Emma Stark asked Melanie Dickerson:

Hello, Mrs. Dickerson. So I was wondering, what are some of your tricks for writing romance? I'm doing Camp Nanowrimo right now and I need some help with the romance aspects of my science fiction novel. I am woefully unprepared to write their relationship well. Thank you!

Melanie Dickerson Hi, Emmers! No worries. You don't have to have any particular "preparation" to write romance! You just have to use your imagination and think about what would make your romance aspect romantic in your own eyes. What do you want your characters to do? Figure out a plausible way for them to end up doing that. Do you want them to realize they love each other and have their first kiss? Then show that happening in a plausible way. It's the same as any other aspect of the novel. Think about what is romantic to you, the feelings you see conveyed in your favorite romantic movie. How do you imagine a person behaving if they were falling in love? What do you imagine them saying? Just write it. Then if it doesn't seem just right, revise it until it feels right. Same process as with any other aspect of your novel. :-) But just as you don't have to have committed a murder to write a murder mystery, you don't have to have ever been in love, necessarily, to write a romantic scene.
I hope that helps.

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