How to write softness

If you’re writing a book with a lot of action, battles, death, and blood, you should definitely add a little softness!

But how should you do it?

I gathered here a couple tips from great books I read that portray softness beautifully.

1. Get contrast

If your characters are grumpy and generally aggressive or cold, a fluffy moment is guaranteed to MELT the reader. Believe me, it does.

Make your characters show softness only in specific moments if they’re not super warm people, and only towards specific friends, members of their family, or their significant other.

It will give your story a lot more depth and will make the reader yearn for more.

2. Decide the degree

A little stroke or a full blown eight-minute hug?

Make sure the softness is appropriate to the moment (for instance, it’s weird for two people to start embracing and kissing if they’re in the middle of a literal war) and if it’s in character.

Remember that for colder characters a simple arm caress shows a lot, and will never be forgotten by either the other character (the reiver) and your audience!

3. Brainstorm

Ideas for gentle softness can be:

• Ask for consent to touch the other (meaning to caress them or kiss them)

• Brushing leg against leg (or elbows, shoulders, arms)

• holding hands

• holding pinkies

• stroking

• blowing kisses

• smiling encouragingly from afar

• asking if they’re okay

• moving closer without saying anything

• resting their arm on the other character’s shoulder

• protecting the character by pushing them behind (when crossing a street, fighting verbally with someone, walking towards a dangerous area)

• fixing their clothing

• bringing them food

• cooking them food

• buying them medications

• medicating them

• hugging

• caressing

• stroking

• holding them

• falling asleep over the other character/ holding the character as they’re asleep

and many more!

In my wip (we’ll call it Hastar for now), two of my ocs are soft only when they’re together alone, bring food to each other, listen closely, remember small details about things they’ve talked about.

4. Take your time

Softness is slow, and, especially for colder characters, hard.

It’s okay to sit and take longer than your action scenes to write a fluff chapter!

Make sure both characters are cool with it and the gestures they make are accurate to their personality.

Weave in a little moment after a much more action-packed sequence and drink your readers’ tears after they finished your book.

Good luck with writing, and I hope to have helped at least a little bit!