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? 

Writing Playlist 1: Action Scenes

Writing Playlist

Music can make or break your writing flow. I’m all over the place when it comes to music. I know what I like when I'm just driving in my car or working out, but when it comes to writing, I just can't seem to find a pattern. I tend to find one or two songs that I really connect with, and I'll just play them on repeat until the words get on the page. Then I get bored with those songs and have to start all over again. It's a vicious cycle.

And of course, every type of scene requires a different sound. Action scenes, emotional scenes, heist scenes, romantic scenes. You have to tailor the sound to the scene. If you're killing off a character, you probably shouldn't listen to "Happy Days Are Here Again." Then again, who knows? We all have our quirks. So rather than waste hours trying to pick that "perfect sound," I figured I'd help you out with sharing a little from my very own writing playlists.

Where to get your listening experience: I use Spotify, which I definitely recommend, but any other music source works too. Some people think Spotify is a bit intimidating, having basically every song at your fingertips. For people who like a pre-packaged soundtrack, I'd suggest the 8 tracks website. If you follow the link, it'll lead you right to playlists with the "writing" tag. It's a wonderful resource.

Let's talk action. When I write action scenes, I want a writing playlist that pumps me up. I like songs that build, songs I can get lost in, and songs that reflect the magnitude of the scenes I'm writing. Music should enhance, not distract. So below you can find my writing playlist, and yes it's girly and yes it's cheesy and yes it's awesome in every way.

1. Dead Hearts by Stars

2. Stay The Night by Zedd feat. Hayley Willams

3. Clarity by Zedd feat. Foxes

4. Anything Could Happen by Ellie Goulding

5. Start a Riot by Jetta

6. Young Blood by The Naked And Famous

7. My Body by Young the Giant

8. Such Great Heights by The Postal Service

9. Cosmic Love by Florence + The Machine

10. Electric Heart by Sia, The Weeknd, Diplo

Writing Calendar: Keeping Count of Your Writing

writing calendar

As part of my New Years resolution, I decided to try and write every day. I'll admit it: I'm not a disciplined writer. I try my best to get work done, but between school and work, it was hard to make time. Now, I've got a lot of time on my hands, and there's really no excuse. I applaud those of you who can write 3,000+ words a day while balancing kids and jobs and what have you. That's amazing. As for me, I decided to take one small step at a time, and start with a simple 500 words a day.

Jeff Goins, whom I love and admire, created this program called My 500 Words. It's a 31 day challenge where you simply write 500 words a day. As Jeff says, "It takes me anywhere from 30-60 minutes to write 500 words. And if I keep up with that pace, I’ve got a book in 90 days." Above, you can see a glimpse of my writing calendar. As you can see, vacation kind of got in the way, but I'm not punishing myself. I just picked up where I left off. And that's good!

Writing Calendar

My writing calendar is based off of word count, and I've got the system down. The idea came from writer Laini Taylor, who recently posted her methods on her blog. I'm the kind of person that does well with visuals, so seeing my progress in front of me really kickstarts my writing.

Here's how my system works:

1. Word Count Colors. I found this little marker/stamp at Target that has three colors: magenta, yellow and orange. If I write my 5oo words, then I get a magenta dot. Yellow is for 1,000 and Orange is for 1,500. I write the exact number of words on the day, so I can tally my words for the week.

2. Cupcakes. Math lesson: 500 words a day for 7 days equals 3,500 words for the week. If I reach that 3,500, I get a cupcake sticker. Pretty cute, huh?

3. Congratulations banner. Not pictured above, if I reach 14,000 words for the month, then I get a "congratulations" sticker for the month.

There's no "right" way to make a writing calendar, but it helps to make it fun! The main ingredients are writing and reward. Celebrate your work! You deserve it!

Do you have a writing calendar? How has it improved your writing time? Comment below!

How Writers Can Use Pinterest

How Writers Can Use Pinterest

Who doesn't love Pinterest? Want to know more on how writers can use Pinterest? You've come to the right place! 

There’s a difference between distraction and inspiration. It’s a very thin line that exists between them, and I'm pretty sure that line is called Pinterest. When I spend hours on Pinterest, looking at home décor and thinking, “Oh, if only I had the money!” or at stick thin models thinking, “OMG all I need in this world is a turban headband and an oversized sweater,” that’s distraction. Sometimes though, I make Pinterest work to my advantage.

I’ve got a secret board that I call, “Book Board,” which is extremely original, I know. That’s where I’ll put everything that really inspires me, like settings, what I think my characters might look like and pictures that I feel could feed into my story somehow. Pictures evoke emotion, plain and simple.

When I used to scribble story ideas when I was younger, I’d get wrapped up in Google Images, trying to search out exactly what I wanted everything to look like. Characters. Their cars. Their makeup. I'd spend hours. That’s distraction. Now, I only refer to Pinterest when I really need a jumpstart to the writing. Use it for good, my friends.

There are so many reasons why Pinterest can be a writer's best friend! Here are my top 5:

1. Writing Tips. 

There are some great articles out there for writers, and Pinterest is a great way to find them. Need editing tips? Here's one I found. How's about organizing? Check this out. The awesomeness is endless. If you want help, you can follow my writing tip board here.

2. Book Lists.

Looking for your next book? Or maybe some book reviews? If you're like me, you may like pretty pictures. And Pinterest has some awesome book cover art, like this one here. You could even do something really neat and make a board for all the books you've read that year! And the ideas just keep on coming.

3. Quotes.

Who doesn't love quotes? I have to say I'm pretty proud of my quote board, and I'm always adding to it. It's a great way to keep you inspired, and to get some advice from the greats. You can even make your own quotable pins over at Recite This!

4. Writing Prompts.

Sometimes you really need a kickstart to get into writing, and prompts are a helpful way to do that. Pinterest is always keeping writers up to date with original prompts. Here's a perfect board to follow.

5. Inspiration Board.

Again, we're back to the book board idea. I keep mine private, but there are plenty of writers with boards upon boards just for world building! It's awesome! Here's an example.

Are you on Pinterest yet? Let's be friends! Follow me here. How are you using Pinterest as a writer/reader? Comment below!

New Year, New Ink

photo copy 2

So about that novel… how's it coming? It's a new year everybody! Let's ring it in with pens in hand! Let me start by saying that traditionally, I don't believe in resolutions. By their nature, I feel like they're just set up for failure. I like to think of them more as goals. For instance, don't say "I'm going to lose weight this year," but instead say, "I'm going to get a gym membership. I'm going to eat less cake for breakfast." Things like that. Plans of attack, my friends. And a whole lot less cake.

So without further ado, I'm going to break some of my rules here and make my own somewhat lofty, somewhat concrete writing resolutions:

Writing Resolutions

So these may seem like the "I wanna lose weight" instead of the "Gym membership" example, but I think it's good to start big and narrow them down from there.

How is your New Year going? Keeping up with writing? I encourage you to create your own writing resolutions today! Feel free to share in the comments!