Hi! I'm trying to write an enemies to lover slowburn, but I don't know how to start it...I have written the middle parts, the jucier parts👀 Can you give me some tips on how to start it? Aso, if you don't mind, do you have any tips on writing enemies to lovers👉👈 Thanks a lot in advance!
Oh, I love me some good enemies to lover trope. But there is some things you have to be careful with, so I start with a little reminder what not to do and then go into what to do and even though you didn’t really ask for it, I thought of some prompts while writing this answer.
How to write enemies to lovers
stay away from non-consensual
they are enemies and will likely be awful to each other in the beginning
but if you want them to be a happy couple at the end they shouldn’t be abusive to each other
because even if they later get together it will always leave a mark on that relationship
forcing someone to do something is wrong and even if the victim later loves to do it in the relationship, it doesn’t change the fact that they were once forced when they didn’t want to do it
Now that that is established here is how to start with the trope.
how do they know each other?
why do they hate each other?
are they literally at war with each other or are they people who met each other and really didn’t click in the beginning?
give them reason to hate or at least strongly dislike each other
you can give them the same reason for hating each other
or spice it up and make both of them dislike something else about the other person
now that you’ve established why they hate it each other you have to find out what needs to be done to fix it
it’s important to find a way to make them both see the other person as a normal human being with their own hopes and problems and not just this unshakeable image of an always bad enemy
maybe they don’t know all the information, maybe it’s a misconception that could be solved by talking
but don’t just make them say those things
let actions speak louder than words
for example character A thinks character B is rude and inconsiderate and only interested in themself - but then A sees B doing something completely selfless
it wouldn’t be enough to see them being selfless to make them completely change their mind and fall in love
but it would make them rethink what they thought about the other one and maybe try to get to know them better, because they realized there is so much more to learn and they maybe judged too soon
a changed behaviour in one character could then trigger the other one into rethinking their bad relationship
finding something that they have in common or that they like about the other one can pave the way for a neutral relationship that then turns into something more
so it rarely goes directly from hate to love, especially because this could be an indicator for rash actions and mood swings towards each other that could be harmful in a relationship
it’s more like hate turning into acceptance and understanding and then slowly to love
“Well. well, well. Look who came to their enemy’s door holding presents.” “Oh cut it, I’m here to pick you up for our date.”
“I’m scared that it could end badly if it doesn’t work out.” “You’re already enemies. How worse could it get?”
“Why did you save me?” “Just because I’m the bad guy doesn’t mean I’m a bad guy.”
“I can’t tell them. They would make fun of me! We used to hate each other!” “Used to - that’s the important part.”
“I can’t really remember what we were fighting about all this time.”
“That guy is not good for you. Hell, even I would be better for you and I’m your enemy.”
