How to Write Romance, Part 2 (Writing Emotion: Bittersweetness)

The Writing Emotion series observes one emotion at a time in a story that does it well. This is so that we can understand better how to do our most important job as storytellers: make readers feel.

The objective of these posts is less about learning to convey a specific emotion (joy, sorrow, anxiousness, etc.) and more about studying what is going on underneath a scene that makes the emotionality of it more compelling for the characters and the reader alike—

It’s about learning to write emotion.

Emotion: Bittersweetness
Story: The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

*Bittersweetness**: sweet with a bitter aftertaste*

As a reminder, for the month of February, I’m focusing on romance over here on Project Published.

Our next focus is The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren:

“Once her grandparents were gone, Jess leaned against the closed door. Fatigue settled flabbily into her muscles, aching deep into her bones. She felt much older than thirty. Walking through the quiet apartment, she picked up Juno’s shoes, the stray socks, the cat toys, more than one cup half-full of milk, pencils, food orders on Post-it notes from Juno and Pops playing Restaurant. She set the coffee timer, packed up Juno’s backpack, loaded the dishwasher, and glanced around the space for any other random detritus before clicking off the light and walking down the hall to her daughter’s room.

Juno had fallen asleep with Frog and Toad Are Friends open on her chest again, her mermaid light still on. Jess deposited Pigeon on her fancy three-tiered cat post near the window, but she immediately jumped down and onto the bed, happily curling herself into a ball at Juno’s feet.

Jess closed Juno’s book and put it on the nightstand, tucked the blankets up to her chin, and sat carefully on the edge of the mattress at her side. In her sleep, Juno frowned. Her hair spilled coppery across the light pink pillowcase. Jess hadn’t seen Alec in almost two years, but looking at their daughter was like seeing him every day anyway. She had Jess’s eyes but got his strikingly metallic chestnut hair, dimpled smile, and grumpy crease in the middle of her forehead. Jess smoothed her thumb across Juno’s warm, kid-sweaty brow and gave herself two deep breaths to wish he were here, before remembering that she hadn’t loved him in a long time and didn’t need his help. Empty companionship was lonelier than being alone.”

Lesson 1: Routine with a Purpose

This passage details a simple routine in the life of Jess. The problem is, routines are boring. Right? The writing experts tell us to avoid them. To skip to the good parts.

Unless…

Here are a couple of exceptions when it might be appropriate to include a daily routine in your character’s life:

The routine is interesting and unique to the protagonist. For example, if your protagonist is an assassin. Her routine might pique our curiosity.
The routine is included for a specific purpose.

Here’s the problem. The purpose writers find in using a routine is often to introduce a protagonist. That might be okay if the routine falls into the first category (unique and interesting).

OR, if the routine is a tiny blip on the road to a more plot-driven scene.

That’s exactly what this scene is doing. The writer is showing us an evening in the life of Jess for a reason. It’s building up to something. It’s taking us through her internal thought process as she sees her life more clearly. This is often important when pushing a protagonist along the journey of their character arc.

This routine is necessary because it is building up to a big decision. Jess loves her kid and her life. She feels blessed. But she’s also lonely. Maybe it’s time to fix that…

Story implementation questions:

What purpose might a routine serve in your book?
- Is there something particularly interesting your protagonist does on a regular basis?
- Is the routine leading up to a big event, reveal, or decision?

Lesson 2: Hole-Hearted

No romance is complete without giving us a glimpse into the hole currently residing in the protagonist’s heart.

This is a term I picked up from Gwen Hayes, author of Romancing the Beat. She explains that a romance story will take a character from hole-hearted, to whole-hearted.

In other words, a romance is showing us that once two love interests come together, they can fill the holes in their hearts and become better versions of themselves.

Jess is doing fine on her own. She has a life, a career, a family. But she’s lonely. She sometimes feels the weight of responsibility that comes from not having a companion to share her life with. This scene demonstrates that hole in her heart very clearly. It makes us as, the reader, all the more eager to see it filled.

This is especially good because it builds our anticipation. And anticipation is one of the biggest page-turning emotions you can evoke.

Story implementation questions:

What is the hole in your character’s heart?
Whether you’re writing a romance or not, your character almost certainly has a hole (a Lie, misbelief, ghost, etc.) they are trying to heal.
How can you effectively expose the hole in your character’s heart in order to build more anticipation for the time when that hole will be filled?
Give us a glimpse into the pain your character is experiencing as a result of that hole.

Lesson 3: Review

In these posts, I sometimes like to review lessons I’ve already learned. I find it extremely helpful to see writing tools I’ve already learned in action in a different story.

By doing so, I further solidify my understanding of these important story tools and can therefore write them more effectively.

In the post on Anticipation (How to Pace a Scene), I found 5 important steps the writer took to move things along in a way that felt neither rushed and chaotic, nor slow and boring. In other words, there were 5 things that helped keep the scene’s pace.

They were:

Stakes
Sensory Details
Emotions
Show
Future Focused

In this small scene above, the writer is utilizing these exact same steps. They look a little something like this:

The STAKES are made clear when the writer draws attention to Jess’s loneliness and her desire for companionship. If Jess doesn’t make a change, she’ll continue to have to carry the weight of her responsibilities alone, making her more tired and unhappy.
The writer uses plenty of SENSORY DETAILS throughout this passage. I’m especially drawn to things like the post-it notes from Jess’s kid playing restaurant, as well as Juno’s “kid-sweaty brow.”
Jess is feeling lonely in this scene, as well as emotionally exhausted. We see these EMOTIONS as she watches her child sleep. These emotions take on another layer as the writer describes Jess’s interiority: “Fatigue settled flabbily into her muscles, aching deep into her bones. She felt much older than thirty.”
Lots of slowed-down action in this passage, as well. The writer SHOWS Jess’s routine as she picks up after another busy day.
Though Jess’s reflection is FOCUSED on her PAST, rather than her FUTURE, it accomplishes the same thing. As humans, our minds frequently wander from our current moment. We worry about the future. We reflect on the past. It helps make up who we are.

Story implementation questions:

Is there a scene in your current story that is feeling rushed or slow? Take a look at the 5 steps above and see if you’re missing anything.