Writing How to Write a Good Romance Scene or Buildup?

[Deleted member 156316]

Before I say anything, no. I am not doing smut. I am aware that this site is full of those, but I'm kind of innocent-minded and those aren't my taste.
Plus, my protagonists are minors, so doing that would be worse (and break ToS afaik)

Anyway, the title says it all... How do I write a good romance buildup for my protagonist? Mainly my secondary protagonist who is the elder brother of my main protagonist.

I am free to have a discussion. :)

 

[Cipiteca396]

Step One: Meet Cute.
Introduce love interest. Do they notice each other? If so, what is the first impression? Do they instantly fall in love, or do they dislike each other? Somewhere in between? Show it going forward: Their interactions should be awkward or outright hostile.

Step Two: Resolution (Did we skip a few steps? )
If there is conflict between the two, it should be resolved dramatically. Maybe they sit down and talk out their problems. Maybe a third party tells them to 'just kiss already'. Maybe they get separated and realize they miss each other. Maybe there's no real conflict, and they just realize they like each other. From now on, they'll be 'together-together'. They can still (and should) fight or act awkwardly with each other, but they should learn to trust each other at this point.

Step Three: Old Couple (They don't have to be old yet.)
Now they can rely on each other. They can predict each others' actions, they can say something dumb and instantly convey what they really mean. If a misunderstanding occurs, they should doubt the misunderstanding and not each other. They can tease one another without worrying about causing a break up. If they say something they shouldn't have, they can apologize and have it accepted mostly.

I wanted to add more, but I ran out of patience. Good luck~!

 

[TheEldritchGod]

Ick! Girls have cooties!

 

[Deleted member 156316]

Step One: Meet Cute.
Introduce love interest. Do they notice each other? If so, what is the first impression? Do they instantly fall in love, or do they dislike each other? Somewhere in between? Show it going forward: Their interactions should be awkward or outright hostile.

Step Two: Resolution (Did we skip a few steps? )
If there is conflict between the two, it should be resolved dramatically. Maybe they sit down and talk out their problems. Maybe a third party tells them to 'just kiss already'. Maybe they get separated and realize they miss each other. Maybe there's no real conflict, and they just realize they like each other. From now on, they'll be 'together-together'. They can still (and should) fight or act awkwardly with each other, but they should learn to trust each other at this point.

Step Three: Old Couple (They don't have to be old yet.)
Now they can rely on each other. They can predict each others' actions, they can say something dumb and instantly convey what they really mean. If a misunderstanding occurs, they should doubt the misunderstanding and not each other. They can tease one another without worrying about causing a break up. If they say something they shouldn't have, they can apologize and have it accepted mostly.

I wanted to add more, but I ran out of patience. Good luck~!

1. Well, I did plan for them to not instantly fall in love. After all, the love-interest is both related to my novel's antagonist and also different species. Not sure how'd that work out (despite hybrids existing). I'd go for awkward to be honest XD
   
   
2. Conflict between the two? Hmmm, well, like I said earlier, the love interest is related to my novel's antagonist. Spoiler heavy...!!
   As for separated, perhaps if my novel's antagonist find out about their relationship. They'll either threaten to take away/kill the protagonist(s) as a threat to stay away from them? Oooh~ Sounds like issues right there.
   I can imagine two options, either: A.) The antagonist would force them to fight the protagonist(s) or B.) The earlier idea mentioned above. :O
   
   
3. True. Not gonna spoil anyway but good idea!
   
   

 

[Cosmictapestry]

I love to read a good angst but I can’t bring myself to write them

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

Before I say anything, no. I am not doing smut. I am aware that this site is full of those, but I'm kind of innocent-minded and those aren't my taste.
Plus, my protagonists are minors, so doing that would be worse (and break ToS afaik)

Anyway, the title says it all... How do I write a good romance buildup for my protagonist? Mainly my secondary protagonist who is the elder brother of my main protagonist.

I am free to have a discussion. :)

It depends on the personalities of the characters. Can you give more details?

 

[Paul_Michaels]

It's called flirting.

 

[TotallyHuman]

You start with a meeting, then flirting , then they date then, if they're good at it, they marry, have kids probably work 9 to 5, slowly begin to either take each other for granted or even hate each other, then they divorce and pretend the other doesn't exist

 

[ManwX]

Step 1. Segs
Step 2 backtrack before segs.
Step 3 profit?

 

[Yairy]

What kind of romance story you writing? Drama romance? Comedy romance? Action romance? I'm super curious!

 

[Sleds]

Watch Kdrama and take note

 

[lilwriter]

Watch Kdrama and take note

This is the way.

 

[GoodPerson]

Step One: Meet Cute.
Introduce love interest. Do they notice each other? If so, what is the first impression? Do they instantly fall in love, or do they dislike each other? Somewhere in between? Show it going forward: Their interactions should be awkward or outright hostile.

Step Two: Resolution (Did we skip a few steps? )
If there is conflict between the two, it should be resolved dramatically. Maybe they sit down and talk out their problems. Maybe a third party tells them to 'just kiss already'. Maybe they get separated and realize they miss each other. Maybe there's no real conflict, and they just realize they like each other. From now on, they'll be 'together-together'. They can still (and should) fight or act awkwardly with each other, but they should learn to trust each other at this point.

Step Three: Old Couple (They don't have to be old yet.)
Now they can rely on each other. They can predict each others' actions, they can say something dumb and instantly convey what they really mean. If a misunderstanding occurs, they should doubt the misunderstanding and not each other. They can tease one another without worrying about causing a break up. If they say something they shouldn't have, they can apologize and have it accepted mostly.

I wanted to add more, but I ran out of patience. Good luck~!

We might've skipped something...

Also, don't forget to know that there are many ways to approach a love interest. So, I don't know if your MC's gonna be the usual pick up boy or maybe an actual loyal lover, but he can get the heroine's heart with some approach.

 

[Deleted member 156316]

It depends on the personalities of the characters. Can you give more details?

Hmmm, well oh boy, I'm gonna have to dive into spoiler territory but whatever...

The Main Protagonist is this:

Spoiler

I would describe him as being a helpful, honest and loyal young one, always seeking to help others in need even if times seemed low. He learned that way from his time

Whilst for the love interest is this:

Spoiler

A perceptive, serious and resourceful girl. Often time she's smart and tactical when it comes to dangerous situations or things that require using one's head. She's usually shy, timid and overall quiet, but deeply cares about people she cares about (such as: her adopted younger brother and elder siblings)

That's the summary of it I guess without getting too deep

We might've skipped something...

Also, don't forget to know that there are many ways to approach a love interest. So, I don't know if your MC's gonna be the usual pick up boy or maybe an actual loyal lover, but he can get the heroine's heart with some approach.

Well, in my novel, I would say the MC, is the typical older brother one.

And yes, he has a younger brother as well, so I would expect the younger one to constantly tease the two lovebirds that they're in love. (Kinda like Mabel teasing Dipper about Wendy from Gravity Falls )

What kind of romance story you writing? Drama romance? Comedy romance? Action romance? I'm super curious!

Hmmmm, not sure to be honest... But if I were to guess, action romance would be a fit since my novel takes place in a fantasy world. Fantasy romance? Perhaps as well?

 

[Cosmictapestry]

Hmmm, well oh boy, I'm gonna have to dive into spoiler territory but whatever...

The Main Protagonist is this:

Spoiler

I would describe him as being a helpful, honest and loyal young one, always seeking to help others in need even if times seemed low. He learned that way from his time

Whilst for the love interest is this:

Spoiler

A perceptive, serious and resourceful girl. Often time she's smart and tactical when it comes to dangerous situations or things that require using one's head. She's usually shy, timid and overall quiet, but deeply cares about people she cares about (such as: her adopted younger brother and elder siblings)

That's the summary of it I guess without getting too deep

Well, in my novel, I would say the MC, is the typical older brother one.

And yes, he has a younger brother as well, so I would expect the younger one to constantly tease the two lovebirds that they're in love. (Kinda like Mabel teasing Dipper about Wendy from Gravity Falls )

Hmmmm, not sure to be honest... But if I were to guess, action romance would be a fit since my novel takes place in a fantasy world. Fantasy romance? Perhaps as well?

Considering their personalities, I'd expect some fluffy, awkward romance where they like each other but don't know how to express it properly. Some silly misunderstandings may arise due to the girl's timid personality. Angst arises from external events rather than from their interactions. That's my take.

And as for flirting, the boy could say something brutally honest that comes off as a smooth flirt, but he didn’t mean it to. This helps develop their relationship.

 

[FebyA]

Personally I would have the honest (and seemingly dense) MC say and do something sweet without realizing it, have the love interest misunderstood it to mean something more, and cause positive misunderstanding here and there. But that's romcom.

If it's a more serious romance, I would have them went through a shared struggle and fall into a romantic situation or two.

 

[Succubiome]

Before I say anything, no. I am not doing smut. I am aware that this site is full of those, but I'm kind of innocent-minded and those aren't my taste.
Plus, my protagonists are minors, so doing that would be worse (and break ToS afaik)

Anyway, the title says it all... How do I write a good romance buildup for my protagonist? Mainly my secondary protagonist who is the elder brother of my main protagonist.

I am free to have a discussion. :)

What kind of romance stories and tropes are to your taste?

If you aren't sure, what kind of friendship stories and tropes are to your taste, for that matter? Or rivalry stories and tropes? Both of those can usually be altered into romance, if you feel like it.

(Not liking smut is valid, I'm just trying to get my head around what sort of things you find interesting in romance stories and tropes)

 

[Deleted member 156316]

What kind of romance stories and tropes are to your taste?

If you aren't sure, what kind of friendship stories and tropes are to your taste, for that matter? Or rivalry stories and tropes? Both of those can usually be altered into romance, if you feel like it.

(Not liking smut is valid, I'm just trying to get my head around what sort of things you find interesting in romance stories and tropes)

Hmmmm, if I were guess... Friendship to lovers trope would make sense. After all, my protagonists are kids and would make more sense if one of them encounter a 'possible crush' which would (probably) be a good story plot for the future.

Then again, I'm not good at that either as my early days of writing crushes or stories about love was very *poor* in my opinion, so writing actual love stories or a proper story about crushes would be hard nowadays for me.