Uploaded August 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Almost every story has a love interest — even in genres that don't strictly need one. So why are they so often the flattest character on the page: the trophy, the worried spouse on the phone, the beautiful person who exists purely to believe in the hero?
In this video, I look at what love interests are actually for — why they show up in war stories, thrillers, and epics that never ordered a romance — and how writing them lazily quietly sabotages the very thing you put them in the book to do.
Then: four concrete techniques for writing a love interest with an actual pulse, with examples from Jane Austen's Emma, When Harry Met Sally, The Hunger Games, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Plus the legendary "Sexy Lamp Test" — and the season of 24 where Jack Bauer rescues a lamp.
CHAPTERS
00:00 – Jack & Veronica (a love story)
01:08 – Why there's ALWAYS a love interest
02:18 – The three jobs only a love interest can do
04:36 – Trophies, fridges & Manic Pixie Dream Girls
08:00 – Tip 1: The view no one else has
10:18 – Tip 2: Make the attraction specific
12:21 – Tip 3: Make the love cost something
13:49 – Tip 4: A life beyond the protagonist
15:00 – The one condition for the payoff
FIND REEDSY HERE:
Find an editor: reedsy.com
Blog: reedsy.com/blog
Facebook: facebook.com/wearereedsy
Twitter: twitter.com/ReedsyHQ
Instagram: instagram.com/reedsy_hq
Discord: discord.gg/CwPeJ3U5jQ
Almost every story has a love interest — even in genres that don't strictly need one. So why are they so often the flattest character on the page: the trophy, the worried spouse on the phone, the beautiful person who exists purely to believe in the hero?
In this video, I look at what love interests are actually for — why they show up in war stories, thrillers, and epics that never ordered a romance — and how writing them lazily quietly sabotages the very thing you put them in the book to do.
Then: four concrete techniques for writing a love interest with an actual pulse, with examples from Jane Austen's Emma, When Harry Met Sally, The Hunger Games, and Raiders of the Lost Ark. Plus the legendary "Sexy Lamp Test" — and the season of 24 where Jack Bauer rescues a lamp.
CHAPTERS
00:00 – Jack & Veronica (a love story)
01:08 – Why there's ALWAYS a love interest
02:18 – The three jobs only a love interest can do
04:36 – Trophies, fridges & Manic Pixie Dream Girls
08:00 – Tip 1: The view no one else has
10:18 – Tip 2: Make the attraction specific
12:21 – Tip 3: Make the love cost something
13:49 – Tip 4: A life beyond the protagonist
15:00 – The one condition for the payoff
FIND REEDSY HERE:
Find an editor: reedsy.com
Blog: reedsy.com/blog
Facebook: facebook.com/wearereedsy
Twitter: twitter.com/ReedsyHQ
Instagram: instagram.com/reedsy_hq
Discord: discord.gg/CwPeJ3U5jQ
