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Every now and then I find myself feeling an intense need to ship someone.
That’s when I start writing or reading romance.
Even though romance tends to be the punchline amongst “serious” writers, this genre has some of the best stories ever written. Just remember Pride and Prejudice. It also has some of the worst books ever written, think Midnight Sun.
So, what is it that makes romance such a hit or miss?
Keep reading and you’ll find out all about the ominous Love Interest Trap.
Romance as the Plot
When romance is the centre of your entire story, it’s always about the same thing – two people falling madly in love with each other.
It doesn’t matter how they get there.
They can be childhood friends slowly realising they have romantic feelings for each other. Sworn enemies getting turned on by punching each other in the face. Or even star-crossed lovers (he’s a werewolf and she’s allergic to dogs).
It doesn’t even matter how the story ends.
They end up living happily ever after with eleven kids. He finds a cure and stops being a werewolf. He dies tragically in a duel against the villain while promising he will find her in another life.
If romance is the centre of the story, it’s always about two people falling madly in love with each other.
Mind you, all of these stories can be amazing if they’re well written, if the author doesn’t fall into the Love Interest Trap.
So what exactly is the Love Interest Trap?
The Love Interest Trap
Simply put, the Love Interest Trap is a situation your characters find themselves in when their only characteristic becomes the fact they’re madly enamoured with each other.
They live and breathe for each other, they die without each other and they will do anything, any insane shit, to be with each other.
Why is this a problem?
Well, people don’t work that way. Love doesn’t work that way.
Imagine having a boyfriend or girlfriend whose only purpose in life is to be as close to you as possible. You would run away screaming before they could say “I will love you until they rip my bleeding heart out of my chest.”
When this happens to your character, readers can feel they’ve stopped being a separate person and that their only purpose in life now is to be crazy about your protagonist.
Readers are pulled in by compelling, complex characters who have their own goals and dreams.
While overcoming obstacles standing between them can be a wonderful goal for both characters in a romance story, the Love Interest Trap occurs the moment that goal is achieved.
If you’re writing a trilogy, for example, the mere act of overcoming obstacles standing in their way can quickly become repetitive and tedious if your characters aren’t compelling enough to have their separate character paths.
When this happens, your readers usually just... stop shipping the couple.
How to Stop Falling into The Love Interest Trap
Ask yourself these questions:
· What is the love interest doing when the protagonist isn’t around?
· What do they want to achieve by the end of the story?
· Are they contributing to the plot in a meaningful way?
· What is their purpose in the story?
If the love interest has nothing to do when your protagonist isn’t around or if they aren’t contributing to the plot in a meaningful way, you have a problem.
If you want to learn about how to create compelling protagonists and love interests, and craft a romance story that will live in you readers’ hearts and memories, follow our channel!
Thank you for reading and keep writing!
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