Characters, in a sense, are an extension of ourselves. We do whatever it takes to make sure that our characters’ stories are told, that they receive an outcome befitting their situations and personalities. What’s more, when characters are realistic, people find that they can relate more to them in that present moment than anything else. And because of the respect they garner from both readers and writers alike, it’s important to know that you can’t just force them to fall in love. 

Whether it be for financial or emotional reasons, when you force one character to fall in love with another, not only are you potentially damaging your story, but you also might be changing key details that could have made your story better. And even when you plan for the characters to fall in love, if it’s sudden, even abrupt, it can lead to an unsatisfying tale. Below are a few more reasons why. 

It comes across as saccharine  

Sometimes in young adult romances, when two characters are just within the vicinity of each other, it’s as if they’re destined to fall in love. But there comes a point in time when their affection becomes too sweet, where sometimes we do have to put down the book. Other times, we blatantly see how bad the relationship can be, and we scream at the characters to try to avoid their potential love interests. However, they pursue each other anyway. Why? Either because the protagonist feels they can try to change the main character, or it’s because the character is so brooding that they need someone to help them. Such is the unfortunate case in a lot of paranormal romances. 

It’s like Cupid shot the wrong people 

There’s a trope called “Strangled by the Red String” in which two characters who are absolutely toxic when put in the same room together just suddenly fall in love, then decide to get married and live happily ever after. Whenever you see them, it’s like you can tell they want to kill each other. No, it’s not tough love, or how they fall in love with one another. It’s a borderline abusive relationship that people in the fictional universe still find completely and utterly realistic. In a way, it’s kind of like a girl falling in love with the guy who’s been bullying her with her arch nemesis, just because she finds him attractive enough.

It’s too predictable 

Whenever two people look at each other with those overly descriptive words, it usually means that they’re going to fall in love with each other. We already know what’s going to happen, so why should readers sit down and read through your book? If we already know what’s going to happen, we might as well just read through the blurb, skip through it, and just move on to the next one. 

Romance isn’t that complicated a genre. There are two people who fall in love, but whether or not they get together is up to the author. However, remember that romances also have to have an element of realism to them. 

Otherwise, they might just end up like odd constructions of Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey.