When you are reading, how do you know when a couple is in love? Romantic body language is not just what a couple does when they are close and personal, but from afar as well. No matter what genre you write, you will want to add a little romance to your story.

In this seventh installment of the body language series, we will explore romantic body language.

Relationships

Relationships have stages. From flirting to marriage or long-term relationships or break-ups.

Flirting?

The first task of flirting through body language is to signal interest in another person and then to watch their body language to see if they reciprocate.

When people are flirting, it is usually done from a distance at first. People will glance across the room, meet eyes or bat eyelashes. They may hold someone’s gaze longer than normal. A person may position themselves to be in their target’s line of sight. They may even turn their full body or head.

Someone who is shy may only turn a foot towards their interest while working up the courage to become more visible.

Examples:

• both eyebrows raised exaggeratedly for a couple of seconds,
• licking lips
• touching the front teeth with their tongue
• pushing fingers through their hair.
• exposes the palms of their hands facing you
• winking
• a jutting chin
• flexing muscles
• sucking in the gut
• sticking out the chest
• preening
• seductive dancing
• brushing clothes
• leaning toward each other

Photo by cottonbro on Pexels.

Long-Term Relationships

People in long-term relationships often display physical signs of affection, such as leaning inward with their shoulders. They also hug for a longer period than normal.

They’ll also make their eyes appear bright and inviting. They’ll also be tilting their heads toward their partner, which is a sign of attraction. A mutual comfort level allows one to enter the other’s personal space without the other feeling threatened.

Examples:

• long gazes
• dressing up for their partner
• mirroring each other’s moves or body positions
• gazing lovingly into one another’s eyes
• touching toes while watching TV
• holding hands
• massages
• kissing and touching
• sitting close
• physical contact

Photo by Boxed Water Is Better on Unsplash.

Breakups

People are affectionate with the people they love, and the gradual disappearance of that affection may be the first sign that a person is falling out of love. Generally, touching is the first sign of loss of love.

They really don’t engage you in conversation anymore and rarely make eye contact

Romantic body language, when a relationship goes wrong, can be a vast mixture of many types of body language

 Examples:

• Non-audible noises
• Avoiding touching
• Words don’t match actions
• Withdrawing affection
• Leaning away from each other
• Crossed Legs
• Smirks
• Touching a neck during conversation
• Furrowed brows
• Choppy hand signals
• Crossed arms
• Rolling their eyes

Photo by Mart Production on Pexels.

Last Words on Romantic Body Language

In this seventh installment of the body language series, we discussed using romantic body language. How do you use body language in your writing? Let me know in the comments. Be sure to come back in the next few weeks for more body language tips for your novel.

Take Care

Linda

Feature photo by Bingo Naranjo from Pixabay.