Resurrecting the writing series I started last winter, I’ve begun watching more romance films
Photo via IMDB.
with an eye to seeing what they can teach me about writing a good love story.
Recently I saw Old Fashioned, a sweet inspirational tale about a quiet guy who doesn’t believe in dating or even kissing before marriage and a carefree woman who thinks that’s kind of crazy. But she winds up settling in his small town and renting the apartment above his antique shop, and–well, you know how these things go.
What did it teach me about how to write (or not) a compelling romance? Three things:
Lesson One: Build a world. Yes, even if it’s not a fantasy.
Even in a story without speculative elements, world-building is so important. Old Fashioned does a great job of showing this. Set in a small town, its setting mirrors the attitudes of the hero Clay (Rik Swartzwelder). When Amber (Elizabeth Roberts) rents his apartment, she finds a rotary phone and a big, old-timey fridge. She listens to the radio, as do others in town. The theme of old-fashioned ideals and courtship is enriched and made cohesive by these elements, which reminds me to make my own stories richly woven with setting and theme, in large and small ways.
Lesson Two: Use foils to emphasize character traits.
Clay’s friend in the film is radio shock jock Brad (Tyler Hollinger), who calls women stupid and asks their weight on the air. Without him in the movie, we might’ve been tempted to see Clay’s beliefs and behavior as weird and off-putting, but against Brad’s over-the-top behavior, we see the appeal of a quieter, steadier guy. (Though many women might’ve opted to look behind Door C.) Foil characters like this serve to highlight differences, and this is good to remember in fiction, particularly when writing a character with an extreme personality or beliefs. In Old Fashioned, it was a way of pointing out the benefits of a man like Clay.
Lesson Three: Make the ultimate pairing the steamiest. Even when it’s clean.
Here’s where Old Fashioned struggled for me. Near the climax of the story, after the two leads fight, they are both faced with the temptations of other romantic partners. But during these scenes, we see Clay in particular in an intense, physical closeness with a woman that’s not Amber. Even though these scenes are meant to be shown as unhealthy, this physical intensity somewhat overshadows the sweetness of the Amber/Clay scenes, and as a result left me a little cold at the end. I’ve seen this before, too: movies that show sexy scenes of ill-advised ex hookups or bad boyfriends, but without the final couple having an equal or steamier moment. Writing scenes with old lovers and potential partners can show character development, but these scenes shouldn’t undermine the intensity of the ultimate love connection.
Watch this space, because I’ll be sharing more Writing by Rom-Com reviews soon from a wide-range of films!