If you want to write a story that is not fully romance, but you still want to include some element of romance in the overall plot, then you’re probably looking to create a romance subplot. There are many books that are mainly fantasy, mainly sci-fi, mainly horror, etc… but still make room in the plot for a romantic element. Romance has a lot of purposes in stories, not just to exist as romance but also to add depth and emotion to stories. So, for today’s post, I’ll be teaching you how to create an effective and engaging romance subplot for your next story or even your current WIP!
(affiliate disclaimer: some of the links in this post are affiliate links which means that I make a small commission at no extra cost to you when you purchase through my links).
Why Include a Romance Subplot in a Story?
A romance subplot has many reasons for existing in a story, and it should have a reason in your story. You don’t want to treat a romance subplot as a thing to check off a list, so here’s a few reasons why a story should/can include one:
- A romantic subplot enhances the development of your characters and helps to reveal things about how your characters react to certain situations, how they deal with emotions, and what their vulnerabilities are. It can also serve as a sort of motivation for your characters.
- They help to add emotional depth and complexity to a story because you can increase the stakes involved in the plot and create new conflict for your main characters.
- A romantic subplot can also drive the main plot forward and create new opportunities for even more side plots to exist in your story.
How to Create a Great Romance Subplot in Your Story
Create Memorable Characters
Creating a good romance subplot in a story involves quite a few elements, but it’s a very character-driven line in a story, so you need to ensure that your characters are well-developed and well-designed.
Creating memorable characters is something that I’ve discussed before, so if you want more tips on that, you should check that post out. I’ll still mention some things in this post though.
What you want is for your characters to have distinct personalities that allow them to exist in their own light in the story. You don’t want to create the characters to exist only for each other, which is something that I find problematic in some romance stories. The female main character is sometimes dumbed down or is there only for the male main character to have a deeper personality. However, this isn’t a great way to create characters that are engaging and interesting.
The characters in your story who are involved in a romance also had distinct lives before they got together. That’s another issue that I find sometimes in some romance subplots: The characters seem to not have a life before meeting each other. Backstories are a great way to give characters a reason for acting the way they do in the present context of the story and are also a great way to advance the characters more.
Tension and Chemistry
Romance stories in general have some level of tension and chemistry that help to advance the idea of the romance between the two characters. Tension is basically the idea of keeping readers on the edge, wanting the romantic interests to get together, and chemistry allows for the two characters to actually feel like they would be compatible.
There are some romance stories and romantic subplots that fail to create chemistry between the two characters, so that’s when it really hinges on feeling very forced. You want to show normal interactions between the two characters that feel authentic to your readers. You can help this point by creating realistic dialogue between the two.
You also should introduce conflict and obstacles between the two characters. For example, maybe the two characters start out as enemies and eventually fall for each other–my personal favorite trope in romance and stories with romantic subplots. Conflicts and obstacles keep the interactions interesting.
Finally, a slow-burn is a great way to keep the tension high in your story. A good slow-burn allows for you to not rush the romance and keep things interesting for your readers.
The Subplot and Main Plot Should be Integrated and Balanced
One thing you want to avoid doing is having your romance subplot not feel forced into the story. What you want is to integrate them together and create a situation where the subplot coexists with the main plot of your story. If you want to learn how to create an engaging plot, check out this post.
By integrating the subplot with the main plot, you can have the subplot reinforce the thematic elements of your story’s main idea. The theme is a really important part of your story, and having many themes that are interesting can help make your romantic subplot simultaneously interesting. If you want to learn how to develop great themes, then check out this post.
The romance subplot should be paced out properly in a way that doesn’t disrupt the main plot but adds onto it. Basically, focus on your main plot’s development while adding in the side plot of romance to keep things interesting and engaging.
Create an Interesting Relationship Arc for the Characters
Aside from having a romance subplot in the first place, creating an arc for the relationship between your characters is important. For example, maybe they meet during a crisis and one saves the other. Maybe there’s a sort of cute meeting where it seems a bit awkward, but one of the characters finds that fun. Maybe there’s a sort of star-crossed lovers situation where they are–by destiny–not supposed to be together, but they want to be together and so the arc shows how this happens.
At the end of the day, this subplot is important because cheap romance is not worth writing and it actually might detract from your story rather than add to it. Adding subplots is all about enhancing your book!
Make it Emotionally Worthwhile
As you write the story, you want to include moments between your characters that demonstrate highs and lows in emotion, with scenes that have action, intense moments, conflict, deep conversations, and more. Think about how people realistically interact, even if your story isn’t about humans, and try to apply these things to your story.
Additionally, you want to give readers moments of vulnerability and tenderness. You want to show them that the two are capable of loving each other and that the characters feel comfortable around each other. That’s why tender, fluffy moments are helpful in romance stories and subplots, because it helps to create the loving moments of a story against the backdrop of a maybe darker plot.
By the end, you want your readers to be happy that they spent time and invested emotions in the romance. You want them to feel like they had a proper payoff by reading your story and taking the time to understand the two characters.
Things to Avoid in a Romance Subplot
There are a lot of issues with romance subplots in many stories, and here are things that I’ve identified that you should watch out for.
When you use cliches and tropes, you want to make sure that you can put a unique spin on them rather than just include them to check off boxes on a list. So, if you want to use enemies-to-lovers, don’t just put it in there as an afterthought. Spin the trope and make it work.
You also want to avoid having them fall in love in an unrealistic manner where it feels rushed and sudden. In real life, most people don’t fall in love right away and it takes time for a relationship to progress. Which is why you can take things from the way slow-burns are written and apply them to your own story.
Finally, like I said earlier, avoid writing characters who have no depth, personality, goals, motivations, arcs, etc… You want to write characters that are their own people but happen to also fall in love. That’s what makes a good romance subplot good.
Outlining a Story with Romance as a Subplot
A traditional romance story often goes through three acts where the characters meet, there’s forced proximity, and they eventually fall in love. However, in a traditional romance or even a romantasy story, the romance is pretty much central to the plot and without it, the story isn’t really existent.
This is different when we’re comparing it to a story that has romance as a subplot. What you want to do is to create a story with a traditional plot structure, which I have talked about in another post before. Once you’ve gotten that down, you’ll notice that there are subplots that have to exist in the plot structure as well, and you’ll be able to fill those subplots in with your romance story.
If you want to outline a romance story instead, then you should check out this post. If you’re interested in combining romance and fantasy, then you’ll maybe want to consider writing a romantasy story. Romantasy is a bit different than a romance subplot, because a romantasy story is a romance story that exists in a fantasy world. A fantasy with romance is a story that has a plot and then some romance in there.
A Court of Thorns and Roses is a romantasy but The Cruel Prince is a fantasy with a romance subplot, so I recommend you check those two out if you’re interested in seeing the difference between how these two types of stories are written.
Before you head on out, be sure to check out my series, The Fallen Age Saga and don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter to get updates on my WIPs, books, posts and more!