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It has come to my attention that we don’t have an official category for romance as of yet, but I would like to address with this topic the fact that a great many of us have romantic subplots in our novels. Myself included, as I am predominantly a romance writer, although many other classifications follow.
That being said, I’ve noticed several writers on here have struggles with romantic subplots and love interests. As a student at the University of Romance Writers, I would like to offer my services as a consultant.
Do you struggle weaving a romantic subplot into an otherwise exciting or fantastical novel? Are you uncertain if or how you should include a love interest? Are you simply unsure about the subject of romance?
Then you’ve come to the right place!
Ask me whatever you will, and I’ll do my best to give you some advice (or direct you to an applicable resource if I do not possess the proper answer). My credentials are as follows:
Fifteen years of studying romance, fairy tales, and love stories. Five years of studying romance in fiction. Three years of writing romantic fiction. Two years of extensively studying each individual aspect of romantic plots, subplots, love interests, emotion, kiss scenes, balance between romance and other genres, dialogue, and crafting loveable heroes/heroines.
@abigail-m @issawriter17 @scoutfinch180 @nova21 @writerlexi1216 @godlyfantasy12 @r-m-archer @devastate-lasting @jenwriter17 @i-don’t-know-who-all-is-writing-romance @e-k-seaver @libby @jane-austen @charlotte-bronte @margaret-mitchell @i-love-rhett-butler @sir-walter-scott @surely-there-are-more @william-shakespeare@gracie-j Well, well, well! You are exactly everything which I fear! *crawls away to hide in a corner*
Once upon a time, when I was a small child, and romantic interests were all the rage, I thought it would be great if I could create love interests for my main characters. Well, long story short, all those relationships ended up being the most platonic things ever. I think that that particular story could very do without romance…ugh…
I have a fear of kissing scenes, be it reading or writing. I think one reason why I essentially stopped reading (or stopped reading YA) was because of the sheer amount of romance and kissing scenes. I guess I don’t mind romance in itself, I don’t mind reading the romance genre, actually (provided that maybe one of them dies in the end) but to me it seems so often that the romantic subplots would overwhelm the book with characters that I cared absolutely nothing for. So maybe, now that I look back, it wasn’t romance itself that turned me off but annoying characters and too much physical contact for my young brain.
*sips coffee*
Now for writing romance…every time I’ve intentionally tried it just seems force, and every time I didn’t want a ship it happened… The one time I actually had a kiss scene planned…when I wrote it I just about died inside. Like I felt my physical self wither up and crawl into a corner. At this point I’ve essentially gone the route of, “We’ve become friends. We could become more, but aimless wandering and other goals have overcome us so that we are no longer even speaking, only in dreams. Maybe we liked each other, maybe we didn’t. Who knows?” Which honestly fits kinda well with the whole “Magic User” thing. I doubt any of them would be able to actually settle down.
As for my school stuff…I guess having crushes would be natural…? And I do imply that occasionally, but I usually bury my characters under schoolwork and other stuff, as in the setting, if you look up “marrying age”, isn’t allowed until young twenties…
So, yeah, I guess that’s my story with romance. Felt like most things could do without it, so I’ve stayed away from it. If you have anything to offer, I’ll gladly listen.
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days@gravie-j Oh nice!! So sometimes I’m a bit be distant on these topics because there’s so much junk in the world with this topic.
But I could definitely use some tips cuz it is not my forte.
So I have a character who has a crush on his best friend, but I wanna be able to portray it where she doesn’t know, and doesn’t know till later. I don’t want him to be overly obvious about his crush but also for the reader to know. Any suggestions?
also….not in this book but I in the series I wanna have some conflict between this same character and another guy who starts developing feelings for the same girl. (But ends up shipped with a different girl) any ideas on how to do that??
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Ah! What beautiful questions!
@devastate-lasting Ha! It breaks my heart that you’ve had such a terrible experience with romance! First of all, YA is not true romance. I’m sorry, but almost everything in typical YA novels is trash, if not totally unrealistic. I totally understand where you are coming from, however, and I will simply state that romance–real romance, not the artificial substitute used in YA or even most adult novels these days–is not cultivated over a matter of chapters and is not defined by (1) two characters “falling in love” with each and (2) tons of physical contact.Also, I have a hard time when it comes to writing the actual romantic parts myself. It is no easy task, and it simply cannot be planned, kiss scenes in particular. The best thing to do in that instance is to just have the two characters interacting with each–maybe they’re arguing, maybe one is crying, whatever–and let things come naturally. If your male MC is a tough, dominant kind of guy, then he’s liable to kiss the girl to get her to shut up and then she’s too stunned to really “describe” the kiss before the guy pulls away. Ya know?
And with school stuff? Oh, yeah. I definitely get you there. That’s probably why I tend to shy away from stories set in a school environment. In reality, it’s all a bunch of superficial crap (pardon my language).
Anyway, I guess what I’m trying to say is that you could always give it another chance. But don’t come at it from a modern-day perspective–you know, where everyone’s got to be good-looking, you’ve got a ton of kissing and hugging and the like, and everything is unnatural, forced, contrived, and rushed. Janette Oke put it the best: “Love comes softly.” When writing romance, it has to be from the heart–yours and your characters. Of course, not everyone has a heart for romance, and I understand that. I think that when you pick apart my own work, I’ve got so many other things overlapping the romance that it tends to fade into the background. (Then it rushes back to the foreground, but that’s not my point. 😉 ) And sometimes even the characters were meant to fall in love–and that’s okay. Romance doesn’t solve everything, but sometimes it’s the missing piece.
I like to think of romance in the same terms Solomon did. As Christians, our duty is not to write porn, erotica, or toe-curling romances that make readers feel “good” or satisfied. Romance, despite what the world says, was meant to mirror Christ’s love for us–and that’s how we’ve got to see all of it as writers and as human beings. Kiss scenes? The tenderness with which Christ wipes away our tears. Words of love? God’s Holy Word–His love letter to us. See what I mean?
So…yeah…none of that probably made any sense. *shrugs* Just want to encourage you–and everyone else–to see romance as something more than a kiss scene or the trash the secular world is putting out there.
@godlyfantasy12 It would be my pleasure to assist you!For your first question, I would first ask if you ever write from his perspective…if you do, have his crush portrayed through his POV and not revealed to Arabella until later. If not, then reveal it slowly. Maybe he says something strange or looks at Arabella too long. Maybe he’s overly concerned about her. Maybe he just exhibits this really gentle, comforting air that she mistakes for brotherliness, when in reality he’s in love with her. Make sense? Any good reader will be able to catch on quickly, even if there are very few signs. I know I’ve called a lot of stuff just by being obsessive about characters and romance. 😉
As for your second… Did you say conflict? My favorite!!!! If you intend to employ the “love square,” then you’ve got a lot of work cut out for you! First of all, once you’ve gotten all four of your characters’ personalities down, then you’ll know how the two guys will act toward each other. November’s a nice, gentle kind of guy, right? Then say the other fellow’s kind of a jerk (in a good way, of course), or a show-off, or slightly arrogant…or just the polar opposite of November, even if that means he’s dark and brooding.
(Just a tip for everyone here…people LOVE dark and brooding guys. Like, loooooovvvvvveeeeee them.)
Back to what I was saying… November and That Other Guy could be at each other’s necks all the time–mostly because they like the same girl, but also because they’re so different. Arabella could be oblivious to their true rivalry and simply deterred by the fact that they can’t get along. Catch my drift?
I hope this helps! 🙂 If you’d ever like me to read over some stuff for you, just let me know!
@gracie-j YESS THANK U!! And yes, both guys get POV. By the end of the series I have 7-8 POVs. I think 7.
And yes my other guy is actually a bit broody lol!
November’s a very sweet, adorable protective guy. He’s kind and would die for Arabella.
Grimm (my other character) lives in the past and is filled with guilt because his baby sister was murdered, and while he was able to save others he couldn’t save her. But he’s not cruel or a jerk. He’s actually very compassionate but also very strong and determined. He’s a warrior through and through but also has a gentle side to him.
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@godlyfantasy12 Ah! Perfect! I’m glad that helps, and yes…I would definitely go with a personal conflict.
Just throwing out some ideas here… Grimm and November are probably both super protective of Arabella, so maybe Grimm happens to save her from something (it could be so simple as a fallen tree limb in the way or a something as big as a bullet), which sparks November’s jealousy. Arabella may not even realize that Grimm likes her, so she’s being all thankful and sweet and everything, but November catches on quickly, so he assumes that Arabella likes him too. Oh, yeah. That would definitely work. Then you could showcase both of their protective sides without making anyone look bad. Just step lightly around jealousy. It may blind people, but don’t let your characters act…out of character. With November being such a nice person, he’d probably be more liable to try and talk Grimm out of liking Arabella (or setting him up with the girl he eventually falls for) instead of calling him out for a duel. See what I mean?
Having both of their POVs will make all of that super easy once you get into it, though.
@gracie-j
Great tips!! Thx!! Also, I do know that November’s overprotection does end up blinding him (he “betrays” the group but doesn’t mean to. He does it to protect Ara.)
#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSebI just want to throw this into the love square conversation… Conflict is great and all, and it drives stories, but stories where the dudes both love the girl enough to realize that the other is good for her (I mean… assuming they’re both actually decent guys, which is way more compelling imo than a love square in which one guy is clearly a jerk and I want to just smack some sense into the girl) and who can compete while maintaining respect for one another are amazing. Maybe that’s just a personal preference thing, but I melt when those dynamics show up.
Speculative fiction author. Mythology nerd. Singer. Worldbuilding enthusiast.
@r-m-archer Yea that’s probably where it’s gonna end up in the end. Thru the 5th and 6th books I think there’ll be a lot more conflict on almost all the characters but I do think it will end up in that position at the last book
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@devastate-lasting I presented a much more eloquent argument to @william-starkey here: (fourth post) https://kingdompen.org/forums/topic/if-you-could-be-a-student-of-any-author-who-would-it-be/page/3/
@godlyfantasy12 Great! I’m glad that works for you!
@r-m-archer Oh, I’m definitely with you on that, girl! Thanks for adding, by the way!@gracie-j Ah, thanks for your words! I appreciate you taking up the time to type up such a long post for me. Very good points, as well.
(Not gonna lie though at this point most of the Webtoons I read are romance so maybe, just maybe, I’m opening up to the genre a bit more…)Watching you and William converse is so….how do I put it. It’s like reading a…. *hides face* I dunno why, but reading you two talking makes me blush, haha. In a good way.
Thank you again!
Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days- Rank: Eccentric Mentor
- Total Posts: 1789
@devastate-lasting It was my pleasure! I just hope it made sense!
That is very good news, by the way.*ducks head* Yeah…going back and reading what I wrote, I started blushing too! In a good way. (I think.) I miss having someone to
flirtargue with…I wonder where he disappeared to…You’re very welcome!
I totally agree with you. It’s definitely one of my favorite subplots in stories.
@gracie-j Your tips to @devastate-lasting about kiss scenes were super helpful! I meant to ask about a kiss scene I plan to rewrite because I was in a rush (aka NaNoWriMo) and it basically turned into a lot of YA fluff. I think I know how to approach it better now, thanks 🙂
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