Board Thread:Off Topic/@comment-26268104-20160821140328/@comment-28266772-20160823201004

My advice would be that any thing you put in a story should contribute to the characters, setting, plot (the sequence of events), mood/atmosphere or themes. A romance subplot should exist for a reason. Some examples might be as follows:

Characters - the subplot could reveal that a character is angry and prone to rage through an argument. Or that they are jealous and overpossessive. Horror stories like to have flawed characters, and it's easy to show someone's worst flaws when they are in love.

Setting - Romance could give a prisoner hope, or a teenager angst, or a married man temptation. It can reflect part of their lives, or the place where the story takes place. This works more for schools, suburbs and offices (i.e. places where there are people) as opposed to abandoned factories or huanted mansions.

Plot - romance can motivate, antagonise, distress and enlighten - all of which can give a character a reason to move the story forward. Maybe they need to save their love? Or maybe they go to a cabin in the woods with friends hoping to get their love's attention? There are lots of ways romance is used to give characters motivation, and get things moving.

Mood/atmosphere - the nature of the romance can reflect the overall tone of the story. You can use flirty banter to ease a tense situation, or set a lighter tone. Similarly angsty pining and jealousy can make a story help give a story an unhealthy or toxic feel.

Themes - you can take a theme like "dangers of the unknown" and have the romance subplot reflect that idea. Maybe the narrator is tempted by their love? Maybe they pursue someone who is actually a threat and dangerous?

Similarly all of these things should reflect and compliment each other. Sometimes you might want them to contrast to make a point (e.g. maybe a light hearted setting conceals a dangerous killer) but generally you shouldn't just chuck them in without thinking about them. Pretty much all stories have these things by default, but what often makes a good story is when they all work together to make the story better. I guess my main advice is that the romantic subplot needs a function, and should compliment the story as whole instead of just existing for no real reason. By saying something like "I want to write a story that makes people sad" you can often work backwards and figure, "maybe one of the romance characers die". Just think about what you want your readers to feel when they read your story, and use the romance subplot to help achieve that.