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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40111
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/40111
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Surely you can imagine your protagonist possessing more than one character trait? He can be intelligent _and_ kind _and_ charmingly clumsy? Why then can't one girl be attracted to his wit, another - to his kindness, and a third - be charmed by his clumsiness? That's not so outlandish, is it? I like to think of myself as both intelligent and kind.

That is an oversimplification, but it is a place to start. In fact, one girl might enjoy the intellectual challenge of arguing philosophy with him, while disagreeing on most of his points (she might, for example, see the world in a more cynical light than him), while another would enjoy trading quips with him, and a third - actually agree with his philosophy and find him inspiring. All three, in this case, are attracted mainly to his intelligence.

In essence, to achieve what you want, you'd need a well-developed protagonist, who has more than one character trait, and also well-developed romantic interests, who also have more than one character trait. With both partners being fully fleshed out characters, you can shape different relationships.

It's said that "opposites attract" and also that "similarities attract". So you can have the romantic interests similar to your MC in some aspects, opposite in other aspects (both elements contributing to attraction in different ways) and also there might be traits that each partner finds somewhat annoying in the other, but is willing to forgive. People are not perfect, right?

And, quite important: factors in a relationship would include traits, but also ideals each character espouses, past actions, shared interests... And also physical appearance, but I don't think that's useful to your particular case.

Original score: 5