How to write a love-hate relationship
A love-hate relationship can be summed up with: 'Can't live with them, can't live without them.'
It's a relationship filled with strong emotions, where both participants seek each other out, but then fight about it.
Types of love-hate relationships
There are different types that can have a love-hate relationship: It can turn into a romantic relationship where the love-hate aspect creates a sexual tension between the characters. Or it can be a platonic relationship where a lot of bickering is involved, but also a lot of love for each other.
Examples:
siblings who always fight with each other, but also for each other
academic rivals that want to be the best, but also enjoy the competition with each other
a criminal and a police officer who are always on opposite sides, but have a deep respect for each other
the MC's best friends, who always fight for the MC's attention, but become best friends themselves in the process
From hate to love
In romance stories, love-hate relationships often turn from hate to love between the characters. To write this you need to think about the reason for the hate at first. Why do they dislike each other? Is it because of an event that took place? Something the other person did? Something they heard about that person? Or is it a character flaw they dislike about them?
After finding the reason behind the hate, you can now work on solving that problem. If it's an event or something they did, there can be an apology or a talk about a misunderstanding. If it's a character flaw they can work on themself or the other person starts to see that it's actually not a flaw, but something they start to like about that person.
You basically need to soften the interactions between both characters until they are ready to admit their love for each other. These interactions can become a humorous point in your story with a lot of banter.
Toxic relationships
It can be in the nature of a love-hate relationship to be toxic. The 'can't live with them, can't live without them' aspect creates a situation where the characters will be at each other's throats all the time, but they just can't leave the relationship. If you want your reader to read a more romantic, cute love-hate relationship, try to stay away from actual physical, psychological and verbal abuse. If they do something more than just banter, write how they realize their mistake and apologize and how they better themselves.
More:
Love-hate relationship prompts
How to write witty banter
Academic rivals ideas
Siblings Prompts
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