AUTHORS: Four Ways Fictional Romance Sometimes Reads False

Originally posted on Creative Writing with the Crimson League:

Writing a sweet, romantic moment is probably one of the hardest things to do in fiction. Seriously. I can’t claim to excel at that kind of scene, and that’s why in my novels love stories take a bit of a backseat and become subplots (excepting perhaps “The Magic Council.” But I consider that one even more of a coming of age tale than an out-and-out love story.)

However, I have recognized through some failed “sweet” (read “sickly sweet”) romantic moments I tried to write in my unpublished novels that when my tender moments go wrong, it tends to be for one of a limited set of reasons. I’d like to share those just for reference and to ask if you’ve found this same thing happening in your writing.

When romance feels off, somehow in my writing:

Things are too cliche.

We’re talking knight in shining armor, “You had me from…

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