Rebloggable version, as requested by davrosbro. :)
Oooh! Â Yes! Â I love kisses. Â Kisses are where it all starts ;).
Okay, first, remember that a kiss is much, much more than just lips. Â It is lips, but also tongues, teeth, eyes, faces, hands, noses, bodies, heartbeats, Â breath, voice- and most importantly, a kiss is emotions. Â A kiss without emotion is just wet mushy lips stuck together. Â Ew. Â Gross. Â The most important part of a kiss isnât the how, but the who- because of the emotions between the two people.
lips- Lips can slide, glide over each other smoothly, or they can be chapped and rough and dry and get stuck on each other. Â They can match, top-to-top and bottom-to-bottom, or they can overlap, with one personâs top or bottom lip captured between the other personâs lips (yummy). Â If there is lipstick or chapstick there is lipstick or chapstick flavor, otherwise, lips donât have a taste (can you taste yours?). Â Lips also can smack- the sound of two of them coming together or pulling apart, because theyâre wet and warm and soft.
tongue- Tongues are always wet, and always warm. Â Theyâre very versatile. Â They can trace over lips, teeth, or another tongue. Â They can be smooth and graceful or teasing and flicking. Â When tongues are involved, there is drool. Â Itâs only sexy when you like the person youâre kissing, or else itâs kinda gross. :P
teeth- teeth can clack together awkwardly, or teeth can bite down sensually. Â A person biting their own lip is cute, a person biting anotherâs lips is sexy. Â A person biting gently is sensual, a person biting roughly is sexual.
eyes- Eyes can be wide open with surprise, half-lidded with desire, fully closed with pleasure. Â Eyes can gaze lovingly, lustfully, wistfully, hungrily, seductively- it all depends upon the emotions of your characters. Â Have them do whatever you like, but donât leave them out- give them at least a mention!
faces- Faces are what the lips are attached to. Â Noses bump, cheeks flush, ears turn red, foreheads either wrinkle or relax. Â Kisses can leave lips, quite easily, and become kisses on chins, cheeks, noses, foreheads, ears, necks, throats. Â Kisses on noses or foreheads are cute and adorable, kisses on cheeks are sweet, kisses on chins, ears, and throats are very sexual. Â And a kiss on the lips can be all of those! <3
hands- Hands are super-important. Â In order to describe a kiss, usually you want to also describe the hands. Â Where are they? Â Does one character have their hand behind the otherâs head or back, holding them close? Â Are they on someoneâs shoulders pulling them near, or pushing them away? Â Fingers brushing someoneâs cheek or palms grabbing someoneâs ass convey two very different kinds of situations, even if the kiss itself is exactly the same.
noses- Noses are annoying. Â They easily get in the way, especially for first kisses! Â People have to tilt their head to one side or the other, and if they donât, noses bump. Â Iâd only mention noses if a kiss is supposed to be awkward or uncertain or nervous.
bodies- bodies are either close together, or far away. Â Someone can be surrounded comfortingly by someoneâs arms, or terrifyingly trapped by them. Â Bodies are warm or hot, they are calm or nervous, relaxed or tense. Â Body language says a lot. Â Is your character pulling away, or moving closer?
heartbeat- Hearts can beat fast or slow, and thatâs about all they can do- but there are lots of reasons why they do! Â A heart can beat fast with fear or excitement or nervousness; a heart can pound with lust or race with terror or sing with joy. Â Hearts can glow, cower, or shatter. Â When you really want to drive the emotions of a character home, mention the heart.
breath- To me, the most consuming part of a kiss is the breath. Â The air that someone else has just breathed going deep into your lungs is very intimate. Â Lips and tongues donât have a taste, but breath does. Â Each personâs breath tastes different, smells different, and surrounds a person differently than anyone elseâs breath. Â Breath can be warm and sweet, breath can be hot and sexy, breath can be hot and frightening. Â It is something that is very present and should not be left out. Â A lot of writers leave breath out. Â And itâs so important; itâs the most intimate part of a kiss. Â Someone else is breathing into your lungs, and itâs either heaven or itâs hell.
voice- Voice conveys much, even without words. Â A voice can groan, whimper, gasp, moan, catch, whine, scream, sigh. Â Voice can convey emotion powerfully, and while some kisses are silent, usually theyâre not.
emotion- Â Emotion is the most important- and the thing you try not to say. Â You want to describe it, through all of the things above, so that itâs perfectly clear what your characters are feeling, without you ever using the âfeelings wordsâ. Â If theyâre in love, their bodies will lean close, their eyes will smile, their voices will giggle softly. Â If theyâre nervous, their palms will sweat, their noses will bump, their voices will shudder. Â If theyâre afraid, their muscles will be tense, their faces will grimace, their lips will not open. Â Emotion is the color that you keep inside your mind as you write; itâs the base line that drives the description behind everything else you say.
Wow, that was a lot!  Gosh I hope it wasnât too much!  Keep in mind not every kiss has all these things- this is just a list of things to consider when writing a kiss, and based on how long of a kiss you want to make.  Keep in mind that typing âthey kissed for a long timeââŠthatâs six words, it takes half a second to read, so thatâs a short kiss!  If you want a long kiss, you need long sentences that make the reader linger.
So maybe to start off, pick three things on the list to describe in your first kiss. Â Donât try to do it all- that would be too much for even the most epic kiss. Â Just pick whatâs most important to this particular scene, to these particular characters, and describe those parts along with the lips, and youâve got yourself an awesome, emotional kiss. <3