I'm writing a story in which my romantic interests have a slow burn romance. It starts to build up to something, and right when they're about to finally come together, one of them takes a step back and distance themselves from the other. I wanted to do it under this 'its terrifying being in love and I dont know how to be open to anyone like this' but I'm worried that's just too cliche and will lose the readers interest. What are some other good motives for stepping back from a romance like this?
To be honest, it depends on your characters and the rest of your plot. If youāve done the work of developing your characters well, you wonāt have to go hunting for motives for their actions.
Cliches are the result of writers taking the easy way out. If you do the hard work of being an author, which is using your imagination to think things through, the chances of you losing your readersā interest goes down.
-Graphei
