: Re: How to write a character who is falling in love, but doesn't know? So I have been trying to write a character that is oblivious to romantic advances because they mistake them for normal, platonic

@Sarah872

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One of the best examples I know for this is in both the book and movie of Remains of the Day. The emotionally repressed main character is in love with his coworker, but never admits it, either to himself or to her. There's a wonderful scene where he drops and shatters a prized, vintage bottle of wine --completely out of character for him --on the day he learns she is leaving, yet never connects the two events.

This is a good strategy. Have the character show many of the characteristic signs of romance, yet refuse to admit to them. If you want to make it explicit, you could even have a conversation like "it's so great we can be so close and intimate and still be just friends." That may seem crude and hamfisted, but conversations like that do happen all the time in real life.

It's not clear to me which character is oblivious, the viewpoint character or the love interest (or both). It's easier to show this with the viewpoint character, because you can color their perceptions and reactions. If it's the other character, you might just need to focus in on the viewpoint character's frustrations with being stuck in the "friend zone."

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