Comments on: Six Tips on How to Write Romance

By: ShyViolets

ShyViolets — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 04:26:05 +0000

My skills at writing romance are abysmal but I have at least one pre existing pairing that in necessary to the plot and I have no idea how to pull it off o.O

The pairing is between Melody Knight (my MC Theo’s mom) and he live-in boy friend Jack. Melody is a police investigator and Jack is a reformed thief who now is basically a stay at home dad. (he does do some security consulting for corporations and such). Melody is also very strict and unyielding while Jack is go with the follow and relaxed.

I need tips desperately o.O

By: B. McKenzie

B. McKenzie — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:54:10 +0000

“I’m starting to feel like romance would be off-putting in an otherwise action oriented story :B” If you want to write an action-romance, I would recommend doing it. I am pretty sure there are enough women out there that can handle action that you’ll be okay. (I’m less sure that there are many men out there that can handle a lot of romance, but I think you could do a little with repelling too many men–see Harry Potter, for example).

By: Grenac

Grenac — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 04:19:04 +0000

I removed the romance from my story because it started to make me uncomfortable. I felt it made the book too girly and besides, it’d take a loooooong time to develop. Nevertheless, I will write about it…someday.

I’m starting to feel like romance would be off-putting in an otherwise action oriented story :B

By: The Jedi Penguin

The Jedi Penguin — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:34:11 +0000

As a romance writer, I must say this is sound advice. Another point I’d add is don’t let your characters fall in love too fast, especially if your story is predominately romance. Half the fun of the book is wondering when the characters will realise their love for each other. After they do, keeping them apart is fun too, whether by circumstance (“Our families hate each other”) or by assumptions (“I love her, but she’d never love me back”) etc. Once the main couple becomes official, things get boring because the main goal has been accomplished in the readers eyes, and there’s an even greater risk of gushing about how cute they are together, how perfect the are for each other, etc. If your story has elements of other genres and the couple has something to do besides live happily ever after after they get together, than you can get away with pairing them up sooner, but you have to be careful.

I think that’s enough of a rant for now xD

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:59:12 +0000

“This was really helpful. I have a few relationships in my story, not all are the same”.

I have a few, too. One of the main relationships is between a white American boy and an African-American girl, one is a close friendship between an African-American boy and a Canadian girl, one between an Indian-Australian girl and an English boy, one is a relationship between two white Australians and the main character’s parents are a Japanese man and a white Australian woman. Okay, make that a lot. Haha.

I try to keep a diverse set of characters without letting it turn into a group of tokens. I’ve countered a few stereotypes and added different elements to them so they’re more three dimensional. I didn’t create them based on race or religion, I thought of the characters first and then randomly chose a background for them, later adding extra things on top, like clothing and accent.

I’ve implied a couple of other relationships, mostly between minor characters. Those are the relationships that don’t really matter to the story, so I’ll let readers decide if they’re heterosexual or not. Haha. I’m not against any pairing of characters, as long as it’s not incestuous, paedophilia or otherwise morally wrong. If it doesn’t make sense, like the characters never meeting or something, then I’ll just shrug and say “whatever makes you happy”. Haha.

By: XoXoPhyre

XoXoPhyre — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:29:51 +0000

This was really helpful. I have a few relationships in my story, not all are the same. I have:

Pyra & Ultra Atom- She’s white, he’s black. I wanted to do an interracial relationship and chose these two characters because it opened up a lot of story ideas. She’s the boss’s daughter and a fashion model. He’s a single father with a rough upbringing. I want to touch on his thoughts that she’s too good for him and her feelings meeting his daughter for the first time. Also, how his family would feel with him dating a white girl.

Onyx-He’s dating a civilian and is also gay. Its a BIG twist on the Clark Kent and Lois Lane type of relationship.

Lastly, Ouickstrike & Hornette-Quickstrike has a budding crush on Hornette. I wanted to use them to bring an uncomplicated youthful relationship to my story. Its the only relationship that just seems to work. That way the readers don’t feel like all my characters can’t get a break when it comes to love.

By: HUsher

HUsher — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:54:36 +0000

Ah, an article sent by the Gods. I’m in the middle of a romance scene in my novel right now and completely stuck on it.
Set back in the year 1796. The characters, Brooke and Ivy, meet at a Regency ball. Brooke’s sort of the annoying, arrogant type at this point and Ivy’s quite haughty. She says no when he asks her to dance and he’s so put off that she refused him that he tries everything he can to get her to dance with him. Finally they do, and they get to talking… and that’s right about where I lost it. One: Ivy can’t be too flirtatious because her family are there and she’s engaged currently, though she doesn’t love the man. Two: They could be overheard at any minute and thus, can’t talk about anything too serious.
Any thoughts? Playful banter can only go on so long.

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:31:42 +0000

Thanks. I’ll get right on that.

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 10:03:23 +0000

Hi, I just finished an article about love polygons and emailed it.

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 13:08:20 +0000

“If you have more ideas about love polygons, would you like to try an article on those specifically?”

Yes, but I really have to get this homework out of the way. I’d rather be writing an article about love polygons than a feature article for English class, but I’ll get around to it soon, I’m halfway done. I even managed to twist it into something interesting.

I’m writing about a lack of positive role models in the popular teen fiction books. Needless to say, Twilight gets a mention. I just hope my teacher doesn’t judge me on my dislike of Twilight, because she loves it. I’m also going to mention that characters who are Mary Sues aren’t good role models, because they create an impossible standard that may discourage readers.

On that note, can you think of any other character from other books who aren’t very good role models? I’m stuck. Thanks!

By: B. Mac

B. Mac — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 09:41:31 +0000

Hey, Whovian. If you have more ideas about love polygons, would you like to try an article on those specifically?

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:57:13 +0000

It’s kind of hard for me to torment my friends, because most of them love to discuss fandom related topics. I do love to annoy them with constant Doctor Who, references, though. Haha.

I just thought up a really random pairing:

IsaacxHoodie (Sure, it protects his identity and all, but it’s just a piece of clothing! Haha)

I have seen quite a few random crack pairings, like RyukxApple. God, I found a link to a fic, read half of it and then scrubbed my brain with bleach. Apples do not work that way! Haha.

One of my favourite types of pairing is the Takahashi Couple, aka Tsunderes in Love. They yell at each other and embarrass each other, and in the most extreme cases may end up physically fighting. Otani and Koizumi from Lovely Complex fall into this category, and I love the way they fight but still care for each other.

I’m going to put Isaac and Kamari together as a Takahashi/Battle Couple, but with Kamari as a Tsundere and Isaac as a Nice Guy who is wary not to push her Berserk Button (but ends up doing so anyway, resulting in a Megaton Punch) but there will be moments to show that Aw, They Really Do Love Each Other.

Wow, that was the most Trope heavy thing I have ever said. Haha.

By: Wings

Wings — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 02:09:01 +0000

Let’s see…*whips out shipping list*

Canon Shippings:

Flightshipping – IanxJazz (Since they both can fly)

KissBattleshipping – DrewxMaya (One of the more memorable moments is when Drew kisses her – in the middle of a fight against her no less)

Powershipping – AndraxJulian (They are some of the most powergul characters in the series)

Non Canon Shippings:

Twinshipping – DarrenxPierce (This one has to come up sometime)

LightningRodshipping – MegxPierce (Those crazy writers would interpret them as a love-hate relationship)

Friendshipping – MegxIan (They could interpret Meg’s dislike of Heather as jealousy…)

LostSiblingshipping – ConnorxDarren (Six year age difference, but they did train together a lot and shared one particularily sad scene)

Blackshipping – JazzxPierce (They are the darker members of the team…)

TrueTwinshipping – AndraxElle (They do like shipping twins tgether, those weirdos)

Mind Breaking Shippings (For P, of course):

ScarletxAnyone (Squick. He’s 47, people)

Book2!ScarletxAnyone (Now he’s 21…and younger than the old team. Double Squick)

PiercexTrash Can Lid (His favorite weapon)

IanxJazz (Not so bad at first glance, but Jazz is in her black fox form. Or snake. Or horse. Whatever you find Squickiest)

*rereads list*

What goes through my mind…

I must go send this list to P. Between the explanation of what a “lemon” is and the list of Fangirl/boy breeds and how to avoid them, he’ll be insane by the end of summer. Hee hee hee…Yes, I like to torment my friends. Don’t you?

- Wings

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:53:47 +0000

Oh, I just thought of a new crazy pairing:

KlementexAtalya (Tristram would kill Klemente and go on an angsty rant about how she betrayed him, possibly bursting into tears at the same time. Aw, he’d look so cute if he cried. Excuse me a moment.)

ME: Hey Tristram. (Grabs his arm)

TRISTRAM: Uh, hi. What are you doing?

ME: (Snaps arm)

TRISTRAM: ARRGH! (Bursts into tears) WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?!

ME: Awwwww. Atalya, get in here, your boyfriend is hurt.

ATALYA: Huh? (sees him) Oh my God! What happened?!

TRISTRAM: SHE happened!

ATALYA: (Kills me, cuddles Tristram)

Aw, poor little crazy genius badass baby. Haha.

By: The ReTARDISed Whovian

The ReTARDISed Whovian — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 23:48:21 +0000

“Note to self – For laughs (and in P’s case mental scarring) figure out every possible shipping and name them (LostSiblingShipping – Connor/Darren, Avianshipping – Ian/Jazz…I’m evil)”

I’ve done that before. Here are some of the weirdest, and what my reaction would be if I saw fics posted of FF.net:

IsaacxTristram (But… they’re twins! Squick! Also, Atalya and Kamari would go crazy mad and pull out the shotguns)

IsaacxLonnie (Well, they’re not blood relatives, but she’s ten and he’s sixteen!)

IsaacxWill (They ARE close, and it’s a plausible pairing, but they’re both straight)

IsaacxAtalya (Tristram would kill him and Kamari would be less than pleased with her so-called best friend)

TristramxAmy Belle (They haven’t even met!)

LonniexThat Boy She Beat Up That One Time (Aw, troo wub! Wait a second, that’s just random!)

Finally: EveryonexEveryone in a crazy harem fic. (DO NOT WANT! I’d be like O_O and not touch that fic with a pole that extends to the end of the universe)

Haha. I was discussing crazy pairings with a friend the other day and looking up the pairings to see if there were any fan sites. Thankfully, the craziest pairing, when searched for fansites, has only three results: LxCake. Seriously, a detective in love with a slice of cake.