#writersadvice

A lot of readers like romance, don't they? From romance books to romantic subplots in a fantasy/sci-fi/thriller, we have some sort of romance in the books we read (though not all of them). A lot of times though, we feel the romance is forced and can be extremely unpleasant to watch. Let's discuss some tips about how to write romance properly.

Tension, tension, tension

Tension is key to any romance, whether it be enemies-to-lovers, friends-to-lovers, rivals-to-lovers etc. Some examples are longing gazes, hands brushing each other, wistful gazes, hugs that last a little too long and more! Without tension, the romance just feels will be flat and boring and the readers won't be engaged in it. Please note that for the tension part, the things I listed can be platonic as well! What I mean to say is their reactions, such as them realizing they've caught feelings and now acting differently with each other, wistful gazes at someone they know they can't romance etc. All these actions I've listed in the post can happen platonically, especially for queerplatonic friends etc.

2. Give intimacy

Intimacy is not inherently sexual. It can also be emotional, and when portrayed in books properly, it can be marvellous to watch. Intimacy means being vulnerable with another person, being able to show them baring out their souls to one another, showing that they trust one another. Because if two people can't be intimate or vulnerable with each other, then no, we can't expect them to be in a romantic relationship.

3. Make them great individually

If the characters themselves aren't compelling characters, then we can't expect them to be any better in a romance. If one (or both) of the characters is flat and boring and the very embodiment of meh, then they're also going to be very "meh" in their relationship. Make the character engaging and exciting to watch, whether they're a villain or a hero. To gain some tips on how to write characters properly, check out my post on character writing!

TIP!

Can we talk for a little moment about character profiles? I feel like they’ve fallen out of vogue but I still recommend them frequently to authors when I read their manuscripts and see places their characters need work.

Reasons to still use character profiles

1. Consistency

Are you writing a series? Then character profiles are a part of your series bible you should not be skipping. Will you remember the colour of your character’s mother’s eyes after she’s been absent from the page for three books and they’re dramatically and emotionally reunited? No, no you won’t. But that fan who has read your series nine times will notice if her eye colour changes. Don’t force yourself to go back and find where a character appears on the page, make a character profile. 

Many writers such as Chloe Gong, author of "These Violent Delights", have made music playlists for their books. These music playlists can help writers in writing. They could also express what the story is about through the music by showing the overall feel, vibes etc. Character songs can also be included in the playlist for, let's say, the readers to listen to when reading the book. In this post, I will be breaking down why people make music playlists for writing and how to make one yourself!

Why do people make writing playlists?

Just as I said above, writing playlists can help writers to write their current WIP. There are writers who may not be able to write properly and only have creativity rushing through their veins when listening to music. Others may want to make a playlist simply because they want to make their writing more fun and lively.

How do I make a writing playlist? What songs do I include?

Include songs that give the look or feel of the book. Let's say, if you write a fantasy book, then you can include epic songs and songs that give a feeling of magic.

If you want, include songs that represent your characters. For example, if you want to put a villainous character who wishes to redeem themselves, give "I'll be Good" by Jaymes Young.

Do it according to your own style! Some prefer to spend a lot of time planning what songs to add and can spend hours planning whereas others prefer to do it according to their own pace and prefer to just find songs that happen to remind them of their WIP to their playlist. Just do you!

Don't add every song you like. While I understand that it can be tempting, add songs that fit your WIP/character(s). If it doesn't suit your WIP, don't add it.

Writing a first draft can be very overwhelming for a lot of people and trust me, I get it (I currently have a wip waiting for me to work on it but guess what I'm doing). It can feel very hard and there are a lot of things that you tend to worry about. Most of them, however, are things you're not even supposed to be worrying about! Here are some tips about what to not worry about when writing your first draft!

1. Whether your writing is good or not

This is a common one a lot of people tend to worry about when writing your first draft and let me tell you, you're not supposed to be worrying about this when writing your first draft! The purpose of writing your first draft isn't supposed to be the next Ernest Hemingway or steal William Shakespeare's throne as the King of Writing or some shit, it's supposed to be done so you actually have a story you can make better!

Please note that worrying about the writing is supposed to be done during the editing process. That's when you add or delete scenes/paragraphs/sentences/words and improve on the story you already have. You can worry about it then. Not now. Your first draft is not supposed to be perfect. It doesn't even have to be good! It has to be COMPLETE. So just finish the damn thing already!

2. Publishing

Sorry to burst your bubble of fantasies and fanciful dreams but don't worry or even try and fantasize about publishing when you're still taking your baby steps when writing a book. Publishing has a lot of stuff going on like copyright, cover design, blurb writing, foreword and preface, dedication page, acknowledgements page and a lot of other stuff! You don't need to worry about publishing your book if your book isn't even ready to be published in the first place!

Writing takes time. Lots of it. By daydreaming about publishing by one of the Big 5, or getting your book adapted into a film/TV show/series etc. you are wasting your time that you could be using to write your book. So get to it then!

3. Following an exact outline

An outline does actually help when writing a book and it can help when you don't know what to write next. Just don't worry about following it exactly. Things change. Maybe the character you aimed to be the villain turned out to be the good guy (totally didn't happen for me). Maybe two characters who were supposed to despise each other turned out to have a wonderful friendship. Maybe a character who was supposed to be the love interest turned out to have villainous qualities you didn't expect. Don't be afraid. Chances are, the plot/character you weren't planning was better than the one you did! Don't worry about following an exact outline because it will add some stress and can leave you frustrated.

Characters are obviously a very important part of our writing. They're what the story centers around (other than the plot) and play a very big role in a lot of the books and other writing we read.

A lot of the characters, however, are not written properly. And I especially mean the characters that are way too perfect. The kind, gentle, energetic and optimistic character who can do no wrong. They. Are. Annoying. Or maybe the MC is depicted to be the good guy, but he's completely selfish and condescending.

So how exactly do we make a character, unlike the ones we hate? Easy. Write characters properly. That's easier said than done though.

Let's see how we write them!

Give them good and bad characteristics

Personally, I like to give three good characteristics and three bad characteristics to my characters. For example, let's say we take a character, "Mara". Mara's good characteristics could be she's assertive, hard-working and brave. But her flaws could be she's impatient, sensitive and can't handle it properly when she doesn't get what she wants.

This here is a flawed character. She isn't 100% good, but she isn't 100% bad. She's somewhere in between, describing real-life people in real life. Of course, you don't have to do this exactly, writing is different for every person. Just do what's comfortable for you!

2. Character development

While it isn't that bad if a character remains stagnant/flat throughout the writing, it is very satisfying to see a character begin to develop and mature throughout whatever you're writing. Maybe a character is completely selfish and condescending in the beginning but as the story progresses, they begin to become a better person. Of course, don't remove all the flaws at the end of the story, but it would definitely be enjoyable to read about a character who slowly begins to change and mature.

3. Make them struggle

Struggles, struggles, struggles, struggles. We all go through them in our life and is completely normal to be challenged as our life goes on.

So imagine how annoying it is to see this perfect character just get everything they want in life. They want to get an A for an exam they didn't study for? They got it! They want to defeat an evil, powerful queen in about one day without struggles? They got it! They want to be the richest person in the world overnight without doing anything? They got it! You get the point.

Using struggles to make your character's journey harder is one great way to make the reader sympathize for your character and it makes the reader root for the character as well. This character has worked so damn hard for this, so do you know how depressing it would be if they didn't get it? That is what readers want. Characters who struggle to get what they want because it shows how much the reader wants it, it can make the reader sympathize with the character and can make the character relatable.