Let’s get our romance on! In the spirit of the coming love holiday let us take a step into the world of romantic comedies. A genre designed to give anyone butterflies, has a very straight forward plot. Boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy tries to get girl back. We have seen it over and over and yet I always find myself being drawn towards these novels. Now, we are not here to take an in depth look at my personal library but instead how you can get started on creating your own rom com!
In terms of the structure a typical rom com goes as follows:
Introductions: The reader meets the characters individually, before they meet each other.
The meet cute: This is when the two characters meet and sparks fly! The “meet cute” is memorable for the characters. For example, in Romeo and Juliet when they meet for the first time and lock eyes followed by a kiss all within 5 minutes of meeting each other!
Falling in love: This is when the lovey-dovey love sequence happens in movies. Where clip after clip you see them simply being in the act of love with one another. Now, in terms of a novel we have a little more time to grow the chemistry between the characters. So, let their relationship grow!
Conflict: Of course there has to be a turning point. The hurdle the couple must go through where an argument or an act threatens their relationship. For example, one of the characters can’t let go of a past relationship.
Breakup: More often than not the characters breakup or are separated briefly. But this gives them time to realize what they are missing!
Happy ending: The conflict is resolved, and love is back!
Now that the basic structure of the novel is out of the way…how do you make it entertaining for the reader. Because as I said, most of the time the structure is the same, it’s how you build the story that makes it worth reading.
Here are some more tips…
Make it relatable. Why does the reader find love? Are they lonely or went through a bad breakup recently? Give them a reason to find love.
The sidekick! There’s almost always the friend who gives bad advice or lightens the mood. But the character needs someone to depend on when the conflict arises.
Give them romance. This might be a given but the reader knows they picked up a romance so give them a romance! Create memorable scenes to make a compelling story. It’s okay to be over the top romantic too!
Stay true to your character. Don’t lose sight of your character just because they are in love. It’s okay for them to grow individually..but still together.
I hope this helps you on your journey of writing a romantic comedy!
Happy Writing!
HR,
Great timing, HR. I am adding a little love on my Sci-F novel. This was helpful.
Thank you,
Gary
Glad we could help! Best of luck on your novel!
Thank you, HR.