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[justgottafinishthischapter]

Advice for writing relationships

Ship Dynamics

How to create quick chemistry

How to write a polyamorous relationship

How to write a wedding

How to write found family

How to write forbidden love

Introducing partner(s) to family

Honeymoon

Date gone wrong

Fluffy Kiss Scene

Love Language - Showing, not telling

Love Language - Showing you care

Affections without touching

Giving the reader butterflies with your characters

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

Reasons for breaking up while still loving each other

Relationship Problems

Relationship Changes

Milestones in a relationship

Platonic activities for friends

Settings for conversations

How to write a love-hate relationship

How to write enemies to lovers

How to write lovers to enemies to lovers

How to write academic rivals to lovers

How to write age difference

Reasons a couple would divorce on good terms

Reasons for having a crush on someone

Ways to sabotage someone else's relationship

Ways a wedding could go wrong

Arranged matrimony for royalty

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Tricky Enemies to Lovers Situation

[Note from WQA: I answered a question yesterday that went missing after it was queued, so this is my best effort to recreate the original question and my answer efficiently...]

Anonymous asked: I have an enemies to lovers story where there's no opportunity for the characters to get together where they wouldn't immediately fight one another. How can I give them the opportunity to get to know each other and fall in love in a way that's believable?

The Abandoned Mission: the first thing you have to establish--which you probably have since you mentioned (in the lost ask) that you had their arcs fleshed out, knew why they fell in love, etc.--is what allows this love to flourish despite starting on opposite sides, because what you don't want to do is have one say, "I know you're trying to destroy my village, but I love you, so heckin' go for it!"

-- one starts to come around, realizes their side is wrong, and switches sides

-- both sides unite against a common/far worse enemy

-- both realize that the fight is pointless/futile/both sides wrong

This will be part of their character arcs... or at least the arc of whoever changes sides... as they start to see the truth through getting to know the other one, start questioning their beliefs, and begin to change their mind.

Accessibility: Your first challenge is finding a non-combat way to get them together, or at least get them talking if not face-to-face. It all depends on your story and what makes sense within it, but some ideas:

Supernatural Communication - Is there a supernatural way for them to be face-to-face or at least communicate? Think of the mental connection between Alina and the Darkling in Shadow and Bone, or the force bond betwen Rey and Kylo Ren in the Star Wars movies. It could be a telepathic connection, a magical connection, or even a magical object that allows them to be in the same place or simply communicate.

Technological Communication - Or, maybe your story takes place in our world, in the recent past or near future. Or perhaps in a far-future sci-fi world. Is there some sort of technology that could allow them to be in the same place or easily communicate? Something like a hologram projector, "holodeck" type area that can be accessed by people in two different places, or even simply video calls or text messages?

Old School Communication - Even if a supernatural or technological form of communication doesn't work in your story, you can always rely on good old-fashioned handwritten letters.

Stuck Together - Another option is for them to somehow get stuck together in some situation where they're both vulnerable. Like, maybe there's some disaster when they're both in the same place and end up in a survival struggle together. Or, maybe they're both abducted by an even worse third party, and have to work together to escape. Maybe the villain's resolve is weakening, so they're overthrown by someone within their organization, imprisoned, and then it's this faction who imprisons your character (and not the love interest villain), forcing them to work together to escape.

All you have to do in any of the above scenarios is figure out how and why they start communicating in the first place. Maybe the villain reaches out to the MC thinking they're a weak link that will spill information, or maybe the MC intercepts a courier carrying a letter from the villain to an ally--and the MC decides to write back. Maybe the villain is a little extravagant and holds a party via their version of a holodeck and your MC sneaks in and is caught... but this opens up the door for them to continue meeting this way. Even if they just meet once out in the woods, bathing in a lake and caught totally off-guard, there are always ways to get these two characters "in the same room" outside of a combative context. You just need to brainstorm a little.

The Ice Breaker: once you get them face-to-face or communicating in whatever way, there needs to be some sort of ice breaker to get them talking about something other than the conflict at hand. This could be one noticing and commenting about something they have in common... like noticing the other is wearing a cultural bracelet and realizing they have that culture in common. Or one realizing the other is fluent in their language, and coming to learn they were born there or their parent was born their. It could be one observing the other experiencing a red flag from their side and pointing it out with commentary. (Like: "See the way they lie to you? That's what they do to my people...") It could be one making a joke, a snarky quip, or illustrating some knowledge or skill that intrigues the other. It could even be a rendering of aid... maybe one catches the other when they trip, one patches up the other's injury, or one provides a translation or other nonsensitive data. Again, it just all depends on the situation in your story and what's believable.

The first version of this ask was so, so much better. I'm hoping against hope that I inadvertently replied privately instead of sending it to the queue. But I wanted to do my best to recreate it in case it really did get eaten by the Tumblr goblins.

I hope this version is still helpful!

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How do I plot a romance story?

Most advice and plot structures I have found seem to be focused on quest-type stories. Do you have any advice or templates that are mpre easily applicable to romance stories? Do I need to include another major plotline?

Basic Romance Structure

Like most stories, there are different theories and methods about structure, and you can find these by Googling "romance story structure." However, let me walk you through a basic romance structure to show you the differences and similarities with the kind of structure you'd use for something like a quest story or an adventure story.

Introduction/Normal World - Like most stories, romance stories usually open with a peek at the protagonist's "normal world" as a means of introducing who they are and what their life is like. And, as with other stories, this also introduces us to the both characters' internal conflicts. In romance, rather than resolving the internal conflict with growth in relation to the story events, the internal conflict will be resolved via change/growth in relation to the romance. [Example: Sandi is a florist with a four-year-old daughter, navigating single parenthood after her husband filed for divorce and ran away to chase a dream.]

The "Meet Cute" - This is essentially the inciting incident... the moment the two characters meet for the first time, or the first time in a long time. All in one moment, we see how undeniably right they are for each other, but due to their individual internal internal conflicts, they're butting heads big time.

[Example: Sandi meets Brent, the new flower supplier who is adorable, sweet to Sandi's daughter, but infuriatingly inept at doing things the way she likes them.]

Forced Proximity - After the "meet cute," something will inevitably force them to spend time together. They get partnered together on the same job, stuck together in the same place, keep coincidentally bumping into each other... whatever. All that matters is that they're forced to get to know each other despite their head butting.

[Example: they get roped into working together on the town's rose festival.]

Resistance/Rejection - Now that they're forced to interact for whatever reason, they're going to spend a lot of time resisting their mutual interest/desire for one another due to whatever obstacles exist, like being from warring factions or one being in the middle of a divorce. But despite this resistance, we can see the sparks flying between them, even if they can't or don't want to admit it.

[Example: Sandi wants to focus on running her business and raising her daughter; Brent just got out of a long relationship and isn't ready for romance.]

Waning Resistance/Giving Love a Chance - Eventually there's a breakthrough... the obstacle gives way... they have a really fun time hanging out at the Christmas market and almost kiss... they move past the misunderstanding between them... or maybe they just slowly get over their issues and start to fall in love. Either way, they decide to give the relationship a go.

[Example: as they get to know each other and bond through working on the rose festival, they can't deny how compatible they are and an unexpected first kiss gives Brent the courage to ask Sandi out on a date, to which she agrees.]

Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back - This is essentially the first date, then another one, then another one... though it doesn't have to be actual dates. It just needs to be some interactive scenes when they're in relationship mode. Each of these interactions will deepen their feelings for one another while at the same time raising new obstacles or re-raising the old ones.

[Example: the first date goes well except that Sandi is preoccupied with the fact that her daughter is staying with a new sitter. The second date goes okay, except Brent is in a bad mood after his ex came to town to pick up the last of her things. Then they pull an all-nighter to make some final preparations for the upcoming rose festival, which leads to a philosophical conversation about the future, wherein Sandi says she sees herself getting remarried one day and having another kid or two, and Brent says he can't ever see himself getting married or being a father.]

This Isn't Going to Work - This is the midpoint crisis... the "all is lost" moment where one or both put on brakes and say, "I can't do this," citing whatever obstacle/s that now stand in the way of their happiness. Sometimes this follows their biggest act of intimacy yet, whether that's simply their first kiss or going all the way. It could even be the first declaration of love, being introduced to family, or some other important early relationship milestone. But then it all falls apart... maybe because one or more of the obstacles become too much, a fear-based retreat, or some other external force

[Example: the rose festival has arrived... Sandi is there with her daughter and parents, Brent is there with his mom and sister. Everyone meets, Brent continues to be great with Sandi's daughter... it's obvious Brent and Sandi belong together. But then Sandi's wayward not-yet-officially-ex-husband shows up and wants to get back together. Although she's ambivalent, seeing him interact with their daughter and her parents makes her realize giving him another chance is what's best for their daughter. Meanwhile, Brent witnesses this from far away, thinks, "I'm not good enough for a family like that," and he and Sandi go their separate ways.]

On Second Thought... - This is the moment when something happens that makes one or both characters realize they belong together... that the obstacles aren't real or don't matter... [Example: Brent finds a drawing Sandi's daughter made of the three of them together that makes him realize he really is worthy of their love. And Sandi sees that her husband hasn't changed, that he's still focused on chasing dreams that aren't what's best for their daughter... or herself, for that matter. ]

The Moment of Declaration - This is where the one character finds the other, or they find each other, and one or both declare their love and commitment to the other, despite whatever obstacles there may be. This is the run through the airport to catch the other before they fly away to a new life. It's the objection at the wedding before the other can go forward with the less-than-ideal marriage. It's the boombox on the shoulders, the kiss in the rain, the "I love, I love, I love you. I never wish to be parted from you from this day on" declaration in a foggy field at sunrise. [Example: Brent hears from a friend that Sandi's husband left again. He goes to the last night of the rose festival, finds Sandi, and tells her he wants all of it... her, the daughter, her quirky parents, the flower shop, marriage, more kids... he is ready to take on the world with her, and she couldn't be happier.]

The Happily Ever After or "HEA" - This is the story's denouement, where we flash forward a few days, weeks, or more and see the happy ending. This is the jump ahead a few months to see the happy couple living their lives together, the one year leap ahead to the wedding, or a leap ahead to a moment even further down the road when the couple is firmly established in their HEA.

[Example: two years later, Sandi and Brent have been married almost a year, and are at the rose festival with the now six-year-old and their newborn twins, Sandi's parents, and Brent's mom and sister, one big happy family.]

Now... like I said, there are a variety of different structure templates for romance as there are for other genre stories. Don't feel like you have to pick one, and if you do, don't feel like you have to stick to it exactly. Story structure is just a guideline to help make sure you hit the important points to help the story unfold.

Happy writing!

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"Probably one of my biggest writing-related takeaways of 2023 was the brain science behind being overwhelmed by writing. So often, we put so much pressure on ourselves to meet goals, and get so frustrated with ourselves when we fail, that we end up making writing time something that fills us with anxiety. So our brains perceive that activity as a threat, which makes us want to avoid it."

I'd love to learn more about this cause it's my biggest problem when it comes to writing. The avoidance of the task, but it also manifests also as feeling overwhelmed by writing a long story/novel.

Some Brain Science Behind Avoidance

I encountered this idea of fear-based avoidance in a few workshops and summits over the past year, but I have to give a shout out to author/coach Monica Hay whose "Overcome Writer's Resistance Bootcamp" explained it the best. I can't find my notes so I'm going from memory here, but the gist of it was that our brains are hard-wired to avoid things that make us feel fearful or uneasy. This is an evolutionary throwback to when those instinctual feelings helped us steer clear from danger. As I remember Monica putting it, "Don't go that way, there are cheetahs there that will eat us."

So... how does this apply to avoidance of writing?

When we heap unreasonable goals and deadlines on ourselves, and berate ourselves for falling short of them, we inadvertently turn writing into a stressful activity. So, when we sit down to write, our brain picks up on that stress and says, "Don't go that way, cheetahs will eat us," and your gut instinct tells you to avoid this stressful activity at all cost. And then it becomes kind of a vicious cycle because you feel even worse because you're avoiding writing, and that makes you feel more overwhelmed and makes writing more stressful, and well... you can see the problem.

The solution? De-stress the writing process for yourself as much as you can. Start by de-stressing yourself when you sit down to write... take a relaxing walk first, do some yoga or a meditation exercise, or try some grounding techniques. See if you can do some things to make your writing environment more relaxing and inviting. Put on some soft lighting and relaxing music, use your favorite method to lightly scent the air, grab your favorite drink and snack. Then, just try to move the needle forward in any way you can.

My suggestions: try editing a sentence. Maybe see if you can add a paragraph or two. Don't think about deadlines or word count or what others are doing. Just focus on adding something to the page, even if it's changing a word or adding a sentence. Don't push yourself. Congratulate yourself on whatever progress you made. Ultimately, if you do this every day, the stress should start to melt away and writing becomes an activity that your brain no longer tells you to avoid.

Another suggestion: try to avoid setting arbitrary deadlines, or if you have to set a deadline, take a look at your schedule/calendar and be really honest about how much time you actually have to write. Because so often what happens is we say, "I want to finish this 80k word draft in eight weeks..." but the reality is we're not going to write all 56 of those days. In fact, when we take an honest look...

-3 days per week for days with both class and work = 32 days -5 days for a cruise next month = 27 days -1 day for bestie's birthday celebration = 26 days -Sundays because that's hiking day = 18 days Suddenly, that eight weeks is actually only 18 days... and that's not even taking account things that come up unexpectedly. But, let's say you do get to write all 18 days, and let's say you know you can commit three hours a day to writing but you'll probably take two ten-minute brakes... so 48 hours worth of writing. But here's the problem: you know on a good hour, you're probably only going to write 1200 words. And guess what: 1200 words per hour over 48 hours is only 57,600 words... far short of your 80k goal... and that's assuming you get to write all 18 days and hit 1200 words every hour you write. In other words... you've set yourself an impossible deadline, and when you fall short of it without understanding why, you're going to be disappointed in yourself. And that's why it's so, so important to be honest about the time you have and how much you can reasonably accomplish within that time. Also: just don't be hard on yourself. It will never make you write faster, more, or better.

I hope you can use this to overcome your own resistance to writing! ♥

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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How many words is too many? I have written over 80,000 words already and don't have a computer to edit properly. I've already decided to split the story among multiple books. But how many should each be? I am aiming for a basic novel to a little bit longer, but as a first-time author, I don't want to write something too long and not get anyone to read it.

Finding Your Story's Target Word Count

"How many words is too many" depends on what you're writing. Every type of story and every genre has a different word count range, and the specific ranges vary depending on who you ask. Here are some general ranges you can target...

Story Type:

Short Stories - 1,000 - 5,000 words Novellas - 20,000 to 50,000 words Novels - 50,000 - 110,000 words Epic Novel - 110,000 words and up (though these are rare)

Age Category:

Middle Grade novels - 25,000 - 40,000 words Young Adult novels - 45,000 - 80,000 words New Adult novels - 60,000 - 85,000 words Adult novels - 65,000 - 110,000

Genre:

Literary novels - 80,000 to 110,000 words Romance novels - 50,000 to 80,000 words Fantasy novels - 90,000 to 110,000 words Mystery novels - 70,000 to 90,000 words

It's important to remember that a book series isn't one long novel chopped up into smaller books. Each book in a series needs to have its own story arc. In other words, a beginning/inciting incident, middle/rising action, and end/climax and denouement. That said, you will need to look at the completed story and identify the natural story arcs that exist within it to figure out where each book should end and the next book should begin.

Something else to consider is your publishing goal. If you plan on pursuing traditional publishing, you might look into writing an in-depth summary of the entire story and working with a developmental editor or book coach to figure out how to best divvy up the story between books. That way, you'll ensure that book one is as strong as it can be, which will increase the likelihood of getting a book deal. After that, if your book sells well enough to warrant the publishing of the next book, you will have some guidance on where to go from there.

If you're planning to self-publish, you can still look into working with an editor or book coach, or even a critique partner, or you can just make the best decision you're able to about how to divide each book. Again, what matters is that each part of the story centers on its own individual story arc.

Something else to consider: if you have a really long story that you want to chop up into pieces rather than individual books, you might look into posting it as a serial on a site like Wattpad, Kindle Vella, Ream, or similar services. Serialization allows you to take a long story and chop it up into sizeable pieces, such as "episodes," and then you don't have to worry so much about dividing it up into books with their own individual story arcs.

One final consideration: Not having the ability to edit properly is not an excuse to publish an unedited work of fiction. No one wants to read an unedited story, even if it's chopped up into pieces. If you want to publish this story, whether online, traditionally, or self-published, you need to find a way to edit it properly and make sure you're putting a tight and polished version of the story out into the world.

Here are some additional links:

Self-Editing Tips Editing Tips Ten Ways to Cut Your Word Count

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Stuck in Planning Stage of Writing

Anonymous asked: Do you have any advice on how to get out of the planning stage and more into the doing stage of writing? I’m up to my ears in notes for scenes and fragments of dialogue between characters. I know where I want to go with the story, I’ve even written a handful of scenes when the ideas come to me, but now that I have this lump of thoughts I need to start organizing and placing them all in their rightful spaces. The one thing I truly know is how much I’d love to see this through. Do you have any advice for a girl who’s unwittingly made herself stuck with a puzzle?

[Ask edited for length]

Planning a novel can sometimes be like digging a really deep hole for a specific purpose, then suddenly realizing you've stranded yourself at the bottom of the hole without a ladder. You've spent so much time digging the hole, you'd like nothing more than to get out of the hole and move forward with whatever project required you to dig the hole in the first place. There's just one problem: you can't teleport yourself out of the hole. You have to climb... or, ideally, build yourself a ladder to climb out with whatever materials are available to you.

That's probably where you are right now with your story. The hole you've dug was necessary, and it's good that you dug it, but as much as you'd like to just magically leap out and write your story, you can't do that. You have to build yourself a ladder to climb out of the hole first. So...

My go-to emergency "get out of the planning hole I've dug myself into" ladders are timelines, scene lists, and outlines.

Timelines: Your story may take place over a single day or several centuries, but either way, time flows in your story. All of those notes and fragments of dialogue and partial scenes are moments or events that happen within the time frame of your story. So, plotting those moments and scenes out on a timeline--according to when they need to happen--is about the easiest way to break your story down into its existing pieces and to see what's missing/where.

There are lots of ways you can format a timeline, such as a table, a list, a horizontal timeline, calendar, or a roadmap timeline. My go-to is a basic two-column document where the left column is date/time and the right column is the moment/event. There are also apps and online tools that will help you build a timeline in various formats.

Horizontal Timeline:

Calendar Timeline:

Table Timeline:

More info: Making a Timeline for Your Story Scene Lists: Stories are made up of scenes, so a list of those scenes is another great way to organize the events of your story. You may even find that creating a scene list is easier after making a timeline, because a timeline may help you see where certain moments or events need to be their own scenes and which can be combined together into a single scene. Just like timelines, scene lists can be as simple or complex as you want to make them. Once again, my go-to is a simple two-column document with the left column for the scene number and the right column for the scene summary, preferably just a sentence or two. Ultimately, once I have my rough timeline and scene list done, I usually combine them into one multi-column document along with my story structure beats.

Table Scene List with Beats:

Complex Scene List/Timeline/Beat Sheet:

More info: Scene Lists

Outlines: Outlines can be really any format you want them to be, and some people count timelines and scene lists as their outlines. My go-to outline is just an exhaustive beginning to end summary of everything that needs to happen. Sometimes, just working through your story from beginning to end can be the best way to make sense of all those disparate pieces you've been piling up.

More info: Guide: How to Outline a Plot Story Structure: Finally, I want to talk a bit about story structure templates like Save the Cat Writes a Novel!, Larry Brooks story structure, seven point story structure, etc. Story structure templates can be a really great way to make sure you're hitting all the right story beats--almost like a road map through your story. It's just important to know you do not by any means have to stick to any particular story structure exactly. Use it as a guide, take what works, leave what doesn't, and don't panic if your beats don't fall exactly where it says they should. As long as your story is working, that's what matters. Some writers even like to frankenplan their stories using a variety of different structure templates.

More info: Creating a Detailed Story Outline (story structure)

Once you finally have a roadmap for moving forward, whether that's a timeline, scene list, outline, or all of the above, you know you're ready to start writing!

Final note: I just want to add that planning isn't for everyone. Some people are discovery writers who let their stories work themselves out as they go. The above is just meant for people who are planners, who have done a lot of planning, but need to pull that planning together into a cohesive, organized document. And... if you have all of the above and still find yourself unable to start, you might find help in the links below. Happy writing! More help:

Beginning a New Story Figuring Out Where to Start a Story Deciding How to Open Your Book How to Move a Story Forward Trouble Getting Started Have Plot, Can’t Write

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do you have any advice for writing/plotting a series without the plot feeling repetitive or boring and drawn out, but still be connected and feel like the same story?

Plotting a Cohesive Series

It depends on the type of series you want to write. Some series are one big story told in cohesive parts (like The Hunger Games, ACOTAR, A Song of Ice and Fire, The Earthsea Cycle) while others are more like stand alone "episodes" united by a premise (like Nancy Drew, The Hardy Boys, Sweet Valley High, Sherlock Holmes, Miss Marple).

If you want to plot an episodic series, you'll want to come up with a premise that allows for multiple, similarly themed adventures. There's a reason why most episodic series tend to revolve around detectives or investigators... that's an easy avenue for a variety of interesting plots. While there may be overarching "mythology" like Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes, or potentially an overarching situation in your protagonist's life that evolves over the series (such as their marriage falling apart, going through divorce, and finding new love), there won't be much in the way of plot that carries through from one book to the next.

If you want to plot a progressive series, where you take a big story revolving around a particular conflict, then break it up into cohesive parts that revolve around progressive conflicts that lead to the end (think of The Hunger Games series: the overarching conflict was the oppression of Panem by the Capitol, but the conflict of book one was The Hunger Games event. The conflict of book two was the quarter quell event. The conflict of book three was the war between the districts and the Capitol. Each story was a small, progressive part of the bigger story), start with the following posts: Creating an Overarching Plot for a Series Planning a Series Plotting a Trilogy

Those will walk you through the plotting. Making it interesting and not repetitive will depend on you coming up with a series conflict and related book conflicts that are compelling and do a good job of moving the story forward without rehashing the same types of events over and over again. And keeping it from being drawn out will depend on your ability to craft tight and cohesive plots that tell the progressive tale while allowing your characters to grow and change over the course of each book.

Good luck with your series!

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Valuable writing references

tweet

Something like this would be so colossally helpful. I'm sick and tired of trying to research specific clothing from any given culture and being met with either racist stereotypical costumes worn by yt people or ai generated garbage nonsense, and trying to be hyper specific with searches yields fuck all. Like I generally just cannot trust the legitimacy of most search results at this point. It's extremely frustrating. If there are good resources for this then they're buried deep under all the other bullshit, and idk where to start looking.

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Question! But how do you write a royal character?

Writing Royal Characters

"Royal" is a broad term, because what it means to be royal varies across cultures, kingdoms, times, places, and even families. Royal structure, royal culture, royal rules and regulations--all of it is specific to that particular group, time, and place.

So, if you're writing a character who is either a real royal person, or a fictional person but part of real royalty, you need to research that real royalty to learn how to write that royal character. Researching the real royalty will teach you things like how things are structured, titles and forms of address, how the throne is inherited, how they relate to each other and other royal families, government/government relationship, what their culture is like, etc.

Even if you're writing a totally fictional royal family in a fictional time and place, you may still want to choose a real life royal family (or a few) to serve as inspiration for your fictional family. This will give you a model for things like structure, titles and forms of address, inheritance, political relations, etc.

Here are some related posts that might help you get on the right track:

Creating a Fictional Kingdom “King” Doesn’t Mean “Husband of the Queen” Forms of Address for Royals and Nobility Twin Royal Heirs in Fantasy Guide: Writing About Fictional Royals Forms of Address for Royals and Nobility

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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don't leave me!

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How do I go about fleshing out a city and making it feel lived in? Especially when the main protagonists are royal/wealthy and don't see the city from the ground level

A character arc is identified by a few key character elements: namely the Lie and the Truth. The Lie is the false reality they believe at the start of the story, and the Truth is the true reality they discover. This can be an internal lie and truth, such as they are worthy of being loved, or an external truth, like the war is not a way of spreading their nation's greatness to other countries. The revelation from the lie to the truth is the turning point in the character arc, when they start to shift from their Want to their Need. When it comes to building a city, the lie is the glitz and glam they can see from their ivory tower. The truth is the scum and muck that they've never noticed before but was always there. Using LA as a great example, it's a city that looks like a paradise of celebirites, hot people, movies, television, music, and everything else. But LA also has low income housing too. Many flock to LA to chase their dreams, only to end up working minimum wage jobs. Artists successful and failed have higher drug usage percentiles in a big city like LA than other cities. So you need to ask yourself: what is the idealized image of the city. How do those outside the city look at it? Then ask yourself: what is the grim reality of the city? 19th Century london had work houses, child labor, people worked in extremely hazardous work environments where carelessness could lead to getting mangled in a machine, or going home with a lungful of soot. Charles Dickenson famously had a problem with 19th Century London's classism, which is why he often focused on poor working class protagonists.

I would suggest looking at movies and television that involve noble and/or royal characters and take notes on how their old world views get torn down by other characters. Zuko had to defect from the Fire Nation entirely and slum it through the Earth Kingdom to truly see the faces of the people hurt by the Hundred Years War. Amity had to meet Luz in order to realize there was a path forward that didn't involve joining the Emperor's Coven. By season 2, she doesn't even want to join it anymore because she's now searching to find what she wants to make of her own life. Weiss Schnee is a pampered spoiled heiress that was taught to be racist toward Faunus. But by the time she returns to her homeland of Atlas, she flings a random guy into a dumpster for saying racist comments about Faunus. By learning about these characters and how they make these kinds of changes can help you in writing your own characters.

As for designing the city: every memorable location needs a landmark or something about it that makes it recognizable. If it's a fantasy, you definitely want to think about defensibility. A huge seat of power for a royal family needs high walls to defend itself. Even if you're in more of an 19th century Victorian-styled setting, there could still be walls from long ago. Look at other fantasy cities. The Northern Water Tribe resembles an arctic venice, using channel locks to raise and lower the water levels to keep out outsiders, and ice doors to let allied ships in and out of the city. Ba Sing Se is instantly recognizable by its ring structure and its 100 foot high walls. Republic City is most recognizable for the giant statue of Aang in Yue Bay. The towns and cities in Attack on Titan have high walls for necessity to keep out the Titans. Likewise, any medieval fantasy world with ogres and trolls running around is going to want walls to protect the everyday commoners from harm.

Magic or technology can also change how a city is structured. Think again about how Earth Benders are imprisoned on a metal tankard in the middle of the ocean to rob them of their power. Public transportation like a bus or blimp is going to radically change how one gets about town. How many and how quickly can get from one side to the other. Are there hard restrictions on who is allowed where? Is a petty cobbler going to be carried out of Wellington Park by the police so the rich don't have to look at him? In Howl's Moving Castle there is both magic and technology. We see steam powered locomotives, but there's also flying machines powered by magic and the eponymous castle itself uses a fire demon as a power source.

Does your city have to protect itself from flying enemies like faeries, dragons, witches, demons, vampires, griffins, or anything else like that? Walls are great at stopping armies, but stopping a gargoyle from just flying over your walls is another thing entirely.

What about your city's economy? A city on the water is going to rely on shipping, sailing, fishing, and trade. A city in the mountains is going to rely on mining and smithing. An old city likely started as a fort or military outpost, like Paris or London. Other times, cities pop up because a resource was discovered there, or a bunch of people had to migrate all at once and all chose to settle in one area. That's how you end up with a city named Swedesville in the middle of the United States. And a big city especially is going to need to be extremely rich, and probably needs something to lure more people to it. But large cities also cause their own problems, such as traffic jams, higher rent, and crowded streets.

You also should ask yourself your city's backstory and history. Both the glorious stuff the state WANTS you to learn in history class, and the not so pretty stuff that also happened. For instance, my city was named after a lesser-known hero of the Revolutionary War. He was propped up as pretty important when I was in middle school, but aside from his role in the war, we weren't taught much about his personal life. I'm willing to bet he has a skeleton or two in his closet. Every city has a past. What defines yours?

I hope this helped you piece together an idea of what you want to do or where to start looking. And good luck with your writing!

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How do I write about a guard and a prince secretly dating?

Secret Romance Between a Prince and a Guard

The particulars will depend somewhat on when and where your story takes place. Regardless, the main thing you'll need to figure out is what kind of access they have to one another. In modern times, guards of the royal household are usually part of the military. They sleep and spend off-duty time at a military barracks, not wandering around the palace. When they're at the palace, they're on-duty or on break, but even when they're on break they would be in a specific area. So, any prince/guard interaction would likely be in front of other people and closely monitored. The exception might be when the guard is off-duty and allowed to leave the barracks, at which point the prince and guard could theoretically meet up while out and about.

In historical times, royal guards would still have been military in nature, but they usually slept in a barracks at the castle/palace. There still wouldn't have been a lot of opportunity for off-duty interaction within the castle/palace walls, but it might be more likely. In an imaginary world, you can set things up however you like. Just be mindful of what sounds believable based on historical and modern reality. For example, it would be hard to believe that a guard of the royal household (unless they were a high-ranking officer) would have their own chambers and have free run of the palace/castle when off-duty. Not impossible, but you have to make it make sense in your story.

So, think about accessibility, rules, and expectations and what these two need to do to get around those things. Also, consider what's at stake... what's the worst that can happen to the prince if he's caught dating the guard? What's the worst that can happen to the guard if they're caught dating the prince? Where, when, and how do they meet to spend time together? What do they do to minimize the risk? How does reality (being a prince and being a guard) positively and negatively impact their relationships? How do they each feel about this, both in terms of themselves and the other person? How does the stress of getting caught positively or negatively impact their relationship? What are they both getting out of the relationship and what do they want out of it in the long-term? How does their agreement or disagreement on where things are headed impact their relationship?

Finally, here are some posts to help with setting up the romance:

Guide: Characters Falling in Love Guide: Creating Romantic Chemistry Guide: Writing a Slow Burn Romance The Subtle Signs of Romantic Interest and Love Transitioning Through Levels of Affection Healthy Conflict in a Romantic Relationship

Happy writing!

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I’ve been writing seriously for over 30 years and love to share what I’ve learned. Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

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I just read your post about courting and was wondering if you have any recommendations for queer books that show this well? thanks in advance!

Believe me, if I had such a list, I would share it loudly and publically. But I'm afraid if such a list could be drafted, I would be ill-suited to construct it.

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So glad I found your blog! I like your posts. Can I ask for some advice on Historical Fiction?

I'm going to write a historical fiction novel, my first time. I'm not very good at research - in general. I just don't know what to look for.

All I know is the story will take place somewhere in Italy during the Renaissance. I'm having trouble narrowing it down, since I don't know much about the Renaissance, and I have no clue where to start on research.

I can handle learning about daily life, fashion, diets, etc. when I start writing, but my problem is with how the period affects the plot and characters. Also, if there was anything going on that would have a huge impact (aftermath of a war, a revolution, etc.), even though I don't really want to focus on that stuff.

I'm just stuck in the beginning because I need to know a little bit so I can have a fitting plot for the period (if I was doing Regency I would probably follow Bridgerton's example with Suitors, courting, Viscounts, Dukes etc.).

Once I have that sorted, then I'll be more than comfortable to deep dive into research. My story has no "agenda," btw. It just simply takes place during the Renaissance.

I hope this makes sense?

Any generic advice on starting a historical fiction is helpful, too.

So sorry for the long ask - I've been stuck for days and any article I find on google is a bit too vague to help.

Thank you!

Italy is not a country whose history I am well-versed with, and my studies were more on Medieval History as opposed to the Renaissance, but the best direction I can steer you towards is the Medici family. They used marriages and their masisve wealth to stick their fingers in several pots, including the Pope. I'm not saying your story has to be about the Medicis, but they are certainly a prolific family from the region and time period. It's also worth looking into the social climate of Venice in this era, as this is the period of Shakespeare, Leonardo Da Vinci, Rembrandt, and others. I also have a post on courting that applies to a large swath of human history. As for learning the political system: watch Game of Thrones. It's a mastercraft of showcasing Feudalism in action. How I mean by this is imagine actually living in Westeros. If a conflict were to arise on Bear Island, the dispute would be put before the Mormonts: the lords of Bear Island. But if the dispute were larger than the Mormonts could handle, then that dispute would be brought before Ned Stark as the Warden of the North. Only in the event that Ned could not handle this issue would it then reach the king's attention in King's Landing. A Lord handles local affairs, a count handles county-wide affairs, and a king handles kingdom-wide affairs. As most historical romances are among nobility, it is prudent for you to research the roles and positions of the servants in a noble house in the time. Laws that may have been present. By the renaissance, knights have disappeared. You won't find any knights still fighting in full plate on horseback. Look at the literature from the era. What themes and ideas rose in this era? Classicalism exploded, causing a massive interest in Greco-Roman mythology. How many paintings must there be of lovely Venus, clever Minerva, and splendid Juno competing over the golden apple? What were the everyday struggles of the working class? What were they fighting for? What conditions did they live in? What were a woman's rights, duties, and allowances? The renaissance predates the Golden Age of Sailing, but it does loom on the horizon, as it's the era that follows the Renaissance. Other movies and shows worth watching are The Tudors, Romeo and Juliet, Ever After: A Cinderella Movie, and any other historical fiction you can get your hands on set in the Renaissance specifically. I do hope you found this helpful, and if you have any more specific questions, I can't promise to have the answers, but I can try my best to lend a hand wherever possible.