𝖶𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖳𝗂𝗉𝗌 𝖿𝗈𝗋 𝖫𝗈𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗌

𝖶𝗋𝗂𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖳𝗁𝖾 "𝖠𝗅𝗆𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝖲*𝗑 𝖡𝗎𝗍 𝖭𝗈𝗍 𝖰𝗎𝗂𝗍𝖾" 𝖲𝖼𝖾𝗇𝖾

1) The Long-Term Build Up

Building up to an "Almost Sex but Not Quite" scene is much the same as building up to a sex scene. You need to build up the sexual tension between the two characters ahead of the moment where they actually start making out.

2) The Short-Term Build Up

When the moment arrives that they're finally making out for the first time, you want to give the scene as much emotional, sensual impact as you can without them actually engaging in intercourse. To do that, try the following:
✎ Build lots of sexual tension into whatever they're doing prior to making out. Whether they're having a suggestive/flirtatious conversation, laughing and romping through a flower-filled field, or on a tenderly romantic date, there are lots of opportunities to push some of that long-term build up from above to the brink.
✎ Explore what both characters are thinking and feeling (emotionally) in the moments leading up to making out and during those first moments. Are they nervous? Excited? Embarrassed? Aching for more? Letting your reader know what's going through the character's minds can add a lot of impact to that moment.
✎ Use the five senses to ramp up the description of what's happening. What does your character hear? See? Smell? Taste? Touch? All of these things play a role in ramping up the anticipation of each subsequent touch, kiss, utterance of love and/or desire, etc.
✎ Remember to touch on internal sensations being felt by the characters.

3) The Cessation

If you don't want your characters to go through with intercourse, you'll need to figure out how to stop their make out session. There are lots of ways you can do this, so choose something that works best for the story. Some possibilities:
✎ One or both characters puts on the brakes, saying they're not ready to go any further at that moment.
✎ The more fervent making out slows down and turns into a session of cuddling and conversation, maybe even blissful sleep.
✎ The make out session is interrupted. This could be a family member or roommate arriving home unexpectedly, a text message/phone call, the doorbell ringing, a strange noise in the house, noticing the time and realizing they're late for something.
✎ One participant suddenly becomes angry about something, perhaps recalling an unresolved argument or the other person said something upsetting.

4) The Fade to Black

If you want your characters to go through with intercourse, but you just don't want to show it happening, you can make use of something known as the "fade to black." The name comes from TV shows and movies when two characters are about to have sex or starting to have sex, so the scene would literally fade to black and open on a new scene where something else was happening. The best way to write a "fade to black" is to leave off with something that implies what's going to happen in a way that is interesting without being cheesy. Something along the lines of "we spent the rest of the night exploring our love for each other" but less cheesy and more poetic.

5) The Cut to After

Whether you cease the make out scene before it gets to sex, or let your characters have sex behind closed doors, you may want to consider how you're going to handle the "after" scene. That may be immediately after they stop making out (or after they're done in a "fade to black" scenario), or it could be hours later, the next day, days later... whatever. But making sure to explore what that moment meant to your character and their relationship is an important part of doing it well. Did it change anything? Did it make them closer? Did it make things awkward? Are they excited to go again? Do they feel ready for more? These are all issues worth exploring, unless, of course, it was a one night stand.

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