Creating Sweet Romance in Fiction

"BRIDGING THE GAP" STORYTELLING TIPS: LESSON 1

If you're a reader like me, you appreciate a bit of romance woven into a compelling story. In my opinion, it grounds the characters, thereby making them more relatable, authentic, and three-dimensional. Romance and love are universal human experiences that make characters more REAL. And sweet romance as a sub-plot can be incorporated into any novel, theme, or genre (from scary thrillers to inspirational adventures). As an author who has created many swoon-worthy couples, I am dedicating this first "Lesson" in BRIDGING THE GAP STORYTELLING to the art of crafting sweet romance in teen/young adult fiction that can be enjoyed across the age groups.

STEP ONE:

To create an irresistible couple that readers want to root for, develop two incredible, multi-faceted individuals on their own journey.

Constructing a captivating and swoon-worthy couple involves building up two separate individuals, brick-by-brick, each with an in-depth backstory, and a job, hobby, or interest that makes them real and relatable on his or her own. The reader wants to see aspects of themselves in your characters in order to connect with them. Describe them as friends, siblings, co-workers, students, athletes, and even pet owners. I personally love weaving sports into my books, so that usually involves giving my main characters (MCs) teams or mascots to connect with, like Tessa and her Greeneville Falcons track team in The Wright Detective. Give your MCs something to love, something to be afraid of, and something that challenges them. Complex characters have fears, insecurities, and goals apart from their romantic relationships. Allow both the reader and the love interest to discover and explore those layers, both good and bad, as they fall in love with the journey and each other.

STEP TWO:

Layer in detailed descriptions to make them real, including physical and emotional strengths and weaknesses while allowing your keen reader to fill in the blanks.

When I describe a main character in one of my novels, I focus on a few specific physical characteristics that paint an initial picture in the readers' minds. This step is essential to drawing readers in and connecting them with the character or love interest. It's also helpful when describing mannerisms and actions that form a real character. However, after this initial step, the rest is up to the readers' imaginations. By asking them to fill in the blanks, their reading experience is more interactive and engaging. Along with physical details (like eye or hair color, body type, and clothing preferences) add in plenty of unique quirks and emotional characteristics (such as flaws and insecurities) to help the reader form a complete picture. For example, your male protagonist might have washboard abs of steel, like Griff in Adventure Off the Printed Paige, or dimples-to-die-for like Bryce in The Winning Ingredient. But both characters also have deep flaws and complicated backstories that equate to not-so-picture-perfect lives on a second glance.

As a writer of fiction for teens and young adults, I am adamant about creating characters that are three-dimensional and not lacking in depth. This is an especially important task when referencing female characters, where writers often craft them as either strong OR emotional. These one-dimensional characters not only fall flat but are unrealistic. Therefore, when I create my female characters, I work tirelessly to make them both tough as nails and emotionally vulnerable. For example, Tessa Wright is smart, savvy, and physically athletic and strong. But she also feels things deeply and has vulnerabilities like any other teenage girl that make her relatable.

TIP: It's okay to make a character unlikeable or give them a flawed personality.

Afterall, a novel isn't a novel without personal growth. A character arc needs somewhere to go. Even a stupid decision by your protagonist (which happens frequently in teen fiction) can be digestible to the reader if you explain the rationale or motivation and treat it as a learning experience. The most important aspect of adding unlikeable traits or in creating antiheros is to show their humanity. Give them redeeming qualities and vulnerabilities. For instance, my personal favorite portrayal of fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes is by British actor Benedict Cumberbatch. Why? Because he cleverly takes a very unlikeable/detached character and transforms him into a beloved vulnerable human whose actions are for the "better good." In essence, you CARE what happens to him, even if you might not agree with his methods.

STEP THREE:

Form an initial attraction and add sweet, swoon-worthy moments that lead to a deep connection, all at a reasonable pace.

Cue in the adorable "meet cute," the enemies' first antagonistic confrontation, or the mental head slap that lifts a friend out of the friendzone. These are the beginning scenes that light the spark and build up the necessary chemistry for a relationship. This winding relationship journey involves building layers of attraction: physical, emotional, intellectual, and social. For myself writing romance, in lieu of tropey "Instalove," I relish developing a more believable slow-burn pace. It creates an engaging story because the reader is brought on the entire journey and slowly falls in love, along with the characters. You feel the butterflies and are there for a first touch or kiss and see them in their best and worst light. Of course, there is a balance here. Like in real human relationships, characters should experience sweet, tender moments, where they explore their physical and emotional attraction as well as moments of friction, where they challenge each other. Similar with creating an individual character, give the relationship ups and downs and allow it to grow naturally (well, with your clever storytelling hands being the master puppeteer in the background).

STEP FOUR:

Focus on the SHIP by making them friends.

"Friends to lovers" (or "friends to more" in teen fiction) is my favorite romance trope because it builds from an already-strong and well-established relationship.

A perfect example of this is Tessa and Mason in The Wright Detective. In this mystery series, the first interaction the reader sees between the two characters is in the context of a close friendship, where they share common likes, support one another, and have a genuine connection. The reader has a front-row seat to how that relationship transforms and the initial spark that makes it grow. My preferred method in demonstrating that growing connection is through fun, witty banter in the characters' dialogue.

This is also the best way to utilize the "show don't tell" golden rule in writing, which asks the writer to work around "telling" a reader something directly by conveying sensory details and action.

STEP FIVE:

Show how the main characters relate to others.

In a romance, we expect to see the love interest through the MC's eyes. But it is also helpful for a reader to see the love interest through the eyes of others, including family members, side characters, best friends, potential rivals, and even exes. Generally speaking, no one is an island, as they say. You can learn a lot about people by who they surround themselves with and the way they interact with others. If your MC has a best friend with whom she shares her most cherished secrets, this demonstrates that she has the ability to confide in and connect with others on a deep level. Showing the MC's trust issues with love speaks to how she might be reluctant to approach a new relationship. Even simple interactions with side characters can give the reader hints about a character's personality and emotional connections with others.

STEP SIX:

Throw in a dash of conflict that demonstrates how they are compelled to stick together no matter what.

Best-selling author Jill Kemerer described this in her blog as "external circumstances plus their internal conflicts combine to produce the romantic conflict."

In Frozen in Time, we learn that Summer has a deep-seated fear of ice (an internal conflict). This is in direct conflict with her love interest Tate's passion for ice hockey, where he is the star goalie on the team. As the novel progresses, external conflicts related to the thrilling plot also threaten their relationship. These obstacles are important to test the characters' relationship and prove their epic love can overcome incredible circumstances no matter what.

TIP: Tread lightly with "misunderstandings" that create shallow conflict.

This is arguably the most annoying slash frustrating trope in the romance genre. Sure, it's absolutely acceptable to give your characters moments where they don't understand each other or their motivations, especially in a new relationship. Even offering up a genuine miscommunication is fine, as long as there is an almost immediate discussion and resolution. The point is to make sure they eventually DO COMMUNICATE.

Remember before the invention of the cell phone (and constant communication) when, like in Romeo and Juliet, all that was necessary to a working plot was for a message to be misconstrued or not delivered (literally and figuratively). Even in modern Hallmark-like films, this device is frequently employed; picture one MC eavesdropping on the love interest at the most inopportune moment. Without a discussion about what was heard, a breakup ensues.

I can't tell you how many times readers scream "JUST TALK ALREADY," into their paperback pages when a fictional couple argued or broke up (third-act breakup, I'm referring to you) merely because the individuals made assumptions and simply didn't have a conversation at all. This form of manufactured conflict can be seen as a contrived trick to build tension, instead of the development of a legitimate series of internal and external conflicts.

As a writer who loves adding a bit of mystery or secretiveness to characters and their backstories, I suggest you don't have to reveal every detail about them right away. This is part of relationship pacing. Give readers enough breadcrumbs to entice them to stay on your characters' journey (like the MC). But a novel isn't like a soap opera, which feeds off incessant, long-winded miscommunications. Eventually, a real relationship runs out of instances of missed texts or overheard conversations and the characters simply need to sit down and have a mature chat.

NEXT LESSON: ADDING A SPORTY TWIST TO FICTION