How to Write a Love Story

Ever wonder how the great love stories are written? Learn how to write a love story that's believable and romantic! 

Last week, Valentine's Day got me thinking about some of the greatest literary love stories. Pride and Prejudice. Wuthering Heights. Gone with the Wind. There's a reason why these classics still have us swooning today. When it comes to writing romance, there are key factors every writer needs to think about.

If you're wondering how to write a love story, you have to ask yourself, what kind of love story am I writing? Is it a hopeful one? Is it a tragedy? Is the love story the main story or a supplement to the overall plot? Let me break it down for you:

The Meet Cute

Who doesn't love a good "how we met" story? I can think of some great ones off the top of my head: Gus and Hazel Grace in The Fault in Our Stars, Charlie and Sam in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Noah and Allie in The Notebook.

When two future love birds meet for the first time, there has to be an impact: negative or positive. We need to feel that this person is important and a game-changer to the story. 

A few things to think about when writing the meet cute: 

• How do my characters meet? Through friends? By chance? How does their meeting set up the story?

• What's the initial reaction? Do they like each other? Do they clash? If so, why?

• What do they look like? Are they attracted to each other? Or does that come later?

• How do they walk away? After their initial meeting, how do they feel? Anger? Curiosity?

Read more about what makes a love story stick with us. 

Believability

In order for readers to buy your character's romance, ground it in reality | @blotsandplots #writetip (TwEEt This)

Chemistry: It's not just science, my friends. In the scenes after the meeting but before all the love, we need to see a progression in the relationship. We need to see the reasoning behind why they're falling for each other. These can be very simple scenes, but filled with emotion impact. Maybe she likes the way he reads to his grandmother on the weekends. Maybe he falls for the way she paints.

We need to know them as individuals, and we need to know them as a couple. It has to make sense. Are they compatible? Are they opposites? In either case, we need the proof. Pro Tip: learn how to write epic love stories. 

Obstacles

There are no perfect couples. Need I say it again? No couples are perfect! So why would you write them that way? Try to think about the obstacles to love, both internal and external. Then ask yourself these questions:

• What are their relationship flaws? What irritates your character about his/her partner? What do they fight about?

• What is the biggest threat to their relationship? Is it external? Is it a character flaw? How do they deal with it?

• Can they overcome? Are their obstacles too great? Do they fight or do they give up?

Love stories must grab the attention and affection of readers, so that they never want to let go. I still remember the first time I read A Walk to Remember, and how invested I was.

Love stories are the kind of stories that readers revisit over and over again. For extra reading on how to write a love story, I recommend visiting this article from the Write Practice. Want more? Read this advice from twenty published writers.

Discussion Time: How would you write a love story? What's your biggest struggle? What comes naturally? 

My Top Ten Writing Pitfalls

Writing Pitfalls 2

Ever get stuck in a writing rut? Need help to dig yourself out? Welcome to the club! Here's where I struggle, and how to fix it! 

You know that moment where the will is there but it's hidden behind layers and layers of procrastination? Sometimes, I find myself at my computer or sitting with my notebook in front of me for two hours straight, thinking, ok just one more cute baby youtube video. Spoiler alert: it's never just one more video. I just spent five minutes on tumblr before I got to this sentence. See? It's a sickness.

Here are the top ten things that keep me from writing, and what to do about them:

1. Social Media. So this is naturally number one. I'm on Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest, etc. and usually all at the same time. Social media is awesome, but it's also a time-sucker. Try to limit yourself, and then stick to that time frame. I promise, there is always another status to read.
2. Work. To all my 9-5ers, kudos to you for trying to start a writing adventure. I'm currently working up to ten hours a day, five-six days a week; and I'm not going to lie, it's exhausting. Welcome your weekends. Perfect writing time. And if you can manage to spend an hour or two writing on the weekdays, you'll be better for it.
3. School. Homework, projects and papers. Don't you love them? To all of you college people, embrace that time. Aside from classes, college typically allows for a flexible schedule. Just stay on top of your school work, and then get busy with your writing time.
4. Sleep. One of my favorite things! Sometimes, if you don't get enough, any time you have for writing will come from a super sleepy brain. So my advice? Get plenty of sleep. Your writing will thank you.
5. Other People. Let's go get dinner! Let's go out! Let's go to a movie! Sound familiar? Friends are awesome. The best, in fact. Give yourself permission to be a loner sometimes though, and keep your writing on track.
6. "Writer's Block." I use quotes because I don't believe this actually exists. You may not feel that you have any ideas, but should that stop you from writing? No. Just scribble down some words and let the ideas flow.
7. Over-planning. This happened to me a lot at the beginning of the novel process. I had all of these ideas of where I wanted the novel to go that I neglected the actual writing part. Planning is good, but there needs to be a balance. Always write.
8. Relax writing. If it's been a long day, I like to write in bed. Lounge writing, you know? This never works out well, because guess what? I fall asleep. So get dressed in the morning, get to a desk or a table and get working.
9. Too much talk, no action. There are plenty of people who call themselves writers or say they want to write a book, but often, they don't actually follow through with it. So don't be a talker. Write!
10. Writing. Didn't see this coming did you? So for any freelancers or bloggers, this is especially important. Don't let work writing get in the way of creative writing. Keep it organized!

I hope that you found this helpful, and that maybe you're a little closer to a little distraction-free writing. Learn how to make time to write here.

Discussion Time: What are your top writing pitfalls? What's keeping you from your goals?

Why You Should Write Your Novel on Paper

Now that you've started your novel, what's the best way to write it? Here are some reasons why I recommend paper before you jump to the computer! 

Note: This post was last edited on April 3, 2016. 

When I first start a novel, I write the first draft completely by hand. Why is that? I found that writing on paper helped me to quit analyzing and create faster. Skeptical? Allow me to convince you.

Studies show that writing longhand fires up the brain differently than computer writing does. According to the Huffington post, handwriting is important for brain development and cognition. Translation? Writing longhand can release your creativity in ways computer writing cannot.

Let's dive into the benefits of writing on paper, shall we?

SPARK YOUR CREATIVITY

When I first started writing, I used Microsoft Word.  I quickly realized that screens are draining. There’s a reason you’re supposed to be technology-free before you go to sleep. Screens are not our friends.

Think about it. Have you ever realized how blinding white a Word document is? Does it make you tired or is that just me? That doesn’t do much for creativity, I’ve found.

When I can't make it work on the laptop, that's when I pick up the pen and paper. The tactile movement, the distraction-free nature, and the feeling of connection encouraged my story.

Creative boosters that also come with writing on paper: 

• Margin writing. If I'm writing a scene on paper, I get tons of ideas. I use the heck out of my margins, writing ideas for future scenes or characters, and brainstorming when I need it.

• Instagram-worthy notebooks. This may be trivial in the grand scheme of things, but overall, having a pretty notebook really amps my excitement to write.

• Page-flipping, line-filling greatness. There's something amazing about the feeling of flipping a page filled with your own words. This is a great way to see your progress in full scale!

PREVENT SELF-EDITING

There is no “delete” key when it comes to pen and paper. When you write your novel on paper, it allows you to get everything out in the open before your brain kicks in to fix it.

All the misspellings, all the unfinished ideas, all the questions are welcome on the page. It starts with a big mess. Editing comes later.

Here are a few ways to "edit" without editing:

• Scratch it out. One strikethrough, and that's it. That way, you can still read the words when you go back through again.

• Use margins for notes. Like I said above, if you need to make a note, use your margins! If something isn't working in your scene, write it down.

• Move on, man. Is your scene derailing? Stop and take a breath. Skip a line and move on to the next scene.

TAKE IT WITH YOU

Notebooks are portable, people! When it comes to writing on the go, it's much easier to carry a notebook along with you than it is to lug your laptop around.

Tablets work, of course, but then there's the keyboard. Also, you never have to charge a notebook. Hooray for eternal battery life!

TRANSFER YOUR TEXT, GET IDEAS

There are plenty of good things to be said about the process of transferring scenes from paper to print. It gives you new ideas, a new way of seeing things, a fresh look at what you’ve already written. For me, this is the point where my story begins to take shape.

If you're looking for a program to organize your scenes, I recommend Scrivener. (Not an affiliate link.) Scrivener allows for a post-it note organization tool that lets you easily move your scenes around in the order you choose. 

There's no "right" way to use the program, and it helps to take your novel-in-progress to the next level.

BE ONE OF THE GREATS

There's something connective about writing on paper. It brings you back to a time when writing was more organic, where you didn't have instant access to research, where all that mattered was your brain and what you could do with it.

You can write a great book in any way. But this way? It joins you to some of the great writers of the past. And that's pretty powerful.

Thanks for reading, my friends. I hope you dive pen-first into writing. 

Discussion Time: Have you ever tried to write your novel on paper? What are your pros and cons?