When you want to write, but you’re scraping the bottom of the barrel for new ideas, you can rely on writing prompts to generate new inspiration. This is especially true when it comes to writing romances. In addition to that, it can be disheartening to feel that the romance genre has been exhausted, and there are simply no good ideas left.
I took some time to put together a list of romance writing prompts, which is one of the most-searched-for and requested genres on my site. Some of these romance writing prompts are left deliberately vague to spark inspiration, while others offer more context to help you build the story around them. As always, feel free to change up any aspect of the prompt you want to suit your needs!
Romance Writing Prompts
Are you craving writing romance, but you’re fresh out of ideas? Take a look at the romance writing prompts below to spark your inspiration and get you writing again!
- Two characters run away from home to be together, but things don’t exactly go as planned. What happens next?
- An elderly couple looks back on their favorite dates. They both have different favorites for different reasons. Have them explain why their favorites differ, and why those experiences were uniquely meaningful to them.
- Two characters are top competitors (in sports, video game competitions, chess, whatever you choose) and they always end up going against each other for 1st place. One day, after losing a close match, one character decides to attend the other’s celebration party. After a few glasses of champagne, they end up having their first real conversation with their competitor outside of a competition—and find out they’re actually quite charming.
- A character randomly gets asked out on a date, by someone they haven’t talked to since high school.
- Two old friends meet up again after losing contact with each other in college. One hasn’t changed much, but the other is like a completely different person. The first character ends up falling in love with the second character, but it soon becomes clear that something terrible must have happened while they were apart to change them.
- Two best friends have decided to get married if they haven’t found love by the time they both turn 40. Well, that time has come, and the younger one is about to turn 40. Write about the two of them planning their best-friend-wedding.
- Two coworkers are in love. Write a scene in which the lovers try to sneak a kiss in the break room, the storage closet, or elsewhere, but they keep getting interrupted.
- Four characters are roommates, but two of them are secretly dating. Write a story where the lovers have to hide their relationship from the other two roommates for some reason.
- You have the magical ability to make everyone fall in love with you, but it’s not exactly the blessing it sounds like. Everyone quickly becomes possessive and jealous, and admirers often fight for your attention. One day, you encounter someone who is unaffected by your magic, and you find yourself falling in love for the first time. How do you win the heart of the one person alive who doesn’t love you, while coping with hordes of jealous fans?
- Cupid made a mistake, and now someone is head-over-heels for Cupid himself! It’s forbidden for mortals and deities to form relationships, but Cupid ends up developing feelings for this person in return. What happens next?
- A married couple has been having problems with their relationship, so they decide to go to couple’s counseling. However, they both end up falling in love with their attractive counselor!
- The existence of soulmates is common knowledge in this world. However, when you meet yours, they aren’t exactly how you expect them to be. In fact, you can’t stand them. You can only assume that there’s more to them than meets the eye (after all, you’re fated to be together), so you decide to give them a chance. What happens next?
- While you’re out at a gathering (a party, a club, a class trip, etc), you notice that your clingy, manipulative ex is in the crowd. In a panic, you find the nearest single person and quickly explain the situation. They agree to pretend to be your date for the night, and throughout the evening, you two actually end up hitting it off. By the end of the night, you two go home with each other’s phone numbers.
- Two old friends decide to go on a road trip together. They’ve planned to go camping to multiple different remote locations, where it will be just the two of them, surrounded by only wilderness. During the trip, they have many deep, late-night conversations that lead to them developing feelings for each other.
- Two characters are in love. Neither of them is human (vampire, werewolf, sorcerer, etc), but they are both keeping that a secret from each other. They both end up making excuses to cover up the truth, such as “I’m allergic to garlic, actually” or “Sorry, I can’t come over during the full moon. I have to… babysit.” Eventually, one of them slips up and accidentally reveals that they aren’t human—unaware that the other character is hiding the same secret.
- You’re a professional matchmaker. Write a story about how you would get two unlikely characters to realize how good they’d be for each other.
- Write a story in which someone discovers that their lover isn’t exactly who they thought they were.
- Write a story that involves a public proposal. What does it entail? Where does the character propose? How elaborate and flashy is the proposal?
- Two lovers are partners in crime and on the run from the law. Write about one of their heists, and how they celebrate getting away with another exciting crime.
- Two characters are bound in eternal love. Every time they die, they get reborn, and they always find each other again. This time, however, one character just cannot seem to find their lover, no matter how much they search. Years become decades, and they end up dedicating lifetimes to trying to find them.
- Two characters have been married for a while, and their relationship is starting to lose its spark. One character decides to do something big to liven things up again.
- Two characters go on a blind date. Alternate between their perspectives to give readers a detailed look at how each character views their date.
- Two characters have grown up together. They did everything together, and they have always been super close friends. One day, one confesses their love to the other, and finds that they don’t feel the same. After some time, the other character starts to realize that they actually do feel the same, but are they too late to make things work?
- Two characters are dating, but one of them falls in love with someone else. How do they break up with their current partner to pursue their new love? Or, alternatively, does the couple end up becoming three?
- Two rival detectives are hired to work on the same case together. At first, they don’t get along at all, and teamwork is impossible. However, as time goes on and they deal with dangerous suspects, long road trips, and late nights together, they end up falling in love. (Bonus points if one realizes their feelings for the other during a shootout or other dangerous situation.)
- Two characters used to date when they were younger, but they ended up parting on bad terms. After several years and other failed relationships, the two decide to meet up and give each other a second chance.
- Two characters go on a date. One character assumes it’s just a “friend date”—that is until the other character goes in for a kiss.
- You sign up for a blind date on a cruise, and you end up getting paired with someone you absolutely despise. You’re going to be stuck with them for 5 days out at sea, so you might as well try to enjoy yourself. Halfway through the trip, you realize they aren’t as bad as you thought they were. In fact, they’re quite sweet in their own way.
Romantic Dialogue Prompts
Sometimes, all you need is a line of dialogue to get inspired to write. You can build an entire story around one little fragment of dialogue. Who are these characters? Where is the scene taking place? What are they talking about? What happens next?
Dialogue writing prompts give you just enough context to start thinking creatively, without limiting the scope of your imagination. Why not try using a few of these romantic dialogue prompts yourself?
- “That was the worst pickup line I’ve ever heard. Want to try that again?”
- “Do you forgive me?”
- “You’re all talk. Why don’t you show me what you really mean?”
- “Oh, it’s not that bad, really. You know I would do anything for you.”
- “Don’t go. I don’t even know who I am without you.”
- “I know everything is pretty crazy right now, but when we can finally go home, I’d like to take you on a date.”
- “Heh… Your face is cold.”
- “Stay the night with me. Please…”
- “You’re so cute when you’re sleepy.”
- “I’ll follow you wherever you go, no matter what it takes. I’ll follow you to the edge of Hell and beyond.”
- “I believe you.”
- “You aren’t even gone and I already miss you.”
- “It’s not that I like you, I just… well- I… I just… Okay. Maybe I like you, so what?”
- “I know he isn’t my type, but I think he might be the one.”
- “I’m afraid that one day, you just might never make it home.”
- “Just stay and watch the stars with me for another hour.”
- “You look like a mess. Come here.”
- “I’d do anything to make it up to you.”
- “Dance with me.”
- “And I would do it a thousand more times.”
Tips for Writing a Romance
Romance can be a hard genre to write without coming across as cheesy and cliché. If you want some pointers for writing about romance, check out these articles below:
Writing From Enemies to Lovers: Creating Dynamic Relationships
Romance 101: How to Write Characters Falling in Love
Good luck, writers!
