the thing about a slowburn is that they actually are great practice for young authors

A slowburn is basically taking a long period of time for your OC and their love interest(s) to get together, but im talking longer than thirty chapters (depends exactly how much you write in a chapter)

You need patience for a slow burn, both the author and the audience.

Now, I will be honest, I have no idea how to successfully write a slowburn.

But!

I'm t r y i n g.

That Klaus fic that I mentioned earlier? Yeah, that's my first real attempt at writing a slowburn. All the other fics that I have (only two, technically since the others barely have more than ten chapters) a Descendants fic and a Max Thunderman crossover with TMI fic(long story, dont feel the need to actually check just- just stick to the other stuff), they both started out with the couple together already.

But I do have my reasons:

- Them being together already allowed me to focus on my OC and their plot rather than their love story. (Though I mainly did it because I just wanted them together already),

but hey it turned out for the better in terms of plot because when your couple is together already you have to ask yourself, what are they gonna do now? Y'know you could go word by word, script by script from either TVD, TO, or Legacies or you could actually input a plot for your OC to have.

And it doesn't necessarily have to be magical, mystical or even adventurous, it could be about self-discovery, about going through a toxic relationship or friendship and trying to be healthier, it could be about just self-journey rather than a journey to the center of the earth or something over the top.

But that's when I realized that I went so far in to write plots that now I have no idea how to write two (or more) people falling in love. And I want to learn.

The point is that writing a slowburn is perfect if you have no experience writing romance.

now, fastburns

a fastburn is where your OC and their love interest(s) get together almost immediately, like in a span of 10 chapters or less.

kids, don't do fastburns

fastburns are basically just a sugar-coated way of saying that the story is rushed and I don't know about you guys, but I've yet to read a good fastburn book, please let me know if there is one

There are different ways of writing a slowburn, the couple doesn't necessarily need to be completely apart from each other. What do I mean by this?

Well, for example, Danielle wrote a five-book series on Derek Hale from Teen Wolf. In the first one, there is a clear attraction between the leads and they do engage in sex on more than one occasion, but that doesn't mean they're in love with each other, no, that's why it's a slowburn.

A slowburn is falling in love, not sex. And it's done really well. But don't fret, it doesn't actually take until the fifth book for them to get together, just the third one, in the second one our girl still has some fun and dates around, and we find out she's bisexual. Personally, my favorite is the fourth. (I also may or may not have just tricked you into checking those books out, muahahaha)

Anyway, the OC actually has a plot before and after getting with Derek officially ya know.

She isn't sitting at home cross-stitching and rewatching Parks & Rec for the fourth time.

(I totally don't do that)

(I'm also totally lying)

but in my defense

i mean, how could i not rewatch this show all the time??

Well yeah, that's an example that you can have a slowburn but if you want your OC to have some fun then they're allowed to, either with their love interest(s) or someone else entirely.