How To Write a Meet-Cute for a Romance Novel
S.R. Beaston
Crafty with words, wit, and wisdom, just add caffeine to make it more interesting.
Writing the beginning of a story is always stressful. We think about the perfect first sentence, how to best visualize our character, and how many people we should introduce in the span of the first chapter. There are plenty of moments in our writing where we stop at a new crossroads and think, "How do I introduce this new thing?"
Love interests are one of the most important introductions, aside from your main character, especially in romance novels. Let’s talk about some ways you can introduce your love interest.
When should you introduce your love interest?
It is common to introduce your love interest within the first few chapters, but in romance, it’s either chapter one or chapter two (most often chapter one). We generally meet the love interest after the main character's introduction, but before the end of the first chapter.
What is a meet-cute in romance novels?
A "meet-cute" is a scene in a story, most often romantic comedies, where the love interests meet in a charming, quirky, or otherwise memorable way. There are different types of meet-cutes, some of them with less "cute" than others.
Types of Meet-Cute
Okay, there won’t always be a meet-cute, but more often than not, romantic interests meet in a charming way that then unfolds the romance plot. There is a laundry list of ways characters can meet, especially if they are love interests. A lot of these are seen as literary tropes, a common device for plots and characters to establish something familiar.
Cute Moment
This is the ultimate wholesome meeting. This is the quiet girl who dropped her pencil and the boy who picked it up for her, or the new neighbor who grabs the protagonist's dog before it runs in the street. These moments are quick and endearing, sometimes humorous, and always, well, cute.
Awkward Encounter
The flaws of your characters will be the focus of this kind of meeting. Any character that is clumsy or shy is perfect for this kind of introduction. This is the protagonist accidentally spilling their drink on someone they ran into, whose awkward tendencies only shine brighter as the story goes.
Friends-to-Lovers
Another wholesome angle to introducing the love interest is more of a re-introduction, in the friends-to-lovers trope. A childhood friend moves back after years away. A highschool bestie finally admits their crush just before leaving for college. Since the characters already know each other, you have a running start on their relationship and can focus more on developing their individual personalities as they grow together (or grow apart).
Enemies-to-Lovers
Better yet, introduce the opposite of what your character has established that they like and make an enemy! Think Pride and Prejudice. This opens the door to introduce your love interest in different ways, like being a morally gray or unlikable character. Your protagonist could be the morally gray one, and this opposition helps them grow.
This opposition should bring out the fatal flaw in your character, the thing they don’t want anyone to see. It should challenge their beliefs, their desires, and help them grow into the narrative you are creating. Also arguments, a lot of fun arguments.
The Unfortunate Trap
This could be the "forced proximity" trope. Nothing screams romance like being stuck in a cabin rental in the middle of the worst snowstorm. There’s a fireplace, hot cocoa, and one bed that they both refuse to take.
Cliches aside, this can be a very fun way to pin your characters together, making your love interest’s introduction a memorable one. Typically the forced proximity trope goes hand-in-hand with an enemies-to-lovers storyline or a forbidden love.
Blind Date
A blind date can tie in several of these meeting tropes. With a blind date, little is known about one another, with no upper hand or past experiences. It also leaves the love interest completely unknown with purpose.
You can add a cute beginning to the date, an awkward middle, and a volatile end that makes for the perfect start in your romance novel.
The Disaster
Meet-cutes in the romance genre are often of the accidental variety, like when Mary in The Wedding Planner (2001) is nearly run over by a speeding dumpster and Steve knocks her out of the way just in time. An accident is a good excuse to have strangers bump into each other, plus the accident itself can be the inciting incident that kicks the plot into action.
Unfound Confidence
This interaction happens when one character is somewhere from confident to cocky in their ability to approach their potential love interest, then their attempts do not go as planned. Like in Hitch (2005), where Hitch approaches Sara in a bar to fend off an annoying man hitting on her. Hitch tries to flirt with her himself when the annoying man leaves, but Sara gives him the same energy she gave the last man, leaving him surprised and intrigued, if not slightly offended.
Tips for Introducing a Love Interest
Here are some tips and reminders you should keep in mind when introducing your love interest.
1. Establish conflict
While the introduction should have some layer of affection and romantic intrigue, conflict is important for a story! The conflict of a romance novel is the obstacle keeping the characters apart. This could be their own personality traits, the situation, or outside forces, but introducing conflict (or a hint of it) upon their first meeting can create tension and anticipation to get your readers interested in what happens next.
2. Foreshadow romance
We love conflict, but don’t forget to infuse some romantic sprinkles on the meeting as well! They can be subtle, obvious, or complicated, but there should be at least the threat of gushy feelings in the future.
3. Highlight differences and/or similarities
Opposites attract, but we have to have common ground somewhere, so you might use the introduction scene to point out a few of those differences or similarities that will make your couple fun and interesting to watch.
4. Hint at depth
Just because a meet is cute doesn’t mean it can’t be deep! Try to give your readers a glimpse into your main character and love interest’s inner worlds and struggles.
5. Build chemistry
The initial interaction between your romantic interests should be dynamic, interesting, and engaging. This doesn’t have to be a "positive" chemistry–for example, Set It Up (2018) has the characters meet in a tense situation where we see they are both very invested in their jobs and willing to do what it takes to succeed, even if that means throwing the other under the proverbial bus. But they undeniably have a strong and distinct chemistry right away.
Introducing the love interest should be just as exciting and nerve-wracking as introducing your partner to your parents. You want the reader to like them, to form opinions and expectations given what they know about the protagonist, and to look forward to learning more.
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