Fix-It Romance

One of the staples of romantic plotlines is the very physically attractive love interest with lots and lots of Issues. The more stable character manages to fix the troubled one with the power of contrived love, and off they ride into the sunset. Typically, the troubled character is male and the fix-it character female, but there's some examples of this trope played out with the genders reversed (same-sex examples are generally restricted to fanfiction.net).

Now in a realistic romance, both parties will have flaws, and internal and external conflicts to overcome. And a story which features both characters changing and growing and learning to be better partners to each other can be a compelling narrative. The characteristic of a fix-it romance is that only one character has issues, or at least that one character's issues are serious and deep while the other character's problems are fairly minor, so that the fix-it character falls into a caretaker role while mending their broken partner.

The problem with this plot is twofold. First, it unbalances the pairing right from the get-go. Basically, one partner is doing all the work and the other is doing all the sexy emo poses. We don't get to see them function as a team, but rather as nurse and patient. Nor do we get to see the characters as people-- one is there as a glorified stuffed animal to comfort the troubled character, and the troubled character exists to wring pity from the audience.

Second, the implication is that romance is not about finding a compatible person to form a team and learn and grow with, but rather someone with an appealing exterior and an appalling personality/psychological/psychiatric issues to fix until they're a suitable mate. Essentially, the 'fixing' process isn't about genuinely helping the character with the problems, but about gratifying the fix-it character, as they seem to find the repair process gratifying, and secondly, are rewarded with their ideal lover-- all patched up!

Let your characters be characters, rather than plot devices, and you'll have a better--and more convincing-- love story.