This week: Classic Love Stories Edited by: Lilli 🧿 ☕ More Newsletters By This Editor
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One way to be sure that your love story will capture the heart of your audience is to take a closer look at some famous fictional couples. So, let's take a look at some of the most well-known love stories out there to see how great authors made memorable love connections. |
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When it comes to love stories, there is no halfway. Characters who fall, fall hard. A wishy-washy love story is forgettable. Passion is, far and away, the most vital element of a memorable love story. It’s not enough for a character to merely desire love; it must seem necessary in some way. Passion must be so compelling that love becomes as vital to the characters as air.
There’s no rule book for passion. But let’s see what key ingredients some famous authors have used to create stories of great romantic passion.
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
Jane and Rochester
A romance for the ages! This story offers templates for present-day fiction writers: a woman and man who come from very different economic circumstances overcome enormous obstacles before they (sort of) live happily ever after. Here, passion is elevated because of class differences (among other things, of course). The fact that these characters can overcome their differences speaks to the depth of their emotions. Also, Brontë tells the story from the viewpoint of one character (Jane) rather than using an omniscient narrator, which makes the question “What is Rochester hiding?” even more engaging.
Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer
Edward and Bella
Popular contemporary fiction can also offer love stories that capture and hold the public’s attention. Edward is hundreds of years old and ostensibly has met tons of women, but he falls for insecure, boring, and painfully earnest Bella. Their relationship is portrayed as inevitable, destined, even fated; even if it’s not entirely credible. The sense of being “meant for each other” and “part of something larger” can be crucial components of compelling love stories. Passion, as destiny, is quite attractive for some readers.
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton
Newland Archer and Ellen Olenska
A couple might seem “meant for each other,” but that doesn’t always mean things will work out. One person can have other relationship obligations, or societal pressures might stymy the couple. A big writing lesson Wharton expertly “teaches” is that writers can break the hearts of readers while still leaving them very glad they read the heartbreaking work. In this book, a lifelong passion is never fulfilled, and it doesn’t die either; that’s part of what makes the book so powerful.
Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
Jack Twist and Ennis Del Mar
This famous short story about two ranch hands shows that fictional love sagas don’t have to star heterosexual characters. It also shows that a secretive romantic relationship is one way to make a short story or novel engrossing. “Forbidden love”, a love that’s not approved by the other characters in the story or society, is a recurring theme in memorable love stories. A passion that can’t be fully expressed causes all kinds of complex emotions in characters and readers alike.
East of Eden by John Steinbeck
Adam and Cathy Trask
Let’s not forget about the romantic train wrecks in great literature. The Trask marriage is an example of a disastrous one-sided match; with the besotted Adam loving Cathy (at least at first), but evil Cathy is incapable of loving anyone. This is meaty material for the great Steinbeck or any writer. It’s memorable in part because it delves into the dangers and risks of falling in love.
Tell me about some of your favorite fictional couples in the "Ask & Answer" Section below.
What is it about them that can help writers create their own romantic couples?
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| | A Lady’s Love (E) A short story from long ago. A lady gets on after the loss of her husband. #2239574 by Whitney |
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