Hello! Do you have any advice on writing enemies to friends to lovers? Thanks!
How to Write Enemies to Friends to Lovers Romance
It's the dynamic we've all come to know and love. The pièce de résistance of romantic tropes that has ascended to popularity through various series like The Cruel Prince, These Violent Delights, Red White & Royal Blue.
Featuring couples that start off hating each others' guts (but eventually wind up together in the end), the enemies to friends to lovers trope is quite possibly the most sought-after romance at this current time, blowing away the era of the love triangle and childhood friends to lovers.
But the only problem is that, despite the demand, this trope is quite possibly the most difficult to write, as it involves were complicated and intertwined character relationships that can be easy to mess up or misrepresent.
Here are some tips to help your scuffling protagonists finally realize that they were meant to be!
1. Heavy on the "Enemies" Makes the "Lovers" All the Sweeter...but don't make it TOO heavy
A lot of fanfiction and even some published books that feature Enemies to Friends to Lovers often fall into the trap of rushing the romance. The authors are desperate to make characters fall in love, and the constant dancing around and angry bantering between their characters is awfully exhausting to write.
However, without enough time to relish in the frustrating arguments, backstabbing, and almost-understandings that end in disaster, the readers won't have the full experience of appreciating when they finally give in and make out.
"Enemies" has to be more than "He bullied me in second grade and now I hate him and refuse to believe he's changed even though we're both 20 now."
Misunderstandings are NEVER a good conflict, even when it doesn't come to enemies to friends to lovers.
Have them both be at fault, doing each other wrong to the point where you can't possibly think it could be forgivable.
Here are some ways your future main pairing can rip each other apart:
Breaking/Stealing each other's stuff
Insulting/Threatening each other's friends/companions/family
Bringing up dead relatives/past tragedies in each other's lives
Sabotaging each other's plans
Pranking each other in mean ways (itching powder, salt bomb their food)
Embarrassing each other in front of other people
Making fun of things they like
Sure, all of these things are sure to make your characters seem like assholes, but in the end it's all forgivable to some degree, though most take longer than others (This also depends on exactly how they cross the line between Enemies and Friends, which will be discussed later).
However, even though this is all in good fun, you have to understand where it goes too far.
Some things really are well and truly unforgivable, and if the relationship continues it'll most likely viewed to be unhealthy or toxic rather than a genuine connection.
If Person A killed Person B's Parents/friends on purpose with the sole intent of hurting B...then I don't think they'll be eligible for redemption in their eyes.
(You can totally still write it! But the readers are gonna be a bit wary of their relationship and may not consider it to be healthy.)
2. The Most Crucial Part is the Transition from Enemies to Friends
Friends can easily become lovers, but enemies cannot easily become friends.
Friendship is built on a foundation of trust and connection that romance can flourish in, but the barren grounds of archrivals are hardly a place for love to grow--sexual tension perhaps, but certainly not love.
In order for this romance to be the most believable, you need to justify why these two characters decided to offer each other flowers instead of knives to the throat.
Here are some ways your characters can become friends:
Character A realizes that Character B was right the whole time and apologizes
One of them saves the other's life or the life of a loved one
They are forced to combine their efforts and realize they work very well as a team
Sexual/aesthetic attraction is irresistible, and once they get to know each other they can overlook past misdeeds (This is enemies to lovers, in case you wanted to ditch the whole "friend" part)
One of them helps the other on a whim, and that small act of kindness snowballs into multiple acts of kindness
They get to know each other and realizes their feud was childish
Of course, there are definitely more examples that I can't think of off the top of my head, but I would certainly suggest using the "one of them saves the other's life" for more severe cases of enemies. The bigger the trespasses, the more extreme the apologies must be.
3. Suggestion: Take It Slow...perhaps even in an "enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to lovers again" kind of way
People who read enemies to friends to lovers are usually not looking for a quick fix. They're looking for heart, for dedication, for the endgame to be held tantalizingly out of reach.
Unless you well and truly don't feel like it, don't have your characters' relationship evolve linearly. They need ups and downs, stops and starts, fights and forgiveness.
I understand that people aiming to write professionally and need to keep their word count down cannot do this too much, but if you're doing fic, what's stopping you from making this the slowest burn possible? The kind of slow burn where they don't even become friends until 50k in?
Of course, you don't have to make it agonizingly slow just for it to be good, but consider how fantastically rewarding it will be when they finally confess their feelings for one another!
Hope this helped, and happy writing!
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