Obvious to Subtle -- How?

[Lady Rockwell]

I'm a very picky reader, and unless there's a romance plot somewhere in the storyline, I get bored very easily. So, of course, that transfers over to my writing. However, I think one of my greatest weaknesses is that I don't believe I have any subtlety. I'm subscribed to Writer's Digest, and while it's a great help, I have never read an article or gotten help on how to make something less subtle.

What's your guys' advice on making a romance subtle? My favorite romance to write is hate to love, so what would be the best way for me to go about it? It always makes me nervous. Does it start with second glances, or sexual tension? And how might you guys go about writing that sexual tension without complete changing their views of each other? If my questions don't make sense, please let me know. :)

[Iridescence]

I don't know much about writing romance, but I think that when it comes to subtlety in general, build-up is always good. If you want to seem less obvious, build up the romance over a long period of time. Think of it as a woman getting pregnant. Obviously you can't have her swelling up within weeks of copulation - clearly something's wrong there. For one thing, the romance has to actually be able to come into existence. If you're starting from sheer hate, you've got a ways to go before your characters can even get over their disgust enough to look at each other straight. The "egg," so to speak, has to be planted at some point - you can't just plunge into sexual tension, or else it'll be blindingly obvious to the reader that they're going to fall in love. Something has to happen that shifts the feelings between them from pure hate to moderate tolerance. Then, slowly, they should come to get used to each other's presences. Then, they should be able to hold civil conversations. Maybe it gets to the point where they're kind of gruffly watching out for each other, physically and emotionally. There should still be some belligerence, but some warmth should be visible, at least to the reader.

I strongly advise against having them bicker all the time - that makes it more than obvious to the reader, and it's also obnoxious. A "fight" between two intended love interests can be easily translated:

"I hate you! Go to hell!"
Translation: You're so hot that I want to crack an egg on you and watch it sizzle.

"You're an awful person! Why can't you learn some respect?"
Translation: Please come into my bed and make many babies with me.

So, to recap this ramble, if you want to throw some sexual tension in there, by all means, do so - just build up to it first if you want to have that subtlety. Once it gets to a comfortable point where they're almost sort of friends, then really let loose with that tension.

And, yeah, that was a really long, really rambling reply. Eh, whatever. Hope this helps.

[Rurikredwolf]

Pretty much what Iri said about sums it up. However, if they hate each other with a passion at first, and the reason is legiminate, don't get rid of that. It makes the reader interested to see how their relationship growing with that reason hanging over them. Will they ever get over it? Or will it forever haunt them?

But yes, show changes with the characters slowly by surely. Don't have them argue all the time, but once in a while is okay. Like I said before, show a gradual change in the character. Think Leia and Han from Star Wars: At first they don't like each other, but they go on a few adventures and save each other a few times, and then they turn into friends and eventually lovers. The situations forced them to come over their disgust, but as Iri said, don't do it all at once.

Yeah...I think I said all I can say.

[Dabs]

Love is inherently subtle, I think. Yes, people do crazy things for love, but the reasons for their apparent madness aren't so easy to pick out.

Writing about a subtle relationship is about knowing what's there but not pointing it out. It's the same idea as creating a character with depth. You have to know everything about the characters, but you don't have to put all of their information down on the page.

Like, right now I'm writing a story, and I have a scene coming up where one of the characters has sex. This creates some tension with his best friend, because his best friend is still a virgin and wants sex. However, the story isn't really about them having sex. It's about the totality of their relationship. The sexual aspect is just a small one, so it kind of subtly works its way into their dynamic.

Your characters need to exist outside of their romantic desires. And the romantic aspect of a relationship is just that--an aspect. There a lustful aspect, a friendship aspect, a professional aspect.

Hopefully this helped some. :P