Elements of a Romantic Comedy: How to Write One
Romantic comedies is a never-dying genre in movies. Whether you are looking for something fun to watch after a long day of work or to watch with your partner, romantic comedies will always provide a good time. A good romantic comedy will make you laugh, cry, or possibly both; they are an emotional rollercoaster with a happy ending. However, this genre is extremely difficult to write. As with all stories in any genre, there are specific elements that each has to follow along in order to be successful at entertaining their audience.
If you are looking to write your own romantic comedy, here are the key elements that you need to include.
1) Chemistry.
The first, and most important, element of a romantic comedy is the chemistry between the two leads. This relationship must be believable in order for the rest of the story to work. Audiences want to see a couple that they can he audience to enjoy it. The couple must have the ability to make you smile, laugh , or even cry with them depending on their situation. Even if they are arguing throughout the film, there must be a connection that is authentic for this relationship to work .
2) Conflict/Romantic Gesture
A romantic comedy is not successful without some sort of conflict. This can be something as simple as them not being able to agree on where to eat dinner or something more complicated, such as one of them being in a different relationship at the beginning of the movie. However, there must also be a romantic gesture from one character to the other that eventually solves the conflict. This could be anything from declaring their love for one another to simply cooking dinner for the other person.
3) Comedy
A romantic comedy is not a romantic comedy without laughs. The jokes in this type of movie must be timed correctly and hit the right beats in order to make the audience laugh. Whether it is slapstick humor or witty banter, there must be moments when the audience is laughing in order to balance out the emotional moments.
4) Ending/Happily Ever After
As with all romances, there must be an ending where they get their happily ever after. This could mean that they eventually fall in love and grow old together or it can involve them deciding not to be together only for something to happen at the last minute to change their minds. However, the ending must be satisfying for the audience and leave them feeling good about the couple.
Following these four elements are key in writing a successful romantic comedy. If you can make your audience laugh, cry, and feel good about the couple by the end of the movie, then you have created a romantic comedy that will be remembered for years to come.