“Maybe it won’t work out. But maybe seeing if it does will be the best adventure ever.”
— Unknown
“Forget all the reasons why it wont work and believe the one reason why it will.”
— Unknown
“You must go on adventures to find out where you belong.”
— Sue Fitzmaurice
Any advice on writing someone who's got a crush? I don't want to make it sound too "omg I think they're perfect" every other sentence.
When you’re writing a character with a crush, tension is created through action and reaction. Every time your character acts, hesitates, speaks their mind, holds their tongue, makes a move, get’s discouraged, etc. builds the tension and encourages the reader to become invested. Crushes in storytelling should be shown through the character’s actions and the world’s reactions, not through dialogue or narration.
Show the reader the character taking 20 minutes to build up the courage to walk up to their locker, where their crush has one right next to theirs because they’re worried they’ll blurt out the wrong thing if the other person shows up. Don’t just tell the reader that the character feels nervous around them or gets butterflies. Show the butterflies threatening to erupt as their crush sits at the only available seat left in homeroom, which happens to be next to them.
Types of Romantic Tension
Tips On Writing Skinny Love
Guide To Writing Friends To Lovers
Guide To Writing Enemies To Lovers
Resources For Writing YA Fiction/Romance
Guide To Writing Will-They-Won’t-They
Rivalry vs. Abuse
Guide To Writing Forbidden Love
20 Mistakes To Avoid in YA/Romance
Best Friends To Lovers Resources
How to develop an Enemies-To-Lovers story
Prompts
Skinny Love Writing Prompts
Study Date Prompts
Best Friends-To-Lovers Prompts
Enemies-To-Lovers Prompts
Tol & Smol Couple Prompts
Romantic Prompts
Soulmates Alternate Universe Prompts
General Romance Tips
Resources For Romance Writers
Creating A Love Interest For An Introvert
Writing Opposites Who Attract
Describing Heartbreak
Balancing Fluff and Conflict
Writing Great Fanfiction
How To Write The Perfect Kiss
On Romantic Subplots
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Masterlist | WIP Blog
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Everyone knows the age old rule “show don’t tell” but people rarely explain what that actually means. Don’ tell your reader what happened, put them in the scene so they can experience it with the characters. Don’t say “Ella walked to the dining hall and discovered Stacy and Rick arguing in the corner”. Write about Ella walking to the dining hall, how she heard hushed voices and couldn’t make out the words at first but recognized the voices. Write about how as she got closer she could make out fragments of the argument and when she passed them in the hall they stopped speaking as soon as they spotted her. This will make for a much more interesting story.
When writing you’ll most likely skip time in your story. It’s very rare that you will come across a story during a short, unbroken chunk of time. So, skipping time is an important skill to learn, and I’m here to help!
With the exception of very short fiction, most stories are broken into scenes. Each scene tells the tale of a particular movement or event. In longer stories, such as novellas and novels, the scenes are grouped into chapters. Sometimes a chapter contains only one scene. It all depends on what needs to be conveyed in the certain chapter. Either way, starting a new scene or chapter is a natural way to represent the passage of time in your story. Unless stated, readers will automatically assume that time has passed between each scene. But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t make the transition between each scene, because without that transition, the passage of time will seem clumped together and won’t flow properly.
The key to skipping time between scenes or chapters can be done two different ways:
Set up the time skip: At the end of the chapter, hint at what is to come.
Example: My eyes focused on the board in front of me, the words reminding me of my impending doom. Our first test of the year in a class I hadn’t paid attention to at all. My heart rate accelerated as I wondered how well I will do on the upcoming test.
Clarify time, place and -if necessary- POV at the beginning of the new scene, or chapter, playing off the set up from the previous scene or chapter.
I found myself back in school monday. As I walked into class, my eyes twitched and my hands shook. I took my seat, all the way in the back of the classroom, chewing on my pen cap, wishing I had studied.
Notice how the set up at the end of the previous scene/chapter flows seamlessly into the beginning of the new scene/chapter? Because the passage of time is expected between scenes and chapters, it’s not always necessary to be direct about how much time has passed. Especially if the amount of time is unimportant or already implied.
Direct: Early on Monday morning Margaret dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her ability to pass highschool hinged on the test she would be taking today. She hated the uncertainty of what was ahead, but what grinds her gears even more was the thing she did know: today was going to be a horrible day.
Two hours later, Margraet walked into her classroom, cold coffee in hand, trying to seem bubbly and happy even though she knew that her entire life depended on whether or not she failed this test.
Less Direct: Early on Monday morning Margaret dragged herself out of bed, painfully aware that her ability to pass highschool hinged on the test she would be taking today. She hated the uncertainty of what was ahead, but what grinds her gears even more was the thing she did know: today was going to be a horrible day.
With cold coffee in hand, Margaret sat down in her seat, trying to seem bubbly and happy even though she knew that her entire life depended on whether or not she failed this test.
In the second example, even though you don’t say “two hours later” it’s clear that time has passed, and so has the setting. No one is going to assume that Margaret is going to be taking her test in her bedroom. Try to save “two hours later” and “walked into the classroom” transitions for when the context would otherwise be unclear, or when those specific details (how much time or a specific location) would be important.
If no time is passing between the two scenes or two chapters, try to make that clear. For example, if one scene ends with Margaret falling asleep and then being woken up by a loud knock at her door, the next scene should continue with something like, “Heart pounding from shock, Margaret jumped out of bed to see who is at her door.” Now, it is clear no time has passed in the next scene, but since a new situation is beginning, it still warrants being its own scene.
Expository Time Skip
Sometimes you need to show a quick glimpse of something that happened but it doesn’t really warrant its own scene or chapter. In this case, you may want to illustrate the time skip using exposition within the scene. It may look something like this:
Winter Break was over in a blink, and I soon found myself back at school, dealing with all the problems I left behind during a break that felt far too short. I quickly headed to my locker, avoiding Melinda and the newly formed rift between us. She glared at me across the hallway as I spun the combination on my locker.
Later that day, during lunch, I sat at the table Micheal and I had always sat at. Despite the amount of people in the lunchroom, I could still feel Melinda’s icy glare shooting me down.
Terms such as “later that day” and “two hours later” help the readers understand that time has passed, without transitioning to a new scene or chapter. This allows you to cover smaller moments and events that don’t warrant their own space.
Whether you use a transition between scenes or chapters to show the passage of time, or whether you clarify the skip between time through exposition, just remember to pay attention to where you left the readers before the skip, and where you take them. Make sure it’s clear, flows well, and wouldn’t leave anyone confused. Do that and you’ll be in good shape! Happy writing!
Hey I absolutely love your blog! It's awesome & very helpful! Can you give some tips for enemies to lovers plot, it's research & story development? If you could I would really really love & appreciate that. Thank you so much for providing such amazing contents! ❣️💕💗💖🔥✨
Thank you so much! Your love is appreciated.
I have a few articles you may find useful, organized by area of struggle:
Enemies to Lovers
Guide To Writing Enemies To Lovers
Enemies-To-Lovers Prompts
How to develop an Enemies-To-Lovers story
Enemies to Lovers Tips
20 Mistakes to Avoid in Enemies to Lovers
Romance Genre
20 Mistakes To Avoid in YA/Romance
Resources For Writing YA Fiction/Romance
Resources For Romance Writers
Tips On Writing Skinny Love
Skinny Love Writing Prompts
On Romantic Subplots
How To Write The Perfect Kiss
Romantic Prompts
Research
Useful Writing Resources | Part II
Guide to Story Researching
How To Make A Scene More Heartfelt
How To Perfect The Tone
A Guide To Tension & Suspense
Tips on Balancing Development
Development
Resources For Plot Development
Guide To Plot Development
How To Write A Good Plot Twist
How To Foreshadow
How To Engage The Reader
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Masterlist | WIP Blog
If you enjoy my blog and wish for it to continue being updated frequently and for me to continue putting my energy toward answering your questions, please consider Buying Me A Coffee, or pledging your support on Patreon, where I offer early access and exclusive benefits for only $5/month.
“If you don’t go after what you want you’ll never have it. If you don’t ask, the answer is always no. If you don’t step forward, you’re always in the same place.”
— Nora Roberts
I'm just a weird girl who likes to read about history, mythology and feminism.
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