Romance is an ever-growing genre and is still one of the most popular genres out there to this very day. For most of history, we find evidence of romance in literature from all corners of the world. Romance is something that seems to permeate cultures and societies, and it’s interesting to see the different styles and tropes that have existed in romance for centuries. One of those famous tropes is definitely the idea of forbidden love, which is one of the most popular romance tropes out there. But how does one write an exciting and enticing forbidden love romance story? Well, let’s dive into it!
New to writing romance? Start here → How to Outline a Romance Novel Easily!
What is Forbidden Love in Fiction?
Forbidden love in books is the idea of a romantic relationship between two people that is actively hindered by external forces. These external forces can be things like social status, cultural differences, familial differences, personal beliefs, moral codes, etc… The idea of forbidden love is that the romance starts out being essentially impossible. There are also very high stakes involved, because if it’s discovered that these two are in love, then there may be major consequences for both of them.
The forbidden love trope includes lots of tension, emotional stakes, and more. It’s a relationship that needs to defy quite literally everything in order to survive, but not all forbidden romance stories end with happiness.
You also want to ensure that your characters are written in a way that makes them memorable so that the romance story can actually feel impactful and not just like a boring story.
Why Should You Write Forbidden Love?
One of the biggest reasons why forbidden love is so good and is something you should write is that there’s a lot of emotional intensity. The forbidden love concept is inherently high-stakes when it comes to romance. The characters’ love for each other often comes with personal risks that could uproot everything they know. There may be punishments and it could even be a life-or-death risk. Obviously, this sort of thing keeps the readers invested because there’s a lot involved in the characters’ story and if something happens, it could be devastating.
Like I said earlier, forbidden love has existed in many cultures’ romance stories. For a long time, we have found evidence of the idea of forbidden love in many pieces of literature from around the world. These stories resonate with readers and it seems that it doesn’t matter what era the story is from–the theme is what matters.
As with any story, conflict is important. In romance stories, conflict is something that can sometimes feel lacking. Not with forbidden love though, as forbidden love stories come inherently built-in with conflict. In fact, the conflict is the main reason why these two cannot/should not be together.
What Makes a Good Forbidden Romance Story?
1. Establish the Conflict Early
In order for the forbidden love story to mean something to the reader, the idea of why the romance is forbidden needs to be made clear pretty much from the beginning of the book. The reader should be able to identify precisely what keeps these two people apart. This could be a cultural difference, a difference in social classes, or something else. Whatever your reasoning is, it has to be clear to the reader why the characters cannot be together. If you don’t make it clear, readers might start feeling like the writer has no idea what the conflict is supposed to be, which isn’t something you want readers to feel.
You also want to ensure that you have selected an interesting and high-stakes conflict for your story. High-stakes conflicts help a lot when it comes to the forbidden romance trope.
2. Create Chemistry
Chemistry is one of the foundational aspects of any romance story and it really aids the way the love between two characters develops. In a forbidden romance story, the chemistry needs to be much more intense. The tension and the longing that comes from the knowledge of not being allowed to be together is what really drives the romance home for the readers.
The readers need to feel the attraction between the two characters and build their connection through meaningful moments, subtle moments, and shared experiences alike. You need to convince the reader why the two characters are in love and why the reader needs to care about this romance.
3. Use Tension and Restraint
Forbidden love definitely thrives off of tension and the tension is a result of what the lovers cannot do together more than what they can do together. She cannot be with him openly and their relationship is marked by stolen moments, quiet meetings, unsaid words, glances from across the room, letters delivered in secret. The restraint creates anticipation and makes the resolution of the romance much more powerful.
Things like close calls where they almost get caught and scenes where they are separated but cannot think of anything but each other are super powerful and can truly change the way a story develops.
4. Raise the Stakes
As the story progresses, you need to show the stakes progressing and rising as well. The closer the two characters get to being together, the more the world around them should start to close in and threaten to pull them apart again. This sort of escalation in tension allows to keep readers on the edge of their seats and will make them wonder if the story will end with the two together happily or not.
The key is to ensure that there are dire consequences that exist in the story. The idea of the love being forbidden cannot just be a small bump in the road and it needs to have a difficult level of baggage attached and associated with it.
5. Inner Conflict
A big way that you can propel your forbidden love story forward is the idea of internal conflict and what each character’s personal inner conflicts are like. They internally know that they cannot be in love because all odds are against them, but they also cannot help but feel like they are in love with each other. They should feel like there is guilt behind their feelings and they should also question the worth of pursuing this sort of relationship as well as the fear if they do end up following through on it.
The internal conflict also mirrors the external conflicts of the story and allows the characters to struggle with emotions, decisions and more. It also makes the resolution of the forbidden love story much more impactful in this way.
6. Decide on the Resolution
One of the most important parts of writing a forbidden love story is to figure out what the resolution of the story will actually end up being. The resolution is essentially how the story will end and forbidden love includes quite a lot of different endings. There are quite a few things that you can consider doing for the ending, but here are some common endings in forbidden love stories:
1. Tragic Ending
The tragic ending may not be everyone’s favorite, but we can’t deny that it’s common in forbidden love stories. The tragic ending is one where the two characters pay the ultimate price for their love, like in Romeo and Juliet. This sort of ending is very heartbreaking, but it’s very emotional and can be quite impactful if done right. However, most readers might be more apprehensive to read a story like this if they are looking for a happily ever after–that doesn’t mean that you won’t find an audience, but make sure to craft a great story so that the ending can actually feel impactful and not just for shock value. If you want to learn more about how to write impactful character deaths then check out this post!
2. Bittersweet Ending
A bittersweet ending is a bit different in that it’s not entirely tragic, but there were definitely losses made along the way to getting to this ending. This ending shows that there was an ultimate cost to this love but the two are at least together, so there’s some hope there.
3. Happy Ending
A happy ending is what it sounds like: An ending where basically everything worked out, the obstacles have been overcome, and they can finally be together. However, you do want to ensure that when you create a HEA that the ending actually feels earned and that the characters have fought to get to his point despite any and all circumstances.
4. Ambiguous Ending
An ambiguous ending is a resolution that leaves things open to interpretation. This isn’t the most popular form and I’d only really recommend this if your books are a series and the next book picks up immediately where you left off. Other than that though, if your story is a standalone, you might have a tough time selling this sort of ending because readers might think that you didn’t know how to end the story. Even if this was your intention, you do have to consider reader perception as well.
Conclusion
Forbidden love romance stories are more than just a relationship–they’re about tapping into the deep and emotional feelings of a relationship, the ideas of longing, desire, and fear. It’s also about creating conflict and crafting a story where love defies all odds. Love stories with forbidden romances raise the stakes and make things intense so that readers can connect to more than just a love story, but also to a powerful display of emotion.
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