So, what exactly do I mean by motivation? In a bid to push the characters towards a happy ending, writers may ignore motivation. Romance characters can often fall flat, if you’re not careful. It’s an important part of the process for character creation in any genre but holds special significance in the romance genre. I highly recommend creating a character bible. What is driving these two characters in a collision course with each other? For this, you’ll need to know the background for each character. And he should have a growth arc through the story as well. He should have faults but a true admiration for the heroine. In other words, don’t just objectify the hero.
Take your time to create rounded and realistic characters.
Make the reader care about both main characters. It’s not enough for the heroine to love him, the reader needs to get it. Make the reader fall in love with him, too. The protagonist shouldn’t immediately love him or, even if she does, there should be something that gives her pause (age, relationship, etc.). So, how do you create the perfect love interest for your protagonist? Don’t make him perfect. Psst, don’t forget to check out our guide on writing women here.
They want to believe that this love interest exists. Readers want to see themselves in the heroine. While there are different devices you can use in your story, such as rich and sadistic billionaire playboy meets mousy, unsure girl, you can’t go wrong with the above tropes. Three of the most popular romance plot devices are: Most romance readers will demand that your story follows this formula.īut the good news is, there are millions of different ways you can write this story without it sounding, well, formulaic. There’s no use in trying to reinvent the wheel here. To create a satisfying romance novel, you need to follow a tried and true formula.