This week, Fable and the Verbivore dive into the subject of developing and building physical intimacy between characters.

In February 2020, we released podcast Episodes 15 and 16 which explored creating chemistry - both romantic and platonic - between fictional characters. We mostly focused on describing attraction beyond the physical by showing intellectual attraction, emotional attraction, and social attraction.

In this episode, we revisit writing romantic pairings to talk about a physical intimacy framework originally presented by romance author Linda Howard for showing a natural progression to intimate connection between two characters. Inspired by the work of Zoologist Desmond Morris’ on Intimate Behavior, these 12 stages start step by step from noticing someone across the room to having an intimate connection.

We look at the first 8 stages within this framework in some detail - from first laying eyes on someone to allowing them to touch your face or neck. We use some examples from books and movies to discuss a few of our favorite pairings and how romantic tension and connection was creating over time in those works.

Towards the end, we discuss how physical intimacy may be complicated by characters past experience or personal preferences and comfort level with touch. Fable mentions how the novel Six of Crows explores this concept in an interesting and thought-provoking way.

Next week, we will be back to unpack the remaining 4 stages.

We hope you enjoy listening this episode! Keep reading, writing, and putting your voice out there!

Into the woods,

Fable & The Verbivore