Writing How do you write romance?

[LWFlouisa]

Hi I'm an amateur at writing romance as I have never actually written it before. I get worried that my writing of it is really awkward and I don't want to fall into any tropes. Idk if there are any specific things you should watch out for or things that can spice it up. Its BL so, I also don't want to make the uke into a girl. If you wanna read and give me an idea of how I'm going Jun Wang Fancies Me.
Yeah, so any advice is helpful.

As much of a downer ending as I can possibly imagine, without upsetting romance readers.

 

[Wretch]

As much of a downer ending as I can possibly imagine, without upsetting romance readers.

Ai, I tend to really like HEs myself... (though my sadistic side enjoys the bad endings too)

 

[LWFlouisa]

Ai, I tend to really like HEs myself... (though my sadistic side enjoys the bad endings too)

Yea my next stories will probably do both!

 

[tigerine]

With regard to romance, I recommend a short (but helpful) book called 'Romancing the Beat', which lays out the beat method of working out a romance plot. The vast, vast majority of romance plots end with Happily Ever After (HEA) or Happy For Now (HFN) because this is what romance readers crave. If you're not doing HEA/HFN, you're really on the fringe of what could be called a romance. Readers who come to you looking for romance will be dissatisfied with an ending that is not HEA/HFN.

As for tropes, they're not bad. They exist because we have certain things that tug at our heartstrings in an almost universal way. How you allow/twist/subvert those tropes—not how you avoid them—is how you satisfy readers. Play with their expectations, not their feelings.

 

[ohko]

*subscribes to this thread!*

 

[BenJepheneT]

*subscribes to this thread!*

make sure you leave a like, a comment, donate to my patreon, follow me on Instagram, hit me up on Twitter, buy my book in Amazon, order me pizza through Grab Food, air-drop a Mongolian child and have a great day!

 

[Wretch]

air-drop a Mongolian child and have a great day!

Open up this is the police! Where'd you get the Mongolian child?

 

[LostinMovement]

Make the MC and ML flawed, both physically and psychologically. Portray them as real people and give them a reason to be together. Ask yourself, why are they drawn to one other ? Is it just physical attraction ? is it more ? if so then, why do they need each other ? How is the dynamic between them ? opposites attract ? kindred souls ?

The best way to write a romance, in my humble opinion, is to build trust in the MC and the ML's relationship. Make them depend on each other, help each other out and confide in one another. Insta love is not a real thing and it's a lazy cop-out from the author, specially in a romance novel. At least, make them establish a friendship and have chemistry. Give the reader a reason to root for them and their relationship.

In the case of BL, make them equal partners. Each with their strengths and weaknesses so that they can complement each other. And please, stay clear of the whole 'he-abuses-me-but-I-love-him-because-he-is-hot' disease that seems to be infecting most young adult fantasy books lately.

 

[BenJepheneT]

Open up this is the police! Where'd you get the Mongolian child?

Irrelevant, the only fact that remains is the state of the child, whether it's alive and well to ransack China.

 

[Wretch]

Irrelevant, the only fact that remains is the state of the child, whether it's alive and well to ransack China.

I'm sorry, I didn't realize you kidnapped Genghis Khan. My bad.