This article is especially for those of you who are writing a romance novel and in particular a slow burn romance.
In it, we explain how to write a slow burn romance through the following 6 top tips.
1. Let the attraction take its time
The goal behind a slow-burn romance is to reflect real life more. In most romance novels, the hero and the heroine have a meet-cute (i.e. a cute or funny moment when they first meet), and then this is followed by both of them thinking of one another so much that they must see each other and interact with each other again.
The attraction between them has already started, and before it gets a chance to really build, they have gotten together and start dating, either before the end of the first arc (assuming we divide the novel in three arcs, beginning, middle, and final arc) or in the beginning of the second arc. By the middle of the second arc, they act as if they have been in love and have the devotion of partners who’ve been together for years. This is why romance novels often suffer from what is called “insta-love” because the hero and heroine were not given enough time to get to the point of being very much in love and devoted to each other. It rarely reflects real life.
In a slow-burn romance, however, the attraction itself needs to take its time, and not just in word count and pages. You can still have a meet-cute, but instead of a cute or funny moment when the hero and heroine meet, you can have a more serious moment, although, it still needs to be a memorable one.
But, after they meet, the hero and the heroine almost seem to forget about each other. They are not on one another’s mind. They need to meet several times for even some attraction to develop. For either one of them, just admitting the attraction would happen closer to the middle of the second arc, rather than earlier than that. And them getting together is saved for later – in fact, this can be the ending of the novel, even.
2. Create an emotional connection
Before the hero and the heroine admit their attraction to one another, they need get to a point where they feel like they understand each other – better than other people understand them. Ergo, they need to meet several times, and during those times, they need to develop an emotional connection.
This emotional connection does not need to stem from them having similar beliefs, similar life experiences, or have similar personalities. Even in a slow-burn romance, opposites can attract. What they need to have are moments when they can open up to one another.
This can happen through having conversations, helping each other in situations where one of them needs help, or if they face a certain difficult situation together. For example, the hero and heroine can be two co-workers who are in competition with one another for a promotion. But, when the hero faces a work problem that he cannot handle alone, the heroine offers a helping hand, even if that means that the hero, by solving the problem, would become more viable to get the promotion.
The important thing is that in these situations (i.e. conversations or moments when the hero and heroine help each other or work together to handle a crisis), neither one of them approaches the other with romantic intentions. For that reason, slow burn romances go from friends, to good friends, to best friends, then finally to lovers. Or, if they start as enemies, then we have enemies first, friends next, then good friends, then lovers.
3. Have a major parallel plot
This might catapult a romance novel from the romance genre to another genre (for example, romantic thriller, or mystery romance), but having another major parallel plot – that ensures the hero and heroine have to work together to resolve it, can give you that time to develop their attraction properly.
A major parallel plot will be a good distraction for the hero and heroine from any romance – as in, they will be more focused on solving the problem, instead of on how they start to feel for one another. Additionally, the two of them having to solve a problem together automatically puts them in a position where they need to work as a team, which ensures they will have plenty of interactions – and moments where you can work on developing their emotional connection.
On top of that, you will get the opportunity to slowly fan the flames between them, increasing the romantic tension between them with each interaction. This way, you will create anticipation in the readers for the moment when the hero and the heroine will finally get together – which will make them more interested to keep reading and find out when exactly it will happen.
4. Develop their feelings
On the other side of the coin of a slow burn romance lies insta-love, as we previously mentioned. However, unless the feelings between the hero and the heroine are developed properly, you might end up writing an insta-love anyway, even if the hero and heroine get together in the final arc of the novel. This will happen if their getting together comes out of the blue.
Normally, in a slow burn romance, it should take a while for the hero and heroine to even admit attraction to one another. But, just because they do not admit it in words, it does not mean that it should not be shown via their actions. If it is not shown, then even if they get together later than anticipated, it comes out of the blue – emotionally speaking – and still feels like they instantly decided they liked and/or loved one another and want to be together.
First should come the hero and heroine admitting to the attraction, to their own selves. After this, it is not necessary for them to confess to each other immediately (if this happens, we again have insta-love). You can give each of them some time to process those feelings, but still doubt about how they wish to proceed. This is where conflict and obstacles come in.
5. Add conflict and obstacles
Adding conflict between the hero and the heroine is a must – because through that conflict, they will get to learn more about one another, and deepen their emotional connection. These conflicts will also make the hero and heroine doubt if they can even be together (and prolong that moment of confessing their attraction and feelings to each other).
Additionally, no real life relationship gets by without any arguments, and having the hero and heroine come into conflict over their differences is both realistic, and it will also help them understand one another better when that conflict between them gets resolved.
As far as obstacles go, they can come from outside forces. For example, the hero’s best friend has been in love with the heroine for a while, and the hero’s deep sense of friendship and loyalty prevents him from even thinking of the heroine in a romantic manner. Or, the heroine has just gone through a bitter break up with her ex-boyfriend, which makes the hero reluctant to even try to invite her out on a date.
On top of that, these obstacles can be internal. It could be the hero’s own tragic past that is preventing him from wanting to fall in love again, or it can be the heroine’s current emotional situation that makes her unwilling to be in a relationship.
6. Bonus: spread it over several books
If you are writing a book series (in any genre) that follows the same hero or heroine as the protagonist, you can spread the romance over several books. In the first book, you can give an inkling of the attraction, and this romantic tension can increase more and more with each subsequent book.
At one point, you can have the hero and heroine get together, and then in subsequent books, you can work on developing their relationship. They do not have to get their happily ever after immediately. In the book when they get together, it can be in a Happy For Now (HFN) manner, and in subsequent books, their relationship can be tested, and when they get their Happily Ever After (HEA) in the final book, it will feel very realistic.
You may find the following articles useful:
How to Write a Contemporary Romance Novel
How to Write a Dystopian Romance Novel