Flip off your fan-fiction. 

Seriously. Shoot it two middle fingers right now because, let me tell you, it's shit. 

A lot of people like romantic fanfics. I know I do; I wrote one (shameless self-promo: it's called She Isn't You, steamy boyxboy, so check it out). There's nothing wrong with liking or writing them. After all, the people who write them probably wish the relationship could happen to them. And who wouldn't? Everyone wants to believe it could happen. 

But you're not making it believable. 

You know the drill by now; let's get into it. 

1. Who are they? Once you've established that, don't deviate from it. Using my own fanfiction as an example, the story centralizes around Henry Bowers. If any of you have seen the movie It (2017), you'll know he's arrogant, devilish, and pretty much psychopathic. While there are work-arounds where I can break him down into moments of weakness that cause him to act more vulnerable, for the most part, my version of his character stays true to the original version. 

It has to in order to remain believable. And in order to do that, I have to establish what he isn't. He isn't lovey-dovey, gentle, kind, compassionate, selfless, etc. The list goes on. Again, as I said, this isn't entirely true, especially when he develops feelings for someone (in my version), but for the most part, it is. Fan-fiction does allow you to explore aspects of your beloved character that the books/movies don't detail, but be sure to ask yourself, "In the scope of this character as a person, how would they respond to this?" Not how you would want them to, but how they would respond. 

2. Okay, so this one is a bit... Iffy. For me, as long as the characters are dynamic and interesting, I don't mind somewhat of a predictable romance. Let me explain. When there is a dull plot and dull characters, that's horrific. Essentially, the characters' only problems, motivations, desires, setbacks, failures, etc. pertain to the romance. For example, when side characters only exist to propel the love interest towards one another. 

Don't do that. A good way to keep characters dynamic is through introspection. In my fanfic, as shitty as it may be, Henry has a lot of introspection. I try to keep dialogue to a minimum, keeping the focus on what he's feeling, portraying the wild torrent of emotions driving him insane. His struggle for love is a part of a bigger struggle against himself and his own tendencies towards self-destruction, self-hatred, and arrogance despite the former. 

If you're going to include romance, don't rely on over-used tropes like jock/nerd, human/alpha male, Bella/Edward, etc. Use the unique traits of the characters to create a love that's more than surface level.

3. As referenced in the previous point, verbal dialogue is not nearly as important as internal dialogue. What they're saying fades in comparison to how they're saying it. With Henry, he's stubborn, and his pride won't let him admit weakness, or whatever it is he perceives as weakness. As a result, his body language must scream out with all of the please and cries for help he won't ever verbalize. 

He says very little, but he feels cosmic amounts of emotions. For me, I'd rather watch a prideful character struggle to form an apology that they feel very deeply even if they don't know how to phrase it rather than a character who spits out a remorseful monologue with ease. 

Other than that, just be consistent, especially with details. 

Now that you have a great fan-fiction, it's time to start doing my favorite thing: killing your characters off.