No.12532
Hi /lit/ I'm working on a novel and actually am in need of advice on how to write a proper romance.
I've never written anything of the sort but the romance between these two characters really adds to the story since it would be the backstory of the protagonist and it would explain why he acts like a douche with everyone. It is because he was unable to protect his wife who died in a terrorist attack, ever since then he fears that he will have to see those dear to him die, either because he is incapable of protecting them or simply because of time, given the fact he has been cursed with immortality.
His wife had endured the same curse and this led them to somehow connect and fall in love.
Problem is, I dunno how to put this into words in a way that works, I fear it would just feel autistic or stupid.
The setting is a Urban fantasy one that parodies various fantasy tropes, I.E.: mages have to pay a monthly mana bill to Telecom Italia in order to cast spells and sometimes their connection to the world ' s leylines may lag resulting in severely delayed magics.
The novel is in Italian,so I don't think I could share it here, at the moment I was starting to write a part in which the protagonist reminisces about the past after drinking, but as I said I dunno how to write this flashback about his romance.
Pic unrelated.
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No.12548
scusa ma se è immortale non dovrebbe avere più o meno pensato a certe cose?
è immortale da poco?
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No.12552
>>12548
Non proprio da poco, ma la conosce quando lui ha circa 30 anni e viene maledetto 4 o 5 anni prima.
La moglie invece era circa 100 anni più anziana di lui.
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No.12553
>>12552
10 non 4 o 5 scusa.
Se ne accorge 4 o 5 anni prima di conoscere sua moglie perché non cambia d'aspetto e non invecchia e consultando il suo amico Ugo , demone protettore degli avvocati e venditori porta a porta, viene a sapere che qualcuno lo ha maledetto "così per ridere" .
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No.12555
>>12553
e vabbè. in dieci anni ci farai un pensiero o due su cose del tipo "mi tocca vedere invecchiare e morire le persone a cui mi lego, che faccio?"
immagino che le risposte più gettonate sarebbero edonismo sfrenato o stoica rassegnazione. o l'uno seguito dall'altro.
e poi mi pare di aver capito che è immortale ma può essere ucciso, giusto?
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No.12563
>>12555
La risposta numero uno è proprio quello che finisce per fare infatti.
A causa di questo si fa un sacco di nemici e viene trasformato in un gabbiano dopo aver rubato 360 mila euro alla mafia dei maghi.
Soldi che spende in troie thailandesi e cocaina .
Ma quando la moglie era viva era una persona con una morale più tradizionale, anche grazie al fatto che lei gli faceva da "morality pet" diciamo.
Sono cosciente di quanto il tutto suoni stupido.
Sì in questa storia gli immortali possono morire solo di morte violenta.
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No.12565
>>12563
>Sì in questa storia gli immortali possono morire solo di morte violenta.
scusa il mio autismo, se ti capita di fare un incidente molto invalidante e con danni permanenti o con le conseguenze di un decennio di bagordi, come quelle che hai menzionato? sei fregato per l'eternità.
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No.12578
>>12565
È una maledizione mica un regalo dopo tutto.
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No.12587
>>12578
vista così è una cazzo di maledizione.
oh beh, ci si può sempre mettere una pistola in bocca.
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No.12597
The funny thing about romance is that it's often so formulaic in fiction but it's so chaotic and unpredictable in real life. This is a real bugbear of mine because the "romance novel" genre informs what a lot of our society (specifically girls) think romance is, when effectively the whole genre is porn. Just porn. Nothing of any substance whatsoever.
The trick with romance is that often what makes it "believable" isn't necessarily how realistic the relationship is, but rather how well it gels with the plot. This is because romantic couples in real life are very rarely as clear-cut as in Hollywood movies, and because romance is so important to us as a species it has to work with the story (as well as the characters) in order to feel "believable" and "natural."
When it comes to writing real relationships and romance in stories, it is generally dependent on two things: The genre, and the protagonist. Even if the protagonist isn't directly involved in the romance, they must still inform it because in most fiction the protagonist is the filter through we we experience the other characters and the story at large.
Now the reason why the genre matters is that certain kinds of romance might not work for your given story. The typical one-dimensional boyfuck pornographic romance you see in "romance fiction" won't work in a war story, because romance plays such an important part in the psychology of a warrior. There are exceptions, of course, and sometimes throwing off the feel of a story can be helpful, but I'm guessing that's not what you're going for.
As a writer, it's your job to always be thinking about what works best for the story. You hear the word "chemistry" being thrown around a lot by critics, and that's actually a pretty good word for it. Think about the individual actors involved (boyfriend/girlfriend, seme/uke, princess/street rat, &c) and how they interact with one another. This will inform how they treat each other as romantic partners. Now in real life you probably think about a "romantic couple" and have a very good idea of how they would act, but you may know people who break those expectations, which can be good for a story as long as it doesn't interfere in the overall plot. Keep in mind that the way they interact with one another will do a lot to inform the audience into their relationship and will have a significant impact on the plot and how the readers experience it. Make little adjustments to the characters and how they behave and keep rubbing them against each other until you get something that works to further the plot without interfering in any important plot points later on.
And remember, formulaic romance is boring. The new generation likes romantic couples that don't behave like they do in romance novels. It gives them a nice juicy slice of psychology and adolescent angst that they can bite into, and reminds people that you don't need chiseled abs and an amazing rack to be considered an ideal partner. Buck the trends, smash the system, etcetera.
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No.12628
>>12597
It makes me wonder why there's very few romantic/sexual subplots in books or movies where guy sees girl, asks her out and then they go on a date and have sexytime if it works out and that's it. That's like 90% of how real-life relationships go, yet half the time you get some gay bullshit where the guy is a pussy faggot too cowardly to make a move, and you get this endless pussy-footing around the main point and an author who can't write romance to save their life, yet insists on doing it anyway, poisoning the main plot by association.
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No.12633
>>12628
Love is not necessarily the point of romance. It can also be a quick fix plot device, for example to get someone in and out of trouble, an in-story lie, or, if the story is about saving someone, a way to show how close you are to the end.
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No.12657
>>12628
I have to imagine that part of it is to do with feminism ruining sex. If a man has sex with a woman in literature, movies, TV, or anything, feminists will always be there to freak the fuck out about it. Any time you write a romance these days you have to tap-dance around the issue that the man is supposed to make the first move, but if he does then he needs to get her consent otherwise it's "harassment."
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No.12666
>>12657
>implying feminists read or watch what they complain about
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No.12696
>>12597
That's some good advive there, thanks m8!
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No.14143
This thread interests me, greatly, cuz I have a story in mind in which a blossoming romance begins but she dies, and he eventually turns embittered at the world. Anyone got thoughts on how to present the romance in this?
>>12552 >>12548 >>12553 >>12555 >>12563 >>12565 >>12578 >>12587
what the actual fuck?
I aint google translating that shit.
>>12628
>guy is a pussy faggot
>I'll take "I've never met any writers before" for $500, Alex.
>>12666
Well said, Satan.
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No.14144
>>14143
>I aint google translating that shit.
Oh fucking hell
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No.14225
>>12532
to build a believable romance you must throw ton of action into their life, they should start from normal relation, then there should happen something unpredictable when both sides will feel that 'this is it' and well, they should start dating, having sex, promise a lot of stuff to each other, then finally one day get married, have kids, it must not be perfect line, they can fight, they can get separated, there may happen tragedy which will make them drop relationship [but then reunion] think about most believable thing, make the woman arrogant about the guy but unconscious interested ect.
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No.14425
>>12532
>>14225
in my opinion do something like they both have weird crazy symptoms of the curse, but theyre slightly different from eachother, so they work together to find out what each of their unique 'illnesses' are, just to later discover after bested obstacles that they have the same curse
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No.14428
>>14425
also possibly give the curse a really terrible trait, similar to fatal STD, where they can only have a partner with the same curse and it's INSANELY mega rare or some shit. good luck OP
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No.14519
>>12532
>Urban fantasy one that parodies various fantasy tropes
>urban fantasy
>parodies tropes
Bin it. Take up writing once you grow a soul.
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No.14876
>>14143
No one? Is /lit/ really this dead?
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No.14884
>>12628
Same reason mystery novels have clear cut clues and the protagonist doesn't give up 72 hours into an unsolved missing-person's case. It makes for an interesting story because it's outside the norm. Stories, fiction at least, aren't supposed to be realistic.
>>14876
It is and it doesn't help that your subject matter is plebeian as fuck.
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No.14975
>>14519
why does he not have a soul?
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No.14995
>>12532
if you're asking for an advice on an imageboard, you shouldn't be writing anything
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No.15065
>>14143
Hmmmm. I can only suggest that when you make her die, you have to give clues that something bad has happened. Like lets say he wakes up and hears on the news that a fire went off in a building. Then he texts her and gets no response but hes at work and knows its busy for both of them so he doesn't take it personally and continues with his work. He meets at the restaurant but she still hasn't arrived so he goes to her place and discovers their is a candle light vigil for her cause she died in the fire. The real kicker could be that as he is mopping around the streets, he bumps into a stranger who tells him to get a hold of himself, sort of symbolizing that the world continues if you lose something.
The white Plague talks about a dude who goes nuts after his wife and daughters dies and creates a virus to kill all women. That might help you when he goes crazy.
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No.15072
>>12532
I've circumvented this problem by only writing about dysfunctional infatuations that never come to fruition. Write what you know and all that.
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No.15167
>>14975
not him but if you don't create valuable writing and instead mock and satirize """tropes""", you don't have soulful writing tbqh
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No.15172
>>12532
>pic
>doesn't specify when, which is really fucking important when talking about history (who woulda fucking thought?)
Trash-worthy status:
[X] Not trash-worthy
[✓] Into the trash it goes
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