It’s me with a question about your writing that I wish to know. How do you guys make love interests that don’t seem forced? I’m making a new episode story and I’m making almost everybody a love interest, each a bit different so anybody could like them, but when it comes to love interests in book they’re made so they could somehow complete the main character and their personality has to go along with that. How do I make the LIs seem like they complete the MC is the MC’s actions and choices are up to the reader?
In short how to make a LI 's personality go along with the MCs no matter what the reader’s choices are?
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Don’t make his life revolve around the MC’s. Give him his own life, hobbies, interests, morals, values, friends, etc. He’s allowed to be jealous, but make it healthy and not controlling/toxic. Just make him his own person.
If you want the LI and the relationship with the MC believable, the LI needs his own ambitions and interests. Additionally he needs traits that are uniquely suited to making a good match with the MC. Don’t think too much about his flaws because all traits are good or bad depending on the situation. Think about what the Mc is like and what qualities would give the relationship balance
Yeah they’ll all be relatable to a point, they* not him/her
That’s kind of hard to do becuase the LIs lives do revolve around her. After all it’s the MCs decision between humans and Arae, Blair, Sirius and Soter and it’s in their best interest to explain their plans the best way that would warrant their plan to work.
But that’s what I’ve been asking for. The MC is controlled by the reader so making a good match wit hthe MC is out of question, unless there’s another way. How to make a serious, captivating type sexy and not annyoing to people who don’t like it? Also the same question for the cute, constantly happy but annoying type, the benevolent and sweet type, and many other types becuse there’s at least 4 LIs (I’m thinking of making the plus size woman a LI too because she’s just too cute, but then everybody but MC’s sister would be a LI)
I think that the main problem (for me at least) is that sometimes LIs just . . . fall in love with the MC for no reason whatsoever (except they’re pretty ig). The relationship needs build-up and reasoning. Also LIs whose lives revolve around the MC are BORING. And super unrealistic. No matter how much you love someone, unless you’re under a curse, your life isn’t solely them.
My personal opinion: don’t change the LIs personalities. People will like some and not like others. That’s the whole point. If they all behave the same, then they’re literal clones who aren’t useful to the story. As long as you don’t force the romantic aspect of the relationship, tons of different people can get along as friends, no matter their personality type. (That’s not to say you can’t change certain lines, but their base personality should stay pretty similar regardless.)
Unless you’re doing a lot of complex branching for the path MC’s life is taking or making every action & interaction a choice, the MC isn’t going to be completely controlled by the reader and needs some kind of base personality. Even a self-insert character needs to develop, so what are the common themes in the way the MC develops regardless of what choices the reader makes. The MC will need to be able to offer something in the relationship beyond “LIs like her because she’s the MC.”
For the LIs - they all need just a list of personality traits. However, for the captivating type - which I assume is supposed to be kind of mysterious - make them reserved & guarded to new people and open affection, without making them mean. So they won’t be open to deep personal questions, however, you show that they are observant: they notice certain behaviors or phrases the MC says a lot, demonstrating that they actually pay attention to her. Gives you the “soft inside” trope. Additionally, give them at least one person they have a close relationship with that shows the difference in how they interaction with new people vs. people they’re close with. You want to show that the LI is capable of deep affection and meaningful relationships, but it takes time. Usually there’s something in the past that explains why they’re so reserved, but be careful not to rely on “I was traumatized and now I’m mean to everyone” trope. They can be aloof and hard to reach without weaponising their trauma and taking out their pain on others. You can also add a bit of sarcasm, but again - it’s most effective when directed at situations or when it’s in good humor (with relationships). If they use it and it hurts someone’s feelings (it will) just show them apologizing. That will add depth to them.
For the maybe overly happy LI - give them some balance between being wise and being…kind of dumb? Like maybe they don’t pick up on social cues or maybe they don’t have much common sense / street smarts or maybe they have trouble focusing so they don’t get good grades, but they pick up on how the MC is feeling and have bits of wisdom to offer. You can get away with a lot when you can show that the LI picks up on who the MC is and what they care about. A common trait would be talking a lot and often very fast and about multiple subjects, but when they notice the MC can’t get a word in edgewise or when the MC interrupts, they make space for them to talk. They will do things they don’t care about just to make people happy. Genuinely thinks everyone is their friend. Sometimes doesn’t take things seriously enough or doesn’t realise when others are not being serious.
I really recommend looking at a list of character traits if you’re struggling. Try to find something that has them listed as is rather than positive / negative because all traits are both & it just depends on the situation. Pick a few that seem like they work together and write out situations where those traits would be positive and when they might be negative. Build up separate goals and values and interests for them that will help you explain what each of them would see in the MC. And I highly, highly, recommend a base personality for the MC even if readers can kind of customise the MC’s personality by making different choices.
Don’t be afraid to have the love interest be different or opposite to the MC in ways. They don’t have to agree on everything to get along. For example their differences in values or opinions or lifestyles can still improve their relationship, because those differences can be a point of growth for them. They can build upon that ground, maybe make compromises that strengthen them individually as well as together. They can learn from one another and highlight one another’s strengths and weaknesses.
Thank you guys very much. I thought about it, and will probably hink about it much more but I made a few general and not yet fully worked thru personalities for a few characters
One, this blonde girl will have a bubly personality and will be very excited to help you and so on. The reason she won’t fall in love with you immediately but will have the same pace as the other LIs is becuase I’ll give her a BF back home so falling love with another guy (our MC) will take more time than usual.
Two, this blonde guy, I called him Sirius because I gave most of the LIs names that mean something in ancient greek and his name has something to do with sun or light besause originally I wanted ot make him the bubbly one, but then I looked at his name and realised I could make him like Elle Woods (thinking about the musical here, even thought it’s the same personality in the movies). He would be a happy blonde that would like to be friends with everybody and help anybody to feel better (the sunshine part of the name) and everybody would percieve him as a doll or a a sweetie and think he would never be smarter than average. However, he has more drive than anybody, and he can be deadly serious about the think he is interested in, but he just didn’t find the thing to be driven about. Once he does you know he’ll be an overachiever just because he’s interested in it.
Three, a guy that seems uniterested in everything but is actually interested in many things but never anything mayor like a career or a place in life but in minor things like bands or tv shows. Once you get to know him better you get to know his interests … Btw it’s Dexter, Cat Stevens and Billy Joel up to this point
Four a serious girl that would be percieved as a mean-spirited villain and is often serious but she is only serious because she is more human-like than any of her alien friends. (She’s an alien too) She’s acting serious because she has no special skills, no interest in life and she has a level of intelligence that’s is closer to humans than to her alien friends and she always act serious around it. When the MC gets close to her he can help her stop trying to be superior because she lacks in motivation and smarts and he’ll show her how her life will be much better when she’s aming for fun and not constantly trying to change herself to more closely resemble people who she thinks are far superior to her.
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