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Tips for Anyone Starting a Writing Hobby

Thinking of getting into writing as a hobby? That’s great! Not unlike painting or writing music, writing has a lot of benefits to your mental health and can really enrich your personal life by introducing you to a supportive community. However, whether you’re a teen looking to start writing fanfiction or an adult experimenting with poetry for the first time, just starting with writing can be a…

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Hello! Do you have any advice on writing enemies to friends to lovers? Thanks!

How to Write Enemies to Friends to Lovers Romance

It's the dynamic we've all come to know and love. The pièce de résistance of romantic tropes that has ascended to popularity through various series like The Cruel Prince, These Violent Delights, Red White & Royal Blue.

Featuring couples that start off hating each others' guts (but eventually wind up together in the end), the enemies to friends to lovers trope is quite possibly the most sought-after romance at this current time, blowing away the era of the love triangle and childhood friends to lovers.

But the only problem is that, despite the demand, this trope is quite possibly the most difficult to write, as it involves were complicated and intertwined character relationships that can be easy to mess up or misrepresent.

Here are some tips to help your scuffling protagonists finally realize that they were meant to be!

1. Heavy on the "Enemies" Makes the "Lovers" All the Sweeter...but don't make it TOO heavy

A lot of fanfiction and even some published books that feature Enemies to Friends to Lovers often fall into the trap of rushing the romance. The authors are desperate to make characters fall in love, and the constant dancing around and angry bantering between their characters is awfully exhausting to write.

However, without enough time to relish in the frustrating arguments, backstabbing, and almost-understandings that end in disaster, the readers won't have the full experience of appreciating when they finally give in and make out.

"Enemies" has to be more than "He bullied me in second grade and now I hate him and refuse to believe he's changed even though we're both 20 now."

Misunderstandings as the main driver for plot have been spurned in recent years by readers, even when it doesn't come to enemies to friends to lovers.

Have them both be at fault, doing each other wrong to the point where you can't possibly think it could be forgivable.

Here are some ways your future main pairing can rip each other apart:

Breaking/Stealing each other's stuff

Insulting/Threatening each other's friends/companions/family

Bringing up dead relatives/past tragedies in each other's lives

Attempted murder!

Sabotaging each other's plans

Pranking each other in mean ways (itching powder, salt bomb their food)

Embarrassing each other in front of other people

Making fun of things they like

Sure, all of these things are sure to make your characters seem like assholes, but in the end it's all forgivable to some degree, though most take longer than others (This also depends on exactly how they cross the line between Enemies and Friends, which will be discussed later).

However, even though this is all in good fun, you have to understand where it goes too far.

Some things really are well and truly unforgivable, and if the relationship continues it'll most likely viewed to be unhealthy or toxic rather than a genuine connection.

If Person A killed Person B's Parents/friends on purpose with the sole intent of hurting B...then I don't think they'll be eligible for redemption in their eyes.

(You can totally still write it! But the readers are gonna be a bit wary of their relationship and may not consider it to be healthy.)

2. The Most Crucial Part is the Transition from Enemies to Friends

It is easier to write friends becoming lovers than enemies becoming friends.

Friendship is built on a foundation of trust and connection that romance can flourish in, but the barren grounds of archrivals are hardly a place for love to grow--sexual tension perhaps, but certainly not love.

In order for this romance to be the most believable, you need to justify why these two characters decided to offer each other flowers instead of knives to the throat.

Here are some ways your characters can become friends:

Character A realizes that Character B was right the whole time and apologizes

One of them saves the other's life or the life of a loved one

They are forced to combine their efforts and realize they work very well as a team

Sexual/aesthetic attraction is irresistible, and once they get to know each other they can overlook past misdeeds (This is enemies to lovers, in case you wanted to ditch the whole "friend" part)

One of them helps the other on a whim, and that small act of kindness snowballs into multiple acts of kindness

They get to know each other and realizes their feud was childish

Of course, there are definitely more examples that I can't think of off the top of my head, but I would certainly suggest using the "one of them saves the other's life" for more severe cases of enemies. The bigger the trespasses, the more extreme the apologies must be.

3. Suggestion: Take It Slow...perhaps even in an "enemies to friends to lovers to enemies to lovers again" kind of way

People who read enemies to friends to lovers are usually not looking for a quick fix. They're looking for heart, for dedication, for the endgame to be held tantalizingly out of reach.

Unless you well and truly don't feel like it, don't have your characters' relationship evolve linearly. They need ups and downs, stops and starts, fights and forgiveness.

I understand that people aiming to write professionally and need to keep their word count down cannot do this too much, but if you're doing fic, what's stopping you from making this the slowest burn possible? The kind of slow burn where they don't even become friends until 50k in?

Of course, you don't have to make it agonizingly slow just for it to be good, but consider how fantastically rewarding it will be when they finally confess their feelings for one another!

Hope this helped, and happy writing!

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Bro why you gotta call me out like that 😭

Progress ✨️✍️

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No post today

Hey. Sorry, I don’t have anything to toss at y’all today. Got a big assignment to work on freakishly early in the semester, but never fear, my dear children. I’m using today to both work on my accursed classwork, but also to work on some larger essays I’m planning on posting soon. I plan on having an analysis of the themes in The Last Wish up next week, and I still have my take on House, M.D. in…

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Crash Course in Writing Medical Junk - Part 4 - Anxiety and Panic Attacks

If you’re going to try to include representation in your work, it better be good, accurate representation. Don’t be 13 Reasons Why.  

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Writing Villains - Part 3 - The Twist Villain

Ah, yes, here we go again. Once more, I am gushing about Morrowind, and today, we are having a look at the character I love to hate the most; Almalexia, Lady of Mercy, Morrowind’s twist villain. Thanks to Disney, twist villains have an undeserved bad rep. Due to being overdone (and poorly so, at that), they’re considered to be cliche, boring, and uncreative, which really couldn’t be further from…

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In case anyone was wondering what the titular jerk face of The Wolf of Ugol looks like huehuehue Been a minute since I’ve drawn him, or anything with markers so he looks a little rough but he always looks a little rough. He’s a little messed up

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A little somethin I’m cookin up

Seems to me like character studies are gonna be my bread and butter for the time being, and Morrowind can’t sustain me forever, so I’ve decided to try my hand with House, M.D., and pick apart our titular jerk face, Doctor Gregory House. I’m currently working my way through the first season, and once I have my notes, I’ll start working on a coherent study. I’m also considering writing a…

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Writing Villains - Part 2 - The Anti-Villain

Welcome back to Why Morrowind is Awesome and Why Fantasy Writers Need to Take Notes. Today we will discuss the Anti-Villain trope, using Vivec as my case study. To start off, let’s define some things; what the heck is an Anti-Villain? Maybe you’ve heard of an Anti-Hero, which is considerably more popular. Put simply, Anti-Villains are a foiled, subverted image of an Anti-Hero and are typically…

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Writing Villains - Part 1 - The Classic

Well, well, well, look at where my fixations have gotten me lately. Looks like we’re calling on the classics this week. And as much as I adore Morrowind, no, this is not just an excuse for me to gush about it.

Well, well, well, look at where my fixations have gotten me lately. Looks like we’re calling on the classics this week. And as much as I adore Morrowind, no, this is not just an excuse for me to gush about it. “Morrowind?!” your Gen-Z-brain-having self might be asking, your nose wrinkling in disgust. “Ew! Didn’t that come out in like, 2002?”  Yes, my dear child, it is that old. And it’s called…

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The Wolf of Ugol: Inu has launched!

IT’S ALIVE!!!! Go check her out on Amazon. Here’s the link, my dear children. The Wolf of Ugol: Inu on Amazon

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The Wolf of Ugol: Inu Releasing December 10, 2023!

We’re a week out from the release date, my dear children! I’m super duper pumped! The second installment in the trilogy is already in the works. I’ll be posting more about that as I get closer to finishing the draft. I thank y’all for your support through this and I’m really excited to see his through. Inu has been in the works for a loooong time!

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How to Write A Gut-Punching Death Scene (And How to Avoid Making It Cheesy)

Alright, kiddies, it’s that time of the week again! Time for me to scrub your brains so your work suits my image.  Today’s lesson revolves around writing death scenes. There are different ways to go about this, but we will be focusing on those of the make-you-ugly-cry variety. My favorite. We will go over a few guidelines to abide by, and I will include a few examples from pop culture to give…

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Crash Course in Writing Medical Junk: Part 2 - Fevers

Told y'all I'd get this out tonight

Disclaimer: This post is NOT meant to diagnose or advise anyone having a medical emergency. This is purely for the sake of accurately depicting injuries, medical conditions, and related subject(s) in literature or screenplays.  This post may include graphic descriptions of gore, violence, or other nastiness that can turn even a strong stomach. By continuing to read through this post, you are…

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More writing tips will be up later today. For now, Morrowind art

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The Wolf of Ugol: Inu - Coming December 10, 2023!

Well, my dearies, it’s that time again! Mama’s coming out with a new book! Inu is the first part of my new trilogy, The Wolf of Ugol! It’s been in the works for a long time, and I’m super excited to bring it to you! The Wolf of Ugol, a Slavic-influenced medieval fantasy, follows the story of a stubborn, disenfranchised man by the name Vladimir Kuznetsov, who has just been caught up in a…

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Hey kids! New totally professional writing advice post over on WordPress!