So, no thank you, but I would rather picture my characters kissing then imagining how I would feel in that situation. It's a lot less stressful.
Don't deny that I love to reread the good kiss scenes that I come across 😂
I testify guilty
As someone writing a homosexual slow burn romance in a fantasy romance, this is very helpful. I'm terrible at writing romance, but if I get rid of the romance, the plot almost immediately falls apart. Because I'm inexperienced at writing romance, you can bet writing that first kiss scene at the end is a bit stressful for me. Also, I love your videos; keep them up!
The first time I had to write a kissing scene I was super anxious about it.... Fighting? Yep! Kissing... Yikes. So I wrote it, and then read it to my college students one day at the beginning of class. Then they suggested more stuff... being more 20 something and less 'old married lady' they were super helpful. And then my step daughter gave me one of her fave romance novels with the kissing scenes dog eared.... which was brilliant because I don't read romance. Could have used this video then....Thanks Jenna!
Ah I've got a major kiss scene coming up in my novel, this video is a life saver!
I’m just starting a chapter for my book (on wattpad), which I plan to release on Valentine’s Day, in which the main character and love interest will finally actually talk and decide to do romance and probably kiss for real (they kissed before but it was kind of bad) so this video is perfect.
I love your videos!! Their the reason I started writing again last year been on a writers block for years and had no motivation hearing you speak was so inspiring and motivating
Thanks So much 😊
To anyone who writes or reads enemies to lovers: do you have any advice (or recommended videos) for writing sexual/romantic tension while the characters are still in the hate stage? I don’t really read enemies to lovers, but I really like my idea, which is of course an enemies to lovers 🙄
Jenna made a video ruclips.net/video/vlEQxjehYHU/видео.html
Show them getting excited when near eachother. Ambiguous things like accelerated heartbeats/breathing, just generally noticing eachother.
Idk but maybe if they think a lot about each other all the time, it might be just hate but it's very excessive so it kinda shows some romantic/sexual tension
Have your characters notice small things about the other. The way they talk, bite their nails when theyre anxious, fiddle with hair when flirting etc. But also make them deny those feelings. I personally like when a side character assumes the 2 are dating and they both quickly deny in disgust, knowing they are completely in love with that person
I’d say banter is key, also someone else mentioned denying any attraction whatsoever for the same of emnity
People, please remember, kisses don't all lead to sex. It's so annoying in novels and movies.
Thank you! And not all of them need to be hot and heavy. I much prefer something soft and sweet and short.
I needed this, I suck at writing kissing scenes 😞
I'm not writing my current novel in chronological order, so the kiss scene between the male lead and female lead is something I already wrote, because I want to get it right more than most scenes.
I found myself tweaking it as I went along listening to this advice. I found the way I wrote it before lacked the intensity it needed. And 'show don't tell' is definitely the most recurring piece of writing advice for pretty much every aspect of writing and the way the scene was before... well it didn't quite make the cut in that way.
So yeah... I think I managed to hash out something much better than before.
Could you make a video about writing an established relationship? I'm struggling...
Oooo! Yes, that would be super useful!
Yes please
(disclaimer: I'm not in any way a professional yet but I have written a few books so here we go)
So I'm my main book here some of the MCs are an established relationship and my betas rlly love them.
So, I would say, just from a personal opinion, that making sure you establish the relationship as both _amazing friends_ over the romance. Bcs these people will have been together a long time (if we're going off long term established ones anyway) and they've most likely got all the steamy stuff out of the way. Their relationship is more comfortable and settled so they have much more banter and friendship-like dialogue and stuff. I just think it's important to show both the fact they know each other romantically and friendship-wise. Altho my established relationship I used this for are late twenties and have been together years, so if ur going on abt teenagers who have only been together a few months then idk how useful this is but yeah.
This is super waffly, u don't have to listen to this, but hey I thought I'd share smth that helped me make a likeable established relationship for my betas as more than side characters lol
If you need an example (because let's face it, a lot of books/movies/tv shows barely represent it) about how to write an established relationship and how to make it interesting without constantly doing a "will they won't they" thing, I'd honestly suggest How I Met Your Mother's Lily and Marshall, they're honestly one of the best examples of a dynamic, established couple in which neither's personalities are squashed for the sake of their romance. Plus the show itself, plus a LOT of clips are available on youtube pretty easily. I hope Jenna will do a video on it one day, but sometimes seeing a good example can be really help
As usual, good advice all the way through. Haha. Thanks Jenna.
❤❤❤❤❤ Excited to see all those battlefield kiss scenes from that challenge you laid down there at the start.....
Thanks, this came just in time! Literally staring at the scene and there it is. Off I go, thanks again!
Happy writing all:)
I had a very shallow romance that seemed good when i first wrote it, but it really shallowed the love interest. I'm completely rewriting it but ended up making it really complex that even I can hear the readers saying "just F already!" from the future. Making their first kiss now has been trying, considering how i'm going with their relationship. I'm hoping people will like it because recrafting their love story has been vexing considering my F Scott Fitzgerald syndrome I have with getting my stories done.
I don’t even write in anyway but I love these videos
This video is so timely for me.
What I want to try with my kiss scenes is if the scene is focusing on the romance/relationship between two characters, I'll go into more detail about the kiss scene but if it's a scene where there's less romance importance, I'll use simple phrases like "He gave her a quick kiss" or "she pecks him on the cheek". It's sorta still in a telling format but it keeps the affection in the romance consistent when it's not the main focus in the story.
Can you do a video where you review ones your viewers have written? It makes me so curious about how mine are and my only audience is my friends 😂
Ok, as someone who A is coming back to this video YEARS down the road (love you so much Jenna) and B a lot older than when I first saw this video, I most certainly can agree that not all kisses are created equal. There are some kisses that are cute, some that are steamy, and some that are just downright awkward. These all happen with your partner all the time. On a regular basis. Sometimes you'll be all snuggled up on the couch at an awkward angle, then you go in for a kiss, but the angle makes it more like bumping chins. You just laugh it off and it's actually super wholesome.
I would like to see more representation of these kinds of kisses too.
I once said to milanote through chat that I loved their platform and that it was helping me so much to craft my entire novel and book series and then this employee chated me back and said she showed this to her friends that she works with and that they all agreed to give me 100 hundred free cards.
It was a very big surprise but the employees at Milanote are so freaking sweet and wholesome.
"Woah woah woah, wait a minute wait a minute. Are you trying to trick me or something? ...is this a kissing book?'
Imo, the secret to a perfect 'kiss scene' is like the Doctor's advice for a kiss. "Be a little rubbish at it, you're going to be anyhow, so it's better to act like it's intentional."
Read my mind...was watching the old video of this and this is perfect !! 🥰
I've been going through editing/hightening my writing and these tips are on point 😁
Sure, I don’t have to cover this in my series for a while, but I’ll watch it. Because it’s Jenna. Also if you see this can you make a video on how to write a satisfying conclusion to a series?
the fanfics you have saved with this video, the service you have done to the internet
Love these romance writing advice Jenna! Thank u!
I just remember how epic Tobleila's first kiss was!
🥰🥰🥰
My kiss scene writing process is almost nonexistent. I get a great fanfic idea and I start to write and it’s all going amazing until the kiss scene. I literally just stop, stare at the screen, and that’s it. I pretty much drop the story because I can’t bring myself to write the kiss scene. There have probably been one or two kiss scenes that I’ve actually ended up writing and they sound okay but they’re mainly just soft kisses and right now, I’m trying to write a heated kiss scene between two best friends who’ve suddenly come to realize they love each other and just can’t hold back anymore.
I watched your video and i really think it might help me write this kiss scene a little better because it’s not that I can’t visualize the kiss. It’s how i make my readers see a similar visual that I worry about. Thanks so much for your video! I’m sure it will help me in many ways! ❤❤❤
P.s. if anyone has any kind of advice for how to write this kiss scene i have coming up, pls share! I could really use all the help i can get 😭😅
Any advice for writing a bad romance intentionally? Not like an abusive one but one where it just isn't healthy for either partner to be involved in. Like they're friends who just aren't meant to be in a romantic relationship? Where you want the audience to root for both of their happiness without making them angry or annoyed that these guys are even together in the first place.
Okay I know this is like a year after you asked, but imo: relationships are built on one character getting something they crave from the other. To really simplify it, a bad relationship is where one of both parties get one of their ‘negative’ cravings from the relationship. Also remember, you can get both good and bad things from the relationship, which adds a lot of nuance if there isn’t a clear-cut negative or positive.
in my book im writing, my characters Anya, and Scull kiss!
i feel like this video really helped, i needed some ideas.
before it went like this: we leaned forward and kissed.
i pulled away a second later, "wow," i said.
BOOOO!
here's the draft: He slowly took off his mask and set it on the coffee table.
And what happened next was the last thing I expected.
He leaned forwards, tilted his head lsightly.
And then, pressed his lips to mine.
The kiss was so thoughtful and delicate.
Along with the way he held my hand.
I put my hand on the side of his face.
His skin was pale from wearing a mask all the time, but I didn't mind.
I closed my eyes and enjoyed every second.
Then after a second we pulled away.
There was silence.
im not finished yet, but give me some more advise.
also, this is more of a teen book, so i wouldn't like to much grown-up stuff.
lol im just a kid.
you're awesome as always!!
Thank you for a very good subject
Oh god those kiss gifs will keep me up at night
Great advice Jenna, I know I need some help in this area. Also I love all the gratuitous Butters pop ups!
i feel like it’s fine to use more telly language when writing kids books
like when annabeth and percy kiss for the first time it’s really just “and then she kissed me”
I can't wait to write my first fanfiction soon thank you I will watch as much as I can
I always try not to get into the details too much because it might expose that all my romantic naughty scenes are based on pure imagination of this Ace brain😂😂😂
How tf does this woman always know what I need and when??
Marissa Meyer is the kiss scene master
This was very helpful, thanks a lot 💝
The hardest thing is when you write a romance that the main character isn’t involved in, and then they finally kiss and you have no clue how to write the scene 😭😭😭
Call it a side-story, maybe.
I love pictures of your dog popping up.
Jenna, what if the kiss scene is the first kiss and the writer wants to convey that it's awkward or bad because it's the first time and that with practice they get it right? I think this would be mostly relevant for YA , and I think it should be portrayed as a theme which is supposed to teach young readers that nothing, including sex, will be right the first time/don't be hard on yourself sort of message?
FYI I'm not writing YA, so I guess this isn't relevant to me, but I was curious about how one might apply the things you've said here not to do, on purpose for the intention of showing a good kiss scene later on. Would it work?
Lol @7:17.
And thanks for this one. Good advice.
Oh yeah whenever I write something, I will go back and reread it and just look up synonyms for words that I didn't feel were good enough and then I will reread it again and do the same thing. I think I repeat that process until I really don't find anything that feels like it should have another word with the same or a similar meaning. Then I will reread it and make sure none of it needs to be re-written because of the synonym changes.
8th view, love u Jenna!
Hooray!!! New video!
@3:01 *Liam Neeson voice*: I will find you. And I will...complain about your shitty writing."😜
@4:51 "He could taste the Cool Ranch Dorito crumbs on her lips." 🤤
thank you king I owe you my life
Awww I love kiss scenes!
With Kris’s words echoing in the back of her head, she took her shot. Jesalyn told him that all birthday boys deserved to be kissed on their birthday as she drew him in by the front of his shirt toward her and then she planted a soul searing kiss on his lips. The kiss was fueled more by her passion and desire than the tequila she tasted on his lips, it represented in the one kiss everything she was. Her hopes, fears, dreams, and frailties were all transmitted in the gesture. Jesalyn was taking a dangerous gamble with her heart for the first time and leaving her brain out of the equation. The reward was the immediate reciprocation of his affection as he wrapped his left arm about her waist as he slid his right hand up her left cheek to the back of her head to draw her closer to him. For a brief moment in time the world stood frozen in time. That moment two hearts became one to make a complete soul as the passion grew from nervous excitement as their body heat rises together threatening to erupt into a blaze; then it was gone for the next moment as they were brought back from that place by Lauren screaming at the top of her lungs.
The breath part reminded me of when I read a book and they described how they could smell what the other person had eaten for lunch or something like that and it was not supposed to be comedic at all 😶
So, which songs immediately came to mind?
"The Shoop-Shoop Song (It's in His Kiss)", Cher's cover
"Til I Kissed You" by the Everly Brothers
"This Magic Moment" by the Drifters
and my personal favorite, "And Then He Kissed Me" by the Crystals
So how do you to write a sad kiss scene?
Rewording the process for people confused by the term edit...
First Edit/text edit to follow the rules of writing as much as needed (aka character speaking improperly is fine).
Second edit/story edit is to make sure your story flows in a consistent manner.
This was supposed to be on your "how do I know if my writing sucks?" Video although watching YT on my TV & comments are not possible/not easy so I am doing other stuff on my phone & pulling up YT to comment.
Or you could use slang words if your main character is from what ever country the main character is from, such as Ireland.
In Ireland for kissing we would say shifting.
In England they would use snogging for kissing
Nice, this will be really helpful once I get to the kiss scene in book... **Checks list** Five of the series I'm only now starting.
the fact that I keep getting people explaining how to write a kiss scene is starting to make me think someone is reading my mind. I've been considering writting a story with romance but know nothing about such.
Hi Mrs. Jenna,
(Excuse my English. It's not my language.)
Could the first kiss scene be awkward?
For example, you are dancing at a party and it gets intimate and one person misunderstands the situation and ends up kissing the other when the music and dancing stops.
The other is surprised and it takes a few seconds for this one to react and ends up hitting the other and almost storms off the dance floor afterwards.
Ive never even thought of having a romance for myself but i dont know how to pace a romantic subplot, i need it to be slow-ish cause its a friendly rivalry to lovers miniplot
Mind reader bro, I was just planning the end kiss scene
in one of my series romance is a big part of it and i feel like there might be too many metaphors but the entire story is told in a fairly poetic/artistic way so hopefully it's fine. i just make sure it isn't cringey and i balance the literal with the metaphorical
Thank you!
Although I agree with a lot of these, there are a few that I find hot just fine in writing (from reading experience), such as a tongue being compared to a snake or wet. It's really up to preference on a vocabulary level. I do agree with some words being used at the wrong moment though, just, I didn't agree with those examples
I love this
I'm still holding out for the upcoming sequel - "The Savior's Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover"
5:11 um THANK YOU-
I've read some funky stuff over the years, including someone describing how sweat pooled in this dude's ears 💀 like bro that's not romantic or hot, that's just frickin gross.
It's not a good kiss if their tongues don't battle for dominance
oh no can't with these lol
"It's not the same intense as bullets flying" I dunno Jenna, I've read a book where the characters decide to get down in the middle of a galactic war...
I love that you regularly use gay examples of writing good romance.10/10
This video came out in the neck of time for me ……. my dumbass was gonna put the word “wet” in the first sentence of that scene
question,soo uh,wendigos dont have lips to be exact? like how will it kiss someone whitout just opening their jaw wide in a not soo romantic way just soo the tongue can reach the other person? and i want to make it like they fail to kiss and it ends up being akward, can yall help me?
Tip #11, more Butters! 😁
My brain has now decided the “subscribe” button is now the “Butters” button.
*gasp*
You mean it's MORE then just to holes in opposite peoples' faces meeting and then their tongues proceeding to have a Paper view event wrestling match???
I've not written any romance scenes yet 👀 but it's better to be prepared for later on...
Can you give us an example with all the steps? Thanks :)
For the preferred kiss, very difficult for kiss. Do good as it is with wrong doing for anything like a books and for the 🎥.
Hands walked up her/his back. (Give the visual of walking on them showing dominance & give pacing.)
Hands crawled up her/his back. (Give the visual of being on your knees & therefore subservience & also give pacing.)
I love you so much💞💞💞💞
Kiss scenes in slowburns>>>
What developmental/line editor did you use for your books?
Have you ever written one of those really awkward overenthusiastic kisses where your teeth hit each other? It's only happened once or twice, but it's kind of hilarious when it does. You both have to pull back and have that shared embarrassment and concern. It's so undesirable a thing, and yet sort of cute how eager both parties are.
Good morning, I know you've talked about this before, But I am having issues pinpointing the begining of my story. Ive been working on it since 2016 and Id really like to start finishing the book. The story has Evolved as Ive gotten older, started making more sense in places, but now Ive lost the Begining. Do you Have any Advise ???
Thank you for all the wonderful advise you've given us.
5:19 I am someone taking in my partner's nervous gays. #polyamory
Is their a chance of doing Thrillers someday?
Like not horror blood and guts but good old fun creep you out of your skin thrillers.
I'd add location to the list - it'd be uncomfortable kissing in cold rain, or too stinky on a grimy street corner or inside a pig sty, for example.
The cold rain part depends because some people like kissing in the rain but I agree with you
A question for everyone here in this comment section, Is a kiss scene at the end (or nearing the end) of the book better than a kiss at any other time of the book?
I used romance to develop my side characters but I made sure to develop them both I was thinking of how to write there first kiss any ideas? Also it’s a 14 year old girl and 15year old boy please nothing really sexual
5:05 🤣🤣🤣🤣