Romance

How to Write

Romance

Characters Mean EVERYTHING

When you’re writing romance, characters should be your first, strongest concern.

Characters you need in your story:

Protagonist

Family: Mom, Dad, Siblings, Grandparents

Friends

Frenemies and Rivals

Love Interest

Crafting A Female Protagonist

She is the foundation for the romance you eventually hope to build.

You want her to appeal to every obstacle your average reader could ever identify with, so that they mentally step into the shoes of your heroine and feel as though it is them playing the part.

Remember that your main protagonist must always be judged by her ability to overcome obstacles. Seeing how your heroine finds strength is what will make the reader fall in love with her. They’ll root for her to succeed if they see she is constantly fighting to overcome whatever she might be dealing with, because the reader wants to overcome those obstacles as well.

Crafting A Female Protagonist (cont.)

Shyness

Health problems

Looks/Appearance

Social Status

Duty and Responsibility

Family problems

Friend problems

Her faith

Depression

Obstacles for your female protagonist include:

Crafting A Female Protagonist Examples

Hazel Grace, The Fault in our Stars

Obstacles:

Health Problems

Low Self Esteem

Depression

Self Worth

Fear

Crafting A Female Protagonist Examples

Bella Swan, Twilight

Obstacles:

Family Problems (broken home, distant father)

New School

Difficulty with Friendships

Insecurity

Fear

Crafting A Love Interest

You want the type of guy your audience will go ga-ga for. You want him to be good-looking, funny, smart, charming, mysterious, and all the things that make girls go cross-eyed!

Crafting A Love Interest (cont.)

Here are some traits you’ll want to incorporate into your love interest:

He must be ridiculously good looking.

He must be ridiculously, ridiculously good looking.

Seriously, he must be so good looking, it’s hard to look at him.

He must be a mystery to the main character.

He may have a dark secret or tragic past (or both!)

He must be willing to pursue the object of his desire.

He must be protective of your main character and willing to fight for her.

Crafting A Love Interest Examples

The Golden Rule Of Romance

Always remember this rule when it comes to “true love” :True love doesn’t just happen. It must be made to happen.

The key is to have your characters make theirlove work, as opposed to just having it magically happen the moment they meet. If you want them to find true love, then make them work for it.

True love is “true” because it perseveres no matter what comes between the two people who are in that love. Never allow your characters to have it easy. Constantly throw obstacles in their path and give the reader an opportunity to see how their love conquers those challenges.

Make the Romance Believable

1. Jealousy.• Let’s face it, we all experience jealousy at one time or another. Adding some jealousy in among your characters not only

creates an obstacle they must overcome, but it’s something readers can relate to.

2. Keeping up appearances. • When we like someone, we want to try and impress them and put our best foot forward. Sometimes this can be endearing,

other times it can be funny, and still other times it can be disastrous.

3. Trying too hard. • Sometimes, despite our best efforts, we end up trying too hard to make things “perfect.” They guy gets a dozen roses, rents

a limo, and takes the girl out on a lavish date – only to find that the girl would have preferred to go to McDonalds and chat all night long.

4. Discovery. • Once the romance starts to blossom, this is when two people really start to get to know each other. And it is the perfect

time to start revealing details of the past of your characters. That dark secret your sexy bad boy is harboring? Yep, now it’s time to reveal it. That tragic past? Let’s have him tell her all about it!

Plot Your Romance story

Stage One: Infatuation.One day everything is normal. Then, in the next moment, your characters are thrown off balance by meeting each other. However, don't be fooled. This initial meeting will not be enough to carry your teen love story. Now the question to ask is: What will be the obstacle for your two characters? A romance can't simply be based around two

characters who are falling in love. There must be conflict that, somehow, keeps the two characters apart.


Stage Two: Flirtation.Your characters have met. Now, the flirtation begins. At this point, accidental meetings start to occur. Your teens might "accidentally" run into each other at school, parties, or other social events. As the flirtation progresses, your characters will spend more time in proximity to each other. Perhaps, they might go on a date and the all-important first

kiss may happen.


Stage Three: Friendship.Your story is moving along and your teen characters are now progressing in their

relationship. At this point, your characters have kissed, perhaps had a couple dates, and are beginning to reveal who they are to each other. Now is the time to include a

scene or two in which secrets are revealed. Or, perhaps a long-held judgment is reversed as your characters learn about each other.

At this stage, it's very important to understand your character's motives. One way to understand motive is to know why your characters act and respond the way they do.


Stage Four: Commitment.At this stage, your characters are ready to make a commitment to each other.

At this point in the story, there will be a moment of epiphany. An epiphany moment means your characters realize something about themselves that will change them from this moment

forward.

Epiphany moments often bring loss to your characters. The characters realize they are changing and their friends are not. Or, the teens may no longer be as close to family members.

Instead, the teens are closer to one another. The characters realize they have experienced something that others have not. This experience has changed how they see the world, which

brings us to our final stage.


Stage Five: Love.Unlike romances for adults, teen romances do not necessarily have a happily-ever-

after. In fact, most teen romances will not have them. Why? The epiphany moment or moment of change has occurred. The teens are no longer the same people that they were at the beginning of the story. Each teen has been changed by this first love, and now the characters will find themselves pulled apart by life events. For example, the

teens may go to different colleges, move, or sometimes a death may occur. The important part of the final stage of love is that your teen character has undergone a

transformation. Neither character is the same person as at the beginning of the story. Their love for each other has changed them.

Education

Romance