Love is in the Air:

There’s no one way to plot a romance. Everyone has their own system of structuring. Romancing the Beat by Gwen Hayes is a popular one many romance writers swear by. I’m not great at following anyone else’s mold. The way I work is by making things up for myself and finding the way I need to do things. Below is the structure I’ve come up with for myself, but I’m not necessarily telling you to follow it. This is one example. Go forth and search for or create your own should you so choose not to use the one I’ve provided. The choice is yours!

Consider This:

Act I - Scared of Love:

Your character will be afraid of love because of something that happened to them in the past. It gives them a false belief about the world. They’re fighting against the love even though they’re both attracted to one another, and they’re doing this while you’re setting up the external plot.

Act IIa - Learning Love:

Now that the two people realize they can’t fight the attraction they feel for each other, they learn little lessons (refer to character sheet – what they need to heal) and their barriers against love start to break down. The couple have put their vulnerable hearts on the line and made the leap to trust each other.

Act IIb - Unsure of Love:

Now that they’ve committed to each other, their fears start to show. Plot points arise that put doubt in their minds based on their fears. At the end of this quarter, the big climax happens. Their fear becomes a reality (or at least, they think it has). They retreat, have a ‘woe is me’ moment until someone or something reminds them to trust new love.

Act III - Fighting For Love:

Deciding to trust their new love, they are now fighting for it. The hero/heroine has shown them how to heal, and they become their ‘best me’ (check character sheet). They make a grand gesture, something to prove they’ve changed, and win the heart of their love. Don’t forget a chapter at the end to show them firmly in their new, love-filled life.

That’s not everything. There’s so much more to it. But that’s the broad stroke of what I’m thinking about when I plot the romantic relationship of my romance novels. There’s separate work that goes into each character’s internal arc, and then there’s the planning of the internal and external plots, as well.

The Outline:

The Meet Cute:

Here’s where the lovers meet. This is where the seeds of their relationship are sown. There’s both attraction and conflict. The groundwork for the potential to reach a happily-ever-after, along with enough conflict to last the length of a novel, is set.

Rejection of the Relationship:

One or both of the main characters are in denial about the attraction, or there’s some external reason in their way, so this cannot possibly work out. Here, the relationship is still very much at odds. We learn the reasons why the relationship won’t work and the external plot reasons why they cannot be together. But also… there are hints that they can’t quite stop thinking about each other, and something big is going to happen between them. It’s usually a situation of “they doth protest too much.”

Giving the Relationship a Chance:

This is the “First Threshold” or the beginning of Act Two. For some reason, despite their attempts to stay apart, they’re forced to work together, often toward a common goal, sometimes as a reluctant agreement to date. There’s often some challenge that cannot be overcome without the other. They must accept that some sort of relationship is developing, though they are still adamant that a happily-ever-after is not in the cards for them. There’s still conflict and resistance to permanence, and no mentions of love, but they must face the truth: in order to continue on their journey, they will need to work together.

Three Dates:

This is the first relationship development section. Usually, there’s a first date that happens here, along with other challenges. I’ve heard Liz Pelletier of Entangled say there’s usually three dates in this section, if there are dates, which not every romance has per se. But the lovers are together for a period of time, interacting in a get-to-know-you scenario demonstrating relationship chemistry in at least three major scenes. Each scene both deepens their affinity but also reaffirms the reason they cannot be together. It’s a “three steps forward, two steps back” pattern.

I Need You, But I Can’t Have You:

In many romances, this is where some major form of physical intimacy takes place. A first kiss, a first love-making, or a first uninhibited admittance of, “I really like having you in my life.” There’s an intense moment of believing or seeing a glimpse of how meaningful this relationship could become. But it’s quickly dashed to pieces, often by one or the other getting scared by the growing intimacy and some external plot force tearing them apart.

Pulling Back Together:

Something, most likely in the external plot, forces them back together. They’re forced to work together, and the attraction is stronger than ever. The relationship development that had begun in the first half now deepens. Often, their deepest fears are confessed, they’re left vulnerable and open to each other, and real intimacy builds.

The Fall:

They fall for each other, hard. There’s usually another big moment of physical intimacy here, often lovemaking in a way that is meaningful. In romances where the couple has been engaging in casual sex, usually the love scene here is truly making love for the first time. They will separately admit they’ve fallen for the other, though not necessarily acknowledging it to each other. Sometimes one will declare themselves, but the other doesn’t reciprocate for some reason related to their internal flaw or wound.

The Break Up:

They’re done. They’re over. The relationship is never going to happen. Their lives are in crisis. They try to go back to their ordinary world, and it’s a dismal fail. They’re irrevocably changed by the other person. They’re lost and miserable in their loneliness.

The Sacrifice:

There’s a decision made by one or both of the lovers. They’re clinging to the fear of the wound/flaw, but this is overcome. There’s a letting go or sacrificing of the misbelief they’ve been carrying around this whole time, and giving up on the external plot reason for them not being together. The realization that whatever fear was stopping them is insignificant compared to their love for the other person.

The Declaration:

There’s a declaration of love, a communion of the relationship. This is where the magic of the happily-ever-after comes to completion. It’s usually at first met with some trepidation. This is their first big leap of faith and giving of their hearts to each other. The trust circle between them is complete.

The Happily Ever After:

The romance reader has to have their denouement. They want a glimpse of the lovers in their new happily-ever-after world, to make sure that everything is going okay. There’s usually a scene including friends and family, gaining an acknowledgment of the new relationship from important people in their lives. There’s a renewed promise of forever.