Crafting Your Own Romantasy with Stellar Writing Prompts
Ollie Ander
Is probably just a couple cats in a trench-coat—the hair shedding and sunlight napping are highly suspect.
Romantasy has been the top trending subgenre of the 2020s thus far, and it doesn’t look like it intends to relinquish its crown anytime soon. It’s hard to watch the mounting excitement in the community for Romantasy titles and not want to join in the fun (and action) too. Below are Romance prompts that can be easily altered into compelling Fantasy plot points. Let's get you rolling on writing your fantasy world, and subsequently, your characters rolling in the sheets.
Contractual Arrangements
Romance indulges in a variety of contractual arrangements that develop characters’ relations from "just business" to all-too-personal. This trope is particularly easy to adapt to a Fantasy setting: swap a modern-day mafia princess for a true royal of a magical realm.
Likewise, many types of magic can rely on contracts: bonding with dragons (etc.), making deals with hot but cruel Fae. This favored trope of rendered obligation lends well to the next on the list.
Forced Proximity
Nothing builds bonds better than embarking on a quest—ie. sticking characters out in the middle of nowhere with no one else to talk to. Dungeon parties tend to form unlikely friendships, so why not take things that one step further?
Putting one’s life on the line, perpetually in the hands of another, can form a deep trust between characters, and make their developing romance all the more compelling… Or complicate things and get really messy among other party members. It’s a deliciously double-edged sword.
Enemies to Lovers
In our boring real-world, it’s hard to claim anyone as a true "arch-nemesis"—there’s just not enough life-altering drama to pin on one person (that doesn’t inevitably lead to court settlements, that is). In Fantasy though, those systems of mediation are gone and the potential for enemies is bountiful.
Focus on why your characters (future lovers) start as opposition. Is it a matter of chance—born on different sides of centuries-long war—or is it a natural consequence of their own ambitions—who gets to be the next wizard’s apprentice?
Fish Out Of Water
Nothing softens a rough-around-the-edges character up than admitting they need help with something, which is why the "Fish Out of Water" trope works so well; throwing grumps into situations only their gleeful counterparts can fix.
Learning experiences make for great bonding, and you know what’s the most "out of my depth" situation to be in? Getting sucked into a new, fantastical world!
This trope alternatively works really well with two people from severely opposite ends of a Fantasy world. How cute would it be to watch a regal magic-user suddenly lose their abilities and need to rely on a plain-old-human-farmer to save their throne? It’s an excellent way to explore different sides of a character, or for their love interest to see traits they’d never usually get to see.
Hometown Romance
There are few cozier reads than a small town romance, but the fun with Romantasy is, where is that hometown your main protagonist is coming back to? You can make your setting as idyllic as the Shire! It won’t all be sunshine and rainbows from the start, though, and that’s usually due to the main characters’ ability to accept that bliss.
Childhood Friends
It’ll take the rekindling of an old relationship to thaw the hardened heart of your long-departed quester. How your love interest manages to make them see the good in life will depend entirely on the magical misadventures they got up to before their reunion. Perhaps they both have magically caused scars in need of healing…
Forbidden Love
Love is love, but some love is more dangerous than others. There’s a plethora of magically manufactured reasons that two people shouldn’t be together that aren’t present in our logic-driven world. Yeah, Romeo and Juliet were a bad idea because of their family rivalry, but what if there was a prophecy against it? The fate of the world could hang in the balance of two characters never getting together… which would make their yearning all the stronger.
Mistaken Identity
It’s way easier to mistake the identity of someone, or lose one’s memory when magic is afoot. The amnesia trope in Romance is handed to you on a silver platter once Fantasy gets involved. And without a phonebook or social media, it’s much easier to claim you’re someone you’re not. Why your characters might need to enact such a facade, only time and exposure of their secrecy will tell.
Miscommunication Trope
Miscommunication is a staple of drama in Romance novels, and readers can get peeved by extended use of it when reconciliation could be reached in a few sentences (if only the love interest were willing to listen), but with magic there’s so many more reasons for miscommunication. Rather than poor communication skills, couples could be torn apart through a lack of fundamental understanding: thinking magic works one way, only to find out it doesn’t—in which a catastrophe would ensue, of course!
Magic can manufacture unique and compelling scenarios, spicing up any and all the old Romance tropes out there. Play around with it and have fun! Now, if you’ve picked your tropes but are worried about hitting that perfect balance—marrying Romance and Fantasy—here’s an article on $ how to craft your Romantasy$ just right.
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