Love Triangles - How to NOT Make the MC a Cheap Slut ^^
Well, I’m gonna cover more than that, but wanted a catchy title.
What is important when making love triangles?
- Create equally well-developed characters.
It is so often to see, how the author obviously has a specific preference between two love interests, so he focuses a lot more on the one he likes more.
If you want to create a real love triangle, not a love story with a sloppy side character you just call a second love interest, take your time in developing all of them.
All of them should have their advantages and flaws. Their own problems, dreams, secrets, likes, and dislikes. Don’t make love interests lie rotting in a pool of cliche characterization.
What makes it a real love triangle, is that you really like both of them, otherwise it’s an obvious choice right from the start.
- There is more than one way to display the love triangle.
Who says that MC has to like both of them? MC might be not interested in one of them, or even both of them. It may be a drama where MC is playing with both love interests, with a purpose or just for fun. She might like one but date another, for financial reasons. I remember watching one interesting Mexican or Brazilian TV novella, where MC was a beautiful, charismatic woman, but kinda greedy. She was always fighting her greed and romantic feelings. That was very interesting to watch, and makes you wonder, what will she choose in the end. MC doesn’t have to be good to be loved. She might be a manipulative bitch, but she will be very entertaining to watch. MC might be happy in relationships, but some other guy gets jealous of their happiness, and try to sabotage it. So many directions, that might be executed not only in Romance but in Thriller, Drama, Comedy genres.
- While it may work, to build an entire plot depending only on the love triangle, it will become flat really fast.
The love triangle is a nice drama addition, but I think that there’s gotta be more than this. Some major plotline. Two examples - Twilight (gosh, why I am putting it as an example so often) and Hunger Games. If in the first example the main plot was the love triangle, surrounded by sub-lines, the second had a major plotline, with the minor plotline of a love-triangle. And I donnow about you, but HG was faaar more interesting to watch, than TS, where they were talking for a good half of the movie. Same with Buffy, or True Blood. If the story would contain only relationships, it wouldn’t be half as interesting to watch.
Love life is not the only thing that defines a person. If that’s the only thing your MC’s life revolves around then here’s the news - your MC is a basic flat bish.
- Lastly. One thing I noticed and that made me quit reading one story after like 20 episode when I was really invested.
When MC goes back and forth between two characters for a long time saying she loves/likes them both, and maybe also having a sexual relationship with both of them.
I have a few problems with this approach.
First of all, if MC does this, and love interests are aware, and they still fight over her, my only thought is “what a pair of pathetic miserable losers” . That girl is basically playing with you both, and neither of you has any drop of dignity. It makes me dislike love interests immediately, and what’s the point to read further?
Now the MC. I gotta tell, I don’t have problems with slutty behavior (I call it slutty, because it is a very descriptive word, not because I wanna shame someone). I’m all for girls/boys sleeping around, as long as they are honest about it with their partners and use protection. But if she is a selfish bitch, who wants to have it all, and covers it all with love or whatever bullshit she can think of (well, whatever bullshit author can make up to excuse her behavior), then I start hating her.
It’s okay to like more than one guy/girl. It’s fine in taking your time to get to know them, to decide who you really want. It’s fine to have second thoughts about your choice. But why would I want to read a story about one major selfish slut and two losers with no pride whatsoever?