This was one of my favorite romances of ALL TIME.

 

 

 

There's two kinds of romance writing. One is the romance genre, where the overarching question is, "will the two lovers be together?" (And the rule of the romance genre is the answer must always be YES. So guess what that means? The story Romeo and Juliet.... Wasn't a romance O.O). The other is a romantic plotline, where a love story is secondary to the main plot.

Writing romance can go wrong in so many ways:

-Love in a vacuum; meaning, the romance isn't related to anything else. They just float in space and have nothing to worry about because they have a boyfriend/girlfriend.
REAL LOVE HAPPENS IN THE MIDST OF LIFE.

-Romantic tension relies too much (or entirely) on the physical. Just so you know, the reason "we love each other because we're totally hot" is not a real reason. Or, little or no romantic tension

-Weak source(s) of conflict.

Ex. A guy not responding to a text for a while? It's not a big deal. It can easily be worked out.

-The love has no real foundation.

-Cliche characters and plot

-Reader doesn't care. Guys, readers HAVE TO CARE. The point of romance is for your reader to feel something, and if they don't feel anything, then that was a grand waste of time for them to click on that story.

 

Three Essentials of Writing Great Romance (or romantic plot lines!)

1. An emotional connection

There's two parts:

a) Between the characters (This is why the "we're hot so it works" thing doesn't work out). Emotional connections require time and interaction. They HAVE to spend time together! At the conference I attended, the author teaching this subject had read a book where the male romantic interest literally appeared 3 times in the whole book. 1, when they first met, 2, when he came over while she was screaming at her sister, and 3, when he proposed.

I hope you're saying,  "wut?!?!?"

(Examples of Emotional Connection: distrust, curiosity, disdain, have a crush. That's right, the connection doesn't have to be a good one, at least not at first.)

b) With the reader
-The reader needs to see your character's strengths and weaknesses, because it creates a sense of realness. Readers connect from being able to relate to the character, and they can't relate to someone who's perfect.

-They also need a reason to cheer for the couple. They have to care. How you do that is up to you.

2. Need Fulfillment
-Needs range from shallow to deep.
      "Shallow"- I need food at lunch, I need a pencil during class.
      "Deep"- I need to accomplish this life dream of mine, I need a family or somewhere I belong.

Knowing these are essential to any kind of writing, not just for the romance aspect. BUT! When your character meets a person who fills or helps to fill that need, it creates a special connection.  And tip: the deeper a need, the greater the motivation and emotional connection.

Figure out what your hero and heroine need in a significant other
(Examples: someone dependable, someone who likes them for who they are, someone loyal, ect.)

3. The couple is significant to each other in a way no one else is.

If their attraction is not unique, it will lack impact and not be satisfying.
This is why their connection MUST go beyond love at first sight, infatuation or physical attraction.

If the couple ending up together doesn't matter and doesn't change anything, if they could have ended up with someone else and been just fine, the reader is not going to care.

One more thing to consider, how can you make the couple's relationship unique and important? (Ex. Another relationship possibility was shown to be worse, they make a good team, ect.)