Romance Writing - Blog Posts

I Think About This A Lot To The Point Where It May Be Unhealthy

I'm a bit of a writer, and sometimes I sit reading romantic oneshots and headcannons. And I just get thinking, why does everyone write about 'the first time they met' or 'the first time they kissed' or 'their first valentine's day together'? If it were me, I'd want to read a oneshot titled 'the 315th time they kissed and yet they felt fireworks in their stomachs' or 'the 100th time he hugged me and secretly stole my coffee from the kitchen counter'. I want to read about love persevering. I don't want to read about a guy or a girl who's just fallen heads over heels. I want to read about a couple who has worked their way through the kinks in their relationship, smoothened out the wrinkles, ironed out the problems, and still love each other wholeheartedly. I don't want to read about the first time a guy or girl kisses me. I want to read about the day he kissed me just to distract me from the fact that he was being chased by the police (now wouldn't that be an interesting one?) or the day she stole my car keys because she doesn't have a car and wants to buy groceries for me because I'm tired. I don't want to read about the 'I would cross the world for you, darling' kind of love. I want to read about the 'I would certainly cross the world for you, but only if you're paying for half of it afterwards' kind of love.

I don't want to read about someone falling in love. I want to read about someone working to love someone, earning that love, and making it theirs for the rest of their lives.

Viktor's in love, your honor.

❄️ Modern au, high tension slowest of burns 🔞 (111k and counting), friends to enemies to friends to lovers, scientific competition, petty lab-wars, major angst, major pinning, major yearning, soulmate connection.

I know I say this a lot but thank you for being so welcoming in this fandom 💜 I'm having the most wonderful time and there's so much talent it's crazy 😭😭😭

https://archiveofourown.org/works/61602655/chapters/157489549

Direct link

Here are the tags, if it's of interest to any of you 🫶🥹

Have a nice day!

Why you should write healthy marriages:

1. They aren’t done enough.

2. They help other people understand what a healthy relationship looks like.

3. Fights can last for weeks and still be part of a healthy marriage.

4. Stereotypes. Break all the marriage stereotypes.

5. Soft cute couple moments DON’T stop after marriage.

6. Marriage is completely independent of character arcs. Those two individuals with trauma will still be two individuals with trauma but with gold rings.

7. A healthy marriage is one where people understand that their partners have baggage/trauma/flaws, but love them even in rough patches. 

8. It isn’t that healthy marriages aren’t compelling, it’s that people don’t know how to write marriages correctly. 

9. Marriages being an end goal often perpetuates that women are trophies to be won.

10. Marriages being an end goal often perpetuates that someone’s “freedom” ends there. Bury this trope, please, I beg of you.

reaching that point in my fictional universe where my characters are getting older and things are starting to change within their dynamic/lives <<<<

they’re becoming *gasps loudly* adults with responsibilities😭😭😭

i’ve reached what i’m calling ‘the beginning of the end’ of this specific group dynamic in my universe aka the halfway point of my journey to writing book six and i’m kind of losing my mind??? i did not anticipate it being this hard???😭

dad just sarcastically told me he hopes i become a millionaire from my books because i’ve been working on them “forever” so i decided i have to now just to prove him wrong ᡣ𐭩 •｡ꪆৎ ˚⋅

over 103,000 words written and i’m still only about 60% through book 3…… that’s what i get for being a representative of the thicc book committee

it might also have something to do with the fact that i have nine main characters, tons of important side characters and plots, and lore that runs deeper than a rabbit hole but idk

just changed my already published book covers for a fourth time

ok i’m in desperate need of advice!!!

the window is currently open for character regression for one or two or my characters but idk if should do it or not???

the only reason i’m doubting is because i’m kind of scared to😭 but the opportunity is there and i do think it could be interesting for the plot moving forward.

esp for the two characters i have in mind. god it’s hard to explain without spoiling my story but how do we feel about character regression? should i just say eff it and go for it?

to paint a picture: it’d be one of those instances where a character has reverted back to their old ways because of a “straw that breaks the camels back” moment, but deep down inside, they still care, they’re just trying to cope with all the hurt they’re feeling.

me whenever i think of a new storyline/plot idea that hits like absolute crack:

help i’m inching closer and closer towards cementing a plot point that’s been planned for sometime now and i’m *dreading* officially writing it so badly omg😭

but as it is written… it shall be done😪 (i’m already sobbing profusely)

insane to think there was a time in my life where my characters didn’t reside in my head 24/7

just tried to outline future chapters and my brain nearly short circuited. my creative mind is not meant to be confined to the chains of bullet points and organization she simply isn’t

the concept of one of my characters being this super smart intuitive guy who can read a room/person with the snap of a finger, but couldn’t figure out the love of his life was keeping a scandalous secret from him is soooo😭

i love when i write out a scene idea (with plans to incorporate it into the storyline) and then i sit at my computer desk to do just that and my characters are just like:

“nah, we’ll take it from here tyvm.”

and i’m just like: oh ok! yes chef🫡

i can’t tell you how many “deleted scenes” i have in my notes app because my characters love to take the wheel from me🙄

just had a #writerscare thinking i astronomically fucked up a crucial part of a storyline in my book series…😁

one of the hardest parts of writing interconnected stories tbh lol the stress of everything having to perfectly align as to avoid even the tiniest plot hole is a lot

thankfully, i figured it out and saved myself from the impending meltdown!

that moment when everything just clicks in your writing or in a scene you’re putting together or an unexpected last minute idea pops into your mind that ends up fitting perfectly with what you wrote >>>>

the excitement that consumes my body is out of this world

does it take anyone else a good minute to get immersed into their fictional world before you can start writing for the day?

like i need to sit in front of my computer with nothing but tumbleweed passing in my brain for at least an hour before i can really lock in.

especially after a solid writing break. i need to re-read the most recent scene i’ve written at least ten times to bring myself back into the character’s mind and feelings

about a quarter through writing the first draft for the third book in my series!

it’s been my fav book to write so far because of all the storylines i have planned, but it’s also been the most complicated to write for the same reason😭

there’s just so much that has to happen — between the main storyline *and* the side plot that it’s literally making my brain feel like this: 🫠

it’s so fun yet so stressful at the same time but hey i love writing!!!!!!😁

being a romance writer has truly warped my perception of love and romance irl in a sense that i have *such* high standards and expectations of what i want in a relationship.

i want a love that sweeps me off my feet and nothing less! it’s too bad basic romance feels like some unattainable holy grail these days🫠

where are the men who yearn and court??? where are they????????!!!!!!!!!

what would be the equivalent of a “childless cat lady” for a writer? whatever it is, i am that

it’s the anniversary of two of my characters today yall🥹 february 7th❤️🧁💜🌙

(yes i’m acknowledging and wishing them a happy anniversary, no that doesn’t make me clinically insane)

happy anniversary logan and rachel, mama (me) loves you and your beautiful love story❤️❤️❤️ u definitely have not been one of my fav couples to write bc that would be so rude of me to admit!!!

do you think your characters would be friends with you irl? honestly, i don’t think mine would be friends with me😭

only because they’ve all been friends since kindergarten — they’re a solid friend group of eight. very found family. they all prefer sticking to their circle and secretly (jokingly) get jealous whenever one of them tries to befriend someone outside the group. (it’s called friendship cheating)

which is fine because i’d totally be too scared to even try and befriend any of them anyway😭 when your own characters are too cool for you

yall one of my characters has the saddest lore, i hate it sm i just wanna hug him😭😭😭 (me acting like i didn’t give him the sad lore in question)

on a more positive writing note — have any of you ever re-read something you wrote and think to yourself:

“okay, i lowkey ate that.”

i’ll be the first to admit i have😭 and that’s a great thing! i’m so used to downplaying myself with self deprecating humor that i’ve forgotten it’s ok to actually be proud of myself for something

does anyone else struggle with making their characters imperfect? or making them have imperfect moments? i find myself scared to do that sometimes. i blame cancel culture😭

the ones that truly do have hearts of gold, anyway. there are a few of my characters that do deserve a couple lashings.

maybe i’m the problem? i tend to care too much what people think sometimes.

i didn’t plan for the telenovela flair some of the characters/storylines in my book series have, but i actually love it so much…

not only does it feel good to represent my latin culture in someway, but it’s also just ridiculously fun to write😭

it adds a layer of unseriousness/comedy that my books need given some of the more serious issues i write about.

the reveals!!! the drama!!! the scandal!!! i’ve somehow created a coming of age version of the tv shows jane the virgin, gossip girl, and friends all at once????

how do you guys decide between two/multiple storyline ideas? i usually write out both scenarios and choose the path that i like better/makes the most sense, but even that isn’t helping this time🫠

help

very hard to convince myself i still love writing when i’m fighting the urge to throw myself off a mountain while i edit my work🫠

does anyone have any tips or ideas for getting your writing out there? pls & thx it’s rough in these indie author streets🙏

kind of alarming how all the thriller/horror story ideas i’ve gotten have come from dreams/nightmares i’ve had😁 it pays to have a twisted, fucked up mind.

i’ve never written a thriller/horror story so i’m very excited to further explore the genre one day. i totally haven’t already written a few test pieces/scenes.

god, if you all could take a peek into my writing ideas folder😭 pure chaos. idk how to simply focus on one thing at a time. i’m like an overzealous dog with the writing zoomies.