The holiday of love.  Chocolate.  Flowers.  Candlelit dinners.  And, of course, kisses galore.  These things are wonderful, but it’s the emotion behind them that peaks the interest of romance writers.

            It doesn’t matter if we write suspense, historicals, inspiration, sweet or sexy, it’s that emotion we try to capture in our stories.  Some of us struggle with this while others seem to have a special instinct for getting it across on the page; but the bottom line in portraying deep, forming love goes beyond physical attraction.

            Let’s take a moment to examine physical attraction, however.  It’s a key element and should be given a great deal of attention in our writing.  We cannot simply say the heroine thinks the hero has a cute butt and consider our job done.  No.  It’s far more complex than that.  We must go slowly, peel the layers, and examine how appearance creates physical response.  There must be a drawing together by mutual yearning, desire, and need.  This is emotion directly linked to a certain curve of the hip, touch of the hand, vulnerable opening of usually guarded features, etc.  When we shortchange our characters of this vital bonding, we shortchange our readers.  When writing attraction, we must think less in terms of looks and more in terms of response involving the five senses.

            Beyond the physical is compatibility.  This doesn’t mean the hero and heroine have to share a lot in common or have similar personalities.  In fact, the best couples are often opposites.  Compatibility speaks to partnership.  Where one is weak, the other is strong.  This can be in terms of personality, and may also come to light through each character’s experience, knowledge, and ability.  It addresses the timeless concept of finding the one special person who completes us.  Without this, our reader doesn’t understand why the heroine chooses to love the hero and not some other guy.

            Finally, we come to gestures.  A gesture, like chocolate, flowers or a candlelit dinner, is meaningless without true emotion behind it.  The gesture that wins a reluctant heart or sore soul comes when the character has grown to know the other so well that he or she understands what to do and when.  We sometimes forget that the smaller gestures can mean so much more than the grand ones.

            So let’s not hurry through establishing the love that makes our couples memorable.  Let’s not write steamy sex scenes and consider it enough.  Go deep.  Allow your characters to ask those soul-searching questions then connect with their partner in a way that will see them through a lifetime of St. Valentine’s Days happily ever after.