stressdewriter

[stressdewriter]

Writing Romance Tropes: Belated Love Epiphany

Description: A confession of love or a couple getting together right before one or both of these characters die.

Ideas:

Person A and Person B pining over each other for the entire book/series and not getting to tell each other until the very end, when they realize it's now or never

Person A dying and telling person B that they love them. Person B never having loved them back, and feeling the guilt of that, never getting to move on because Person A is now dead.

Person B just realized that they love Person A right before losing them.

In a situation where they're both going to die, Person A and Person B kiss/hold hands/confess. Die knowing that they loved each other.

Person A about to sacrifice themselves, Person B begs them not to because "I LOVE YOU," person A does anyways.

Person B promising to always love Person A, no matter what happens to them.

Person B screaming Person A's name when they won't respond to them.

Person B cradling Person A and crying.

Person A and Person B feuding the entire book and then when Person A dies and confesses, Person B feels like they should've stopped being such a jerk.

Person B hurrying to confess their love as Person A is running out of time.

Person B whispers that they love Person A as they're dying.

Any other characters present either:

In shock over the love confession

Understanding, having known and feeling deeply sorry that the lovers didn't get to know themselves

Person A not being able to finish their love confession before they die, Person B never truly knowing if they were going to confess their love.

Tips:

If you're writing a romance novel: do. not. use. this. trope. If you do, it is not a romance novel, it is a tragedy. If your romance is a subplot, carry on.

Please don't let the person being confessed to be the only person affected by the character death unless they are the ONLY character that knew the one that died.

Make sure to develop the relationship and hint at romance before killing off one or both of them. A sudden confession of love will not seem real.

Don't just kill them cause you want a sad love story in your book. If you want sad romance, make them break up! That's sad! You don't have to kill a character to stop a romance.

This can be kind of cliche, but don't worry! Any way you twist it will turn it into a fun and original trope.

I suggest using the big L word if you're going to end a characters life. After they're dead, there's no more development (of course unless the person that died was not able to finish their sentence).

Allow. Your. Lover. To. Grieve. Please! They will not get over it in a chapter! It will take a long time to move on, even if they have stuff to do.

Make sure the death keeps up with the pacing of the scene. It's very important that the death is not super slow if the rest of the scene is very fast. Don't make it super fast if the scene is very slow. Syntax matters!

Be VERY careful doing this with suicide (unless it's like an action sacrifice scene, that's not what I'm talking about). A belated love epiphany can be a very touching thing, but putting suicide in the mix can put a very bad taste in someone's mouth.

If this is the last event of your book, the big climax before the resolution, don't skip straight to them being happy years later. If you don't show that the main character cares for a long time, then the character death will not matter as much to your readers.

Example of this trope:

Reddie (RichiexEddie, IT): These two, in both the book and movie, start out as close friends. They bicker constantly, and Richie "Trashmouth" Tozier endlessly teases Eddie, but they always show deep care for each other. As Eddie is dying, in the book, he is stopped before presumably confessing his love for Richie.

"'Don't call me Eds' he said and smiled. He raised his left hand and touched Richie's cheek. He was crying. "Richie you know I... I..." Eddie closed his eyes, thinking how to finish, and while he was thinking he died.

"'Fuck you, bitch!' he cried suddenly, and kicked the door shut with his foot. It made a solid chukking sound as it closed and latched.

"Why'd you do that?" Beverly asked.

"I don't know," Richie said, but he knew well enough.

(Disclaimer: some of these may be non canon romances but all have heavy subtext or a form of confirmation by the author/creators)

[stressdewriter]

IF Y'ALL HAVE WRITING QUESTIONS

Feel free to ask me anything! I'm not a professional (whatever that really means anyways), but I'd love to answer any of your guys' questions about anything so ask away!❤

[stressdewriter]

Writing Romance Tropes: Opposites Attract

Description: A pairing made up of two completely different people that embrace their differences and fall in love.

Ideas:

Disliking each other as a default because of social status/a certain event that separates them.

Person B doing things that inadvertently hurt person A and regretting it as they get closer.

An inciting event that shows a similarity between them, even if it's small, and allows for a significant change.

Person A's friend group trying to protect them from person B.

They become friends anyway, which shocks everyone to their core.

Bickering but everyone sees it as flirting.

Talking about each other to their friends. Person A trying to convince their friend group that person B is a good person. Person B telling his friends how cool person A is despite them being completely different from their friend group.

Balancing each other out and doing things to make each other better.

Person B pretending to be all cool and confident but melts every time person A smiles

Person A never thinking they have a chance and is oblivious to how much person B loved them

They assume things about the other person that turn out to be completely wrong as they slowly get to know each other.

An argument that leads to a confession or a soft moment.

"I never wanted to hurt you, this is just a big misunderstanding and I'm sorry." "You never apologize." "Well this is important, so I am now."

Over time they acquire traits of each other's personalities

Casual displays of affection

Secret Heart eyes heart eyes heart eyes

Both being too stubborn to admit their feelings

When they finally do it's shocking at first for both of them but they soon realize how obvious it was

Gushing about how much they liked each other and didn't want to admit it

"Every time you looked at me I wanted to cry you were so cute!" "I thought you were glaring at me when I caught you looking?" "I got scared when you noticed so I decided to look mean instead!"

"You're so frustrating! Why am I even friends with you?" "Because you love me." "Yeah? So what! Wait- I didn't mean that-" "Yes you did." "FINE yes I did." "For the record, I love you too."

Both having a special place or object that they associate with each other (maybe the first place they connected, or an object that they bonded over).

Going on adventures together and helping each other grow even after they get together.

Tips:

Make the differences very significant. I'll list a few examples here.

^difference in social class/economic class

^mean manly jock/shy sensitive nerd (but be careful with this! It can be cliche so make sure to put your own twist on it! My example ship does a great job of this)

^Uptight/easy going

^impulsive, hyperactive / cautious, rational

^ordinary person / someone extraordinary (a hero, maybe)

^very serious, hardworking / always making jokes (alternatively, all work / all play)

Make sure their relationship isn't automatically perfect. They're very different people, so there should be some bumps to overcome.

Give them some arguments! They're not going to agree on everything, so even if they care about each other they're going to fight. Let those fights be raw and emotional and significant.

A fight should be something they both care deeply or feel very strong about, not just a small difference between them. (Ex: a difference in values, or a big communication error)

Take your time with this one, allow their relationship to gradually change from annoyed at each other to friends to liking each other to romance.

Example of this trope:

Tyrus (TJxCyrus, Andi Mack): This pairing starts out as destined enemies in the beginning of season two, with TJ being the scary basketball jock that bullies shy eccentric nerd Cyrus' best friend Buffy. But the two quickly connect as Cyrus brings down TJ's walls and make him want to be a better person and TJ pushes Cyrus out of his very small comfort zone. They turn into best friends and after the manipulative girl Kira is out of the picture, they confess their feelings and get together in the last episode of the show.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" ~Cyrus

"Yeah... Is there anything you wanna tell me?" ~TJ

"Yes." ~Cyrus.

The couple hold hands and give each other a relieved laugh.

(Disclaimer: some of these may be non canon romances but all have heavy subtext or a form of confirmation by the author/creators)

This is part two of my romantic tropes series. Remember, this is all advice and ideas, not rules. Build off of them and come up with your own great story :)❤

[stressdewriter]

I know this is just a baby account and it's supposed to be for writing but i have to support this incredible show and cast so here's a little collage of pictures from the andi mack cast party. This show is truly incredible and I am devastated that it's ending but it created so much love and acceptance in people's lives so for that I say thank you.

[stressdewriter]

Writing Romance Tropes: Best Friends to Lovers

Description:

Two characters who start out as friends but fall in love throughout the story.

Ideas:

Casually saying I love you until they start to fall in love and become afraid to say it.

Going as each other's plus ones to everything because it's easy, but they never even try to get actual dates.

Sharing beds and cuddling because it's always been normal to them but it suddenly makes them get butterflies.

Casually affectionate in general

Stealing glances at each other but just laughing it off when they notice.

Being too afraid to tell each other in fear of losing them because of it.

Once they find out: person A just wanting to stay friends because they're afraid of losing person B vs. person B believing it's worth it because of how much they love person A

Tons of inside jokes that only they understand

Wearing each other's clothes when they forgot to bring a change of clothes.

Making each other laugh more than usual

Being completely oblivious of each other and themselves.

Literally everyone around them knowing except for them.

Person B getting jealous whenever person A flirts with someone but claiming it's because they don't want to sacrifice some of their friendship to person A's new partner

"Are you guys dating?" "WHAT no we're best FRIENDS we could never date ew haha"

Knowing everything about each other, including their lying tells.

Also including all kinds of medical things (bonus points if they have to use this knowledge to save them from something)

Knowing that person A hiding something, but having no idea that it's that person B likes them.

Always talking about them in the fondest way before catching themselves and blushing.

Staying up all night talking/staring up at the stars and slowly holding each other's hands.

Bickering like usual except it turns into a conversation of everything they love about each other.

Talking late at night and person A smiles that stupid adorable smile and person B accidentally kisses them. Awkward shocked conversation ensues.

Everyone saying "I knew it!" when they start dating

Kissing and other couple things are weird at first because they've been friends for so long.

Getting in a fight and being scared of losing each other but getting over it just like how they did when they were just friends.

Tips:

First and foremost, do NOT be afraid to use this trope. Some may think it's overused, but it's such an open concept and it's so easy to make it original. It's also a realistic trope and one of my personal favorites (particularly because my boyfriend and I were best friends since we were 9 before we started dating).

If they've been friends for a long time, make sure to address what changed to make your characters go from "just my best friend" to "i am in love with you." Was it a traumatic event that made them realize how much they needed and loved the other person? A change in looks that made your character see them differently? A long time love suddenly realized? You don't go from thinking of someone as a friend to thinking of them as a love interest unless something has changed with either the person falling in love or the person they fell in love with.

If you're using this as a subplot, take special interest in the subtle things. Since romance won't be the main plot, you can sneak a lot more little hints in without people noticing.

Don't make it escalate too quickly if you're going to spread it across more than one book. Make the change gradual.

Example of this Trope:

Starco (StarxMarco, Star vs. the Forces of Evil): These two characters became best friends when Star moved to earth (and into Marco's house) from another dimension in order to practice her magic safely. They support each other through everything and do whatever they absolutely have to in order to protect each other. After two red herring relationships, mutual crushes, and awkwardly timed confessions, they finally say that they love each other and get together in the final season of the show.

"I want to be very small, and I want you to put me in your pocket, and I want to stay there. And you can just reach in whenever you want and just pat me on the head. Because I love you, Star" ~Marco Diaz

"Marco, I want you to love me, because I love you" ~Star Butterfly

(Disclaimer: some of these may be non canon romances, but all have heavy subtext or a form of confirmation by the author/creators)

This is part one of my romantic tropes series. Remember, this is all advice and ideas, not rules. Build off of them and come up with your own great story :)❤

[stressdewriter]

Ima do some uhh relationship trope ideas yee yee

Examples of some of the ones I want to do in no particular order:

Best friends > lovers

Rivals > lovers

Rivals > best friends > lovers

Best frenemies > lovers

Love triangles

Forbidden love

Polyamory

LGBT (i might put them into separate posts it depends)

Mutual pining

Slowburns

One sided pining until the other person also falls in love

Unrequited love

Fake relationships

Belated love epiphany

Past friends/rivals/lovers > falling in love years later

Fantasy interspecies relationships

Strangers to lovers

That's all I can think of right now and this will probably take me a while to do but I wanna get this account going. Send me suggestions of any more that you like?

[stressdewriter]

Okay can someone please PLEASE

Just make an app that has just a bagillion pictures of people on it (full body and shoulders up) where you can filter out a bunch of things and get someone that looks like your character PLEASE