Hellooo, everybody! Today we're talking about romance, specifically that beautiful moment when
your main character meets their love interest. That's right, we're talking about meet cutes.
Do you know about meet cutes, Butters? She knows about being cute, but
not so much about meet cutes, right? Right.
Meet cutes can be some of the most entertaining parts of your novel.
They can also be piles of shit, the choice is yours. Today I am breaking down my ten
best tips for writing meet cutes. Ones that will be effective and entertaining and get your readers
invested in the relationship. This topic was requested by one of my patrons over on Patreon,
Calvin Zhang. Calvin wanted to know how to write a meet cute that readers would gobble up,
and as a romance writer and reader I am down for the cause. These tips will help you cater your
meet cute to your prospective audience, while still respecting your storyline and characters.
Wanna make sure your romance doesn't crash and burn? Me too! Let's get to it!
(The sound of a pen scratching. LOGO.)
Before we get started, 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, you know we gotta do. You gotta ring that bell.
The Savior's Champion and The Savior’s Sister are available in ebook, paperback,
hardback and audiobooks. So if you're into award winning dark fantasy romance,
definitely check these books out. They're linked below. Now I'm breaking down my ten
absolute best tips for mastering the art of the meet cute.
Are you ready? She doesn't give a shit.
Number One (1): It doesn't actually have to be cute. A lot of people misunderstand the term ‘meet
cute.’ They think it's a cute scenario between two characters that will eventually end up together.
It's possible for them to meet under cute circumstances, but that isn't always the case. In
fact, that probably shouldn't be your goal at all. That's not to say you should aim for disgust or
outrage, but usually the meet cute happens under awkward circumstances. There's disagreements,
there's misunderstandings, there's embarrassment, there's a whole lot of shit that both parties
would deem wildly uncute. The point of a meet cute is not to make these two characters fall in love
instantly. It's cute because readers know what's going to happen eventually. They're gonna fall in
love, and it's gonna be cute! But the meeting itself is anything but. Number Two (2): Start
with conflict. Miscommunication, terrible first impressions, petty disagreements, clumsy bungles.
I'm sure you've seen all of these in a bunch of meet cutes, and there's a reason for that, they
work. The basis of every plot is conflict. So if you're writing a romance, then there needs to be
some underlying conflict within the relationship. Even if you're not writing a romance, and this
is just a subplot, there are tons of tropes like enemies to lovers and rivals to lovers, that begin
with, you guessed it, conflict. Now you may be thinking this conflict needs to drive the romance,
and it absolutely can. If the two characters are work rivals, or they're from warring planets,
this could absolutely fuel the overall storyline. But the meet cute conflict doesn't have to go that
deep. In The Savior's Champion, the meet cute is a misunderstanding, Leila incorrectly assumes that
Tobias is a murderous assassin. Thus this gets them off on the wrong foot, but it doesn't dictate
the overall course of their relationship. This type of interaction is impactful to the reader;
it leaves a lasting impression, and it keeps readers interested and engaged throughout the
course of their relationship. On a similar note, Number Three (3): Opposites attract.
Your characters don't have to be polar opposites, but it's beneficial to have them on opposite ends
of the spectrum, at least at the meet cute. Say they’re both fighting for the same job.
One of them wants to take it in a grassroots direction, whereas the other one has a more
modern and techy vibe. If there are enemies from different kingdoms, that right there gets the job
done on its own. But there are so many different ways to explore this situation and I'm sure you're
familiar with them. The grump and the ray of sunshine, the nerd and the jock, the rebel and the
sweet summer child. The meet cute is the perfect time to highlight this opposition. It lets readers
know that these people are wildly different. This is effective because once again, it showcases
conflict. We assume these characters have too little in common to ever get along, but over the
course of the novel were proven wrong. This makes their love story engaging. It strengthens the
character arcs, and it makes the meet cute super entertaining. Number Four (4): Humiliation. Your
characters don't have to hate each other when they meet. In fact they may like each other right away.
But typically, something goes awry during the meet cute. Cue the humiliation! A stumble, a fall,
losing an article of clothing, jumbling your words. Sometimes the humiliation is because one
of the characters is quirky and awkward. Sometimes it's because they're starstruck or smitten.
Sometimes it's just because they've been caught at the absolute worst time. It's not imperative
for you to include humiliation in a meet cute, but it can be very effective. Pro tip:
please do not fabricate humiliation out of nothing. It's kinda like forcing comedy that
isn't there. It won't engage the reader. It'll just embarrass them if the scene reads like
something from The Three Stooges, you've gone too far. My point is, embarrassing the characters is
a tried and true method. Just make sure that it actually works for your chosen storyline,
and the characters involved. Number Five (5): Give us a twist. They got off on the wrong foot,
but it turns out they're betrothed. They hate each other's management style, but plot twist, they're
assigned to work together. He just embarrassed himself in front of her, but it turns out she's
his new boss. Give us a twist, introduce the meet cute, and then show exactly why the situation is
such a disaster. As we already covered, the meet cute does more than just introduce the
two characters, It also sets up a conflict. And delivering an unexpected complication makes the
conflict even worse. Make their already awkward introduction even more awkward. Get them to hate
each other, then force them into close quarters. Make one of them wanna run and hide, and then make
sure that's completely impossible. It's not enough for you to bring them into one another's world,
you have to make sure that avoiding each other is completely impossible, and maybe kinda
uncomfortable. Why? Because it's fun to read, God dammit! This digs into the forced proximity trope.
Twist the narrative to bring the cringe and the love. Number Six (6): Unrequited or zero interest.
A lot of amazing meet cutes end with one of two situations: unrequited interest or zero interest.
They're either walking away with only one person pining, or both of them hating each other's guts.
Readers live for this shit. Unrequited interest is fun because of the dialogue. You can introduce
flirting, or bashful moments where only one person is fully committed. It's a way of bringing
the romance somewhat early, without diving into insta love territory. Zero Interest is fantastic
because it feeds into the enemies to lovers trope. We've got two people, they just met, and they hate
each other's guts. This is fun because hatred is another form of passion, and passion in all forms
is fun to read about. Do your characters have to feel this way after the meet cute? Absolutely not.
But do readers enjoy it? 100%. Number Seven (7): Don't make it easy. Sometimes there is mutual
interest after a meet cute, but you shouldn't make their relationship easy. If it was easy
there wouldn't be a story to tell, they just get together and that's it. Cue the resolution!
This is typically where the twist comes into play. Maybe they meet each other, they like each other,
only to find out they are competing for the same scholarship and only one of them can get it.
Maybe one of them's super famous, and the other is intimidated by the lifestyle. Maybe once again,
they come from warring communities. I could go on with the examples because honestly,
there are a million different situations that could prevent two people from coming together.
Find those circumstances and shove that into your relationship. The most annoying thing is when a
romance is easily solved. They like each other, there’s nothing separating one another, so why
can't they just get together? Create a problem and make that starkly clear soon after the meet cute,
so it is constantly hanging over them. Which brings us to Number Eight (8): Bring the banter.
Your characters don't have to flirt during a meet cute, they don't have to like each other, but they
do need to speak to one another. And if you're gonna write dialogue for the love of God make it
banter. Banter is defined as a playful exchange. It often results in some good humored teasing. You
can make this work in most, if not all, meet cute scenarios. If your two characters are enemies,
they're banter could be playful rivalry, it could be jabs going back and forth that only
ups their bad attitudes. If we've got unrequited love, the banter could be flirtation on one end,
and complete obliviousness on the other. If we've got two characters who are interested
in each other, then the banter could be charming or bashful. And if you've got humiliation nation
going on, the banter could be embarrassed and awkward. The point is, you got options. Bring the
banter. It'll allow readers to get to know your characters much better. Number Nine (9): Agency,
agency, and more agency. A meet cute is about two or more people coming together to eventually make
a unified whole. This does not work if the two characters involved are not treated as equal,
vitally important characters. You cannot favor one character over the other in that moment.
Whether it's significantly more page time, or significantly more agency. It's okay if
one character is in a greater power position than the other character in the meet cute.
But if one character has 90% of the dialogue, and the other one has 10%, not so much. If one
character has all the decision making power, and the other one is helpless, blow-up doll much? The
meet cute is your moment to introduce two parts of a whole. People who are supposed to improve
one another's lives. You cannot achieve that reaction by favoring one character, and giving
the other dick all attention. Plus it's not a good look if one character is leading the show,
and the other one’s barely sentient. It's not particularly interesting, and it's
certainly not gonna get readers to root for the ship. And last but certainly not least,
Number Ten (10): Make it memorable. If there's one takeaway you get from this video, let it be this:
the meet cute doesn't have to be cute, it doesn't have to be passionate, it doesn't even have to
be romantic. But it DOES have to be memorable. Your readers need to remember how these two met,
because it will accomplish three things. First of all, it tells you the characters are memorable,
which is exactly what you want. Second, it tells you they've created a lasting impression on one
another, which will help read chemistry. And third, it means the readers will want to see
more of them, which gives you a better opportunity of writing romance. Of all
mistakes you could make, the worst one is writing a meet cute that your readers just skim over,
or kind of dismisses as filler. You want them rooting for and expecting more interactions.
You want them already anticipating how this relationship is going to unfold.
Make sure this interaction is a key moment in readers minds. It will go a long way in enhancing
the overall romance. So that's all I got for you today. Thank you so much to Calvin
for requesting today's video. If you'd like the chance to have a video dedicated to you,
or if you want access to tons of other awards. Check me out on Patreon. You get early access
to all of my videos. We have a monthly live stream, we have an exclusive writing group,
and sign books. I got it linked below. 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 like yourself some award winning dark fantasy romance, definitely check these books out. I will
love you forever. They're 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!
(Sensual Female Voice) Hello, dove! It's me, Cosima! Do me a favor,
subscribe to Jenna's channel and ring the bell. I would be EVER so grateful. Go on and subscribe.
I'll be waiting for you once you've finished…