Written by Nandini Sethi
If you’ve clicked on this article, chances are you’re a hopeless romantic, just like us, and are wondering how it is that they get us so emotional every single time! Love stories are a great escape from reality, and sometimes it’s therapeutic to imagine you’re living a life crafted by your own daydreaming.
If you have the thoughts in your head, but are struggling to fabricate a storyline and put it into words, here are 4 tips to help you nurture your ideas:
1. Your Characters Need to be Well Thought-Out
You need to be sure of your characters and their personalities. Right from the way they dress to the way they eat and sleep, no one should know the characters better than you. One good way to do this is by asking yourself, if my characters were stuck in a fire, how would they behave and act?
Once you know your characters, your readers will get a better understanding too, and before either of you know it, you get emotionally attached to them as if they were real-life people.
2. Your Story Doesn’t Always Have to be Based on Someone or Something
A popular myth is that stories are based on real-life events. Remember, this is fiction, and you can go totally crazy with your storylines. This world is created by you, and no one can intervene to say, ‘hey, aliens don’t exist!’ Well, they do in this world!
3. Your Audience Needs to Know a Secret
Your audience needs to know something one or more of your characters don’t. This builds anticipation, and the reader is eager to find out how the others in your story would react once the secret is out. Mystery is an important element, even in a love story.
4. What’s the Climax?
Your plotline needs to be strong. The climax should be gripping and unique, something fresh that the readers cannot predict. There are plenty of love triangles out there – what new are you bringing to the table? Map out your storyline clearly in your mind before you begin writing it.
These tips will help bring your ideas to life. We can’t wait to read your love stories, and if you would like to, please do share them with us by sending to hello@beyondthepanorama.com!