Character feelings?
I have 2 characters that I want to have a romantic tension with. The feelings are unrequited. Can I have it so that 1 chapter basically introduces and then ends the conflicting feelings or is this something that should be drawn out?
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The times I have fallen hard, the feeling took more than a chapter in my life. I pined for those soul mates for years, and they were usually unrequited.
There are other times that I thought I was falling, but no, it was hormones. I could never really tell the difference on the front end.
If you want an emotion that comes on hard and then fades and resolves quickly, I suggest not love but extreme horniness, cured by something appalling.
This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/30897. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
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Drawn out, most likely. In special circumstances one chapter could be enough.
If you are introducing something like this, it shouldn't be "filler", it should have something to do with the story. It needs to have ramifications in the story, there must be some kind of consequences for this unrequited love.
Simple unrequited love may drive a character, but not once it gets resolved. Just like sexual tension can drive the story, but once it is resolved, the question of "Will They / Won't They" is answered and is no longer a reason to turn pages (or watch episodes, when that has happened on television shows).
If A is in love with B, and B turns down A definitively, then the question is what does A do about this? If A accepts that and moves on, then why was this all brought up in the first place?
If A resents it and grows to think B was unfair, and cruel, and evil, and deserves to die: Well, that's a driver for A, certainly, that can inform future chapters and cause a spot of trouble for B.
Or say A comes to terms and realizes the crush was more about the physical attributes of B, there was never any "love" of B as a person. So A matures after chapter 1. Then B realizes they have been making wrong choices in their life, and the real type of person they want is A, they should never have been so egotistical and self-centered to turn down A, and voila: B seeks out A, and finds A happily dating C.
Without consequences of some sort (learning, motives, regrets, etc), any romantic tension for the sake of filling a chapter is worthless. It wouldn't make a difference if it was drawn out or stuck in chapter 1 alone. These things have to go somewhere, and shape the story, or they don't belong in it.
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