Most stories will feature a relationship arc as a key plotline. But in order for a relationship to be a plotline, it not only needs an arc, it needs a plot.
Showcasing an amusing friendship or a fiery rivalry, or throwing in a love triangle or family feud here and there doesn't make it a plotline any more than having an entertaining protagonist doing random things makes a plotline.
You can have ideas for a riveting relationship, but if it isn't arcing because of the story, it's probably just cleverly disguised "plot" filler.
We usually don't want a protagonist without an arc doing random things. That's not really the protagonist's story.
The same is true with relationships.
Now, real quick, not all relationships in a story will need a plot--that would be near impossible, overdramatic, and would read as soap opera.
This is one of the reasons why there is a difference between a relationship arc and a relationship plotline.
Recently I did an article on the four basic relationship arcs. For convenience here is a quick recap:
Positive Change Relationship Arc:
The characters start distant--they may be strangers or downright enemies--and grow closer in love and respect.
Ex. Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy, Mulder and Scully, Sulley and Boo
Positive Steadfast Relationship Arc:
The characters start close--already having some love and respect for each other--and have their relationship tested through the obstacles of the plot. Ultimately, they stand by one another at the end; often their love and respect grow by degree.
Ex. Frodo and Sam, Harry and Dumbledore (in book 7), Peter Parker and Mary Jane (depending on the rendition)
Negative Change Relationship Arc:
The characters start close with love and respect and are ultimately pulled apart and become distant, as strangers or enemies. They grow in dislike or disrespect for each other.
Ex. Anakin and Obi-wan (in Revenge of the Sith), Mike and Will (Stranger Things seasons 1 - 4), Katniss and Gale (in The Hunger Games).
Negative Steadfast Relationship Arc:
The characters start distant--as strangers or enemies--and might be pushed together through the plot, but ultimately won't stand by one another at the end. In the end, they are strangers or enemies. Often their dislike and disrespect will grow by degree.
Ex. Winston and Julia in 1984, Angier and Borden in The Prestige, Estella and the Baronness in Cruella
These are just basic relationship arcs and there is room for variations, so don't panic if yours doesn't fit any description perfectly. However, it should, more or less, be able to fit into one of them, which can be useful to get started.
Now we need to take some time to address plotlines, because how much you develop your relationship plotline will depend on how prominent it is. And the more prominent, the more it needs to be on the page. So hang with me as we cover some bases.
Relationship Plots for A Stories, B Stories, C Stories & More
Usually a relationship plotline is a key plotline, but where it fits in priority isn't the same for every story or even every genre.
Most stories, specifically long stories (a novel as opposed to a short story), will have at least three kinds of plotlines. The most popular combo is this: the protagonist's external journey, the protagonist's internal journey, and the protagonist's relationship journey (with the Influence Character). This is a great combo, because it has a broad conflict (the external journey), a deeply personal conflict (the internal journey), and something that fits between those (the relationship journey)--giving the story clear dimension.
However, with that said, you can create other combos as well. For example, sometimes there is a world/society plotline, and no internal journey. So while a relationship plotline is key to most stories, I'm not gonna say it's key for every single story (despite what some say in the community).
If you are reading this article, you obviously want to learn more about writing relationship plotlines. At this point, it's a good idea for us to take our usual pit stop and talk a little bit about terminology in the writing industry.
Some in the industry actually lump together the protagonist's internal and external journey and call the weave the "A Story," or the primary plot.
With this in mind, often the relationship plotline is considered the "B Story, " meaning it's the secondary plot that unfolds, more or less, alongside the A Story.
Some people in the community use the term "B Story" synonymously with "relationship plotline." In truth, not all B Stories are relationship plotlines, and not all relationship plotlines are B Stories. That's just what is most common.
In some narratives, the relationship journey is the A Story--the main plotline. This happens when the story is primarily about a relationship. The most obvious examples of this would come from the romance genre. Pride and Prejudice is primarily about Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy's relationship journey.
But this doesn't mean you have to write a romance novel to write a relationship A Story. In The Prestige, the whole story is driven by Angier and Borden trying to undo or outdo each other. The A Story is a relationship plotline about a negative relationship.
So there are a lot of options in regard to plotlines.
But whether the relationship journey is the A Story, B Story, C Story, or what have you, it still needs to have an arc and plot to be a Story. It's just that the less prominent the plotline, the less you need to develop it and show it on the page.
In contrast to a romance, The X-Files is more about the external journey and the internal journeys of each of the leads, than it is about Mulder and Scully's relationship. That doesn't mean their relationship journey isn't impactful (far from it). But less of that plotline makes up screen time . . . with the relationship arc stretched out over nearly a decade. If it had been the A Story, it wouldn't have been The X-Files, and it wouldn't have survived as perhaps the slowest burn in television.
Whether your characters' relationship journey is the A Story, B Story, C Story, or what have you, that's ultimately what we want: something impactful.
So let's dig into plot.
How Do You Write Relationship Plots in a Story?
Some of the problems that can come up with relationship plotlines stem from the writer not understanding that even though this journey appears quite different than the external or internal journeys, it still follows basic principles.
But if you don't write romance, this may be difficult to wrap your head around . . . because there are almost no resources to teach you how to do it!
People will mention relationship plotlines, but they'll be vague or general about it--or say it has to be a romance or that it must be a positive change relationship arc. It doesn't. But for this reason, this plotline has often felt vague to me, personally. If I'm not writing romance--what am I supposed to be doing here? And how?
Let's start with the basics and feed the relationship journey into them.
I already did a long and lengthy series on the principles of plot, so I won't be repeating the details of each element (nor will I be going through every element for this). This means if you are confused or need more information, you should look through the series, starting here.
Keep your relationship arc in mind as we go through the pieces, and soon it will become clearer and clearer how to write a relationship plot.
The Goal in Relationship Plots
Plot starts with a goal. This is because a goal provides context for plot. Until there is a goal, what happens doesn't really matter, since no one is trying to get anywhere. And the audience can't measure whether what happens is progress or a setback.
We know characters should have external, measurable goals. And even if they have abstract wants, they should manifest in concrete goals.
Not all characters keep the same goals for the whole story. In fact, some characters will have a different goal for each act (I'm looking at you, Star Wars IV: A New Hope). And some will have both an overarching goal and act-level goals inside it.
This can be applied to relationship plotlines. In fact, it's highly likely the relationship goal will change through the story (and often on the act level).
At the most basic, abstract level, there are only three goals your characters can have in a relationship, and they may not be the same as the other person's.
The 3 Basic Relationship Goals:
1. Draw closer and/or get along with this person
2. Push away and/or cause dysfunction with this person . . .
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The Antagonistic Force in Relationship Plots
The antagonistic force is a form of opposition. I emphasize "opposition" because the antagonistic force is something in the way of the goal.
We know what the characters want. And we know what success looks like.
What is keeping the characters from simply getting that? (Or, in some cases, maintaining that?)
That's the antagonistic force. And just like the goal, it doesn't need to be one thing, and it doesn't need to be the same thing throughout the whole relationship plotline. If you think of the antagonistic force as the obstacle in the way of or resistance to getting the goal, you'll have both a broader and more accurate understanding of what an antagonistic force really is. Or likely, forces.
For relationships, the antagonistic forces can come from several places.
The 3 Sources for Relationship Antagonists:
1. External: What's happening externally may trickle down and get in the way of the relationship goal. For example, two characters may wish to live their lives separately (or may even be enemies), but external circumstances force them together. This is common in the enemies to friends/lovers arc. In these situations, often there is a shared external plotline goal that the characters have to work together to achieve.
In contrast, you may have two characters who want to be close, but external forces are pulling them apart. In 1984, Winston and Julia want to be together in Acts II and III, but the Party wants them separated. You can see a similar thing in Romeo & Juliet.
And just as a note, even if the characters have different relationship goals, you can still have external antagonistic forces--it just gets a little more complex.
2. . . .
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IMPORTANT: Beware of Weak Antagonistic Forces!
We've all seen relationship plotlines that made us roll our eyes, or worse, want to scratch out the writer's eyes. This is most obvious in sequels. It usually happens like this:
In the first installment, the writers create a positive change relationship arc, where the participants become best friends, found family, or significant others--and we all let out a satisfying sigh.
In the second installment, the writers don't know how else to arc a relationship, so they try to undo and redo what they already did.
It usually fails.
Other times the writers understand on some level they need to create a positive steadfast relationship arc, but don't know how to really do that, so they put together one that has about as much depth and emotion as a cardboard cut-out.
And finally, there is the relationship "plotline" that could be easily resolved by something that the characters seem too stupid to do, such as make a simple phone call.
These situations stem from the same problem: weak or unbelievable(derogatory) antagonistic forces.
If Sulley and Boo overcame all the adversity of Monsters Inc. and then we did a follow-up where they had an argument about bedtime, and we used that as a driving force to pull them apart (so we can push them back together again), it'd be stupid. The audience already watched them survive way worse. They know their bond is stronger than that.
Now, if the argument about bedtime was really subtext for deeper issues and those are going to be the driving force, and the issues are going to manifest in a lot of different ways, then maybe something like that would work.
Otherwise? The audience doesn't buy it.
The antagonist needs to be a real, powerful threat. If the characters already have a strong relationship that has been through the wringer, what could . . .
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The Conflict in Relationship Plots
The relationship goal and the antagonistic force lead to conflict. These characters hate each other and want to be apart, but the external antagonist locks them together. . . . and when they finally decide they want to be together, the external antagonist yanks them apart. Or maybe one person wants to draw close and the other wants to push away. Or maybe they both want to be together, but one is crippled by a sense of unworthiness.
There are a lot of directions you can go with this, but I think you get the idea.
There shouldn't be an easy, foreseeable way to fix these situations--because the antagonist should be a real threat (see above). So we get conflict.
The more the characters want the relationship goal and the stronger the antagonist, the bigger the struggle. And struggle is often what creates a powerful arc. As the characters face worthy opposition in conflict, we illustrate how bad they want the relationship goal. We confront them with difficult situations--choices--that require sacrifice of one kind or another. . . .
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The Consequences in Relationship Plots
In order for there to be a strong plotline, there need to be consequences to the conflicts' outcomes. Otherwise, it's just conflict for the sake of conflict.
Now, with that said, conflict for the sake of conflict can sometimes work in relationships for things like banter and disagreements. Those can be effective and fun, but remember, they aren't what make up a strong relationship plotline. Don't confuse banter or disagreements as the sum of a relationship plotline. It may be part of a plotline--the banter may stem from antagonistic forces within the relationship that the characters need to overcome--but it's not the plotline itself. In order to be part of the plotline, it needs to have significant consequences, like any good conflict should have.
Plot isn't just random stuff strung together. It has a sense of cause and effect.
So, what do the characters have to gain (and/or lose) in overcoming the conflict? What do they have to lose (and/or gain) in being overcome by the conflict?
If we are strictly focused on the relationship plotline . . .
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Continue to "Writing Relationship Arcs into Plots: Secondary Principles" (Sample) -->
Related Articles
The 4 Basic Types of Relationship Arcs
The Primary Principles of Plot: Goal, Antagonist, Conflict, Consequences
Writing the Influence Character
What is a B Story? 6 Key Qualities of B Stories
Writing Relationships Readers can't Resist
Read Other Resources on Relationships
The Relationship Thesaurus Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi at Writers Helping Writers
Seven External Plots for Relationship-Centered Stories by Chris Winkle at Mythcreants
How Relatable Character Relationships Will Make or Break Your Story by Ruthanne Reid at The Write Practice
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