Hellooo, everybody! You already know I am a romance writer and a romance reader. And I love
reading about characters with perfect chemistry. Unfortunately, those stories are hard to come by,
because sometimes romance sucks. Chemistry is the emotional connection between two people,
the way they complement one another, get along and bring each other up.
A lot of people master the art of writing romantic chemistry, and others fall flat on their asses.
And often that's because they don't have the best examples or references to go by. Because
of this I am breaking down the ten quickest ways to kill the chemistry between your characters.
These are plot points, tropes, and writing choices that make the chemistry feel flat and stale. You
may have had the best intentions but it was a swing and a miss. Every point I am mentioning
is something that I have read in fiction more than once. I'm sure you’ve read it too,
and it always kills the vibe. Not only does it make the romance less enjoyable to read,
it makes the chemistry feel forced or non-existent. We don't want that, do we?
If you wanna save your character's romance, and in turn save your book reviews.
Do not make ANY of these mistakes! You've been warned.
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.)
Before we get started, a huge thank you to Skillshare for sponsoring today's video.
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ring that bell. The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback,
hardback and audiobooks. So if you'd like yourself some dark fantasy romance that doesn't make
any of the mistakes I'm about to talk about today, definitely check these two books out.
Especially because the third book is on its way! So check them out right now so you can be
in on the action. They're linked below. Now I am breaking down the ten quickest ways to kill the
chemistry between your characters. If romance is the name of your game, don't do this shit. Number
One (1): All tell, no show. Sounds like a sexual innuendo, but that's not what I mean. I talk
about tell versus show all the time. And while tell does have its place, show is so important,
especially in romance. To tell means to explicitly state a fact to the reader. For example,
‘He is gorgeous.’ To show means illustrating the concept to the reader, so they can envision it
or experience it in their mind's eye. So in this case, instead of saying ‘he's gorgeous’ you would
describe the features that make him gorgeous. See what I'm getting at? It's impossible to build
romantic chemistry between characters if you're simply telling the reader how they should feel.
‘He's hot’ means the reader should feel he's hot, except you've provided no evidence to support this
claim. Unfortunately, this is a common misstep in romance, and it's particularly evident when you're
providing compliments for the love interest. A lot of writers will say ‘He was so charming’ but then
they'll never write any scenes where he behaves in a charming way. Writers will say, ‘She is so
kind’ but they'll never show any acts of kindness. Thus it's hard to believe the chemistry between
these characters because we don't actually know them. We've never seen any content that validates
their traits. Be sure to write lots of moments that showcase their most swoonworthy traits if
you want to create believable chemistry. Number Two (2): No dialogue. I've read a lot of romances
where the characters barely talk to one another, and yet we're supposed to believe they have this
undeniable chemistry. Are you sure about that? I understand that sexual attraction
is a thing that exists, but chemistry is a lot more than tits and six packs. Chemistry between
characters is a lot more than the physical stuff. It's whether or not they complement one another,
whether or not they bring out the best in each other, it's about bonding and vulnerability.
The characters are comfortable being themselves around each other, at least eventually. You can't
do that shit without dialogue. I know you want to get to the action, whether that's blazin’ bullets
or sucking face, but you can't skip the deep conversations, the witty banter, or moments of
vulnerability. Get the characters talking so they can actually get to know one another, and in turn
build chemistry. Number Three (3): Instalove. Instalove is when two or more characters instantly
confess their love for one another, or feel love for one another within the first week of meeting,
or within the first couple of dates. People complain about instalove all the time,
but not a lot of people understand why instalove is such a boner kill. The reason instalove sucks
so much is because the characters haven't had time to develop chemistry. As we already covered,
chemistry is far more than hotness, it's bonding, it's conversation and vulnerability. You don't get
to do all of that in seven days. And if you do, that's a little concerning. Stage five clinger,
am I right? It's not exciting to read a love story without chemistry, and you haven't had the proper
chance to build it yet. Instead, take time to allow the characters to get to know one another,
to build trust and friendship. It's fine if your characters get together a little bit quicker than
normal, especially if the stakes are high. But instalove should be avoided at all costs. On the
flip side, Number Four (4): The dangling carrot. I once read a romance where the first kiss happened
within the last 15% of the book. Not 50, 15! Now for a book of any other genre outside of romance,
that's fine. This is also fine for wholesome or clean romance, they tend to be shorter and as
readers we go into it knowing that a kiss is all we're gonna get. But for any other romance novel,
especially any romance with a hint of steam, this is a big problem. It means the romance is
progressing far too slowly. And since that's the entire plot of the story,
that's a really bad sign. Again, we're not trying to have them fall in love on the first date,
but you can't dangle the carrot forever. If you're writing romance readers are here for the love,
intimacy, bonding, and banter. You can't relegate all of that to the last three chapters. That would
lead me to believe that either your subplots have taken over, or you've written a lot of filler.
Either way, you’ve put the chemistry on ice and there's a good chance readers won't stick around
for the fire. Number Five (5): The dishrag main character. I love an underdog, but you gotta make
it believable for the love interest to fall in love with your protagonist. Sometimes writers dive
into self-insert or wish fulfillment territory, and they write the plainest, most boring MC.
And we're expected to believe that a perfect love interest falls for them. Make it make sense. This
is not solely about appearance, although the dish rag MC is often described as physically plain,
go figure. But usually this character doesn't have a great personality. They don't have a lot
of depth. They've got no confidence, and they don't have any important bonding conversations
with the love interest. Thus it's impossible to build believable chemistry, because there's no
relationship to build off of. Plus the person barely comes off as a sentient being, let alone
a compelling character. Writers, make sure your main character has layers, personality, and some
level of desirability. Otherwise the chemistry ain't gonna work. Number Six (6): Adorkable,
minus the adorable part. An adorkable character is a character who is dorky in an adorable way.
Typically this involves them being clumsy, putting their foot in their mouth, or
getting themselves into embarrassing situations. These characters are getting more and more popular
in contemporary romance. They sell well, so writers try to shoehorn ‘em into their fiction.
The problem is some writers don't know where to draw the line between adorkable,
and just playing dorky. I love an awkward MC, but if you lay it on thick, it's just way too awkward.
Funny how that works. In one of my recent reads the main character finally drums up the courage
to confess her feelings to her love interest, who clearly likes her back. When she tells him
how she feels, he is too awkward to say anything. Instead he stands and watches her dog pee. Yes,
I'm serious. The intention was to be funny and adorkable, but instead it was cringe worthy.
We're still here for romance. It's a romance novel. You gotta bring something amid awkwardness.
And honestly, if I spilled my guts to a guy and he said nothing in response, I'm outta there. Learn
the difference between adorkable and a disaster if you wanna build any semblance of chemistry.
Number Seven (7): They're hot. That's it. I've talked about this before, but it bears repeating.
Hotness is wonderful, physical attraction is great, but you can't build chemistry with just
that. “But Jennaaa, chemistry exists with sexual attraction in the real world all the time!” Yeah,
but this isn't the real world. These are pieces of paper with words typed onto them. Ain't nothing
sexual about that, unless you got a paper fetish, which is none of my business. The point is,
readers are not seeing anything visually, they are not experiencing anything physically,
so you have to transport them. Which requires a whole lot more than an anatomical description.
Let's say it one more time, the characters have to talk, they have to bond, they have to complement
each other. Being hot is definitely icing on the cake, but it won't get the job done. Number
Eight (8): Stakes so low there on the floor. If you're writing a romance, the stakes are pretty
clear. Are they gonna be happily in love, or is it gonna end in heartbreak? But usually there's
some kind of conflict that's keeping them apart, or preventing them from going all in. That wedge
doesn't have to be life or death, it doesn't have to be the fate of the world, but it needs to be
believably risky stakes. That's a problem in a lot of romance, especially contemporary romance.
The reason this affects chemistry is because the chemistry needs to feel real. And if these
characters are being torn apart by the flimsiest of stakes, that destroys all believability.
In one of my recent reads, a man falls in love with a woman and they have a whirlwind romance.
But this woman's keeping a secret, and it just might tear the relationship apart.
What's the secret you ask? She lied on her resume. Something literally everyone does at some point
in time. Again, we don't need betrayal or murder, but whatever conflict you're utilizing, it's gotta
matter. Otherwise the chemistry you built is gonna feel just as forced as whatever bullshit keeping
them apart. Number Nine (9): Inappropriate age differences. “But Jennaaa, my parents have an age
difference!” First of all, no one gives a shit. Second, I said inappropriate age differences:
was your dad twenty and your mom twelve when they first got together? God, I hope not. That's the
problem with a lot of fiction. We've got someone under aged or barely legal, and they're paired
with someone who's a super-duper adult. There's a special word for this, and it lands you in jail.
Let me spell it out simply. If a teenager is dating someone who is not a teenager,
that’s gross. If an adult under the age of mental maturity, that's around twenty-five
if you weren't aware, is dating someone else a full decade older than them, that's also gross.
And if anyone under the age of mental maturity is dating a fictional creature hundreds of years old,
that's not only gross, it's just fucking stupid. Why would someone with that much wisdom and
experience want to spend their time with someone who can barely handle their liquor and doesn't
even know how to file their taxes? This is an issue of chemistry because it's really hard to
believe that two people in wildly different places in their lives could build any kind of romantic
connection. Plus it comes off super predatory. Readers don't enjoy swallowing their own puke,
so avoiding this trope is preferred. And Number Ten (10): No effort. Here's the deal. If you want
your characters to have believable chemistry, you need to make an effort in building that chemistry.
That means you have to intentionally write moments of connection, you have to intentionally craft
situations where they are forced to trust one another. And of course, you have to make an honest
attempt at dialogue. This could be funny banter and teasing, it could be moments of vulnerability,
it could be love confessions, or preferably all of the above. The point is, you as the author have to
make this effort. You can't rely on the fact that they're both there, they're both hot, and you've
decided they're gonna fall in love. Make a point to strategically build the chemistry between these
characters. Create and craft these characters so that they are designed to complement one another.
Because without intention and effort, there is no chemistry. So that's all I got for you today.
Thanks again to Skillshare for sponsoring today's video. Again, I am a huge fan of this platform. It
is amazing if you want to grow in your creativity, or learn brand new skills. Plus you can try it
out for FREE! The first 1,000 people to click the link in the description below will get a one month
free trial of Skillshare. So you can take creative writing classes, you can take marketing classes,
you can take all kinds of classes. And of course you can take MY classes. Click the link,
try ‘em out, you'll be glad you did. Don't forget to subscribe to my channel. I post new
videos on Wednesdays, and if you wanna be alerted as SOON as I upload, ring that bell. The Savior's
Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback, hardback and audiobooks. So
if you'd like yourself some dark fantasy romance, definitely check it out. It's linked below.
And be sure to follow me on social media. I'm on Instagram, Tumblr, Facebook and BookBub.
And of course you can tweet me @JennaMoreci! Bye!
(Confident Female Voice) It’s Delphi.
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