Questions tagged [romance]

This tag should be used for questions that deal with the genre "romance", either the historical version that is mainly concerned with heroic prose and verse narrative or the modern genre that is concerned with the romantic relationship between characters. Please use the [relationships] tag when asking a question about showing romance between characters as part of their development.

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Should I write the 'after'?

Alright, so I just finished a really beautiful scene in my manuscript that happened during an event. Let's say it was a party. So the beautiful scene happened rather in the beginning of the event, ...
L'Yana James's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
179 views

How to slow down plot in slowburn romance?

My current work in progress is a slow burn romance between two characters who do not believe in love in their own way. MC simply does not believe in it due to bad experiences being proven, and LI (...
L'Yana James's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
81 views

What is the editing process for fantasy romance?

I currently trying to edit my first book, draft 1. It all feels overwhelming after I've written the notecards, replanned it a little to meet the change of plot line, and it all seems to not work like ...
Susanna's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
73 views

Building a relationship off of a previous one

In this story, I kind of want to hint to a blossoming relationship, without being too explicit. So I'm kind of planning on having the main character remember parts of a previous, first wholesome ...
Slatuvel's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
152 views

How can I make my character slowly fall in love with someone that already likes them?

I want to have one of my characters slowly fall in love with a boy who has liked her from the start, but I'm not sure how to Show that he likes her but not make it too obvious and make her slowly ...
FarFromBliss's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
127 views

How can I put a short-term LGBTQ romance in a restricted environment?

In my epic fantasy tale, there is a small romantic sideplot. When the main group reaches a kingdom for work, the deutertagonist, while starting off as bitter, begins to develop feelings for the ...
Crafter's user avatar
  • 485
0 votes
1 answer
88 views

Writing a short-term love interest

In the epic I am writing, the protagonist and deuteragonist are sent on a mission by a king to save his daughter kidnapped by mercenaries of the evil empire. They save her, but the deuteragonist ...
Crafter's user avatar
  • 485
2 votes
3 answers
172 views

Do the mafia and dark fantasy genres work well together?

I've been writing a book for two years now, and it feels like the plot could work better if I include a mafia, like a lot of things would come together if I include that my male lead is the underboss ...
stuff's user avatar
  • 51
1 vote
4 answers
182 views

At what point would the romance and sexual feelings between different species be uncomfortable?

In my story, there are several relationships between humans and non-humans. While there are the usual with vampires and werewolves, there are also with anthromorphic animals as well. Seeing how ...
Crafter's user avatar
  • 485
3 votes
3 answers
140 views

How do you write an action and science fiction story without having it be overtaken by the romantic plot tumour?

The romantic plot tumour is a trope where a show or series or story has a bit of romance in it. However it soon becomes the main focus of the show and this sidelines the original premise of said story....
ColonizeroftheSun's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
88 views

How can you do romantic character development without writing romantic dialogues?

How can you do romantic character development without writing romantic dialogues? I am bad at writing romantic dialogues, so I was wondering if it was possible to make so that two characters develop ...
Sayaman's user avatar
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1 vote
2 answers
198 views

How to make the main character fall in love with the love interest? [closed]

So I'm new to writing stories and I have thought about the plot too, it's about a girl who gets a chance to work in another country (She's a physiotherapist).She visits their and her patient is an old ...
ariel_'s user avatar
  • 19
0 votes
4 answers
108 views

How to avoid making the romance in your novel predictable? [duplicate]

I'm currently writing a YA novel, and one of my sublots is a romance between the protagonist (A) and another supporting character (B). I introduce the two to each other early on, and they start out as ...
mindbutterfly's user avatar
3 votes
3 answers
247 views

How do I manage audience expectations for a paranormal romance story?

A big part of writing is managing audience expectations, especially as it pertains to the genre. I.e., if a story is pitched as an action-adventure story, people expect a story of fight scenes and ...
user2352714's user avatar
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2 votes
3 answers
144 views

If a character has an unusual name, should I use nicknames and initials?

I'm writing a contemporary romance novel. The hero's name is Jovanne Diedi De Rossi. Other characters call him by a variety of nicknames, Jay, Jo, Jove, Dee... I chose to go with JD as the narrator, ...
ZeeDaye's user avatar
  • 23
8 votes
7 answers
1k views

What do I do when I know the general summary of how a scene goes but I cannot figure out precisely what the character say?

I have a number of scenes in my story that involve two or more characters talking to each other about various issues, many of which wander into semi-philosophical discussion regarding some of the ...
user2352714's user avatar
  • 4,685
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

How do you convey that two characters have a crush on each other?

I have a romance arc as one of the major series-long plots of my story. In the first major story arc, the two romantic leads aren't actively together as a couple, this part of the story focuses on ...
user2352714's user avatar
  • 4,685
4 votes
2 answers
174 views

How to make a romantic subplot without dragging it out?

I have my MC and her love interest. One is a prince who is a fugitive of his kingdom, the other a street urchin who has a scarred past. Despite this, the MC falls in love with the love interest after ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
11 votes
8 answers
2k views

How do I handle an unequal romantic pairing in a world with superpowers?

I am writing a story that revolves around a number of characters that have superhuman abilities living amongst normal people, akin to they myriad superhero comics or many urban fantasies out there (e....
user2352714's user avatar
  • 4,685
1 vote
4 answers
154 views

Is one book long enough to make my character fall in love?

I am new to writing and this is my first story. I want to make my story believable and was wondering if one book is long enough to make my character fall head-over-heels for someone. She has known the ...
ZarSte's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
2 answers
377 views

How to reveal a secret romantic relationship?

So I'm writing an "enemies to lovers" book. My two many characters have hated each other for 7 years, they make a dare to see who can hook up with the most people by New Years. Slowly they ...
Arty Brown's user avatar
2 votes
7 answers
390 views

Is it okay to kill a main character?

I am a young author writing a fantasy series. I started this book with a light bulb idea late one night while reading Peter Pan. I didn’t know anything about writing, but I ADORE reading, so I pulled ...
Leila's user avatar
  • 321
2 votes
3 answers
237 views

How to start an argument between characters

My problem here is that I have two main characters, who, in the future, will end up dating. I’m trying to create friction between them at the beginning of my series so that they gradually fall in love....
Leila's user avatar
  • 321
7 votes
5 answers
531 views

How do I write from a girl's POV? [duplicate]

Ok, I know this question might seem a little bit weird. But I really need to know. How do I write from a girl's POV? I'm a 13 year old boy and I'm trying to become an author. I'm currently working on ...
Aaron E. Gabriel's user avatar
7 votes
2 answers
1k views

How to write romantic scenes that aren't cringy?

I know this question is inherently subjective, but I'm asking it in the case that there are universal traits of a romantic scene that makes it cringy. Now, I guess this question can be applied to all ...
A. Kvåle's user avatar
  • 4,033
1 vote
0 answers
75 views

I'm writing a book [closed]

I recently quit my job and now I'm bored at home with nothing to do. So, I decided to write a book. There is an phone app I can upload it on... I want the main character to be a woman in her 20s. ...
A.E's user avatar
  • 11
5 votes
3 answers
1k views

How to write a character who is falling in love, but doesn't know?

So I have been trying to write a character that is oblivious to romantic advances because they mistake them for normal, platonic reactions. I know how they act in my mind, but I can't convey it enough ...
Evelyn Malone's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
224 views

Is my work urban fantasy or paranormal romance?

I have been writing a story that for a long time I considered to be an urban fantasy, with supernatural elements in a recognizably modern setting. However, while I thought I was writing a rather ...
user2352714's user avatar
  • 4,685
0 votes
3 answers
166 views

Love triangle issues

I will start by saying this isn’t a romance, but has your classic love triangle within the plot The problem is, within my writing, I got in too deep with my first two characters love story, and now ...
user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
62 views

Stuck : how do i continue . Once characters has exchanged numbers [closed]

This is my first novel..i am stuck at two characters who already have a liking for each other and have exchanged numbers. I have all the conversations they have, how they open up telling each other ...
Praks's user avatar
  • 1
1 vote
2 answers
176 views

What do you do when you think of two different scenarios that can happen in a certain scene in your story and you don't know which one to choose?

So, this happens to me all the time, and usually, when it does I get mentally frustrated and give up the story for a couple of days. This happens to me quite a lot, so I thought it was high time I did ...
maxscapable's user avatar
13 votes
8 answers
11k views

How do I write LGBTQ+ characters for a romance story, as a non-LGBTQ+ person, without using potentially offensive stereotypes

So today, some of my friends challenged me to write a short story and gave me a number of prompts from which to write, most of which were admittedly not great. There was one, however, which worked ...
Chromanyx's user avatar
  • 279
3 votes
4 answers
255 views

Idea overflow in plotting?

I've been working on a paranormal/romance/mystery kind of novel for over 4 years now and still haven't finished it. It all started out as a fanfiction but I decided that it had too much potential (at ...
AlexSkellington's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
387 views

Anthropomorphic animals in romantic relationships with other species

Basically I’m wondering whether it’s totally weird or if people wouldn’t give much thought to it. I’ll use Zootopia as an example. If the main characters (a fox and a rabbit) were in a relationship, ...
Grace's user avatar
  • 1,006
27 votes
11 answers
8k views

How do I stop my characters falling in love?

So I'm writing a short story based in a WW2 American military base camp stationed in Germany. It's about A Jewish Soviet soldier that, with the help of an American soldier and a series of coincidences,...
brandi's user avatar
  • 295
13 votes
6 answers
805 views

How do I write a romance that doesn't look obvious

I'm writing a story, it's not focused on romance, but that's an important part as well. The point is that I have two characters and I ended up ("accidentally") seeing chemistry between them, they have ...
Ana Clara Moreira's user avatar
5 votes
7 answers
6k views

How crucial is a waifu game storyline?

So, with the recent craze in waifu games, I've decided to try my hand at making one. I have a semi-intricate plot with twists, and some events planned with their own snippet of story. Problem is, I ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
3 votes
6 answers
444 views

Is it possible to combine clichés/tropes to make it not a cliché?

I have read a couple romance books at most and so don’t claim to have very much experience with romance and clichés. But here are the ones I can think of: Something happens to make them hate each ...
Nadeshka's user avatar
  • 423
11 votes
4 answers
2k views

How to tease a romance without a cat and mouse chase?

So, my story doesn't have a romance subplot until way later in the series, but I think that there are elements of the romance very early on. A little background info: The story is set in a ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
4 votes
3 answers
148 views

Relationship Problems

In my plot, there are these 2 characters who were originally close to each other. However, they had an argument and broke up. In the end of the book, though, they get back together again. What I need ...
Jaystar's user avatar
  • 441
7 votes
4 answers
447 views

How to write about a homosexual relationship when I haven't experienced one?

I have two female characters, one who is lesbian, and the other bisexual. However, I am male. So not only am I to write the opposite gender, which I actually feel more comfortable doing, for some odd ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
26 votes
11 answers
8k views

How to prevent "they're falling in love" trope

I have two characters, the male being sort of a jerk, but lightening up later in the story, and the female is...very hateful. But a person who read the first chapter asked me if they were going to get ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
27 votes
14 answers
6k views

Non-trope happy ending?

This is in the idea stage, but I was wondering... In stories involving multiple protagonists (4 or more) that make and end relationships, date each other, etc. during the course of the story, the ...
Tom's user avatar
  • 4,494
3 votes
3 answers
475 views

Writing romance when I have little experience in it [duplicate]

I'm in high school, and have had few romantic relationships. The few that I have had were very unhealthy. I have pretty much no good experience with romance. How can I write romance when I don't ...
user avatar
15 votes
10 answers
9k views

Choosing between two people in a romance?

So, my dilemma is as follows. I have a romance project with the MC trying to choose between two women who he cares for very much. Each has broken his heart, but are willing to make amends and provided ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
-3 votes
3 answers
283 views

How to resolve a conflict between a girl that left you vs. a girl who abandoned you? [closed]

Ok, so in an upcoming project of mine, I have an MC in a romance with two women. The first girl left him for no apparent reason, and another one told him she was visiting family, and never really came ...
Kale Slade's user avatar
  • 2,653
0 votes
2 answers
5k views

How to insert music lyrics on an book

i'm writing a book where the protagonist is a musician, it's a novel, and in those books I think of drawing a scene where his passion is listening to him. What's the best way to insert a scene like ...
Quota's user avatar
  • 13
1 vote
3 answers
596 views

First draft Word count. [closed]

Do you find your first draft is longer or shorter than your completed work? I understand that I will be cutting alot of unnessary words, but I also have a list of things I need to add. I haven't gone ...
Jessum 's user avatar
7 votes
5 answers
8k views

How do you make two characters fall in love?

I'm writing a high school romance story. My story centers around two characters falling in love, but I can't find a way to make their romance seem real and believable. Here is the backstory: The main ...
banna shikder's user avatar
3 votes
5 answers
3k views

Should I end my story with a happy or sad ending? [duplicate]

I am writing a romantic short story and I don't know which type of ending suits my story better. Currently my characters fall in love but one ends up "cheating" (they were never dating or anything) ...
user32795's user avatar
  • 171