Romance is one of the hardest things to
write. Just look at how few popular movies have more it as more than
an obligatory sub-plot, and few comics have anything more than a few
panels that revolve around a decent romance. There are few romances
in the comics, and even fewer when it comes to webcomics. Sure, you
have a few out there, but they usually follow the Reed/Sue formula,
and you rarely see the romance develop. Writers really need to have
fun with romance. I really hate to say writers need to watch more
romcoms, but it would help.
The classic path to romance is the same
as any decent three-act play. The first act is the meeting and
establishing of limits. The two potential partners meet somehow; they
are introduced, they trip into each other, they meet at work,
whatever. They just need to meet and realize that somehow the other
person is someone special. Even if they hate each other, that is at
least a beginning. It needs to be established that they are equals on
some level in order for the romance to work; they need to have
something that connects them, and they need to be equal in that. They
can have different strengths and weakness relative to that
commonality, but overall they need to be equal in that.
They also need to have equal wills.
Screw feminism; they need to be able to say 'NO!" to each other
in order for the romance to work. If one person walks all over the
other, you have a great set-up for an abusive relationship, but not
an actual romance. If they can't refuse the other, you will either
end up with an office boy relationship, where one party gets the
other to do anything she wants, or a physically abusive relationship,
and we're not discussing those here. Without the ability to say
refuse service, the relationship will eventually turn cancerous, and
that's not what you want. At the same time, an inability to refuse
the other does make for a great way to develop the romance, as that
will develops over time. So there's something for you to debate
there.
So, if you want to start a romance, you
need two characters with something in common, equality in that
something, and the ability to refuse the other. Once you have
established that you have your first act.
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