Lana Ferguson is a USA Today bestselling author and sex-positive nerd whose works never shy from spice or sass. A faded Fabio cover found its way into her hands at fifteen, and she’s never been the same since. When she isn’t writing, you can find her randomly singing show tunes, arguing over which Batman is superior, and subjecting her friends to the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings. Lana lives mostly in her own head but can sometimes be found chasing her corgi through the coppice of the great American outdoors.

Chemistry. It’s a lot more than just my worst subject in high school.

In spicy romances, chemistry is everything. It’s the difference between sparks flying and snoozes festing. When you’re writing a spicy romance novel, sometimes it might seem daunting to get that spark in there from the first chapter, but in reality, it’s not as hard as it might seem.

One of the common misconceptions about creating chemistry between your characters is that they have to kiss or touch from the first page to set the stage for a spicy romance, but that’s not always the case. Chemistry can come in so many different ways—from a heated look to an even more heated exchange—there are many ways to lay down the groundwork for two characters that are going to eventually fall in love (and bone, let’s be honest).

Meet Quick

When I’m writing a spicy novel, I always try to make sure that first and foremost, my characters actually meet in chapter one. Again, they don’t have to be tearing each other’s clothes off from the first page (but if I’m being honest, I’ve definitely written that too), but they at the very least need to interact. Your two leads are going to establish the entire tone of your novel, and if they’re not meeting in chapter one, there’s a good chance that readers will be scratching their heads wondering who the heck they’re reading about.

It can be as simple as a quick exchange of banter, a tucked flower behind the ear, an adorable meet cute involving a dropped book—you get the idea. But more than just interacting, your characters need to have that something that makes readers want to have more of them together. Something that will make the reader want to see these two shredding each other’s clothes off…eventually. Which brings me to my next point: tension.

Creating Tension

Now, tension can be a little harder to manage, I will admit. It’s not easy to create that friction between characters that makes that payoff where they finally say to hell with it and kiss all the sweeter, but with these simple steps, it can be a little less daunting.

First, decide what sort of characters you want to write. Are they grumpy/sunshine? Are they friends to lovers? Are they blackcat/golden retriever? Knowing who your characters are up front makes it easier to create that delicious tension between them, because you know from the start what sort of people you are working with.

Next, decide your meet cute. The meet cute is the epitome of modern romcoms—you’ll be hard pressed to find one without it. How do they first meet? What do they say to each other? How many pages is it going to take you to make them kiss depending on the way they say hello? These are all questions you’re going to want to answer before diving in. Whether it’s an epic meeting or something simple, your characters need to meet, and you need to make it cute.

Bring the Banter

And let’s not forget about banter! When writing a romcom, banter can be a useful tool when crafting humor in your story, but can sometimes feel intimidating to write. There’s that concern that it might be too wooden, that it might feel unnatural, and for those reasons, one might be too afraid to attempt it at all. My biggest piece of advice that has helped me time and time again on this matter is—say it out loud! I always play my conversations out as if they’re happening to me, and hearing them audibly (for me) makes it so much easier to catch anything that might not read well. If you think to yourself that what you’re writing is something that you yourself would not say in a real life conversation, then it might be time to rethink the line!

Determining Tone

Lastly, decide the tone of your romance. Is it serious? Is it light-hearted? Is it mostly about the boning? (Which is entirely valid, by the way, don’t let anyone tell you differently.) Knowing the tone of your romance can help you decide on not only your characters, but also your meet cute! (And yes, a serious-toned romance can still have a meet cute. Again, don’t let anyone tell you any differently.) As long as your characters and your meet cute fit the tone of the story, then everything should come together to make a dynamic first chapter.

I don’t claim to be an expert on these matters by any means, but using these simple methods have helped me immensely in crafting first chapters that (I hope) hook readers into wanting to learn more about my characters. If your characters have chemistry, people are going to want to root for them. If your characters have tension, people are going to want to see them kiss (among other things). It’s all a matter of creating tiny dominos that keep cascading into one another to keep the story flowing and keep reader’s turning the page. A series of events that escalate more and more until there is an explosion of tension and chemistry that yield a combustion of two characters who have well earned their happily ever after (and their boning).

And it all starts with chapter one!

Overruled

Overruled by Lana Ferguson

Dani, one of the top divorce lawyers in Austin, is gearing up to take on the biggest case of her career. There’s just one small problem…she happens to be sleeping with Ezra, the opposing lawyer on the case. As they butt heads inside and outside of the courtroom, Dani must confront their undeniable chemistry and choose whether to embrace their budding relationship or succumb to her fear of trusting others.

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