The INSTA-LOVE trope – just add water! (repost in honor of Valentine’s Day)

There are few things more grating to me than the insta-love trope seen so often in fiction. This device essentially involves shoving two characters in the same room, then poking them with a stick until they have nowhere else to go but each other’s arms.

The development of their relationship usually looks like this:

“Hi there! You’re nearby!”
“You’re nearby too! Imagine the odds.”
“Also I couldn’t help but notice that you are very attractive. I’m going to spend a few paragraphs waxing poetic about your attractiveness if you don’t mind.”
“Go ahead! I have no other substantial qualities anyway.”
“Yeah, me neither. At least none that would form a unique connection between us.”
“My author is saying to get a move on and declare our love already.”
“Right, sorry! I love you.”
“I love you too!”

The reason these insta-loves bug me is because they’re not based on anything. Why are these characters interested in each other? What is pulling them? Plot and authorial decision are not good enough. Neither is beauty. If I have to read one more story where Mr. Protagonist falls for Miss Angelic Beauty of Beautiful Beautifulness for no other reason than how she looks, I’m going to start throwing books out of windows. Watch your head.

I just don’t care. It’s a shallow relationship. Sure, people have shallow relationships in real life all the time, but I don’t want to read about them. Honestly though, I don’t think “realism” is the reason. I think it’s lazy character development and author impatience. Or maybe they feel obligated to throw in a romantic side-plot, so they squish two people together just to check off a list. (Movies are a prime culprit of this. Hey Hollywood, quit shoving smooches in where no smooches belong! I’d rather have NO romance over a pointless one!) When it’s not a side-story but the whole narrative itself, I imagine they want the romance to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. Least common denominator. I get that, but for me, there’s gotta be something more, some basis that differentiates this couple from every other pair of carbon-based life forms.

How to accomplish this? Simple: Just Ask Why. WHY do they like each other? WHY are they together? “Why” is the most important question in a writer’s arsenal. It is the lasagna noodle of books: it layers things. And layered is what makes good stories.

When I read about a relationship, I want to root for the characters. I want to cheer them on! To do that, I have to understand what drew them together in the first place. I want to be able to say, “You crazy kids were made for each other.”

Not: “You crazy kids have compatible body shapes.”

On a more positive note, I hope you all have a happy Valentines Day! Hug a book today ❤