Beyond Character Tropes: Using the Modern Love Languages Framework to Craft Dynamic Relationships

You’ve nailed your protagonist’s main character energy, but don’t forget about your supporting cast. Whether you’ve given them a quirky found family like Buffy’s Scooby gang or an enemy to fall in love with, your characters need engaging connections so readers root for them. Go beyond character tropes with modern love languages, a more inclusive, non-heteronormative, non-religion backed communication that also applies to platonic and non-sexual relationships. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to write platonic and romantic dynamic character relationships using the modern love languages.

Thien-Kim Lam is a queer writer who tells stories about Vietnamese characters who smash stereotypes and find their happy endings. A recovering Type-Asian, she guzzles cà phê sữa đá, doodles in her sketchbook, and and binge watches crime dramas. Her debut book Happy Endings was a Washington Post Romance Novel of the Year.

Thien-Kim is a book coach for queer writers and writers of colors. She is also an EDSE certified sex educator who teaches workshops on writing intimacy with a focus on inclusivity. She shares personal essays at On the Lam. Thien-Kim has taught workshops at Sarah Lawrence Writing Institute, Grubstreet Writers, Writing the Other, and James River Writers. She’s been featured on Writer’s Digest, Bustle, Entertainment Weekly, and Oprah Daily.