Romance often pushes the plot in literature across all genres from gothic fiction to memoirs. It is rare to find a book that does not have a romantic plotline, which is peculiar as standalone romance novels are often given a bad rep despite most readers being helpless romantics.
In any plot and genre, the romantic element can be defined as a fast or slow burn. What is the difference between these kinds of romance tropes and how do they affect the book overall?
Check out this discussion on how the pace of the romance in a novel affects character and plot development, and how as a reader it might affect your experience so that you can carefully select your next read.
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What Defines A Fast-Burn Romance?
A fast-burn is a love-at-first-sight kind of romance. Take Romeo & Juliet for example; two star-crossed lovers meet from across the room and are instantly drawn to each other. This instant kind of love runs like wildfire, and so do the plots of most fast-burning romances.
While the genre of romance is quite broad, fast-burn love stories probably fall into the more stereotypical realm of romance as they are thought of as steamy, passionate, and inexplicable. Usually, the characters are not led by logic but by their hearts, which is exciting but often ignores red flags. Sometimes the characters may mistake coincidence for fate, and lust for intimacy.
Some subgenres within the fast-burn include summer love, toxic love, and gothic fiction such as Twilight.
Fast-burn love stories always make for an exciting read, and as a reader sometimes it is a mental escape to get out of your head and let your heart run free.
Slow Burn-Romance And Other Tropes
A slow burn might take on the exact opposite pace of its counterpart, but not at the expense of the pace. As the romance advances more slowly, the characters develop as individuals throughout the reading experience. You can expect a lot of long monologues from the characters who are thinking about their purpose and what they want as well as the plot moving in various directions that are not strictly romantic.
The most famous slow-burn romance that has stood the test of time is Pride & Prejudice by Jane Austin. While this book showcases glimpses into various romances, the star couple do not even proclaim their love until nearly the end of the book. The story is very much about love and romance, but the strong-minded characters let logic slowly take them down the road to their happily ever after.
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Many modern-day love stories also take the slow-burn route, especially in books about Millennials who act like they think love is corny, or they aren´t sure they want a relationship. While you will find slow-burn romances throughout TikTok and best sellers lists, in the end, what steers readers from one paced romance to the other?
What Does The Reader Gain?
As a reader, the slow burn versus fast burn romance is something to consider when picking your next book.
In a fast-burn romance novel, you can expect instant passion and rocky conversations as people rush into intimacy. This is an exciting perspective as a viewer, being led down a quickly moving relationship journey, the kind that you only read about in books. Often fast-burn romance makes for a great vacation read or mental escape, but the fast-burn can also be found in critically acclaimed novels if you are looking for something with more depth.
If you are craving a read that trends toward more realistic or relatable, a slow-burn romance should be your next book. These stories tend to delve deeper into personal character development, contain more plot outside of the romance, and lead up to an exciting moment where they finally get together.
These suggestions are by no means linear; you can find all kinds of plot paces in both slow and fast-burn romances.
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How Does The Romance Pace Influence The Plot?
The pace of the romance can heavily influence the plot’s pace and how the events transpire. As implied, in a fast-burn romance, suddenly a lot is happening in the department of love and passion, and often the intensity turns up a couple of notches which also leads up to some kind of downfall that is equally intense. Going back to our Romeo & Juliet example, the love affair happens quickly but so does the downfall of our protagonists as their passion turns to tragedy.
On the other hand, a slow-burn romance leaves the reader wanting more and patiently waiting for a turn in events, often following a will-they won’t-they trope and the very popular foes-to-lovers plot. Such as most of the love stories in the Bridgerton series, and most famously The Duke And I, where the characters take their time deciding if they are in love or if they even like each other – always keeping their options open yet their walls down.
Pace is not to be confused with plot, they are two lines that can run parallel with twists and turns, but as a reader, you can feel the speed of the story just as well as the slow and fast burning intensity that pushes it.
