Developing the Leading Man and his Lady

The man and woman who will fall in love in your romance story are your most important characters. Therefore, it is imperative that you know them inside and out and develop them throughout the story in a way that shows why they are drawn to each other, what makes them move from being drawn to one another to falling in love, and how do they know this will last.

How do you get to know your characters well enough to build a good love story between them?

First, you need to develop their back stories. What is his view on love and on the world. What is her view on love and on the world. How and why are each of them going to make the decisions they will make throughout your novel. These things are a part of their back stories—what happened to them, in the past, that makes them think, react, and make the decisions they do?

Romance relies on strong main characters and your reader engagement will depend on the chemistry between your leading man and his lady. Therefore, you need to make your protagonists convincing.

Building a character

Start by asking yourself the following questions:

Who is he or she?

What is his or her flaw(s)?

What is his or her lie or burden? This is the thing they carry around with them that influences and determines their view of the world.

These things have all come from their back story—things that happened to them in the past: hurt, rejection, abandonment, etc.

Every character needs a GOAL, MOTIVATION, and CONFLICT. Their GOAL is what he or she wants. Their MOTIVATION is why he or she wants that thing, whether it is tangible or intangible. Their CONFLICT is why they can’t get it—what is keeping them from getting what they want?

When it comes to conflict, there needs to be outside forces that add to the conflict, not just internal conflict. Otherwise, you may fall into the trap where they have a very simple misunderstanding. This will not last long enough or be strong enough to sustain the conflict necessary for a novel. External conflict can produce and intensify the internal conflict within the character and between the man and woman.

Character growth

You also need to develop your characters throughout the story—they have to have some kind of change from the beginning of the novel til the end. Use the interactions between the male and female to show their character development. Have them challenge each other and bring about change in each other through the conflict and bonding.

Changes from the beginning to the ending of your story will include growth in their relationship as they move from mutual interest and physical attraction to a deeper love. Physical attraction is not enough to sustain a relationship for the long haul. Use some of each character’s attributes or quirks to deepen their love; things like intelligence, wit, charm, humor, social status, etc.

Character development is necessary for a successful romance.

Kelly F. Barr lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and chai lattes.

You can find her online at:

• Website: kellyfbarr.com
• MeWe: KellyBarr8