#writing relationship
Not the school subject, which I know nothing about (sorry to my chemistry teacher). I’m talking about love. But more than that, chemistry is the way two people interact, and usually it is referring to a romantic sense (though there can be friend, familial, or even antagonistic chemistry). So here are some tips on creating and maintain some of those sparks to make your readers care about the relationships in your story.
Make it Slow
It doesn’t need to be slow burn. Hell, it could even be love at first sight. It’s not about the falling in love, it’s about the relationship itself. In real life, we don’t know what a partner is like until a month, 6 months, a year, maybe even a decade after being with them. First impression you is not the real you. Let the characters develop themselves naturally and slowly, and the relationship will not become too fast-paced and unrealistic.
Give them Differences
We’ve all heard the saying “opposites attract.” And since everyone is different in some way, that is true. Now, your romantic interests don’t need to be polar opposites. In fact, something which I will talk about soon is that they should have some similarities. But a difference creates conflict—good conflict. Conflict that can mirror character’s internal conflict, that can mirror the plot, that can lead to surprising bonds. Make your characters’ differences complement each other, and that will lead to great chemistry.
Give them Similarities
Wait, what? You just said to give them differences.
Well, yes. Both can be true. In the same way that every person on Earth is bound to have something similar and something different with every other person on Earth, your characters should have some similarities to go along with their differences. What is a common trait, or situation, or part of their identity that they can bond over. What do they share that nobody else shares with them? Answering this question can also answer the key question: why do these two characters specifically work well with each other, and not with anyone else?
Focus on Each Separately
You can’t make a good relationship unless the characters that are part of that relationship are also good. So, before you jump into trying to create chemistry, make sure your characters are fully fleshed out first. They should be able to stand on their own with their roles in the story. Make them complex, with motivations, goals, and a key role in the story beforeyou pair them together.
Hope this helps!
Here’s a few tips to making a break up heart breaking for your readers and not only the characters:
1.- Make it slow. We all know the slow burn for getting together but breaking up can be just as slow. It starts with mild annoyances that grow into frustrations that turn to bickering that turn to shouts that turn to “some space” that turn to a “break” that turns to a break up.
2.- They do everything right. They listen to each other and try to understand, they go to couples therapy. They try to get the magic back by going to old date spots. They try everything they can think of to ensure the relationship works. But sometimes people are just too different, sometimes those differences don’t compliment one another in the right way.
3.- Make it hard for them to be together at all. Especially if there’s an established friend group or even worse if there are children. I love exes that can be friends in books, especially those that are slightly bickery but not much. But if you want it to hurt, show the awkward and painful first phase of a breakup. Show the formation of two sides, and a friend group breaking up or children having to chose their favourite.
4.- Show them struggling individually. Show the gaps once filled by the other now empty. Show them learning to live alone again. Show them having to do the task the other once helped them with. Show everything they lost because when you learn to live with another and that person leaves, you need to learn to live again.
This was a bit short. But I think those four points are powerful. Any more ideas?
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