FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS
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Relationships are part of the very fabric of your character’s life. How well or poorly they get along with others oftentimes comes down to personality, so carefully consider the positive traits and negative traits of your story’s cast. Another factor that can pull characters together or create friction is motivation, so keep each individual’s goal—both at the scene and story level—in mind as you write.
DESCRIPTION:
RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS:
Having mutually agreed-upon rules (to meet on a schedule, to never stay the night, to end the “benefits” if either party enters into a committed relationship with someone else, etc.)
Using good communication to work through problems, challenges, and concerns in the relationship
Both parties providing what the other needs (in the bedroom and out of it)
Personal boundaries and privacy being respected
Not placing demands and expectations on each another
No expectation of permanence
The parties practicing safe sex
Jealousy or possessiveness being part of the relationship
The relationship being spontaneous and not planned out (sporadic get-togethers, no rules, etc.)
CHALLENGES THAT COULD THREATEN THE STATUS QUO:
One person not following the pre-established rules
One party wanting to know what the other is doing when they're not together
Either person keeping secrets (not disclosing an STD, their feelings changing, etc.)
One person becoming interested in someone else
One character missing a period
Other people who don't approve finding out about the relationship
Either party's living arrangements changing, making it harder for them to hook up secretly
One party deciding to pursue a committed relationship with someone else
Either party experiencing guilt about the relationship