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Deleted member 45782
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I know good romance is subjective cause what others term as romantic or what they would like in a relationship may not be the same as another person. And there's a lot of you that probably already know how to write good romance and you don't need this cause this post is probably useless.
However, some of you mentioned you were never in a relationship before so you feel its hard for you to write romance, so I kinda wanted to mention this.
You don't have to experience or be in a romance to write good romance. Sure, you may miss out what its like to be in a realistic romance, but you can still make do without some of those details as long as you think of the characters not just as opposite genders = instant attraction, but as someone who is not just flat, and has rough edges and shading that makes them a 3D or well-developed person.
A character that is not just annoying or made to be a stepping stone and forgotten in the next or real sexy and that's all there is to it. You have characters that have personality, have their flaws, have their strengths, etc. They don't always agree with the people in their relationships - this shows that they have their own mindset and their own personality and their own thoughts.
The most important about writing relationships in the story is making those relationships a bit realistic or more believable in a sense, even if they're in a fantasy. What do I mean by that? I mean believable as in you don't just magically come back by the power of friendship after being stabbed by a 100 swords by your best friend and the girl didn't just straight up fall in love with you the instant you told them you were a level 100+ champion and saved them from the kraken. And vice versa.
I'm not very good at explaining things, but here is an example. Its a rough idea on how to write a romance character. No one way is completely correct.
Example:
Take my words with a grain of salt if you want, since I have never been in a romantic relationship yet. But make your relationships believable, actual people with flaws. It may not be all those things you wish to see in someone you'd like, but they have flaws that make you take a step back and wonder how many layers it takes to see their true soul.
Well-developed characters matters. So does relationship development between the characters too.
However, some of you mentioned you were never in a relationship before so you feel its hard for you to write romance, so I kinda wanted to mention this.
You don't have to experience or be in a romance to write good romance. Sure, you may miss out what its like to be in a realistic romance, but you can still make do without some of those details as long as you think of the characters not just as opposite genders = instant attraction, but as someone who is not just flat, and has rough edges and shading that makes them a 3D or well-developed person.
A character that is not just annoying or made to be a stepping stone and forgotten in the next or real sexy and that's all there is to it. You have characters that have personality, have their flaws, have their strengths, etc. They don't always agree with the people in their relationships - this shows that they have their own mindset and their own personality and their own thoughts.
The most important about writing relationships in the story is making those relationships a bit realistic or more believable in a sense, even if they're in a fantasy. What do I mean by that? I mean believable as in you don't just magically come back by the power of friendship after being stabbed by a 100 swords by your best friend and the girl didn't just straight up fall in love with you the instant you told them you were a level 100+ champion and saved them from the kraken. And vice versa.
I'm not very good at explaining things, but here is an example. Its a rough idea on how to write a romance character. No one way is completely correct.
Example:
A story about a programmer and a youtuber. The programmer is a bit aloof and he tends to think of things in 0s and 1s. He doesn't sugarcoat things and can be really straightforward without realizing how some of the things he said sound or came off as. He's more of a technical person than a great communicator. The thing is, he loves what he does in his work. He loves to code and he exploring the different theories on how things could work. He always try to rack up new programming languages whenever he can. His shelf is literally filled with programming books and some comics sprinkled in.
Lately though, he's been slowing down at work though. He doesn't feel like anyone appreciates him, his coworkers are arrogant jackasses who they think they're right in everything despite their bad coding, and he wants to explore creating his own apps, but feel like he is being limited by his work and the people around him all tell him that is not a good idea to pursue.
On the other hand, you got a very eccentric youtuber. She loves pastel colors and loves everything that's kawaii or cute. She has quite a bit of subscribers, and she is actually very successful as a youtuber and has her own merchandise. Her parents think its still not a reputable job even though she is kinda earning more than enough to support herself and her family from it. For a person that uses YouTube a lot to create content though, she's a bit clueless beyond social media and just getting around the web for a few things. She ends up clicking up on some link and it got her computer infected with a virus so she now has to fix it. Again. For the 3rd time.
After a freak accident in trying to avoid a jaywalking cat and nearly running her over on the way to work...(Nah, let's just skip the unbelievable parts). They met under some circumstances. Yada yada yada, and they bonded with each other.
The programmer and the youtuber both want someone to validate what they feel. They share some common stuff such as manga and anime, love mangoes dipped in salt and chili pepper, Inception, etc. etc. etc. cheesy things. y'know. They agree with some views too. It felt nice for once that someone actually supported them creatively in what they wanted to do and were there for them like emotional support.
Now add in the conflicts.
Needy does not have to be part of the conflcit. (That can be conflict too but depends how its done. Like say, they don't have time for each other. Not like oh, they forgot about asking how the other is doing everyday and text at 3am in the morning. If you do write someone needing someone be there for them, maybe mention how its not just one, but several major events or a very important events that they just weren't there for them). Somewhere down the road, both fell apart.
But for this couple, the programmer and the youtuber, its not really about something being needy from each other. Both respect each other time because both of them like to create their own things so they need time to tinker out stuff. However, one of them see things in more logic and black and white mode, and another is more flexible perspective on things and see things in a really, really abstract way, it can lead to disagreements. One is more neat and tidy workspace, the other ones has all kinds craft and glitter all over their place and sometimes they argue about it. What they think the other does in the profession and how they assume things about others. Etc. Conflicts. Flaws. Add them in.
Then there's a big conflict that may make them separate and think back to how maybe the relationship isn't going so great and maybe its time to separate.
Then add some resolution wraps it up. At time finished writing, mind drifted off so just gonna short it here.
Lately though, he's been slowing down at work though. He doesn't feel like anyone appreciates him, his coworkers are arrogant jackasses who they think they're right in everything despite their bad coding, and he wants to explore creating his own apps, but feel like he is being limited by his work and the people around him all tell him that is not a good idea to pursue.
On the other hand, you got a very eccentric youtuber. She loves pastel colors and loves everything that's kawaii or cute. She has quite a bit of subscribers, and she is actually very successful as a youtuber and has her own merchandise. Her parents think its still not a reputable job even though she is kinda earning more than enough to support herself and her family from it. For a person that uses YouTube a lot to create content though, she's a bit clueless beyond social media and just getting around the web for a few things. She ends up clicking up on some link and it got her computer infected with a virus so she now has to fix it. Again. For the 3rd time.
The programmer and the youtuber both want someone to validate what they feel. They share some common stuff such as manga and anime, love mangoes dipped in salt and chili pepper, Inception, etc. etc. etc. cheesy things. y'know. They agree with some views too. It felt nice for once that someone actually supported them creatively in what they wanted to do and were there for them like emotional support.
Now add in the conflicts.
Needy does not have to be part of the conflcit. (That can be conflict too but depends how its done. Like say, they don't have time for each other. Not like oh, they forgot about asking how the other is doing everyday and text at 3am in the morning. If you do write someone needing someone be there for them, maybe mention how its not just one, but several major events or a very important events that they just weren't there for them). Somewhere down the road, both fell apart.
But for this couple, the programmer and the youtuber, its not really about something being needy from each other. Both respect each other time because both of them like to create their own things so they need time to tinker out stuff. However, one of them see things in more logic and black and white mode, and another is more flexible perspective on things and see things in a really, really abstract way, it can lead to disagreements. One is more neat and tidy workspace, the other ones has all kinds craft and glitter all over their place and sometimes they argue about it. What they think the other does in the profession and how they assume things about others. Etc. Conflicts. Flaws. Add them in.
Then there's a big conflict that may make them separate and think back to how maybe the relationship isn't going so great and maybe its time to separate.
Then add some resolution wraps it up. At time finished writing, mind drifted off so just gonna short it here.
Take my words with a grain of salt if you want, since I have never been in a romantic relationship yet. But make your relationships believable, actual people with flaws. It may not be all those things you wish to see in someone you'd like, but they have flaws that make you take a step back and wonder how many layers it takes to see their true soul.
Well-developed characters matters. So does relationship development between the characters too.
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