More on Romance

Lately, I've been in a period drama mood, both in my writing and in the movies I watch. While I've been grinning like an idiot as I watch certain romantic couples get together for a happily ever after, it got me to thinking of two problems with romance stories that unfortunately do happen in period dramas but also in any kind of story genre.

Awkward Crush Behavior

I noted this one when I recently watched BBC's "Cranford" and its sequel "Return to Cranford" a few weeks ago. In "Cranford," which is basically a set of intertwined stories that all take place in a mid-19th century English town, the new doctor Dr. Harrison develops feelings for Sophy, the daughter of the local rector. For the majority of the series, the two are constantly giving each other silly, knowing grins and generally acting awkward; they have little interaction beyond the occasional conversation or if they are brought together because of a medical crisis, and so to me their romance comes across as shallow and of them being continually twitterpated.

I found the same to be true for "Return to Cranford." *dons armor for protection from screaming fangirls* William Buxton, who comes from a wealthy family, meets Peggy, a girl from a poorer family, and it turns into another quick-paced romance. Like Dr. Harrison and Sophy, their romance is more focused on their awkward, shy glances and interactions. There are a few cute moments between them, but ultimately their love feels more like them being stuck in the early twitterpated stage and never moves beyond that to something deeper.

The issue with those two romances is that there was little substance to them. The two couples remained stuck in the awkward, love-struck stage and had little true, serious interaction with each other. It is important that your romantic characters have interaction with each other, whether it be them spending a lot of time together talking, doing something they both enjoy, going out, etc... Their romance cannot be solely based on shy glances, awkward attempts at conversations, or just being awkward around each other in general.

I Hate you... I love you

I noted this one when I watched BBC's adaptation of "North and South" yesterday. In "North and South," the heroine Margaret Hale quickly butts heads with mill owner Mr. Thornton, accusing him of mistreating his workers and of being a cold-hearted businessman, and so the two don't get along very well. He falls in love with her, but she rejects his proposal, leading him to ignore her afterwards while she gives him longing glances. Even though the end of the series makes me smile, unfortunately there is not enough time given for the couple's relationship to develop. It starts off with both of them giving each other suspicious glances, Margaret becoming very accusatory and critical, she rejects the proposal and claims she would do so again, but she softens up and views him in a different light after that. The issue here is that Margaret changed her mind too suddenly; one day she was content to see Thornton as a greedy mill owner, and the next she believes him to be an honest manager who is not as cold as she thought he was. There was no grand event to change her mind; it was rather sudden. Thornton also does this; he tolerates Margaret, hates her after the proposal and acts coldly towards her, but at other times he acts civil and like he still has feelings for her even though he said his love for her was over. He too abruptly changed his tune about Margaret, and there was no reason given for it.

The issue here is that your two characters cannot rapidly change from "I have a strong dislike of you" to "oh, you are the best man/ woman I've ever met; I love you." No, no. If you are going to have a romance progress from hatred to love, then you need to have plenty of time to let it develop and change gradually, not in the short period of a few weeks with little to no interaction between the two.

The common theme of these two issues is that your characters need to have interaction before they fall in love. Their romance cannot be solely based on awkward glances or actions more reminiscent of a teenage crush, and it cannot progress from hatred to romance for no reason. It is important that the two characters interact, talk of deeper and more sober subjects, do things together, etc... It is also important that you allow for enough time to pass for the relationship to develop and that you allow for the relationship to grow deeper, not stay in the early love-sick stage permanently.