3 Tips for Writing Compelling Romantic Comedies

Do you want to write compelling romantic comedies that keep readers reading and engaged? Here are my three tips for making your book unputdownable.

(The Keys to Conflict.)

For me, the conflict of the novel needs to feel grounded and relatable. Two characters are meant to be together, but what is keeping them apart? This is the conflict. Conflict is broken down in craft by two segments, internal and external.

Internal is all about what lies the character believes about themselves and their situation to keep them from their happily ever after or achieving their goal. External is in the name “external” pressures or forces that are actively keeping your protagonist from their happily ever after or dream. It seems simple when explained that way, but the pain comes from execution.

For my debut, The Truth According to Ember, Ember (the protagonist) believes a lie, or some have described as a “wound”, that she isn’t good enough to work in her dream job on her own merit. She thinks telling lies is her only option. Then she meets Danuwoa, the hot IT guy who is also Indigenous and now she has to keep up the charade, because she believes (wrongly) that he wouldn’t be interested in the real her.

The external conflict in a novel can be physical barriers keeping your protagonist from their goal or their love. In my debut, the barriers were systemic keeping her from higher education and a high paying job. Then there is also the corporate policy that does not allow coworkers to date. Enter the forbidden romance trope which equals more conflict. How will they continue to be together and not let anyone know?

But what is conflict without stakes? Stakes are crucial for readers to believe your story and root for your protagonist. If character X’s secret is revealed, then this massive life altering thing will happen. This creates tension. Tension, my friend, is the key for a compelling read.

If Ember’s lies are revealed she will lose her job, that means she will have no income and will lose her car and keep her from getting another job with no references. If it is revealed that she is secretly dating her coworker, then not only will she lose her job, but so would Danuwoa who is the caretaker of his sister. These are important grounded, real stakes a reader can believe in.

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With romantic comedy, I always try to keep everything grounded. In movies, a dance sequence and makeover montage work great, but in a novel, I’d rather have more juicy chemistry. I love to read the leads interacting and dazzling with delicious banter where you can highlight more of a writer’s humor between two characters designed to be together and compliment each other.

The novel Pride and Protest has some of the funniest lines of dialogue that showcases how brilliant the author Nikki Payne is (the nap pod scene IYKYK). The chemistry in that nap pod is exquisite torture and you just want Liza and Dorsey to kiss, but they can’t—not yet! Nikki Payne gives us everything a white out blizzard, forced proximity in a nap pod, palpable chemistry that sizzles on the page, and a fresh spin on a classic dynamic between characters—enemies to lovers. Conflict, stakes, humor! The trifecta!

In my debut, Ember has abandonment issues from her parents leaving and her having to grow up fast and to take care of her younger brother. When we have these emotional beats full of character development and growth between the characters, I try to always layer in moments of levity. For a rom-com, I want there to be a balance in the romance aspect and the conflict of the story, but it must deliver on the funny. I want to tug on my readers emotional heartstrings and then make them laugh out loud, often in the most unexpected ways.

An example with Ember, I gave her a severe cat allergy that reveals a big lie she tells Danuwoa. It’s funny after a passionate night together she wakes up with a swollen face and yet she cannot bring herself to be honest about the allergy. My friend Alexandra Vasti, who writes incredible romance once said, “A romantic comedy must be funny at the premise level, scene level, and line level.” So, I am sharing her wisdom with you, because wow! I couldn’t have said it better myself.

With Ember the premise is a young Native woman who lies to get her dream job, meets the love of her life at work where there is a no fraternization policy, and gets blackmailed to help a nepo jerk scam the company or risk she and her love getting fired. The scene level has a cast of characters in her life who know her secret and how she navigates her lies while growing closer with the love interest in as honest a way as she can manage. The line level includes banter, jokes, puns, and the use of the character’s voice with internal monologues so the reader always knows exactly what Ember is thinking, even if what she is saying is something completely different.

So those are my tips for writing unputdownable romantic comedies. I hope this helps and inspires you to write, have fun, and deliver on the funny!

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