The Relationship Writers Keep Getting Wrong
Plot Luck
104,437 views
Writing friendship is actually one of the hardest parts of creative writing. In this video, we break down the friendship problem behind weak fictional relationships and show writers how to create friendships with independent character arcs, real conflict, emotional intimacy, and meaningful sacrifice.
Why do some fictional friendships feel like the great love stories of their worlds, while others feel like background decoration? Why do writers give romance clear milestones, dramatic turning points, and built-in conflict, while friendship is often expected to work automatically?
The greatest character relationships in fiction are not always romantic. But to make friendship matter, writers have to treat it like a real relationship with its own story, stakes, pressure, and choices.
In this creative writing and storytelling video, we explore four common ways writers get friendship wrong, and how to fix each one.
š§© Inside Todayās Video
Why fictional friendships need their own independent stories and character arcs
How to give friends their own goals, fears, conflicts, and personal struggles
Why guaranteed friendships create weak relationship stakes
How to make a friendship feel vulnerable without forcing unnecessary drama
Why friendship should not be treated as a waiting room for romance
How to write deep platonic relationships with real emotional intimacy
Why the āpower of friendshipā only works when characters pay a tangible cost
How to use sacrifice, trust, and difficult choices to build meaningful character relationships
Practical questions you can use when writing friendships for a screenplay, novel, game, or other fictional story
š„ The Four Failures of Friendship, Quick Reference
šµFAILURE 1: We Forget the Friendship Has a Story TooGive each friend their own goals, problems, fears, and character development. Ask:āWhile my protagonist is trying to ________, their friend is trying to ________.ā
šµFAILURE 2: We Make the Friendship Feel GuaranteedA friendship becomes more meaningful when something real could be lost. Ask:āThese friends have always been able to count on each other for ________. What is happening in the story that makes that harder to keep?ā
šµFAILURE 3: We Treat Friendship Like a Waiting Room for RomanceStrong chemistry does not automatically need to become a love story. Let the friendship have its own emotional identity, intimacy, and purpose.
šµFAILURE 4: We Turn the Power of Friendship Into a Cheat CodeFriendship should not magically solve the plot. Ask:āWhat is each friend willing to put on the line for the other?ā
š„ Stories and Character Relationships We Break Down
This video includes examples from:
Harry Potter
Superbad
Stranger Things
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Project Hail Mary
ā ļø This video discusses story details from the examples above.
ā±ļø Chapters
0:00 ā The Friendship Problem
0:59 ā Why Friendship Is Hard to Write
2:06 ā Failure 1: Give Friends Their Own Story
4:30 ā Failure 2: Friendship Isnāt Guaranteed
7:31 ā Failure 3: Friendship Isnāt a Waiting Room for Romance
11:00 ā Failure 4: The Power of Friendship Has a Cost
13:33 ā Why Friendship Matters
š„ Welcome to Plot Luck
Iām Brian, a writer, story consultant, and studio insider who has worked with more than 600 writers across film, television, and games.
Plot Luck is a workshop and masterclass for serious storytellers who want to understand how great stories actually work. Every video explores the frameworks, systems, character dynamics, and psychological engines behind powerful storytelling.
If you want to write better characters, stronger relationships, more meaningful conflict, and stories that stay with people, subscribe and pull up a chair.
Letās stir the plot together.
#WritingFriendship #Storytelling #CreativeWriting #CharacterDevelopment #CharacterRelationships #WritingTips #WritingAdvice #FriendshipStories #FictionWriting #CharacterChemistry #novelwriting #Screenwriting #NovelWriting #platoniclove #WritingCommunity
20 Comments
Especially with people that could theoretically be into each other, like straight men and women.
Friendship is so important, powerful, beautiful; can very much be the ideal relationship for two people.
This feels like my Roman Empire, as a guy heaving two women as best friends.
Even understanding that āI like her a lotā doesnāt mean āI want to kiss her and have her kids and live with herā.
And then making people like your parents or - more painfully - your girlfriend understand the situation.
Please! Give us stories that make important strong friendships normal.
But also there's Merry and Pippin. Aragon, Legolas, and Gemli.
And Gandolf... He was a dear friend to Bilbo and Frodo, and also supported the entire Fellowship.
JR. T knew the value of friendship during war, he lived it personally.
Itās also sad how friendships are always treated as something that needs to be āupgradedā to āsomething better.ā From people interpreting every close relationship through the lens of romance, to the āfound familyā trope, which is sweet in concept but often is just treated as āupgradingā a friend to a sibling or parent depending on age difference. Which is fine, I suppose, but still kind of illustrates that people think ājust friendsā isnāt meaningful enough. Itās especially sad because most people are BOTH those things, both your best friend and your lover, or both your best friend and your soul sister, depending on whether the relationship leans romantic or platonic.
And I'd be totally up for a Friendship genre, just like we have Romance--or, could we just have a "Love" genre maybe, that would be such a nice change.
I also want to see more genuine friendships between men and women, something that never, at any point, starts veering into romance territory, especially not viewing romance as something fated and unavoidable. (I feel it happens less with gay/lesbian characters: the possibility is here as well of course, but it's like people in general still expect men/men and women/women to be able to develop genuine friendship, whereas man/woman still immediately screams "romance only"? Also yes more LGBTQ+ characters please, but I digress.) I don't care how many people tell me IRL that it's impossible, that a man will always develop romantic feelings for a woman, and conversely. If we can't even make that happen in fiction, how can we call ourselves authors, really!
Being respectful is cool.
The Relationship Writers Keep Getting Wrong
Plot Luck
104,437 views
Writing friendship is actually one of the hardest parts of creative writing. In this video, we break down the friendship problem behind weak fictional relationships and show writers how to create friendships with independent character arcs, real conflict, emotional intimacy, and meaningful sacrifice.
Why do some fictional friendships feel like the great love stories of their worlds, while others feel like background decoration? Why do writers give romance clear milestones, dramatic turning points, and built-in conflict, while friendship is often expected to work automatically?
The greatest character relationships in fiction are not always romantic. But to make friendship matter, writers have to treat it like a real relationship with its own story, stakes, pressure, and choices.
In this creative writing and storytelling video, we explore four common ways writers get friendship wrong, and how to fix each one.
š§© Inside Todayās Video
Why fictional friendships need their own independent stories and character arcs
How to give friends their own goals, fears, conflicts, and personal struggles
Why guaranteed friendships create weak relationship stakes
How to make a friendship feel vulnerable without forcing unnecessary drama
Why friendship should not be treated as a waiting room for romance
How to write deep platonic relationships with real emotional intimacy
Why the āpower of friendshipā only works when characters pay a tangible cost
How to use sacrifice, trust, and difficult choices to build meaningful character relationships
Practical questions you can use when writing friendships for a screenplay, novel, game, or other fictional story
š„ The Four Failures of Friendship, Quick Reference
šµFAILURE 1: We Forget the Friendship Has a Story TooGive each friend their own goals, problems, fears, and character development. Ask:āWhile my protagonist is trying to ________, their friend is trying to ________.ā
šµFAILURE 2: We Make the Friendship Feel GuaranteedA friendship becomes more meaningful when something real could be lost. Ask:āThese friends have always been able to count on each other for ________. What is happening in the story that makes that harder to keep?ā
šµFAILURE 3: We Treat Friendship Like a Waiting Room for RomanceStrong chemistry does not automatically need to become a love story. Let the friendship have its own emotional identity, intimacy, and purpose.
šµFAILURE 4: We Turn the Power of Friendship Into a Cheat CodeFriendship should not magically solve the plot. Ask:āWhat is each friend willing to put on the line for the other?ā
š„ Stories and Character Relationships We Break Down
This video includes examples from:
Harry Potter
Superbad
Stranger Things
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
Project Hail Mary
ā ļø This video discusses story details from the examples above.
ā±ļø Chapters
0:00 ā The Friendship Problem
0:59 ā Why Friendship Is Hard to Write
2:06 ā Failure 1: Give Friends Their Own Story
4:30 ā Failure 2: Friendship Isnāt Guaranteed
7:31 ā Failure 3: Friendship Isnāt a Waiting Room for Romance
11:00 ā Failure 4: The Power of Friendship Has a Cost
13:33 ā Why Friendship Matters
š„ Welcome to Plot Luck
Iām Brian, a writer, story consultant, and studio insider who has worked with more than 600 writers across film, television, and games.
Plot Luck is a workshop and masterclass for serious storytellers who want to understand how great stories actually work. Every video explores the frameworks, systems, character dynamics, and psychological engines behind powerful storytelling.
If you want to write better characters, stronger relationships, more meaningful conflict, and stories that stay with people, subscribe and pull up a chair.
Letās stir the plot together.
#WritingFriendship #Storytelling #CreativeWriting #CharacterDevelopment #CharacterRelationships #WritingTips #WritingAdvice #FriendshipStories #FictionWriting #CharacterChemistry #novelwriting #Screenwriting #NovelWriting #platoniclove #WritingCommunity