Stoking the Flames of your Slow Burn Romantasy
Writing tips to make your readers swoon when your slow burn ignites 🔥❤️🔥
I’ve seen a lot of writers lately bemoaning tropes as the end of literature. The arguement goes something like this: Everyone on (insert name of bookish social media platform) is promoting mindless tropes, forcing writers to include said tropes and NOTHING ELSE. Story is DEAD. Follow with dramatic emojis: 😖😭😤🤬☠️
I’d like to propose a different viewpoint on tropes—at least romance tropes—dearest readers of the Realms.
Romance Tropes provide a framework with established beats to help you write a satisfying internal character arc that meets your readers’ expectations.
Insta-lust happens, but in real life cultivating a deep, abiding love based on shared experiences takes time. If you can stretch that time out for the length of a story, you have a slow burn. Cue longing, pining, vexation. Will they? Won’t they? Or has it all been for naught??
Those slow-burn feelings can be combined with other tropes including enemies-to-lovers, forbidden romance, or “oh shit. I’m in love with my bestie”. Whether your characters have known each other for days, years, or their entire lives, their journey towards their eventual happily-ever-after should contain a few key moments.
Here’s a roadmap to help you pinpoint all the important aspects of the slow burn with some real world examples. PLEASE NOTE this post contains SPOILERS for Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik.
Step One: Show the meet-cute, no matter when it occurs
In a slow-burn, the characters may have known each other for months, even years. Their meet-cute (aka first encounter) may not be involved in the main plot of your story. Nonetheless, you should show your reader how the love interests were first introduced, whether that is via a prologue, flashback, or in the story present. Bonus points if you can include worldbuilding or character-driven reasons as to why they may not ever be together.
Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo maintains a slow-burn over the course of several books. It is established early on that FMC Alina has a crush on her childhood friend, Mal. The second paragraph of the prologue gives us insight into how long they’ve known each other. “The boy and the girl had arrived within weeks of each other, two more orphans of the border wars, dirty-faced refugees plucked form the rubble of distant towns and brough to the Duke’s estate to learn to read and write, and to learn a trade. The boy was short and stocky, shy but always smiling. The first was different, and she knew it.”
If you long for literary romantasy, look no further than Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik. In this multiple POV story, the slow-burn/enemies-to-lovers tale starts out as chilly as a snowy winter morn. Miryem gets a first glimpse at a Staryk knight, an otherworldly creature from a realm of frost and ice, as a child. On page two, Novik writes, “…Staryk knights only ever came riding for gold. The hooves went jangling past, and a knife-wind blew over us, so when I sat up the end of my thin braid was frosted white, and all of my mother’s sleeve where it wrapped around me, and our back. But the frost faded, and as soon it was gone, the peddler said to my mother, “Well, that’s enough of a rest, isn’t it,” as if he didn’t remember why we had stopped. It doesn’t become apparent for many chapters of the book that love is even possible from this first encounter, making this more of a slow thaw than burn.
Step Two: Wanting, not wanton
All successful stories feature characters that want something. While what the character wants is not the same as what they need, this initial want should be the fuel in the tank that gets your reader invested in your main characters. Then dig into all your repressed malice and keep your main character from getting the want. In a slow burn, keep them from being able to fully express and/or experience that love. Rinse and repeat until the climax.
Best friends Alina and Mal are not as close as they once were after they both leave the orphanage and join the military. Handsome Mal has drifted away and seems interested in the pretty Grisha girls. Alina is jealous. Since her feelings for Mal are no longer of the brotherly variety, she keeps her longing (her want) to herself.
What makes Spinning Silver such an improbable romantasy is the fact that Mireym does not pine for love, but money. In an argument with her mother, Mireym cries out in anger, “Would you rather we were still poor and hungry?” That is followed by, “Sorry?…To have a daughter who can turn silver into gold?” Mireym wants riches, even at the cost of turning her heart to ice. We later learn the Staryek want the same thing—gold This makes sense, as it is a retelling of Rumplestiltskin.
Step Three: Amplify the angst
Readers that are drawn to the slow burn often note they enjoy the escalation of emotion. Add in some longing glances or the fear of unrequited love? I’m here for it.
In order to increase the yearning and angst, create conflicts that show the reader why they would be good for each other, even if the characters themselves remain clueless, confused, or contrary.
After Alina accidently summons illicit magical powers, Mal lies to the powerful Darkling to protect her. They are separated. Cue pining. Many chapters chronicle Alina’s new life at the palace, but she never stops wishing Mal was with her, even as she finds herself attracted to the handsome Darkling. Her confusion is heartfelt, especially since Mal does not write despite the fact she sends him letters regularly.
Miryem’s greed gets the best of her. Despite the dangers of working with Staryek silver, she agrees to a bargain to turn it to gold. She does, not through magic but by using her resources, including a jewelry maker. Upon her third success, the Staryek King takes her from her family and proclaims her his wife. The anger is real enough for Miryem to hatch a plot to have her husband murdered.
Step Four: Tighten the tension
Please do not confuse slow burn with a boring story. Once you’ve gotten past your midpoint, make sure your characters are together on page, forcing them to confront their external conflicts and internal emotional baggage at the same time.
When Alina finally sees Mal again, she is overcome. Her joy is short, however, as he sneers, “The clothes, the jewels, even the way you look. He’s all over you.” Oh damn, is Mal jealous??? Inquiring minds want to know, but don’t find out because he storms off. Hours later, Alina learns that the Darkling is not a shadow-daddy but an asshole villain that was using her. She runs away, finds herself in loads of trouble…and is rescued by Mal. The reader swoons while the characters on page are awkward AF. The action in the third act escalates dramatically from there as Alina and Mal are on the run.
Miryem, being the intelligent woman she is, nearly succeeds in her plot to murder the Staryek King. She is overcome with guilt, however, because she now understands that the King’s well-being is tied directly to that of his people. “He’d laid himself out as a sacrifice for their sake, and he’d bent that iron pride of his and married a mortal, not to store up treasure for himself or to conquer, but all to save his people from a terrible enemy. And now he was lying down there half-dead, and the thought twisted my stomach, of watching him melt away to nothing, him and all of the gone as though they’d never won their winter kingdom from the dark.”
Step Five: And they lived happily ever after
This is honestly why we read romantasy. We want our happily-ever-after! In a standalone book, this should be achieved by the end of the book. In a series, the main love interests may or may not be together by the end, though readers tend to like to know that the HEA is on the horizon.
When Mal tells Alina, “I don’t care if you danced naked on the roof of the Little Palace with him. I love you, even the part of you that loved him.” OMG I think I just fell in love with Mal?
I have to confess that I first read Spinning Silver as an ARC, and I thought perhaps there were a few pages missing from the end. Certainly I was due a little more romance after all these pages, no? While Miryem did indeed get her HEA when the Staryek King seeks permission to marry her from her Jewish parents according to tradition, I wish there had been more thaw. After all that coldness, I was ready for some heat. But being a literary title, Novik chose to stay true to her icy theme, which I fully respect. And the last line is simply perfection.
Final Thoughts:
I coach authors and write books for a commercial audience. While craft is important, at the end of the day readers want characters they love or love to hate. Flowery sentences are enjoyable when you read them. However, a character’s journey that resonates within a reader becomes a part of who they are. Suddenly, your character is living beyond the pages of your book.
This is where you can use tropes, and the slow burn, to your advantage. Readers will go into the story with an idea of what to expect. You will blow their expectations away, and create a vibrant community of readers in the process.
Happy writing! What’s your favorite slow burn? Mine is Rowena’s Song, because I wrote it. LOL shameless plug, but if you like slow-burn historical romantasy melodrama, check it out. Right now its an e-book on Amazon. The paperback is forthcoming 💚