Building romance character arcs

Character arcs are a way of thinking structurally about the relationship between the character and the plot. You’ll often see writing advice that emphasizes “character arcs,” “character development,” or “character journeys.” This is just a way of saying that a character should change over the course of the story. That change can be positive or negative, fast or slow, permanent or prone to backsliding, depending on the story you want to tell. 

In a romance story, the way the characters change is essential to how they get together. The cold hitman finally unthawing to let in his love interest is a character arc, and it’s an essential part of the romance arc. Character arcs are rarely linear, and a good character arc will have setbacks where the character looks like they’re going to return to their old ways, but ultimately the forward momentum of the arc wins out. 

The purpose of the character arc is to further tie the inner emotional world to the events of the plot by having the character change in response to the events. 

In a romance story, the character arc is part of the romance arc. Something is blocking the character from love, and over the course of the romance, the character changes to be able to embrace love. The mafia hitman goes from being brooding and isolated to being able to open his heart to his love interest. Going from being closed off to love to able to embrace it is the core character arc of romance.