Not Even Gonna Lie This Will End Me.

not even gonna lie this will end me.

File Name: The Bolter 🤍

Pre-order the new edition of THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT with an exclusive bonus track for a limited time on my website now

https://taylor.lnk.to/thetorturedpoetsdepartment

📷: Beth Garrabrant

Subplot Romance

Over the years I've created some twitter threads on writing and history and I've decided it's a good time to start compiling and sharing them on this Tumblr. I'm going to tag them "writing".

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Here's what I've learned about writing subplot romance. (People who write genre romance probably already know this stuff. It's those of us who are mainly leavening romantic subplots into fantasy novels that need this info).

1. Romance = fundamentally character-driven. All internal conflict & internal growth. (Can these two trust each other? Will their character flaws drive them apart?) The more study you put into creating characters and building character arcs, the better your romantic writing.

A romance arc is not the SAME as a character arc, but it 100% NEEDS solid character work undergirding it.

2. Romance needs two ingredients: a compelling reason for the characters to be TOGETHER, & a compelling reason for them to be APART. This forms the conflict in the romance so do not skimp on either.

Eg, a common mistake in male-penned stories: female lead has no compelling reason to want male lead. "He's a good-looking warrior dedicated to winning her throne!" Yeah nah, she's literally surrounded by good-looking warriors dedicated to winning her throne, why's he different?

3. Romance needs chemistry = a believable spark of attraction. Something that blew my mind when I realised it: romantic chemistry =/= sexual chemistry. Sexual chemistry (purely physical attraction) is simply PART of romantic chemistry.

Romantic chemistry is a good deal broader. (Read/watch some good romances to see how chemistry is built by different storytellers. One fave of mine is the Romola Garai EMMA. Peerless friends-to-lovers chemistry. Watch the actors' body language; the way they gravitate to each other; the way their faces light up)

Chemistry tip A: if the driver behind sexual chemistry is lust, the driver behind romantic chemistry is trust. Protag needs/wants someone to trust. It's the way you play with trust/distrust that will create romantic tension.

eg: love interest holds protag's hand. With sexual chemistry, protag simply feels a jolt at the contact. With romantic chemistry, protag feels comforted and trustful - then betrayed when it turns out LI is tracking her pulse to see if she's lying to him (see: MISS SHARP 😇)

Chemistry tip B: if protag is falling for someone, that person should occupy their mind. LI should be mentioned/thought of each scene, even when absent. When present: LI consistently provokes unaccustomed emotion - either positive or negative, depending.

Chemistry tip C: make the characters their best/most lovable/most iconic selves when with each other. Quirkiness, smarts, hilarity. Make these the most fun character scenes in the book & the audience will ship them. Passionately.

4. Build romantic chemistry/attraction through escalating moments of trust and tension. If aiming for happily-ever-after(HEA)/for-now(HFN), then the overall arc is towards greater trust, but you need those moments of tension to give the big payoff scenes appropriate catharsis.

OTOH, if you're writing a tragic/backstabby romance, you need the trust/comfort moments in order to sell the big tragedy/betrayal.

5. Trust, comfort, & happiness are POWERFUL. This is what genre romance thrives upon. Even in dark/spiky stories, the most surprising thing in the story can be the moment when the LI DOESN'T betray the protag. That too can be wildly cathartic. Use it.

6. Just as character-driven skills help you with romance, so if you master romantic writing, you'll be better able to write ALL types of relationship - platonic, friendly, hostile.

OK that's all so far. Two book recs: ROMANCING THE BEAT by Gwen Hayes & THE HEROINE'S JOURNEY by Gail Carriger teach you the rules/expectations of genre romance so you'll know what the rules are for a happy romance subplot & how to break them for a tragic version.

the one thing i want to be able to do as a writer is make people come back to something ive written. i want that piece of text to haunt them, i want their thoughts to be briefly consumed by this. i want this to be something they remember long after its time. thats the one thing i want to do

crying because i need this in my room so bad

Dropping here today the latest Sketch-a-Wish voted on by my Patreon members for April! This piece features Shiori, Seryu and Kiki from the opening scene of Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim! I ate this duology up and was just raving about how much I especially loved Raikama (Channari) literally hours before Elizabeth announced the prequel spinoff HER RADIANT CURSE! 😭 It was fate! I’m so excited!!

WATERSTONES BONUS EPILOGUE

REMEMBER: WHEN YOU'RE WORKING ON A PIECE OF WRITING, NEVER DELETE ANYTHING

Ok, so you have a big paper due in July. You make a folder for the project called "Big Paper." You get to work, and save a file titled "PaperTopic.doc" in that folder.

You go back to your draft the next day. DO NOT simply open "PaperTopic.doc" and start editing/adding/revising. You are going to make a folder titled "Paper Versions." You are going to make a copy of "PaperTopic.doc." You are going to move it into the "Paper Versions" Folder.

Then you are going to go back to the original "PaperTopic.doc," and rename it "PaperTopic 5.14.24.doc." And you're going to repeat this EVERY DAY that you work on this project. Soon the "Paper Versions" will look like this:

I post about this every 6 months or so, and I will continue to do so; because one day, it WILL save your ass. You're welcome.

Also, back it up to an external hard drive at least once a week.