Emotional bonds and interactions between 2 or more people: platonic, rivals, love-triangles, sex partners, families, or groups. Relationships can be a positive or negative, with undefined rules and expectations that influence character motives and actions.
Questions tagged [relationships]
57 questions
42
votes
16 answers
How do I convey that a relationship is platonic?
I've been toying around with the idea of writing a novel. The story revolves around two characters, one male and one female, and the perspective will shift between them.
One of the central ideas of the story is that the two characters couldn't be…
Belgabad
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How to represent jealousy in a cute way?
The main character (which is a girl) of the first romance I'm writing would feel jealous sometimes of her love interest, but I want it to be a cute trait or even a setup for funny scenes, not a very obsessive or possessive trait, so they can have a…
KLTKGK
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Writing a love interest for my hero
If I'm going to face down a dragon, Mob boss, evil corporation, or a demon from the 7 circles of hell or dystopian dictator, etc, it's not going to be to rescue my buddy Herbert, or cousin Jimmy. The best they are going to get are my harsh words and…
Ric Fuentez
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11 answers
How do I stop my characters falling in love?
So I'm writing a short story based in a WW2 American military base camp stationed in Germany. It's about A Jewish Soviet soldier that, with the help of an American soldier and a series of coincidences, switches his identity and slips into the…
brandi
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Software for developing and organizing characters
I'm looking for a software that helps me develop and organize the characters for my novel.
What I want:
something like a filesystem, with a file for each character
it should have or allow me to create categories like name, gender, age, backstory,…
user5645
19
votes
11 answers
How do you write about the human condition when you don't understand humanity?
I was talking with some writers, and they were mentioning how writing is fundamentally about "the human condition, our take on it, what we see in our world and experience. All stories, no matter the genre, are people stories. We're always writing…
user2352714
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7 answers
How to address family members solely by relationship in dialogue?
Most English speakers probably just care about You, Mom, Dad, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Grandparents, Great-Grandparents and Ancestors, Children, Grandchildren, etc. That's great... as long as you are writing about a monolingual English-speaking…
Double U
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How can one write good dialogue in a story without sounding wooden?
I began an assignment to write a short story for a Creative Writing submission to a publication and although it was accepted, I found that I struggled with the addition of dialogue to this first-person narrative.
I began by trying to avoid dialogue…
Thimble
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How to write a vulnerable moment without it seeming cliche or mushy?
So, I have a kinda loudmouthed character who's always the first to fight and first to go on the offensive (This is a fantasy, so she fights a lot.) But, later in the story, she comes across someone she truly fears, and finds that she must fight that…
Kale Slade
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How can I indicate that a particular relationship between two male characters is purely brotherly (Philia) rather than romantic (Eros)?
One of the four forms of love Greek philosophy recognised, Philia is usually translated as "brotherly love". It is the love between true friends. It was considered a "higher form" of love than Eros - the romantic, sexual love. Philia is what Kirk…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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How do I write a romance that doesn't look obvious
I'm writing a story, it's not focused on romance, but that's an important part as well. The point is that I have two characters and I ended up ("accidentally") seeing chemistry between them, they have a good dynamic. With that, I really want to know…
Ana Clara Moreira
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How do I handle an unequal romantic pairing in a world with superpowers?
I am writing a story that revolves around a number of characters that have superhuman abilities living amongst normal people, akin to they myriad superhero comics or many urban fantasies out there (e.g., The Mortal Instruments, many shonen manga).…
user2352714
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Should I explain the reasons for gaslighting?
I have an ambiguous script situation, 2 co-protagonists begin gaslighting the MC. They each have ulterior motives which they don't say. The reader is intended to infer the lies through contradictory statements, and the abrupt character change. The…
wetcircuit
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Writing the dialogue of two travelers who dislike each other
I'm currently writing a journey-focused plot arc, and I'm struggling a bit with the character interactions. To give you some background, the protagonist is a lone wolf of sorts whose job is akin to a nomadic exorcist. He gets wounded at the start of…
ani ben
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Third wheel character
I have three characters, who are supposed to be good friends. Athos, Aramis, and Porthos, if you wish. Instead, I have two characters who share a strong Frodo-Sam relationship, and the third guy, who is almost a "third wheel".
It's not that my…
Galastel supports GoFundMonica
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