Anticipation

The picture that launched a thousand sighs...

I have the 2011 Jimmy Thomas calendar hanging on the wall across from my bed.  It's such a great calendar - only if you like gorgeous men in beautiful and provocative settings of course!  As much as I loved the March picture (Jimmy asleep whilst swathed in light blue satin bedding-yum!), the August picture intrigues me more.  Jimmy is posed with an alluring and beautiful woman, in what appears to be a big pre-kiss moment.  Jimmy's pictures are quite artful, he puts as much emotion in them as he can.  He does photographically what writers do on paper; tell an unforgettable story vividly through setting, characters, and emotion.  In the August picture, I can really feel the electricity between the characters.  For me, it's that heady moment before that much-anticipated first kiss. The emotion is so strong in those few seconds before the lip lock that it almost seems better than the kiss itself.  As a scientist, my brain attributes this to the raging hormones whipping about in the circulation,  but as a writer I don't even want to go there!  It's passionate desire yearning - no, straining - for fulfillment baby, pure and simple. 

♪ Can you feel the love tonight? ♫

 As a newbie writer, I'm noticing that there seem to be as many treatments of the romantic scene as there are authors.  Contests often request that you show both passion and sexual tension, and/or other emotions.  My question is this, does this moment really have to be so complicated?  What if this moment is describing a perfect day between the hero and heroine - a moment early in their relationship, before everything goes to hell in a handbasket? You know - the scene that will replay in the character's minds during flashbacks?  I understand that context is very important in storytelling and as a result each scene will have its own unique characteristics; some scenes will have greater felicity and others more pathos. 

  I'm still writing toward my big love scenes in my first novel, and since it's a young adult story, I can't get too racy, but I will build  carefully to that first big "love connection" between my characters.  In so doing, I expect that my treatment will be much like a Jimmy Thomas photograph; the anticipation of the moment will be slightly greater than the consummation of it.  How do you treat your big moments in your writing?  Newbie writers need to know!  ☺