By Eric Weiss
Romance writing is hard.
In fact, writing a good romance is in many ways more difficult than living one. A fictional romance is what we wish romance could be, where every day is Valentine’s Day. In reality, we know that life is too long to sustain the level of passion. If we’re going to escape, it needs to be worth our time.
Thankfully, romance writing is like real-life romance in one key regard: you will get better at it if you put in the work! With that in mind, here are three different kinds of romance writing prompts that can be used in any genre. You can create these prompts with The Story Engine Deck, or use the same story structures and prompt questions to write on your own!
To learn more about writing romances and complex relationships, you can also watch our pre-Valentine's Day workshop livestream with award-winning author C.L. Clark!
1. The Love Triangle
The love triangle is the ultimate romantic cliché. From Twilight to Twelfth Night, every genre is filled with tales of people who simply couldn’t choose between two different yet equally compelling romantic options.
The thing is, the love triangle is a staple for a reason. It puts three people into a situation where only two can get what they want. That's a perfect recipe for dramatic tension. Characters are set against each other, and figuring out how they navigate the situation (and its fallout) creates opportunities for growth and plot development for everyone involved.
The question, then, is how to write a love triangle?
We have some suggestions you can adapt from The Story Engine guidebook (available as a free PDF here), and you can learn the basics of the deck on our tutorial page. For starters, you can try making a Soul Divided prompt (p. 5). With this format, you draw one Agent Card to serve as the focal point of your triangle. This card represents your Bella or your Buffy – it’s the protagonist that the other characters desire.
From there, you can draw two more Agent Cards and place them on either side of the protagonist. These represent the suitors – the Edwards, Jacobs, Spikes, and Angels of the world. Finally, draw two Engine Cards and two Conflict Cards to connect your protagonist to their potential love interests. (Note: You may want to draw a few extra Engine cards to find one that fits with the romantic theme.)
That last step is critical because it distinguishes the romantic leads. A love triangle isn’t particularly interesting if the rivals are too similar. Ideally, each one should appeal to a different side of your protagonist, and draw something different out of them during their interactions. The protagonist is essentially choosing between two aspects of themself, and having a separate motivation for each relationship helps make that dynamic clearer.
You can read our guidebook for more information about the Soul Divided. Try asking yourself the following questions as you develop your romance writing prompt and consider how to write your love triangle:
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What makes the protagonist's relationship with each character different?
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Why would they be heartbroken if they split up with either character?
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What would they never get to experience again if they left each character?
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What would force them to choose?
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What happens if they refuse to choose one or the other?
Note: If your goal is a love triangle, we do recommend focusing on Agent Cards rather than Anchors. A character torn between love and a personal obsession is fun in its own right, but it’s not quite the same thing as a love triangle.
A Soul Divided Prompt describing a Fickle Misfit who is torn between a Rejuvenating Daredevil and a Determined Guardian.
2. The Enemies to Lovers Romance
Enemies to lovers is another trope that has stood the test of time, serving as the foundation for romantic classics like Pride and Prejudice and When Harry Met Sally. Few things are more satisfying than watching two characters turn conflict into something beautiful.
The trope is also very easy to set up with a Clash of Wills writing prompt (guidebook p. 5). In format, the Clash of Wills looks similar to the Soul Divided. However, you’ll want to place an Anchor Card at the center instead of an Agent Card. The Anchor represents an object of mutual interest for your two characters – something that they are both pursuing for independent reasons.
Like the love triangle, enemies to lovers works because it pits two characters against each other. Two people want the same thing, and only one can have it. As a result, your soon-to-be lovers will inevitably clash as they work to accomplish their own goals.
You can use the competition to fuel your character’s initial hostility. Try asking the following questions to help your characters smooth over their differences and make the shift from enemies to lovers:
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What do the characters begrudgingly respect about each other?
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What do they dislike about one another? Are those things real character flaws, or could they be classified as minor annoyances?
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Why do they stay in each other's minds (even if it's frustration or annoyance)?
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What could possibly force them to work together?
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What would it take to get them to admit their attraction to themselves, to someone they trust, or to each other?
A Clash of Wills Prompt in which a Passionate Imposter and a Cheery Teacher are both after a Fortune-Telling Map that may attract the attention of other parties.
3. The Slow Burn Romance (AKA It's Complicated)
Unlike the other two, our last trope isn’t rooted in antagonism. No one is inherently set against one another in a slow burn relationship. In fact, your two would-be lovers may even rely on one another in some capacity. They could be friends. They could have a transactional relationship. They may have known one another for quite some time without any hint of romantic interest.
The complication occurs when one party realizes they could be something more. The setup works dramatically because the two characters aren’t on the same page. There’s always some risk when changing the terms of a relationship. What if they don’t see you the same way? Figuring out where the other party stands is a confusing process with lots of stops and starts. There’s also a lot of miscommunication, which in turn leads to growth as characters try to figure out what they really want (and what they need to do to get it).
For a slow burn relationship, we recommend a Circle of Fate Prompt (guidebook p. 4), constructed with two Agents (each with their own Engine). The layout depicts two people who keep popping up in each other’s lives for some reason. Maybe they want it that way (as expressed through their motivation). Maybe it’s all coincidence, based on some external circumstance.
Either can work as long as there’s something that creates opportunity for interaction, which in turn gives the relationship time to evolve as the two characters find things to love about each other. These are some great questions to consider as you develop your romance writing prompt and the dynamic between them starts to change:
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How do the characters come to realize they want each other?
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What are they afraid will happen to their existing relationship if they make it complicated?
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What would make either character retreat from potential romance?
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If they're at a standstill, what would make a character risk everything to pursue romantic attraction?
A Circle of Fate Prompt in which a Misunderstood Hunter wants to save a Talkative Ghost - who is also obsessed with the Hunter.
If you want to take your relationship writing to the next level, we also encourage you to check out the aforementioned romance writing workshop with C.L. Clark, the award-winning author of The Unbroken and the new League of Legends novel Ambessa: Chosen of the Wolf (amongst other things). Clark shared some fantastic tips for writing relationships that jump off the page, and even helped us invent a new prompt format with The Story Engine.
As with any kind of writing, a great romance is a process. The more you study the mechanics, the more effortless it will feel when the reader finally sees it on the page!