How to Write a Love Story

Video Transcript

"Alright folks. In this clip I'm going to teach you how to write a love story. Love stories make for probably the most compelling literature simply because it taps into a side of our souls and our minds and our hearts that few other stories can. Most people can relate to a really well crafted love story, even if it's set in a world far, far away from our own. So you're definitely going to want to be in the right head space if you're writing a love story. Don't write one just for the sake of writing a love story just because you think it'd be a good seller or because you think that's what people want. Really make sure that you feel the depth and breadth of your story before you sit down and put anything on a page. That is by far the most important thing I can tell you at this stage. Once you know the story from the inside out, you're going to want to sit down and plan out the beats of it. Write an outline. Establish your two main characters. Make sure they are well, well crafted and we, the audience, the readers, feel each and every emotion that they feel as well. We need to be plugged into this story like none other because the driving force behind this story is the love between these two characters. And the thing that really gets us going as an audience are the obstacles obviously that are thrown in their way. Whether they be minor emotional and psychological obstacles or major, major physical catastrophe type obstacles. Those will only work and they will only matter and they will only play for an audience if we first and foremost care about this couple. Establish them, establish their relationship in a firm, concrete way and then you can take your audience anywhere. Once you've done that, you want to create a story that moves and generates intense emotional responses from your readers. You want to put your couple through, you want to take them to hell and back basically. A really good love story is one that really just wrenches your heart and soul as you read it because you're so, so strongly rooting for this couple that any sort of obstacles or emotional turmoil that they have to go through is just heart wrenching for the reader. You find yourself reaching for the tissues and handkerchief because you just get all emotionally worked up. That's the best way to create a good love story. So really take the time to fine tune your story. Get in there and hand craft each tiny little bit and beat and make sure that it moves and flows and doesn't lag or get drawn out at any particular moment. Basically handle each chapter and each portion of the story with tender loving care and make sure that we, the readers, just get caught up in the flow and don't ever feel like we're being left behind or like we are stalling in a particular spot or things are moving by too quickly the other way. A love story is like a piece of music. It has to flow. It needs to have a melody to it. So when you're creating the story, make sure that that is the front of your mind, definitely. And once you've gotten the ball rolling and you have your characters well planned out and you have the story moving, you're well on your way to creating an epic love story."