Looking for angsty yet fluffy enemies to lovers writing prompts and story ideas? You’ve come to the right place!
Read on for prompts like two poker players who accuse each other of cheating, a vampire scammer who’s enthralled with one of their victims, and many more!
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Writing Prompts and Story Ideas
Brace yourself as we delve into the captivating realm of enemies-to-lovers relationships, where fiery clashes and unexpected attractions collide!
For the sake of originality, I won’t list ideas that have anything to do with arranged marriage, sex pollen or soulmate tropes because I feel that they’ve been done to death already.
Here they are, enjoy!
Please note that the genders in these starters are just placeholders and are not meant to enforce any hurtful stereotypes nor offend anyone.
Enemies to Lovers Prompts
Grab your pen, ignite your imagination, and get ready to explore the complex dance of emotions as enemies become lovers in these enticing enemies to lovers story prompts!
1. The Physician’s Curse
A renowned medieval physician conceals a dark secret as a vampire, utilizing bloodletting as a cover to satisfy their insatiable thirst. What happens when they find themselves captivated by a specific patient’s blood and begin to get obsessed over said patient?
(From Vampire Romance Writing Prompts.)
2. Feast and Fitness
A royal family’s beloved chef known for indulgent culinary creations feels that their job security is threatened by the newest hire on the royal payroll, who is a strict fitness trainer.
3. Masked Hate
At a child’s masquerade birthday party, a hired clown and an adult guest form an unexpectedly deep connection. However, when the festivities end and the masks come off, the truth is revealed: they’re rivals at work!
(From How Characters Meet: 25 Non Cheesy Meet-Cute Ideas.)
4. Relics of the Heart
In the depths of an ancient archaeological site, an archaeologist discovers a tomb raider stealing their family’s lost heirlooms. As they confront the thief, a surprising connection emerges.
5. Feuds and Food
A charismatic senior guy lands an after-school job at a local restaurant, only to find that the owner’s daughter is none other than his long-standing archenemy from school.
(From High School Romance Writing Prompts.)
6. Namaste Means I Love You
An accomplished yogist’s tranquility is tested by her newest student, a stressed stockbroker reluctantly enrolled in month-long yoga sessions by his boss.
7. Sweet Temptation
When a talented baker finds her bakery at risk due to a financial crisis with the bank, she reluctantly turns to the leader of a local mob for help. The catch? For years, she has steadfastly rejected his persistent advances.
(From Intriguing Mafia Romance Story Ideas.)
8. Faith in You
A religious person has been exchanging emails with an atheist columnist in an attempt to change each other’s minds. When the two end up stuck in an airport together due to bad weather, is it serendipity or is it God’s intervention?
9. Threads of Enchantment
A seamstress, who is secretly a witch, finds themselves stripped of their magical powers when an enigmatic mechanic moves next door, igniting a suspicion that there’s a hidden correlation between their neighbor’s arrival and their own loss of power.
(Originally appeared in my post 22 Spellbinding Witch Story Ideas.)
10. The Revolution
To save her family’s estate, a bankrupt aristocratic woman enters an arranged marriage with a wealthy commoner involved in the French Revolutionary movement. Amidst heavy political unrest, what starts as resentment grows into affection for each other.
(Originally appeared in my post Not Your Usual Arranged Marriage Story Ideas).
11. A Blind Bet
Two professional poker players who have histories of accusing each other of cheating are forced to work together at a casino. What kind of chaos and shenanigans would happen?
Picture Prompts
A picture speaks a thousand words, so here are some writing prompts and story ideas inspired by a picture. Please click on each picture to learn more about it.
1. Two astronauts are on a secretive mission, but one of them is a mole from another country. An incident forces them to work together despite their antagonism towards each other.
(Please click on the image for more information about it.)
2. A vacationing woman rents a motorcycle to explore the sleepy beach town she’s visiting. She accidentally crashes into a house, only to find that the owner of the house is the smooth-talking a taxi driver who swindled her earlier in the airport.
(Click on the image for more information about it.)
Dialogue Prompts
Banters and sharp dialogues are essential in enemies to lovers stories because they illustrate a stage where the characters don’t really want to hurt each other anymore, and yet they still want to channel some snark through their words. Here are some enemies to lovers dialogue prompts and banters to spice up the narrative.
1. “Don’t try to charm your way out of this.” “… You think I’m charming?”
2. “Bite me.” “I thought you’d never ask.”
3. “Why didn’t we do this sooner?” “You were too busy trying to look mean.”
4. “This isn’t over.” “Oh, I’ll make sure of it.”
5. “I don’t hate you. I just don’t care about you.” “Keep talking, I’m diagnosing you.”
6. “I believe there’s someone for everyone. For you, there’s a mental health professional.” “Well, I put the hot in psychotic.”
7. “I’m not arguing; I’m just explaining why I’m right.” “That’s cute. Keep explaining.”
8. “You’re not as annoying as I thought.” “Gee, thanks. You’re almost tolerable too.”
9. “You’re actually quite funny when you’re not trying to get on my nerves.” “Who knew? Maybe we should annoy each other more often.”
10. “I might have underestimated you.” “And I might have overestimated how much I hate you.”
11. “I guess we make a decent team when we’re not at each other’s throats.” “If anyone asks, I didn’t just agree with you.”
Enemies to Lovers Definition
Now that we’ve seen some enticing enemies to lovers story ideas, let’s dig around deeper. What defines the enemies to lovers trope?
Enemies to lovers is a literary trope involving a pair of antagonistic characters who are forced to work together to achieve a common goal before coming to respect one another in the process, building slowly to a sexual relationship.
Often employed in romantic or erotic literature, this trope typically involves a lot of bickering and unresolved sexual tension between the characters after the pair is being brought together through unusual circumstances.
Some of the most common plots that are used to enforce the enemies to lovers storyline are:
– The arranged marriage trope
– The sex pollen trope
– Accident involving amnesia
– The soulmate trope
– Having the same mission or goal
How do you write a good enemies-to-lovers plot?
A great care should be taken when writing enemies-to-lovers plot. The story progression must be such that mutual respect slowly grows between the two antagonistic characters, to the point that the begin to have feelings for each other.
What’s the difference between enemies to lovers and plain toxic relationship?
A good enemies-to-lovers story include a believable progression that starts with mutual hatred or antagonism between the two main characters. Then, thrown into a situation that forces them to work together, the characters should start to see each other in a different light, and eventually grow to respect one another, which then evolves into a mutual attraction where each genuinely cares about the other’s well-being.
On the other hand, in a toxic relationship, there’s no mutual respect between the people involved, and the interaction between the two are rarely motivated by genuine care for the other’s well-being. If you’re looking for some writing prompts in the subject of toxic relationship, head to my posts Detective Noir Writing Prompts, Psychological Thriller Writing Prompts, or Dark Romance Writing Prompts!
More?
If you need more story ideas and prompts, please browse our Story Ideas & Writing Prompts category!
Have any question or feedback? Feel free to contact me here. Until next time!
