the writer's room discussion

I'm thinking of writing a book set in a coastal town that is "fake dating" and "my brother's best friend" but I don't know what the problem and plot could be, could you give me ideas please?

Depends on the age of the target audience, I think. If it’s going to be marketed to young adults or teenagers and/or with characters that are in high school, the plot could be more focused towards character v character conflicts, perhaps with the brother feeling uncomfortable with his sibling dating his friend, drama within friend groups depending on the MC’s friends’ opinions on the love interest, other interpersonal conflicts like that.

If it’s targeted to a more mature audience, I’d suggest focusing more on the MC’s internal conflicts. You could set it up at a point where they’re reluctant to get into a relationship for whatever reason, their hesitance conflicting with their feelings for the love interest, you could introduce a conflict where between everyday responsibilities and their other relationships they might not have much time to dedicate to a partner. I generally just say that the older and more mature your target audience is, the more complex your character’s problems should be.

Hmm... I'm not much of a romance reader, but what I guess my advice would be is this: make sure your story is good regardless of the romance.

That's not to say you should write a story where you could remove the romance and change nothing, but the story and characters should be able to support the story. Make the characters act like real people. Make their dialogue sound realistic and paint an accurate picture of them. Make them developed as people, and give them lives outside of the relationship (I know some people make the MMC basically exist only to please and serve the FMC, which often comes across as them having no existence or sense of purpose outside of the romance).

Obviously, lots of people will read romance even if the writing isn't perfect, but as an aro/ace person, I think the best-written romances are ones that are mutual, genuine, and authentically written. Hope this helps, and happy writing :D!

I'd like to see a romance where the FMC is the one doing the pursuing. I feel like romance normalizes the idea that dating is something a man does to a woman, and it'd be neat to see a story flip that. Maybe she's the one arranging dates, paying for food, buying gifts, etc. That's not to say that he shouldn't do anything for her, of course, but I think it'd feel really fresh to have your FMC putting in the effort for someone instead of just being showered with free attention. :)

Henna_UwU wrote: "I'd like to see a romance where the FMC is the one doing the pursuing. I feel like romance normalizes the idea that dating is something a man does to a woman, and it'd be neat to see a story flip t..."

I second this. That could be really refreshing as a romance concept.