Writing Romance: Bad boys or Prince Charmings? Which do you prefer and/or write (but keep it sfw)

Vikthetoonaddict 2024-01-23 00:01:39 UTC #32

It's set in 1935! In New York! Basically the era a ton of superheroes got invented.

But, time travel seems like a cool concept! I may use it someday.

Leyelle 2024-01-23 00:03:21 UTC #33

So wait, Chrystal (sorry if I misspelled this) is a rich black woman in the thirties..? How...?

Vikthetoonaddict 2024-01-23 00:05:02 UTC #34

Her Mom invented a line of hair and beauty products! Inspired by Madam CJ Walker. Crystal's mom lives a pretty quiet personal life with her partner in spite of such a hectic professional life.

Leyelle 2024-01-23 00:08:50 UTC #35

Hmm, I've never heard of that lady before. I didn't know any african americans managed that kind of success before the latter half of the 20th century, and I've done quite a bit of research on civil rights stuff, (granted in books rather than the internet) when I was younger. Interestingly, I have a story about a black woman who invented a line of hair care products, it's called "Lion Proof." (As a black woman myself I'm honestly looking for more stories where black women are anything other than poor single moms.)

skidiggy 2024-01-23 03:47:53 UTC #36

For reading, I have no preference on prince charming or bad boy; variety is the spice of life for me. I admittedly don't have much patience for abusive or cruel leads, and have been known to drop a series if the ML's a jerk.

For my own work, I prefer to write prince charming characters, as the bad boys typically end up as either villains or foils in my stories. It's not that I'm against a bad boy with a heart of gold, but it can also be challenging to ride the line between a "lovable scamp with reckless tendencies" versus a "truly toxic scumbag jack-wagon that has no business with the heroine."

DiegoPalacios 2024-01-23 17:25:07 UTC #37

I think the issue is that both the prince charming and bad boy often fall in the trappings of feeling generic along multiple stories, which can make both types undesirable for different reasons.

If their only trait is being "nice" or "bad", they will become one-note and uninteresting.

You can have these archetypes, but gotta dig deeper on who they are aside from their D&D alignment if you want to make them enjoyable and if you want fans fawning over them.

Leyelle 2024-01-23 20:54:38 UTC #38

What do you mean by foils?

Leyelle 2024-01-23 20:57:12 UTC #39

I agree, you can starts with a basic cliche, but it has to go deeper, that's kind of a huge part of "Damsel in the Red Dress." At first Kattar seems like a perfect prince charming, then you realize that he's got some kind of mean or manipulative traits that come from the fact that he's used to things going his way, because he's a pampered rich boy.

skidiggy 2024-01-23 23:10:36 UTC #40

A character foil is someone who contrasts with another character (like a main character or villain) to highlight their qualities. The first ones that come to mind are like Woody and Buzz from Toy Story, or like Kirk and Spock from Star Trek. Their personalities compliment or highlight their partner's.

Leyelle 2024-01-23 23:45:42 UTC #41

Ahhh, okay. So the bad boys are designed to be foils for the prince charming?

skidiggy 2024-01-24 01:38:01 UTC #42

They can be (at least when I write them ). Some bad boys are ML or 2ML in their own right, also villains sometimes.

Leyelle 2024-02-07 22:16:19 UTC #43

Just a little bit of a teaser: My new male lead is accidentally a bit of a brat, but there's a very specific reason why he doesn't seem to realize it, even while he wants with everything in him to (literally) be a prince charming

Leyelle 2024-02-09 00:54:44 UTC #44

the first mini has been released!

Lazy-Gamer 2024-02-09 00:58:27 UTC #45

Bad boys or prince charmings.

Why not both!? ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ
Which is what you get with Mister Mimic from CALM.

Leyelle 2024-02-09 01:07:49 UTC #46

he has two personalities? or is he a combination of both?

Stargazer31 2024-02-12 21:26:08 UTC #47

Honestly I've never talked to a woman who actually prefers "bad boys" irl. So idk where the stereotypes come from

Leyelle 2024-02-12 21:27:29 UTC #48

I don't think I ever have either. But movies tend to perpetuate a lot of negative tropes, probably for the sake of "drama"

Leyelle 2024-03-01 23:13:23 UTC #49

So this is the case for my secondary male lead in "Damsel in the Red Dress" he appears to fall pretty solidly into the realm of Prince Charming. Handsome, nice, funny, charismatic. Basically in all ways perfect, which would seem shallow except that there's more...

Leyelle 2024-03-27 16:15:50 UTC #50

Interestingly, in the realm of seeming suave while doing anything for the sake of their sweetheart, my female lead in "Hushabye Prince" falls closer to Prince Charming than the male lead does, even though it's LITERALLY a fairy tale inspired theme

Leyelle 2024-04-13 15:21:26 UTC #51

Some unusual factors are about to make Kattar start seeming more like a bad boy than he ever has up to this point, but there's a very specific reason for this, that really has absolutely nothing to do with his personality at all.