Writing a romance plot in a contemporary drama

What novels have you read which had romantic plots that appealed to you?

I just finished writing a contemporary women's lit with a romance sub plot. But I am a long time romance reader (and I've even started writing a few) so it came naturally to me.

My question is this: how to you learn? It's different for every person. If I were asking this question, the answer would be: start reading this list of romance books. Because that's how I learn best. But this isn't about me.

There are tons of books about writing romance plots and subplots. And reading ABOUT romance works for some people. Not me.

So, let's start with how you learn and then we'll go from there. Also your timeline is a good idea, and how fast do you read?

It's unclear to me...is she having a sexual relationship on the side with Tris, or is it emotional cheating? (I ask to narrow down potential recommendations).

"How" you'd learn is by making yourself pay attention to the craft side of what you're reading (or watching, because I might recommend some movies, too) instead of getting caught up in the larger plot. Nothing beats reading in the genre, but you have to know what to look for, how the writer is manipulating your--the audience's--view of the relationship. Movies are a bit of a cheat because there are other cues like background music that work the emotional strings, too, but if you can watch and pay closer attention to the story--how the beats are being used--than the overall movie, you can overcome the extras.

One thing for sure, if you have a romantic subplot, it's going to have it's own arc and beats, separate from the larger plot. This is one of the difficulties of writing romance. You have to manage two separate arcs. For a short, sweet primer on the romance beats, I really recommend Gwen Hayes Romancing the Beat. It plays off of Snyder's Save the Cat but it's more simplified. I recently picked up a copy (it's under 100 pages) and I have to say, I love that it not only explains the beats, but she includes an example book plan. So you can see the overall beat and what it's purpose is, and then an example of how it's used in a story. I find the combo more conducive to my learning style than just reading about what the beat "is". Once you learn what writers are doing in a romance or romantic arc, you can recognize it in books you read or movies you watch.

Another tactic I've tried is finding the Save the Cat Beat sheets on the StC website for movies I'm familiar with to see "how they did it." I linked to the Buddy Love subset since that's where most romantic movies fall. Silver Linings Playbook is a good one for this. The StC link has 3 pages of movies, so you can see if there's something there you're already familiar with.

Your storyline has elements of a less lethal Unforgiven, a movie about infidelity you might try, to see how the "romantic" bits are developed before it all goes to sh**.

You could read "The Thorn Birds" which is about a young woman who fell in love with a Catholic priest.

Ok. An emotional affair is a different beast than your typical romance. Most romances tend to jump heavily into the physical side of things. Thornbirds is an excellent recommendation, but the relationship is emotionally manipulative and abusive.

What is the POV of the story?

Ohhhhhh. That's harder. A teenage boy POV in an emotional affair (is the emotion reciprocated?) with an older, ill woman. Yikes.

I'm going to admit straight out... out of my depth with that one. I'm one of those people that, if you ask me for directions and I don't know, I'll be honest "I got nothing." That's where I am with the advice on what might be good for you to read.

MAYBE start with asking about teenage male POV romance plots and see what you get in response?

Jodie Picoult and Megan Abbot both write from teenage pov. The Fever is the pov from teenage siblings(brother and sister) and Lone Wolf also has sibling pov.

Both of these books wouldn't be in the "romance" genre. But both are seasoned writers.

ps. Thornbirds was great too!

Definitely check out On the Island by Tracey Garvis-Graves (an AW member). Your book reminds me of it. It features a slow-burning romance between a teenage boy and his older tutor that becomes physical after he turns 18, all while being stranded on a desert island (really). Best of all, it switches 1st-person POVs between the two.

satyesu said:

I bought it, but it says right in the beginning that the book is about happily ever after/happy for now plots. Mine is neither - in the end she chooses her husband, though she also dies, so maybe I could kill her off before she decides. Regardless, it's not a happy ending for the protagonist. Would RtB still be helpful, do you think?

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I do, insofar as most of the beats will help you with that mini-arc, and this book is good as showing what the beats look like in action. You won't finish the arc, though, for sure. What it can help with is to make sure you get on the page the parts that would bolster the romantic sub-plot, up to the break up, or the catastrophe, whatever happens. Of course, this is just my opinion. Even though I write romance, it's not uncommon for me to skip over beats, and it leaves plot holes and questions about the romantic arc (like, why does this woman even like this guy for real?). I find it a useful tool, just something else in the kit.