How to Establish Romantic Tension in a Romance Novel

Video Transcript

"Hi, this is Laura Turner and today we're going to be talking about how to create romantic tension in a romance novel. So, the most important thing for you to do first is to identify for yourself what romantic tension is. I would suggest since you're writing in a novel it's going to be primarily visual. You're going to be describing the things that are happening with these people, the looks that are exchanged, the physical description of the people. I would suggest going ff and actually renting some romantic films, and going through and writing down the points at which you feel the tension between the characters. And that sort of spark that we always look for when we watch a romantic comedy or drama. And I would write those down and take note of those moments and figure out what is going on in the moment to create this tension. Usually, you're going to find that the most tense moments in romances are when the two lovers are in conflict with one another. And this does not mean that you should write for example a romance novel about a husband and wife who are constantly fighting. That's not something we want to see working in the world of romance and the ideal. But what you can do is you can use that as a jumping off point. You can put your lovers in conflict with each other. And we all know the idea of sort of the make up sex. If you have your two lovers who are in conflict fighting with each other, and then you have one really hot moment together. So if we all know that sort of idea. So think about moments of conflict. It doesn't necessarily have to be an out and out screaming fight. But it can be sort of one where th woman is running away from the man, or the man has to save the woman and they already have a fight together. But when they come back together, and he's saved her, they have this tension between each other because on the one hand, they're fighting, but on the other hand, he just saved her life. So, you've got this conflict that results in a coming together. And that's what romantic tension really is. So, go out, educate yourself, write down ideas, and figure out what is essentially what is how to you."