Using Action, Body Language, Expressions, and Intimacy

As you plot your story, you’re probably aware that you need to include certain interactions between the heroine and the hero. Where is the first meeting? The first kiss? The first love scene? Do they make love more than once during the course of the story? Do they make love at all?

What is the ultimate goal of the romance novel? A romance will depict two characters falling in love. How do two people express love? Usually through physical and verbal means. The physical, the focus of this article, can involve facial expressions, body language, and touching.

When was the last time someone looked at you, and you knew exactly what s/he was thinking or feeling? This person conveyed to you, through the eyes and eyelids (and/or eye contact or lack thereof), the set of the jaw, the elevation of the eyebrows, the quirk of the mouth, etc. just what s/he thought of you or the situation. Most romance writers are good at including facial expressions, but only the accomplished writers can do it well. Take Teresa Medeiros’ Touch of Enchantment:

"As the elevator started downward, Colin arched one eyebrow at her. Tabitha suspected she was going to see that same naughty expression on her firstborn son’s face only too soon." (Bantam Books, July 1997, page 328)

How many times have we, as romance readers and writers, seen or written, "he arched his eyebrow" or some version of that same idea? Countless times, I’m sure. But how many times have we gone on to delve into that expression, define it, play with it, and stretch some tension from this?

Let’s look closer at how Medeiros included this tasty morsel (and on the last page of the last chapter of the book). Facial expression. Heroine defines the expression as naughty (which provokes all kinds of images when referring to a grown man). Heroine refers to a product of previous love scenes (firstborn son). In one sentence and with one facial expression, Medeiros conveys to the reader that Tabitha and Colin have been romantic together, that Colin is thinking naughty thoughts (and since he’s a grown man, they’re probably sexual), and that they will be romantic together again when they’re in a less public place (not an elevator).

This is probably the most obvious facet of sexual tension. It is required for interaction between the hero and heroine. How much sexual tension can you have when all the reader sees is a couple of floating heads? Body language is basically what the point of view character perceives of another character from the position of that person's body or actions. For example, if someone's mouth is hanging open and her/his eyes are wide, we can assume that the person is feeling either fear or amazement – maybe both. Action is, of course, what the other bodies in the story are doing.

What are the usual problems? First, the dialogue. Dialogue is as important as the action because it says as much about what's going on as the action itself. Short sentences – including those used in dialogue – increase tension and pace, but without some clues to the reader about what the characters are doing during a tense moment, Floating Head Syndrome (two heads having a discussion, but no props or bodies surrounding them) will occur. On the other hand, having too much description of another character’s body will develop into Nathaniel Hawthorne Syndrome (pages and pages of pointless, monotonous, meandering narrative).

Using more descriptive dialogue tags (especially if you're using "ly" adverbs in your dialogue, i.e. ‘she said hoarsely’) will do a better job of getting the point across. It isn’t necessary to use some new and exciting synonym for the same-old tag in every situation. In fact, tags should be about as high on your priority list as scooping the cat litter – only worry about it if things are beginning to smell a bit ripe. But body language can be conveyed in some instances through these tags.

In order to advance, we need to know the 12 stages of intimacy. They are vital. Linda Howard first introduced them several years ago.

When you look through the list, you must keep in mind a few points. First, spread these out. You don't want the first ten included by chapter two. Titillate the reader. Spread them out and reuse a few when necessary. Progress naturally. Don't have the heroine with a hand down the hero's pants in chapter seven, then in chapter eight they've got their first kiss, unless the intent is to throw the characters for a loop (which can do wonders for sexual tension). Also, don't skip anything major. First kiss and first sexual intercourse (unless you write sweeties) are vital. So is talking. So is eye contact. Keep in mind, too, that the hero and heroine MUST BE AWARE that they are experiencing each of these, or it's not really going to do much to increase sexual tension. In fact, you can use the awareness of each of these as replacements for the "tightening in his groin" or for other overused euphemisms.

Okay, so here are the much-awaited Steps of Intimacy (these were pulled from a web site years ago, and now I can't find the site to give the poster the proper credit, but these were pulled from a presentation by Linda Howard):