Writing the Perfect Meet-Cute: Tips for TV Rom-Com Scripts
Every great romance starts with a spark. And that spark is called a meet-cute.
Whether your leads crash into one another (literally), mix up coffee orders, or tangle their dog leashes until they’re nose to nose. A good meet-cute is crucial to any romantic comedy screenplay. It sets the tone for your love story.
In made-for-TV romance, the meet-cute isn’t just a moment, it’s a promise. A promise to the audience that there will be chemistry, there will be banter, and there will be romantic chaos. The good kind. Whether you’re writing your first romantic script or your twentieth, having a unique and emotionally packed way for your leads to meet is crucial.
In this article, we’re breaking down 10 meet-cute ideas for your next screenplay:
The Classic Mix-Up
We’ve all watched the scene where two strangers grab the wrong coffee. Let’s switch up this classic mix-up. Set it in a unique environment. Are they in a sneaker shop releasing a new custom sneaker? Do they mix up their sneaker boxes? Are they at a speed-dating event and are shocked to discover that they have the same name? A classic mix-up can be spicer and punchier if we think outside of the box!A Little Christmas Chaos
The winter weather in a Christmas Romance movie presents all kinds of potential obstacles for your characters. Does a snowstorm force two strangers to share a ride? Are exes forced to wait out a snowstorm together in a cabin in the middle of nowhere? Use the season and the genre to up the potential emotional stakes!Competition Sparks Chemistry
One of my favorite romantic tropes of all time is enemies to lovers. There is no clearer enemy than a rival! Perhaps your leads are rival small business owners. Or contestants in the same reality show. Maybe they both have perfected a gingerbread recipe, and they’re competing for an insane cash prize they both need for some deeply personal reason. Whatever it is, using a competition to pit your leads against one another is a juicy start to a story.A Surprising Re-Connect
One of the best meet-cutes is when two former flames—or enemies— come across one another again after years of leading their own very different lives. Do your leads go home for the holidays and run into each other at the airport? Forced to sit next to one another on the train? Do their hands touch as they reach for the last Black Forest cake at the only bakery in town worth buying Black Forest cake from? A surprising re-connect is a fun meet-cute idea that is jam-packed with tension from the start!
Workplace Mishaps
Using workplace shenanigans as a platform for a good meet-cute is always a good idea, especially for made-for-TV movies, where typically the FMC’s goal is tied to her career. Maybe your leads are assigned the same project, even though your FMC was hoping to use this opportunity to show her potential for a promotion. Maybe one of your characters hits “Reply All” to a spicy email meant for someone else. Office drama makes for a fun, forbidden romance meet cute opportunity.
Relationship of Convenience
“Quick! Let’s pretend to be dating to save ourselves some embarrassment!” I’ve you’ve watched any romantic comedy movie in the last ten years, odds are you’ve seen this trope. An ex-fiance is walking down the street, arm-in-arm with their new flame. Your FMC freaks out and grabs the nearest—conveniently attractive—man in her vicinity and begs him to kiss her. Cue steamy, instant chemistry meet-cute.
Save the Damsel
Sometimes a meet-cute happens on a day when nothing seems to be going your main character’s way. A meet cute can take place on the side of the road, where your MMC offers to help your FMC fix their flat tire. And if you’re feeling progressive, swap the genders. Maybe the male main character— a rich man who is used to others doing everything for him and doesn’t know how to change a tire— gets schooled in mechanics by your badass female lead. Use your meet-cute to flip the switch on your audience!
What’s Mine is Yours (By Mistake)
Another classic device? Two people who fall in love with the same item, or reserve their dream cabin for Christmas, only to discover that it’s been promised to another person. The two leads are aghast! There’s no way they’re going to give up this dream item—or place— which means they both must share it. They share the ideal Christmas cabin. They share the secret Christmas recipe passed down to them from the baker they befriended in their small town.
Wrong Place, Right Time
Sometimes fate has its own plan, and often that plan is your main character going to the wrong place, at the right time, so they can meet their love interest. Maybe your FMC flies to the wrong small town of the same name, in an entirely different state, or country. Maybe they interview the wrong person, and the love interest doesn’t want to reveal their true identity because their attraction to this person they just met is winning out.A Shared Mission
Most made-for-TV movies feature a shared mission. Two journalists who want to interview the same mall Santa who is rumored to have real Christmas powers. The activist and the land developer are forced to work together for opposite goals. A shared mission is the perfect opportunity for a vibrant and fiery meet-cute.
A meet-cute doesn’t have to be eye-roll inducing— it should be exciting, fresh, and capable of driving the plot forward in an inevitable way. What’s your meet-cute going to be?