How to Write Stories People Will Love

Question 89: Love triangles

cryingforelia asks: How to write a good love triangle. I want to know how to get the readers engaged in both love interests, more specifically the one they think a MC will end up with, but don't. All readers know she'll end up with the bad boy, but what happens when she doesn't? Readers tend to not be interested in good boys, so how do I get them to root for the good guy and not the bad boy.

As a personal note before we start, I actually root for the good guy. :)

I think the reason readers tend to root for the bad boy is because writers too often choose to make them more interesting. The good guy is nice, stable, and loyal. But unexciting. He'll keep all the bills paid but put you to sleep with his hobbies or routines. Bad boys are portrayed as unpredictable and adrenaline-stimulating. They do interesting things that most average guys don't do. Readers are attracted to interesting things.

Give the Good Guy One Hot Quality

To make the good guy more attractive, make him interesting too. If he's got a list of good-guy qualities, throw in one bad-boy trait. For example, he rides a motorcycle to the homeless shelter where he volunteers. Or he has a muscular body. Or he has an interesting tattoo. Something that will contrast against all this nice-guy qualities and make the reader pay attention to him.

All too often I can tell when the good guy isn't going to get the girl because they make him a little off-putting. He's too desperate or has weird allergies or criticizes the other love interest. Although critical, desperate guys with allergies deserve love too, it makes them harder to root for in romance stories where readers basically want a fantasy to swoon over.

Pay Attention to Compatibility

Ultimately what the reader wants is for the main character to end up with someone who will make her happy. They root for the guy who seems the most compatible. In the beginning of the story, the bad boy--with all his unusual qualities--will seem like a better match. Mostly because the girl is interested in him. He has caught her attention. The reader--wanting for the girl to be happy--will often want what she wants. They want her to get what she wants.

It is important, then, for her to start realizing how much she likes being with the good guy. She's been taking him for granted because he fits into her life so well. Most often we don't realize what we've got until it is absent from our lives.

Don't Make It Sudden

For the reader to be okay with her ending up with the good guy, the transition can't be out of the blue. She can't spend the majority of the novel swooning over the bad boy and then suddenly saying, "You know what? The good guy is the one for me." Have her start noticing the good guy "in that way". She needs to stop taking him for granted, and that happens when she starts realizing all the things she likes about the good guy. Perhaps one quality at a time. As the girl becomes more interested in him, hopefully the reader will too.

Alternatively, an important event can make her notice the good guy. He's been invisible all this time because they've got a routine down. Something out of the ordinary can make him do things that get her attention. Likewise an unusual event can bring out the truly bad qualities of the bad boy. For example, the three of them are at a party when a fire breaks out. The bad boy pushes people out of the way to get out while the good guy helps a wheelchair-bound attendee out of the house.

Guide the Reader

Twilight fans tend to be very polarized over which guy they want Bella to end up with. This is because the author chose to paint both guys as equally attractive. They are both good-looking, they are both very good to Bella, they both adore her, and they each have unique and interesting qualities. In the end it was up to the the reader's personal preference who they wanted her to end up with.

If you don't want your readers to be polarized like this, then you can guide the reader to the side you want by gradually making one more appealing than the other, or one less appealing than the other, or both. For example, the girl can find out that the bad boy treats his little sister horribly. Or the good guy can finally get a much-needed haircut and the girl finally notices how good-looking he is. Start giving points to one guy and/or subtracting points from the other, and readers will eventually come around to the guy you want them to root for.