Cuddle Chemistry: How To Write A Good Romance · 5:42pm Jul 26th, 2014
What is love?! Baby don't hurt me! Don't hurt me... no more.
My boy, Haddaway, showing us how romance is done. 
I know what you're thinking - "Only an early 90's romance ballad can pack this much emotion and power."
Well, on one account, you're right. That is a lot of power and emotion, but you're wrong in thinking you could never capture it with your own writing.
Today, I'm gonna be breaking down the steps for writing a successful and entertaining romance... which happens to be my favourite genre. We'll be focusing on the following points:
1. The Importance Of Believability
2. Lather On The Emotion
3. Dem Pony WhoreMoans - Keep 'Em In Check
4. Common Pitfalls and Mistakes
Though simple, those points are essential to master to produce a Romance of even mediocre quality.
Let us begin!
THE IMPORTANCE OF BELIEVABILITY
Spike woke up and looked around him. He was in a dark room, surrounded by the sweet scent of perfume and... animals?
"Where am I?" Spike asked.
"Hey, Spike," said Fluttershy, creeping from the shadows. "I kidnapped you last night, so we could, you know, have some fun?"
That passage right there... Fewer things make me facepalm than characters acting out of character for the sole purpose of engaging in sexual misconduct. 
However, I'm sad to say that that passage is not an exaggeration in comparison to some of the horrendous pieces of fiction I've seen on this site. So, what's the exact problem, and how can it be fixed?
Here's the basic issue: the characters would never act like that! Fluttershy would never kidnap Spike, Rainbow Dash would never pretend to be a total nerd just to get with Twilight, and I'm fairly certain the CMC wouldn't have an orgy with the other youths of Ponyville. That's not to say you can't find some way to make those plot lines work, but you gotta give us a decent lead up and you better be packing some excellent plot devices, or it's not gonna happen.
So, what's the remedy? It's easy to justify whatever you write by saying something like "They wouldn't have romance in the show anyway, so there's no reason to stick to character," or whatever, and that's fine. You gotta do what you gotta do, but if you wanna write something that'll truly be appreciated and remembered, you have to keep it true to character.
Make us believe that whatever is going on is something that could happen behind the scenes in the show itself. Here are some excellent ways to do that:
1. Make sure dialogue is true to character. If you can't imagine them saying it in the show, don't use it.
2. Take their personalities into account. There is a gold mine in the canon personalities of our ponies. Use it to your advantage and articulate ways to mix them together to form fun relationships. Don't change them too much - that's what AU is for.
3. Study how the characters interact in the show to get a feel for how they respond to certain situations. That's a great place to start.
So, what's the point of this? Don't be afraid to take risks with your writing, but keep it believable. We came to read about our favourite characters in love, so it's nice when they actually act like our favourite characters in the fics.
LATHER ON THE EMOTION
Romance - it's a pure by-product of love. Love is one of the most powerful emotions. Emotional writing makes for good writing. Capiche?
Let's compare two scenes, shall we?
Applajack looked at Rarity, smiling. "Howdy there, Rarity."
"Oh, um, hi," Rarity said, blushing.
Now, let's try rewriting that with a bit more emotional flare.
Applejack felt her heart rate quicken as the beautiful Rarity walked toward her. Taking a gulp of air, she did her best to make a coherent sentence.
"Howdy there, Rarity."Rarity cracked a delicate smile at seeing Applejack, and her face instantly began to warm up, causing her to sweat despite the frigid winter temperatures. "Oh, um, hi," Rarity squeaked out.
Granted, it's not perfect, but which one was more interesting to read? Hopefully the second, because that was my intention.
The basic idea here is that you need to explore the character's emotions and how they feel. Does Rarity think Applejack smells good? Does Spike want to get tongue tied with Rainbow Dash? How did Scootaloo feel when Button Mash gave her his favourite comic book for her birthday?
You gottta tell us these things! We want to know, and it'll enhance the entire story.
DEM PONY WHOREMOANS - KEEP 'EM IN CHECK
Sex.
It feels really good, it's an excellent way of expressing your love for someone special, and in many cases can enhance a relationship's strength.
However, that does not mean you can just throw in in whenever you want and expect us to buy into it. No, there are many circumstances when it's misused. It has its place, but it's important to learn when and where that is.
For example, you've got your two characters ending their first date, they go back to one of their homes to say goodbye, and next thing you know, there's a hot sweaty mess all over the blankets and sheets. Nope, didn't buy it.
However, let's say the two characters already know each other, one is coming home after being away for a very long time... then we get a hot sweaty mess. Yep, I can totally believe that.
The idea is, don't throw in sex for the pure sake of having sex. That's borderline wish fulfillment, and it doesn't make for a very entertaining read.
Unless you're a strictly clop writer/reader... then you do what you gotta do. Just don't ask me to do it.
COMMON PITFALLS AND MISTAKES
I could go on all day about things people do wrong, but that would take too long, and I'm sure you already have a good idea of what I'm talkin about. So, I'm just gonna put a small list of things to avoid.
1. Don't rush the romance. Love takes time.
2. Be descriptive.
3. Don't forget to give some form of lead-in to the romance itself.
4. Fetishes are cool, but again, use in moderation.
5. Ship with confidence, despite the battering of dislikes you'll most like recieve from people who simply don't like the ship.
6. In other words, don't delete comments... please. Let people say what they want.
7. Avoid stereotypical scenarios that other people do. Give us something original.
8. Too hungry to think of any more... *comes back with sandwich*
9. Make sure you know how to write the characters you're using.
10. Anyone is shippable, but make sure we have ample reason for believing they're shippable.
ENDING COMMENTS
Well, that's all she wrote. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a PM and I'll try and help out.
Please note that this blog is my personal opinion and is in no way fact and I don't have any expectation that it should be your opinion either.
This, this stuff is wise stuff, here.
Guys, take this all to heart; Fame knows of what he speaks. And I know this off of personal experience with him ;D He knows his stuff.
I would read more romance, but everyone keeps writing about lesbian ponies.
2317935 I prefer my dragon/pony romance
2317942 I'm not to big on the Spike x Rarity thing. Spike is like a baby dragon and she is a hole lot older then him. Also people think they would make a cute couple just because Spike has a crush on her. I think it makes more sense when he is shipped with someone more his age.
2317952 Actually, I have canon evidence that Spike is a mid-teen. On Hasbro's Spike trading card, it says he was a teenager in season two, which was a couple years ago canon time, so he's gotta at least be a mid/upper-teen by now.
Couldn't of said it any better!
2317961 well he is still too young.
I don't think it really is fine.
The show presents characters who display portions of their personality on stage. The portions which they don't display have to be consistent with the portions they have displayed, or they're not believable.
For instance, Twilight Sparkle having a courtly romance-by-correspondence, including philosophical discussions, is completely believable: she's been shown to be a highly-educated and intellectual member of the gentry. That's exactly how I write part of her romance with Luna in my stories. Luna is doing it this way in part because she knows Twilight likes it; Luna herself is quite capable of being much more direct. Luna also meets with Twilight for long, romantically-overtoned conversations in which she fascinates Twilight with tales of times and places long past -- she knows that Twilight is interested in such things and she is winning Twilight's friendship by these tactics. Luna's immortal and she knows Twilight is as well -- she's in no particular hurry, and she's very aware that moving faster might frighten Twilight off. Their consummation would be passionate and strongly tinged with romance.
On the other hand, such would be entirely the wrong way to show love between Pinkie Pie and Cheese Sandwich. Parties, escapades, mutually-silly behavior, a lot of cuteness back and forth -- that's how those two silly ponies interact. They might write letters to one another, but they would be full of jokes and puns and conceptual humor, such as finishing "and I'm standing right behind you" with the recipient turning to find out that, in fact, this is true. If they consummated their love, they would play and tickle and be generally silly in the process of having sex. Frosting and snack foods would probably be involved. That doesn't mean that they wouldn't be passionate and excited, it's just that they would express their passion and excitement differently than would Luna or Twilight.
Rainbow Dash is moved by deep loyalties but is uncomfortable with open emotional displays. She might try to maintain a certain apparent emotional distance even with a lover, but she would be an exceedingly loyal friend to that lover. She would feel many things she felt uncomfortable with saying, and would tend toward the simplest possible romantic expressions such as "I'm happy with you" or "I love you." However, she would really mean them. Her consummation would be energetic and passionate, physically unrestrained and verbally boisterous -- but she might still be shy about saying things.
Fluttershy is shy, but very warm when she decides to trust somepony. It is the trusting part that is difficult; she's very obviously a damaged Pony who finds most other Ponies rather frightening. She might feel poetry but be afraid to express it; she would show her love through little kindnesses. She would probably be a very passionate lover, though she might not say much, a point of similarity between Rainbow Dash and herself.
Applejack is direct. She would straight-out tell somepony she liked him or loved him (in show she never tells outright lies, only lying by implication and omission, and usually out of extreme shame or the desire to avoid hurting others). She is very honorable, and would be utterly-unwilling to pretend to a committment she did not feel. She would probably only consummate love with a lover she meant to marry. She would be energetic, strong, and extremely honest in any expression of her affections. She is not the poetic sort, but the prose of her speech would be honest and heartfelt.
Rarity is complex and subtle. She is quite capable of pretending to feelings she does not possess in order to maneuver socially; she constantly flirts with stallions to get them to do favors for her. She is however not promiscuous; she would only consummate love with somepony (or somedrake) for whom she genuinely cared. She gets strong crushes on Ponies she doesn't really know, which vanish when she gets to know them better. Her strongest romantic sentiments seem to be for Spike, who is still too young for her to act upon them. She has a strong earthy side under her veneer of sophistication, and would probably make an enthusiastic lover. She would also both express and demand expressions of romantic sentiment.
My point is that a character doesn't stop being herself when she falls in love. Instead, she displays aspects of herself which she would not dare to display to any but her beloved.
2317952
I think that Spike is too young for Rarity now, and it would be OOC for her to consummate a relationship with her underaged best friend. However, Spike gets older with time, and if Rarity is still single when she decides he's old enough, I think she's quite capable of taking him as a lover. If she did, though, I also think it would be a very serious love on both their parts.
2317935
I write both lesbian ahd heterosexual romances in my fics.
No wonder romance is what I'm terrible at writing.
Anyway, great guide!
2318005 The reason I say its fine is not because I agree with it, but because I honestly have no right to tell others how or what they should write.
I love your breakdown of the character, however. It's a really in depth look at them and their characteristics.
I could always use some advice with that. Thanks!
2318061 ...i'm still waiting with baited breath for that one
2318063
I'm sorry... I just can't seem to get it done... 
it's just... I got together with the girl I confessed to (funny how things go, huh?) so I've been making the best of my time before she leave for a boarding school and I won't see her again until the holidays. Just been so busy... 
not that it's really an excuse.
2318072 Nah, you're good. Except my girl lives in England... so I know how you feel man.
2318074
...... 
classy.
It's this lovely lady right here, for future reference>>2318000 give her your love!
2318072
2318082 Yes sir, Mister Famous! brony.cscdn.us/pic/photo/2013/04/825313da367987315ce49bc7ecabfaf7_1024.jpg
Oh god, I never knew how bad I needed this! Everything makes sense now!
2318129 I love u most!
This is why you are one of my favorite people on this site. You think of things that I dream about thinking of. I thank you for this extremely helpful piece. I'm sure it will further us all as writers.
2319514 Godspeed my friend.
Sometimes i feel like i could right a really good story, but then i remember "Oh wait, i hate writing. Well that sucks." But it would have really good character developme-! "Hey you don't like typing words remember?" *sigh* truuue. "now go back to reading colorful horse fan-fiction." Fine; you win this time inner laziness! "Psh, whatever."
Well now that that is is over, as always i wish you to continue to be an amazing guy. (and writing amazingly!)
This is very helpful for when I make a ANOTHER account XD
and...
Scoots and Buttons, that shipping makes more sense than him with Sweetie, it's just...
just perfect... 
Hope you don't mind me using that idea XD
2445284 Not at all. I was hoping to inspire people.
2445396
THIS is why your one of the best people
on this sitein the world everSo... I may be rather late to this blog post, but I now have this bookmarked. This is probably one of the most helpful things I've read, regards to writing romance!
So have a very late thank you!
3613805 If you check my userpage, I have some other helpful blog posts you may find of interest.
3613829
That's actually how I found this blog! I'll be reading your others later, they all seem quite interesting.
In fact, I'm going to do this!
This.
This right here.
This is useful. I'm going to use this.
I could use this for reference!
2317968
You're still wrong all these years later, lol.
5393525
Spike couldn't get laid if he worked at a mattress store.
5393733
