How do you create chemistry between MC, and love interests?

[PlsDelMe]

I feel like romantic fiction rely too much on confident jerk / seme x shy girl / uke.

[BreakingChalk]

My main ship would be something like simp/jerk x jerk.

First the MC idealizes her without really knowing her, and once they meet she is pretty much a dick with him (in a funny way mostly), and in the end they have these highs and lows where they just won't agree with each other, or are they are there for the other, later having some points in the middle without taking out the highs and lows.

I think it makes them more dynamic, though they aren't meant to represent a "sound" relationship irl.
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These are from the second chapter to show an example:

[milejdyvan]

I am confused by your question? Based on your title, it sounds like you are looking for advice, but your post makes it sound like you're poking at other's romances. What is your question really?

[cherrystark]

"Chemistry" can be subjective. Two people can have perfect chemistry has best friends (Shawn and Gus) but lousy chemistry as romantic partners (Castle and Beckett). I think if you are planning for a couple to get together, they need to have something to "bond" over. My MC and her love interest bond over exploring museum exhibits. They both are huge nerds and her love interest loves watching her geek out about things she's passionate about. Their relationship develops from their adventures.

I've also learned that like IRL, you can't force chemistry between characters. We see it all the time in TV where the main couple might have okay chemistry together but stellar chemistry with another partner. They can date but if you're not feeling them together as the creator, break them up.

[VibrantFox]

while those may seems like prevalent tropes I can number 1 assure you that this isn't true and number 2 let you know that there's a variety of ways to build or create chemistry between characters + their respective love interests, you've just got do do a little more than surface level reading into romance stories (or other genres with successful romantic subplots)

I'll note I'm not a person who writes or has big interest in romance but this is one place I've seen writing resources on building character relationships (be sure to rely on multiple sources though, lest you end up with a narrow perspective)

http://linkeepsitreal.tumblr.com/post/148353576279/tips-for-writing-romance-from-a-passionate

Personally I don't mind some tropes but I also seeing them subverted (of course when it's done well and not solely to jab fun or be snide). One easy way to see "ship dynamics" would be to look for them in exsiting media or just take a quick deep dive through good ol tv tropes.

Some of my own character ships or personal faves to read are usually built on character foils, how does one character compliment the other in terms of personality or behavior. Other things to look at is how the characters interact, what chemistry do they have, what's their relationship before becoming a cannon couple or someone is established as the love interest.

A big thing is interactions will play a key role. If the MC and their love interest have not once interacted or their interactions are barely meaningful then their relationship dynamic will fall flat.

There's probably other folks who could give better worded advice but I do hope you're able to find something that works

[PlsDelMe]

I am confused by your question? Based on your title, it sounds like you are looking for advice, but your post makes it sound like you're poking at other's romances. What is your question really?

My bad, it's actually both, I want advice, and I mentioned that romance fiction rely on this particular dynamic to create chemistry a little too much, I guess it's because they're opposites.

[PlsDelMe]

you've just got do do a little more than surface level reading into romance stories

I read a lot of romance comics (shoujo, josei, yaoi) like in the hundreds, but they're samey, maybe I should stop reading romance aimed at straight women? idk.

[milejdyvan]

So I can only assume the advice is on how to avoid these dynamics? Well I don't really write much romance but if I were to compare this to my own writing, I first created the characters and only then started shipping them. This helped me from going for unnecessarily tropie dynamics since that wasn't what the characters were created for.

And in the case of characters who I created with the intent of adding them in a relationship, I tried to make it so that the ship was a spin on a trope, or somewhat inspired but had it's originality to it. (let's say that i read about a couple and thought that they had zero chemistry and were terribly written somewhere else, so I was inspired by it to try and make a similar couple, only make it seem legit and realistic). Plus, there's also a good advice to just try and aim for realistic rejections (after all, not every couple/ship has to work out.)

Just try and think what sounds most realistic to you. If you feel like you are doing something that's hard to believe, then your readers will feel the same.

[VibrantFox]

i probably wouldn't hurt to branch out

my tapas library alone is up to about 1k (somewhere around there) and all different genres some that are labeled romance others in other genres where the romance is just a subplot but still (imo) fairly well writter. Sometimes ya gotta mix it up

[domisotto]

I am currently incredibly fortunate to receive a lot of feedback to my story, and chemistry is very much in the eye of the reader. I have someone commenting they want the MC’s married by the middle of the second chapter, and others wondering if they like each other at all by chapter 10.

Tbh, the romantic male lead in that story is an overweight nerdish intellectual failed PhD candidate, so he is not exactly a possessive Mr. Abs. Some readers adore him, others can’t stand him.

[joannekwan]

I think the thing about shoujo and josei is that they are very set in the culture they're born in. Because of Japan's culture, the heroines in these stories reflect how women are expected to be soft, feminine, and less outspoken. So you will find a lot of shy girls in East Asian romance stories.

[PlsDelMe]

Tbh, the romantic male lead in that story is an overweight nerdish intellectual failed PhD candidate, so he is not exactly a possessive Mr. Abs. Some readers adore him, others can’t stand him.

Possessive Mr.Abs lmao, Idk how you made it work, congratz, and I guess your readers are either male, or they like realism? I doubt there's so many tall, dark, and rich 4ssh0les with a nice body looking for a clumsy average girl...

[PlsDelMe]

So you will find a lot of shy girls in East Asian romance stories.

Maybe I should shift to western romance stories then, do you rec any western romance comic?

[CosmicLeon]

'Chemistry' is hard. Fist i would look at the reasoning of why a character is attracted to another one. Is it physical attraction, lust, personality? Although many factor attribute to an attraction, it does help define the relationship some. Is one party only interesting in physicality? if so, the 'chemistry' can be charged, frustrated, or lustful. maybe no emotional level of connection is developed, or is un balanced. Maybe one party member loves the other, but the other has no interest. Personality i think is what it the most important when i comes to relationships. fictional and real. simple out some personalities don't mesh, and people will collide. Or maybe it works out just right. I have a few planned relationships in my story. And the love interest in the end will be very supportive of the other character, as they can handle when their partner breaks downs and their partner helps boost their confidence, assertiveness, and more. I think chemistry needs to balance out. what does each character need to be supported, and how the other character can support their partner.

[Jenny-Toons]

Often important to note that a lot of these stories sometimes boil down to self-insert fantasies. The MCs kinda have the similar personalities and are claimed to be "average" to make it "easier" (or at easy as it can be) for your average reader to insert themselves.

It's the same thing with the harem stories: all of these beautiful, amazingly talented women/men are going after this bland loser male MC. He's not particularly talented or handsome, but he was nice to them once, and suddenly, that's a winner.

Another form of fantasy.

But these dynamics are just things we see often in mainstream. Doesn't mean it's the only thing out there. It just feels that way. I would definitely suggest branching out and look into stories that include romance as a sub-plot line rather than a main plot.

For myself, creating chemistry in a story has to come from more than just "they look cute together". For them to have chemistry, you have to break down who they are as people. Can Person A be compatible with Person B? Will their personalities allow that?

Chemistry also comes from things outside of lust and cuddle times. Can they work together on projects? Do they do mundane things together? Things like that.

[PlsDelMe]

The MCs kinda have the similar personalities

Bold of you to assume they have a personality at all, jk. xD

Thank you <3

I know about this self-insert power fantasy for both men, and women. (harem / reverse harem after loser guy / girl) lol

Maybe I should read less tropey romance, and read stuff from the west...

[Inspector_Spinda]

My main ship is confident jerk guy x confident rocker gal except the dude is a bit dumb and the girl is very witty and loves to tease. The dude has this adorable grumpy face. I wanted their chemistry to not necessarily be realistic, but very apparent from the get go. This is the first scene the girl is introduced and he's already all over her.

Plastic Teeth | Tapas

[Jenny-Toons]

I mean, granted, we still have tropey stuff like this in the West. 50 Shades of Grey kinda follows the same format in some ways.

Tropes in and of themselves aren't really bad. It just feels tropey and shallow when stories only rely on those basic ideas and never dive into them. It takes a matter of looking for those gems. But when you do, it's well worth it.

I'd kinda start with indie/self-published stories. Some may follow those same tropes, but most generally dive deeper and explore them or do other dynamics. Would also help to read stories that have these tropes in a non-romantic genre (like thriller or comedy or horror).

[Inspector_Spinda]

I'd recommend reading romance that exists in non-romance centered genres. Or just finding romance that YOU specifically enjoy. Having a good romance is subjective and there are plenty who enjoy romances others may consider bad. If you are one of those people it is okay to write a guilty pleasure romance if you are really passionate about those types of stories. whether you like them or not the female aimed romance genre SELLS.

[PlsDelMe]

whether you like them or not the female aimed romance genre SELLS.

I do like them a lot, they're my favorite genre by far, other genres do nothing to me, and I tried them all, I guess it's because I like fictional relationships, and everything else is irrelevant, stuff like plot, character development, worldbuilding, etc don't matter to me as a reader.

I'm only here for the cute ships, and I know that most readers only care about ships too, even outside the romance genre. lol

I guess there's different kinds of dynamics / chemistry, but they're found outside the genre, which is turn-off to me.

Thanks everyone, the thread can be closed now~