80 + Barriers to Love: A List of Ideas to Keep Romantic Tension High

Keeping Romantic Tension Alive

One thing that every romance writer faces especially when writing a series, is how to keep a couple apart. It’s a difficult thing to accomplish and readers hate it, but it’s a necessary thing. Otherwise the tension is gone and your readers walk away disappointed.

I am a huge fan of a television show called Moonlighting with Bruce Willis and Cybill Sheperd. I loved, loved, loved watching every week to see if they were finally going to be together. For years they dangled the relationship and tantalized viewers until we finally got what we wanted and the couple got married. Then, guess what happened? The ratings fell and the show was cancelled.

This is something nobody wants. I love Happily Ever After endings as much as the next person but to get there too early is to kill the romance. For me, this happened in Twilight. When Edward and Bella got married in the beginning of Breaking Dawn, I felt like Edward disappeared and mainly became a tortured man wringing his hands on the couch.

Thankfully Jacob was still around.

You see where I’m going with this right?

So, without further ado, here is the list I’ve compiled from various internet searches and from my own experience, not personal experience. At least not all of them. I meant my experience as a writer. I’ve basically divided the list into two categories-Physical Barriers and Emotional Barriers.

EMOTIONAL BARRIERS


Dishonesty
Problem with Touch
Instability
Distrust
Grief
Social or Business Rivalry
Fear of Intimacy
Sacrifice Love for Something Else
Not Self Actualized
The Friend Zone
Feelings of Unworthiness
History of Abuse
Unforgiving
Disappointment
Inability to Communicate
Forbidden Relationship
Competition
Value Conflict
Control
Comparison
Misunderstanding
Unpopularity
Secrets
Fear of Being in Public
Evil Ex
Inability to Forgive
Disapproving Parents
Age Difference
Fear of Abandonment
Cultural Conflict
Religious Conflict
Arranged Relationship
Mistaken Identity
Class Differences
Pretend Relationship
Hubris
Fear of Commitment
Fear of Rejection
Taming of the Shrew Syndrome
Poor vs Rich
Inflexibility
Overdependency
Guilt
Prejudice
Grudge
Anxiety
Jealousy
Denial
Stubbornness
Mistrust
Influence of Friends or Family
Biological Clock is Ticking
Romance Not a Priority
Work Conflict
Inability to Choose
Feelings for Another Person
Fighting or Arguing
Depression
Disloyalty
Race Differences
Stonewalling
Unfaithfulness

PHYSICAL BARRIERS

Disfigurement
Physical Separation
Death
Injury
Transformation
Illness
Coma
Mental Lapse
Kidnapping
Doppelganger
Inability to Cross Boundaries
One or Both People Doesn’t Have a Physical Body
Different Species (Alien, Shifter, Vampire, Mermaid, etc.)
Cannot Survive/Thrive Where Their Love Interest Lives
Contagion/Disease
Pain/Discomfort
Chemical Dependency
Issues with Intimacy
Cognitive Disorders

I hope this lists helps. I know I often wrack my brain trying to come up with yet another way to torture my star-crossed lovers. This list is a work in progress so if you have thought of something I’ve missed, please leave a comment and let me know what it is.

I think it’s time to head back to my book now to throw another problem at my heroine and see how she deals. =)