Writing Tips and Reviews

Romance is not simple

I'm going to ask you one thing, what is your OTP and why? Okay, that was two. Mine is Asbel and Cheria from Tales of Graces because they are realistic. They start as childhood friends, separate for years, come back, learn about how they've changed, and start to like each other as they travel. But for some romance writers, that is never stated. "It's my OTP" has become the defining factor of a romantic couple and it is frustrating.

Romance isn't just about kissing all day and wanting to be in love. That's a child's definition. It's complicated, personalities, history, interests, hobbies, similarities, and differences have to be considered. It isn't, "they fell in love immediately and it was true love." Or "all he wanted in life was romance" then three seconds later he finds the perfect match and story ends.

Tell me what's better, a boy dreams of having a romantic partner, that's all he cares about. He goes to the store and meets the perfect girl and they live a perfect loving life. Or, a boy is trying to find medication for his mother who's sick, he meets a girl and they fight over the last one. He ends up giving it to her but she lets him have half to help his mom. They meet up a week or so later and talk about how their parents are doing. That starts the relationship as they continue to meet. They talk about their interests, have fights over stupid things, and then eventually their parents find out and they're embarrassed that their parents think they're together.

I would choose the second one in a heartbeat.

How does saying "it's my OTP" describe the relationship, characters, and emotions? How "it's my OTP" convey to people WHY you like it? "Well you have to understand. It's my OTP." Can you see why that's not an explanation? Romance isn't "wordless" in stories, it can't even be that way in real life anymore. Why do these characters work? How do their personality types clash? How do they deal with their differences? How do they deal with problems? What do they do when other people are against the relationship? "But it's my OTP." No, no stop that.

Romance is complicated. It needs more than saying how perfect these characters are and that they're your favorite couple. Especially when you're writing them. There's no excuse to exclude who a character is before they're romantically involved. Romance is not a character description. You cannot write a bio with "they're in love XYZ." Who cares? You also can't describe them as someone's partner. Are you really going to describe Jasmine as Aladdin's wife and leave it at that? How undermining is that?