Couples round out many novels. Getting people together creates suspense, and a strong build-up can make a satisfying read. So satisfying that your hypothetical readers are asking for a sequel starring those same characters. It’s hard to create that same tension and spark without breaking the couple up, but here are a few alternatives to keep books interesting with established, healthy relationships. While ruining a relationship or keeping an established couple apart and longing for each other can be an effective plot trigger, it’s often overused. The story after they get together doesn’t have to be sickeningly mundane. Neither person in the relationship has to die, they don’t have to fight constantly and learn how to make up, one of them doesn’t have to be manipulated into leaving to keep the stakes high and the story fresh. Perhaps the easiest way to do this is to give the main characters a conflict they overcome as a team. It’s satisfying to see strong buildup show in the way characters handle their relationship alongside a new threat (depending on the genre, it could be the world ending or a meddling family member). As they learn more about each other through this experience, readers can see them learning to trust each other instead of questioning in suspicion. Having characters with history the reader is invested in rising to a challenge as a team can provide a filling story on its own. Maybe a lone-world risk-taker now has to reconsider their actions because they have someone else to protect or a hero realizes that they don’t have to do it alone anymore. It can be difficult to stretch this development out over multiple books, but people spend their whole lives growing and changing, and your characters can too! While the sweet spot for ending a romance is often after they get together for the happily ever after, we can see in recent popular books like Red, White, and Royal Blue and the Heroes of Olympus series that introduce conflicts for couples to overcome together can be done to further the relationship. Writers should be careful that the new plotlines don’t come at expense of the relationship because readers want to see sweet interactions or in-character banter from the couple they spent a significant amount of the book, a book, or even a whole series rooting for. If the plot and conflict outside the relationship are exciting enough, the relationship itself can be used to explore the characters through their vulnerabilities. A healthy relationship doesn’t solve every issue the character has. Especially for book characters, there is trauma and hurt all over the place that can be explored as a continuation of the relationship. I love “And So the All Lived Happily Ever After” by Simone King as an example of this done right. King does not provide a new outside terror nor does she ruin the relationship. She explores the characters and their relationship through conflict but doesn’t feel the need to create dramatic friction to make the plot. Another thing this short story does well is keeping the characters in character. The protagonist seems to be created with the hero archetype in mind, with all the accomplishments alongside the slight hubris, and that doesn’t change just because he is in a relationship. As a writer, it could also be interesting to see characters change through their relationships, and this is definitely something you can include in a story without having characters argue or break up. This approach can also be useful because readers like that. There’s something wonderful about a kind, tender, sweet scene with people who understand and love each other unconditionally, bare their souls to each other with trust. While this shouldn’t be overdone, reading these scenes can feel like a warm hug. These are the scenes some readers highlight in pink and come back to. Tips summarized:
As a reader, I would love to see more couples going through things together and coming out alright on the other side. Even without one of them being kidnapped or one of the characters breaking up with the other “for their own safety,” you can write an interesting book with a gorgeous, established relationship. (Also, I would kill to read some more tooth-rotting fluff!) Happy writing! Stuti DesaiStuti Desaiis a high school student in New Jersey. They like (in no particular order) books, music, science, history, running, and (of course) writing and are always up to learn something new! Find them on Instagram at @writing_stoot.
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