Last year around this time, I published a blog post titled Romance is Hard because I was struggling to draft a story with a main plot based in romance. This year, I’m taking a slightly different approach.
In honor of Valentine’s Day, and because I love love stories, even though they’re frequently a pain to write, here are four things I think you need to write a great, believable romance.
1. Chemistry, and not just physical chemistry either. I’m all in favor of sexual tension and raw, carnal lust, but true chemistry stretches beyond the body and infuses every interaction the characters have. The continued popularity of Pride and Prejudice is due, in large part, to the metaphorical sparks flying in every scene Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy share. Their dialogue crackles, they look for each other even when they know they shouldn’t be, and they start conversations even when they suspect that those conversations are only going to end in arguments. If two characters are intensely aware of each other and keep finding ways to interact–and then, if those interactions are charged in a way that their other relationships aren’t–readers are bound to be invested in whether they’ll get together or not.
Examples: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Perfect Chemistry by Simone Elkeles, Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins
2. A shared history, whether they’ve actually shared experiences or simply had lives that overlapped at key points. There’s a reason why friends to lovers and ‘the one that got away’ are such popular tropes. The potential for unresolved issues and unresolved feelings is so much higher when the characters know each other without knowing each other, or grew up as friends before their relationship shifted. Plus, the nature of the characters’ history–whether it’s happy, or sad, or troubled–can really affect the tone of their love story, and that makes for more powerful, more poignant writing when it’s handled well.
Examples: Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy, The Gentleman’s Guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee, Phantom Limbs by Paula Garner
3. Time. Give me a slow burn romance over insta-love or attraction any day of the week. There’s something so satisfying about love stories that take time to build, or about characters who have to grow into the people they’re supposed to be before they pair off. No one exists in a vacuum, and characters who have priorities and responsibilities and other relationships outside their new romances are far easier to empathize with and far easier to root for than characters who only seem to live for love. Bonus points if the real life struggles they’re facing overlap with romance, or are shaped by the person they’re falling for.
Examples: My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger, The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater, Attachments by Rainbow Rowell
4. Compatibility, because even in fiction it’s important to feel as though the two halves of the couple belong together. If the characters you’re trying to pair off aren’t even plausible as a couple, nobody is going to buy into their romance. Whether they love each other or hate each other, have everything in common or have nothing in common, they have to complement each other in a way that makes it instantly clear to the reader why they deserve to end up together.
Examples: The Crown’s Game by Evelyn Skye, The Start of Me and You by Emery Lord, I’ll Meet You There by Heather Demetrios
What are your key components for a good romance? What love stories do I NEED to read?
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