Most of the time the people we see on screen falling in love aren’t actually in a romantic relationship. How does a writer give actors the material they need to convince an audience that there’s an actual spark between them?
Nathan Go looks to anthropology and personal history to consider how writers need to dig into the mechanics of attraction and romance in the real world before they can depict them. Cassidy Randall shares her story of finding love that was more about finding her identity. It’s a good reminder how a story isn’t only about a character achieving a goal (like finding a romantic partner), but how the character needs to change to become the person capable of achieving that goal.
Maria Popova explores Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s belief that love must be equally felt between two parties, and that love requires friendship. Coleridge’s explanation that asymmetrical desire would only lead to suffering is a helpful way of thinking about ill-suited pairings in a story, whether it’s a breakup at the beginning, or a red herring of a relationship further along.
One example of that mutually equivalent connection: Frog and Toad. Colin Stokes reflects on the love between Arnold Lobel’s amphibians, and how their gentle conflicts and keenly observed affection is displayed for readers through their acts of service, concern for each other’s safety, and desire to spend time together. Or look to the over-too-soon The Owl House, where the writing team slowly built the show’s core relationship between Luz Noceda and Amity Blight into one of shared affection, support, and understanding. Rendy Jones takes us through the turning points in the story that lead to Lumity.
Even an asymmetrical or unsuccessful pairing can have moments that illustrate romance to the audience. Hrvoje Galić underlines how In The Mood For Love uses all the tools of cinema to convey the tension, awareness of small moments, and rapture of falling in love (even as two people struggle to avoid it). Robert Stinner takes us through The Hours and Times, a film that speculates what could have happened during a real trip that John Lennon and manager Brian Epstein took to Barcelona. It’s a film about repression, frustrated desire, and curiosity with examples of how a character may look for the smallest inkling of reciprocated feelings.
And sometimes a story gives you a thesis statement to define love for its characters, like “The Origin of Love” from Hedwig and the Angry Inch:
Love your writing - Join the Write Sprint!
Like Parker Molloy reminds us, sometimes we feel a deep love for an activity. Are you loving writing? Do you need to reignite that spark? Come join us!
FYI: You no longer need to use the Substack app to participate in chat! The Write Sprint thread will now open in any browser and allow subscribers to join in.
What’s a Write Sprint?
John wrote up an explanation, but here’s the short version: Set a timer for 60 minutes, close down all distractions, and do nothing but write until that timer goes off.
Shout out to last week’s Sprinters Alee O. Karim, John Harvey, Luke Rankin, Aimee Link, and Elyse Moretti Forbes!
Are you new here?
Inneresting is a weekly newsletter about writing and things that are interesting to writers. Subscribe now to get more Inneresting things sent to your inbox.
Previously on Inneresting…
In case you missed it, in last issue’s most clicked link Brett Williams considers the fandoms surrounding Elon Musk and David Foster Wallace as examples of toxic deification.
Other Inneresting Things…
Olivia Rutigliano looks at a deleted serial killer subplot in You’ve Got Mail.
Neil Barraclough’s newsletter on typewriters features anecdotes about Cormac McCarthy’s Olivetti and the typewritten letter President Jimmy Carter included with the Voyager space probe.
Forte's Latifi explores the impact of parents sharing their children's images and identity online for profit, and how unlike child actors, kids of social media influencers have few legal protections.
Reading the room
Enable 3rd party cookies or use another browser
And that’s what’s inneresting this week!
Inneresting is edited by Chris Csont, with contributions from readers like you and the entire Quote-Unquote team.
Are you enjoying this newsletter?
📧 Forward it to a friend and suggest they check it out.
🔗 Share a link to this post on social media.
🗣 Have ideas for future topics (or just want to say hello)? Reach out to Chris via email at inneresting@johnaugust.com, Twitter @ccsont, or Mastodon @ccsont@mastodon.art
Oh, and love is just an institution based on human frailty
What’s your paradise gotta do with Adam and Eve?
Maybe love is just an economy based on resource scarcity
What what I fail to see is what that’s gotta do with you and me
–Father John Misty, “Holy Shit”