Struck by Cupid’s Arrow: The Advantages of Insta-Love in Fiction

by Jessica Nelson

Two main characters lay eyes on each other while [insert preferred meet-cute here] and there’s an instant, undeniable, irrevocable connection that sets them on the journey of a whirlwind romance.

Insta-love? Psshh. More like insta-lust.

I object to the “love at first sight” trope in fiction on principle. It’s annoying to see two characters go from strangers (or worse — enemies) to proclaiming their undying love and willingness to die for each other in less than seven chronological days — or 20 pages, whichever comes first. Unless your story involves Cupid literally shooting the characters with love arrows, insta-love is highly unrealistic, even by fiction standards.

That said, I am an avid reader of romances, and I have found that, as a reader, I have very little patience for slow-burn romances.

Maybe the inundation of insta-love has ruined me for more measured love stories, or maybe I’m just a naturally impatient person, but if the characters are still hemming and hawing about whether or not they might like each other by page 100, I’m liable to start screaming, “Get on with it already!” at my Kindle.

Readers like me prove that insta-love has a place in fiction. But there’s a way to do it wrong and a way to do it right.

The most “wrong” way to do it — and most universal example — is the classic tale of Cinderella.

Discarding the other themes, there is nothing more unbelievable than the way Prince Charming falls for the tale’s heroine.

Like, seriously: He dances with a girl for one song and falls so madly in love her that he’s willing to marry her and make her the queen of his kingdom, but he never gets her name, can’t remember what she looks like, and has to use her lost shoe to identify her? Bleh.

The development of love — of a romantic connection — is often a driving force behind emotional conflict and character growth. If a story uses insta-love, then one avenue for growth and development has been taken away. The emotional heart of the story has to shift accordingly, generally becoming introspective: discovering oneself, battling inner demons, healing from old traumas, etc.

A budding romance usually features heavily in the story’s plot; insta-love makes the plot rely almost solely on external forces: something that keeps them apart or pushes them together, or an obstacle they must overcome as a team. If you’re like me, I like my love stories to have some flying bullets or sword fights, maybe a crime or two, and the occasional explosion. I’ll settle for a ghost or other paranormal or fantasy elements.

When done right, insta-love successfully raises the emotional stakes of a plot-driven tale. With the characters already so invested in each other, any threat to one of them or their relationship becomes more intense for the reader.

If there’s insta-love, there’s likely to be insta-lust, which can be just a trite, particularly given its overuse in the romance genre. I’ve read descriptions of characters’ physical reactions to meeting “the one” that have literally made me laugh out loud. And every time I read about body parts “tightening” or becoming erect, I’m liable to roll my eyes.

Don’t get me wrong — such descriptions have their place in adult romance, just maybe not so explicitly in the meet-cute. Even if the author is relying on insta-lust the get the characters together, it can be overdone.

Insta-lust at least has a basis in reality — more so than insta-love at any rate. In every human interaction, we eye up the other person and make a series of split-second judgments. One of those may be deciding whether or not we find the other person attractive and to what extent.

The advantage to insta-lust is it draws the characters into close proximity and keeps them coming back together. As long as the characters are interacting, there are opportunities for love to grow.

Of course, intense physical chemistry can also bring its own set of interesting plot points.

Inta-intrigue, however, hits the sweet spot. It incorporates the physical elements of attraction (without the more explicit details) and the emotional elements of love. How does the person’s appearance make the character feel? What about the person piques the character’s curiosity? What internal or external force draws the characters together again and again?

With insta-intrigue, there’s plenty of room left to develop a romance — as sweet and clean or hot and steamy as you’d like — that can be built into the plot or around which the story can evolve.

All said and done, insta-love and insta-lust have their place in the literary tradition. And there are a lot of readers who look for just that. But there are ways to do wrong and ways to do it right. The key to using insta-love or insta-lust effectively is to balance it with other emotional and plot elements to create a story that still has room for growth and change.

So sometimes it does pay off to be struck by Cupid’s arrow.