The ancient Greeks had a thing for love. in fact, they intellectualized everything. This made for amazing advances in civilization.
They categorized love:
1. Eros, sensual passion
2. Ludus, playful love
3. Philautia, self-love
4. Storge, parental love
5. Philia, deep friendship
6. Agape, love for everyone
7. Pragma, committed love
8. Minia, obsessive love
It's those Greeks again. Many scholars water this down to Eros, Agape, and Philos. For the purpose of writing any romance story, I believe that all three types must show up in the novel to make it a meaningful success.
Eros: erotic love or intimate love but according to Plato: Eros is the natural desire to seek beauty. He wrote, "he who loves the beautiful is called a lover because he partakes of it." Okay, this could be an excuse for jumping from bed to bed. But I see a man or woman feeling close or one to become part of that beauty.
Philia: Ideal love or brotherly love. (Philadelphia). Aristotle said that pone must feel love for themselves before they can love others. Plato theorized that the best philia blossoms out of eros. (your mate is your best friend.)
Agape: Universal love. A good current example are the strangers in Poland that are taking into their homes, Ukranians. Agape is something inside us that has love for all living things. There are those who hate ass a way of life. This is not only defective and destructive but a denial of purpose of life.
So what does this have to do with writing romance novels. It's the arcs or growth as human beings that your characters travel through that make your story complete. A story that only focuses on Eros is written in a vacuum. Like a true artist you may paint a picture of how your characters interact in this world and how these goals to be better at life change the way they are. And how about that prospective mate who requests change or challenges to bring out the best in both. And what of their friends? How do they react to events around them together or apart?
Today, it is not sufficient, IMO, to not show them reacting and pro-acting in this world.
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