How To Create Chemistry Between Characters - Arabella Sheen

How to Create Real Chemistry Between Characters

“Chemistry” is one of those slippery words readers feel instantly, but writers struggle to define. You know it when it’s there—sparks fly, dialogue crackles, scenes feel alive. And you really know when it’s missing. Two characters can be well-written on their own and still fall flat together.

The good news? Chemistry isn’t magic. It’s craft. And once you understand what creates it, you can build it deliberately—on the page, every time.

1. Chemistry Comes From Contrast, Not Similarity

A common misconception is that characters need to be alike to connect. In reality, chemistry thrives on difference.

Think:

• Control vs. chaos

• Optimist vs. cynic

• Rule-follower vs. rebel

• Guarded vs. emotionally reckless

Contrast creates friction, and friction creates energy. When characters want different things, approach problems differently, or speak in opposing rhythms, every interaction carries tension—even quiet ones.

Similarity can create comfort. Contrast creates spark.

2. Give Them a Reason to Pay Attention to Each Other

Chemistry doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Characters notice each other because something is at stake.

Ask yourself:

• What does Character A want that Character B threatens or enables?

• What does Character B see in A that others don’t?

• What emotional need does each character trigger in the other?

Attraction—romantic or otherwise—often begins with recognition. One character sees past the mask, calls out the lie, or touches a nerve no one else reaches. That moment of “oh… you see me” is rocket fuel for chemistry.

3. Let Dialogue Do Less, Not More

On-the-nose dialogue kills chemistry faster than anything else.

Chemistry lives in:

• What isn’t said

• Half-finished sentences

• Teasing, deflection, and subtext

• Characters talking around what they mean

Instead of:

“I’m angry because you left me.”

Try:

“So. Guess disappearing is your thing now.”

The tension between what’s spoken and what’s felt creates electricity. Readers lean in when characters aren’t fully honest—even with themselves.

4. Use Micro-Tension in Every Interaction

Chemistry isn’t just big dramatic moments. It’s built through micro-tension—tiny beats that make scenes hum.

Examples:

• A pause that lasts a second too long

• A joke that lands… almost

• A glance that’s held, then broken

• A physical proximity that feels charged

Ask in every shared scene: What’s slightly off here? Comfort is boring. Unease is interesting.

5. Give Them Conflicting Emotional Timing

One of the most powerful (and underused) tools is emotional mismatch.

Maybe:

• One character is ready to open up; the other shuts down

• One wants closeness; the other needs space

• One is joking while the other is deadly serious

Chemistry thrives when characters are never quite in sync. That near-miss feeling—the sense that something could happen but doesn’t yet—keeps readers hooked.

6. Let Them Change Each Other (Even a Little)

If two characters have chemistry, they don’t leave scenes the same way they entered them.

Change doesn’t have to be dramatic. It can be:

• A softened opinion

• A seed of doubt

• A new fear or hope

• An unexpected moment of courage

The key is impact. When characters collide, something should shift. If they’re unaffected by each other, the connection won’t feel real.

7. Avoid Perfection—Lean Into Flaws

Flawless characters are boring together.

Chemistry explodes when:

• Someone says the wrong thing

• A character’s insecurity leaks out

• Pride gets in the way

• Vulnerability shows at the worst moment

Let characters misstep. Let them hurt each other unintentionally. Let them regret things. Imperfection creates intimacy.

8. Don’t Force It—Test the Pairing

Sometimes chemistry just… isn’t there. And that’s okay.

A great trick: drop your characters into a low-stakes scene—waiting in line, stuck in traffic, sharing a meal. If the scene writes itself, the chemistry is real. If it feels stiff, you may need to adjust:

• Power dynamics

• Backstory connections

• Emotional stakes

• Or even the pairing itself

Chemistry isn’t about what you intend. It’s about what shows up on the page.

To Sum Up...

Chemistry isn’t about grand gestures or constant banter. It’s about tension, contrast, and emotional risk. It’s the feeling that something is happening beneath the surface—something dangerous, exciting, or inevitable.

Create characters who challenge each other. Put them in situations that make them uncomfortable. Let them want things they shouldn’t—or can’t yet have.

Do that, and readers won’t just see the chemistry.

They’ll feel it.

About Arabella Sheen

Arabella Sheen is a British author of contemporary romance and likes nothing more than the challenge of starting a new novel with fresh ideas and inspiring characters.

One of the many things Arabella loves to do is to read. And when she’s not researching or writing about romance, she is either on her allotment sowing and planting with the seasons or she is curled on the sofa with a book, while pandering to the demands of her attention-seeking cat.

Having lived and worked in the Netherlands as a theatre nurse for nearly twenty years, she now lives in the south-west of England with her family.

Arabella hopes her readers have as much pleasure from her romance stories as she has in writing them.

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