: Re: 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

@Jessie137

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Build-A-Barrier, or an invisible fence

As others have pointed out, barriers to a relationship are an often-used device to prolong the tension and keep the reader wondering. They can be hard rules (e.g., marriage, work regulations, societal taboo on homosexuality) or soft ones (e.g., "I'm not looking for a relationship right now"). You can work without an explicit barrier by ascribing a minor one in your head (e.g., "She thinks of him as a brother," or "Her personality reminds me too much of my ex,") and never stating it outright, but playing the interactions that way to suggest a fragile emotional barrier that could come tumbling down if the reader just wants it hard enough.

Establish their chemistry as a platonic friendship

With or without a barrier I'd suggest first trying to write the chemistry as a truly special platonic friendship or partnership. They can have compatible personalities, or complementary personalities, and they might have a shared goal with a united approach or opposing approaches (think the X-Files). The ones where they aren't rubbing along in sync I find more interesting, and they might perceive a sort of relationship barrier without there truly being an obstacle with any validity (easy to break through). Once you have that friendship, you know their relationship has substance and personality chemistry, and your reader will want to continue reading interactions between them. (Really, that's a kind of platonic shipping!)

Season your chili to make it hotter

Then, you can go back through the story and start turning up the heat with a few prolonged gazes, physical closeness, a sexual humor joke that falls flat in the situation because it hits too close to home, or whatever else you find intriguing in a developing romantic interest. If your readers already like the characters together it won't take much suggestion for them to jump to rooting for a romantic relationship.

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