As I've mentioned before, I love the romance genre and its many many sub-genres. And I consider myself an interested critic of the stories and authors that I've so widely read and can recognize at any given bookstore.
Some may find it surprising, but the first advice I would give for people working on writing about romantic relationships between characters is to read a good romance novel! What a novel idea. [I <3 puns.]
It has been my experience that one writes what one reads, the same as that old saying, 'you are what you eat'. For example, basically all my stories have romantic relationships thrown in somewhere (if not the primary characters) because I've read so many romance novels. It's just how I think, how my characters come to me--in pairs. It is what it is, and I like it like that.
Therefore, if you want to write a murder mystery, you better start reading up on some and pay attention to common themes, techniques, and cliches to stay away from. Of course, I know some writers who specifically stay away from books in their genres, let's say the paranormal genre, because they often immerse themselves in the supernatural and desire to read anything different in their spare time.
Whatever way it works for you, I'm a definite proponent for researching before jumping into something new.
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