THE KEY TO ROMANTIC TENSION

Learn practical techniques for creating romantic and sexual tension in scenes, subplots, and entire stories. (This course is included free with your membership in the Writing Craft Club.)

Romantic Tension Is Different

The most common source of tension is conflict. When characters encounter problems and obstacles, readers worry. The trouble produces anxiety about how the problem will be avoided or overcome.
But when characters encounter a love interest, it's not a problem exactly. They feel attraction or hope or longing. And tension arises from the anticipation of the union, not anxiety about trouble.

When Do You Need Romantic Tension?

Any time you have characters who might possibly engage in a romantic or sexual encounter, you want to eke as much tension from it as you can.

The Scene

Maybe you only have a single scene you want to imbue with sexual tension.

The Subplot

Many—perhaps most—longform stories have a romantic subplot that eventually intersects with the main plot.

The Plot

Of course, if you're writing a romantic plot, the main arc of the story hinges on effective romantic tension.

All romantic tension comes down to one key principle

What's the course about?

This short, 6-lecture course examines how writers can imbue scenes with gripping sexual/romantic tension that gets readers turning the page in anticipation.

I’ll provide you with 10 specific methods of bringing tension into your scenes. And I’ll leave you with a scene-writing exercise and a guide for crafting successful sexual/romantic tension.
Write your awesome label here.
"My goal for writing love scenes is to be steamy without being salacious. In this short course, Tim helped me identify the specific components that create that steamy bond; I was then able to look at one of my love scenes, recognize what was missing, and sharpen the writing to make for maximum attraction.

"I’m always amazed that Tim can take gut-level issues and raise them to literate, reproducible consciousness. It’s evident he truly loves to help people make their work better."LearnWorlds is the best learning platform I found so far. I was pleasantly surprised with the possibilities.
Teria Robens
Author of the award-winning What the Mirror Sees
Meet the instructor

TD Storm

TD Storm is an award-winning writer and teacher whose stories have appeared in a number of journals. His passion for storytelling and its inner workings inform his teaching, editing, and mentoring. He has worked with countless writers on personal essays, novels, short stories, and more. And he's been teaching since 1999.

Want to know more about TD Storm? Check out the About page for the school. And look at this post on the "Core Tenets of Storm Writing School."

Patrick Jones - Course author

What's included?

  • Six short lectures, a little over 30 minutes total
  • "Cheat sheet" handouts, distilling the crucial information from the lessons
  • An exemplar passage--both a clean copy and a highlighted version
  • A roadmap for creating a scene filled with sexual/romantic tension
"Tim Storm is an exceptional writing instructor. He took complex concepts and distilled them down to simple, easy-to-understand steps and ideas that motivated me and improved my writing immensely."
Deborah King
author of Glory Bishop

Frequently asked questions

Who is this class for?

Stories in any genre can incorporate romantic and/or sexual encounters. It’s one of the most common plots in the history of human storytelling. No matter what genre you're writing in, if you have a romantic plot or subplot, you’ll want to do everything you can to get your readers hooked on that story, feeling the tension on every page.
This is not a course on the romance genre; nor is it a course on sex scenes. It is a course that gives very practical tips on how to get readers invested in and hoping for a sexual or romantic union.

How do I know this class is right for me?

Yeah, you don't really until you try it. And hey, you might sign up, pay for it, and look at the first several lectures and figure, "Nah, this isn't what I need." In which case, just let me know and I'll give you a refund. Nothing to lose. And I won't be hurt if you say this isn't for you right now. Questions? Just email me: td@stormwritingschool.com. 

Is this going to be explicit and/or heteronormative?

There's nothing explicit in the academic analysis presented here. But this is a course that discusses the prospect of sexual unions as well as romantic ones. As for heteronormativity, the exemplar passage is of a heterosexual couple, but there's nothing about the principles or techniques that would exclude other sexual orientations.

Let's do it. (Enroll in the course, I mean.)

(This course is included free with your membership in the Writing Craft Club.)
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