Writing characters that are awkward about sex (or romance in general)

[Naruzeldamaster]

Very much this indeed. I haven't seen One Piece (yet...). But this does explain what I meant. And to be clear, this goes for all character development, and not just how a character flirts or treats other people. But a character stuck in a single place not making any progress gets anoying quickly.

Yes, if you do decide to watch one piece, buckle up, there's lots of filler arcs lol (though most of them are relevant for later, there's a particular one you can pretty much skip, but the others are relevant)

My concern is 100% a character being 'stuck' in the same story beat and getting annoying, regardless of what their main 'quirk' might be. Flirting and overreacting to lewdness(And by overreacting, I mean comically so. In one part of a scene she bolts a hundred feet away from the person who made the comment and hides behind a tree...she is THAT shy about sex. Lore wise it's related to how her species is about sex, but the reader doesn't know this yet.) just happens to be the topic for these two characters. Personally I find the idea of their gimmicks funny (like on a personal level) but I don't want to wind up overdoing it and annoying readers.

I relate it to Sanderson's theory about promise, progress, and payoff (watch his lectures on Youtube to learn more ). But if you show a character being an idiot around women, then as a reader we expect to see it be part of the story. We want to see progress around that plot thread (even if it's only a B plot), and we want some kind of payoff.

And it doesn't need to be big. If it's only a minor sub-plot, then the progress can just be the character trying a few different things. And the payoff can simply be the character having a normal conversation with a woman.

This is a good tip, I'll have to check that out. Good point about the progress of the character too.

But it's a way to show us something about the character and how they change. It reminds me about something I once read about movies. There apparently is a guideline to never visit the same location twice in a film. Partly because of the limited available run-time, but visiting the same location twice wastes an opportunity to show us something more about the world or the characters. The same applies here.

Lately when I write my characters, instead of sticking to their tropes (If I use any to 'build' them) I've been kind of letting them grow on their own as I write them. It's turned out to be way more fun to write them, and sometimes they really surprise me. They'll often do things that are completely 'in character' but not what I expect them to do in that situation.

 

[SamazonE]

In one part of a scene she bolts a hundred feet away from the person who made the comment and hides behind a tree...she is THAT shy about sex.

I think romance can be upside-down in a lot of cases. That is why it has a rating and it is kind of mind-altering. But there are a lot of cases where that sort of thing is preferable. Hiding behind a tree is common for someone in a school, and unless they are walking a dog in the park, and they’re taking a piss, it is kind of unlikely.

 

[K.Hudson]

I don't write sex scenes either.
Flirty characters are nice. It builds up tension, but the release of that tension doesn't necessarily have to be sexual. It could be a more emotional release. It could be accomplished in many ways. Personally, I find that it's better to leave some aspects of a relationship to the reader's imagination.

 

[SamazonE]

Males are traditionally horrible at romance. There are those awkward moments, those stereotypical tropes. What makes it worse, is women are terrific at it. The subtleties are so unique and inspiring that they have honed it into a weapon. You may say that this is the battle of the sexes. Men have nothing to do with it.

On the evolutionary scale, you could say that sex is a wavelength, on an elliptical orbit around the hot lava lamp. There are so many better things to write about.

What I’m not sold on, is how they can go from comedy to sex so smoothly. That is about the only thing men have in common with romance. The gags. You could put it down to fine swords play, or witty repartee, but I think it has something to do with nature. We may have discovered the wheel, and opened the box belonging to pandora, but nature has balance. Romance is last on the to do list.

You could also look for where else you find romance, to asses your level of sadomasochism. We find the story of life and rebirth to be massive. Animals seem cute, and they get love. The combination of heroes and unyielding villains. You can find them under a rock.

I think there is something mystical about history. You can find romance there. It is not the sort of thing you get into, researching the family history and the like. Folklore passes through the ages, and if we are not careful, can be our reason. You just have to look out for the things that make you love, figure out what lies beneath, be it good or bad, life or death, and see what is inside that makes you tick.

 

[K.Hudson]

I think there is something mystical about history. You can find romance there. It is not the sort of thing you get into, researching the family history and the like. Folklore passes through the ages, and if we are not careful, can be our reason. You just have to look out for the things that make you love, figure out what lies beneath, be it good or bad, life or death, and see what is inside that makes you tick.

I believe there's an inverse correlation between level of industrialization and how romantic/aesthetic a society is. I mean, if you taken a classic lit class, particularly in Western or British lit, you find that the transition from Romantic literature and Realistic literature took place in the early Victorian era, which was an era with a massive boom in industrialization.

 

[pmmg]

I believe there's an inverse correlation between level of industrialization and how romantic/aesthetic a society is. I mean, if you taken a classic lit class, particularly in Western or British lit, you find that the transition from Romantic literature and Realistic literature took place in the early Victorian era, which was an era with a massive boom in industrialization.

Probably cause it was on people's minds.

What do you think about when there is mostly nothing to do?

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

I think romance can be upside-down in a lot of cases. That is why it has a rating and it is kind of mind-altering. But there are a lot of cases where that sort of thing is preferable. Hiding behind a tree is common for someone in a school, and unless they are walking a dog in the park, and they’re taking a piss, it is kind of unlikely.

I think I should note that the story with the girl who overreacts to lewdness is a comedy first and foremost, that lends itself well to eccentric personalities that really only "work" in anime. (The story also emulates anime quite a bit, as that's the intention.) It does take itself seriously when the chips are down (as it should) but it's mostly meant to be fun/silly with goofy/eccentric characters. The cast doesn't have wild quirks like hers, but they're eccentric in their own ways and a large part of the story is humanizing them and getting them to fit in with the more normal characters.

The other story is a Zelda Story that I don't plan on publishing officially. Legend of Zelda is pretty known to have eccentric characters from time to time, with varying degrees of success.

 

[SamazonE]

It does take itself seriously when the chips are down (as it should) but it's mostly meant to be fun/silly with goofy/eccentric characters.

Good/nice, evil/bad, is this the order of succession?

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Good/nice, evil/bad, is this the order of succession?

? No ?

The God of Darkness does seemingly evil things for (ultimately) good reasons to keep nature in balance. And does so in such a way that the other gods think he's just causing mischief 'as they should' the other gods shun his behavior but he has a following just like the other gods do.

Some of the protagonists are morally grey when it comes to good/evil deeds but ultimately are good guys.

My characters aren't black and white and even when I use tropes to define them I don't stick to that trope the entire time.