How to Write a Marriage Proposal Scene in a Novel

Build some backstory to the proposal. Your couple is getting married, and in many novels, it wouldn't make sense for them to marry a person they'd never even met before with no explanation as to why. Make sure you've written in backstory to this proposal before writing it, as it will make the proposal make a lot more sense.

• Not every wedding is because the couple is in love. Some weddings are arranged marriages, while others are for "the greater good" - for example, one character is being threatened by a powerful villain and the only way to stop the villain is to marry someone, possibly even the villain!
• Even if your story has an aspect that makes it so that strangers get married - for example, if a person in the novel's universe grows older than a certain age, they're automatically married to someone regardless of whether they know them or not - make sure that the readers are aware of this. If it's put in the book with no warning, the reader will just be confused.

Set up the scene. A proposal in a fast-food joint might be humorous, but it's not very classy. The scene doesn't have to be romantic, especially if it's a forced marriage, but it should at least make sense for the situation. And if the character is nervous, show it! As shown in the examples below, it's important to write in your character's emotions. Most stories don't have romances between emotionless robots.

• Rain was pattering down onto the ground and sliding down the window - the same window that Brad and Lisa had been poised at, watching the rain. Brad's hands were clenched in his pockets - one pocket being the one that held a small, velvety ring box. Now was the perfect time to propose - he knew that, he'd seen it all the time in those romance stories. But how did someone go about doing that? Did they just pull out the ring and go, "Will you marry me?", or wait for the other person to talk first? There were so many questions left unanswered for Brad, all of which left his heart hammering in his chest, but the biggest unanswered question for Brad was, Will she even say yes?
• It was Kaori's first time out with her girlfriend since the two had gotten together, Allison remembered. No wonder Kaori was so afraid. A small prickle of guilt tugged at the blonde girl - she'd thrown Kaori's life for a loop and had forced her into dating her, just because the Shadow had threatened to hurt everyone she ever cared for unless she destroyed her engagement with her arranged fiancé. She didn't even want to marry Kaori - she didn't see the autistic girl as more than a close friend - but she knew she had no other choice. She knew it was for everyone's safety - for everyone's survival.

Write the proposal scene well. Don't make the scene boring, such as the character saying, "Will you marry me?" and the other one automatically accepting. Put in a twist to the writing, and detail the scene well. Take a look at the examples below for some examples of better writing of a proposal scene.

• "Lisa," Brad said suddenly, and his girlfriend turned to look at him. He was sweating, it was obvious, but he didn't care; this was his moment of bravado. He whipped the ring box out of his pocket so fast that Lisa couldn't make out what it was, and rapidly changed his position from sitting on the couch to kneeling on the floor with the box in his hands. Lisa's eyes widened and her mouth gaped as Brad sputtered, "I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"
• The blonde-haired girl turned to Kaori, who was wringing her hands around the rubber band she often carried. "Kaori. What if we got married? If we got married, I could break off the engagement my parents arranged for me." But Kaori stood there silently, looking at her girlfriend uncertainly. The look of sheer terror on her face at the idea left the other one stunned. "And I really do love you, Kaori," she added softly. "I'll love you no matter how you answer this question: Do you want to get married?"
• "Fool," the Shadow snarled in William's face, drool splattering the corners of his mouth. "Fool! I could kill you! I could destroy the world! I'm giving you one chance to save everyone you love - one chance - and all you have to do to save everything you've ever known is marry me!"

Describe the reaction to the proposal. Not all marriage proposals end in a happy, tearful "yes" - some end much differently. Feel free to experiment around, but try to make sure it fits how the character would most likely react.

• Lisa had her hand cupped over her mouth to try and hide her shock, but Brad could see from her eyes that she was smiling. Slowly, her head bobbed up and down in a nod, and she kneeled down, pushed the ring box down a bit, and kissed her now-fiancé, waiting for him to slide the ring onto her finger.
• Kaori diverted her gaze, starting to rock back and forth on her feet, like she always did when she was nervous. "I... Allison, you..." She turned her head back towards Allison, but didn't quite meet her eyes. "I mean, I accept, but... why?"
• William delivered a sharp slap to the Shadow's face, leaving him stunned. "For the record," William started, the boy's high-pitched voice breaking the angry fog in the room, "I know you're a liar. I know you can't do any of the things you say you can. And I'm not going to give up my life for a liar - for an abusive, awful person. No, I won't marry you."

Proofread. It's always important to proofread what you've written to make sure you don't have any errors. Go through the scene at least twice - once looking for obvious errors or plot holes, and the second time looking for smaller things such as spelling mistakes, grammar errors, messed-up punctuation, and so forth.

• If you're writing on a computer, turn on your spellchecker. This can help you discern typos and grammar mistakes much more easily than if you have it off. Software meant for writing, such as Microsoft Word or Google Docs, will usually have this on by default.

Have a trusted friend proofread. It's quite easy to overlook something when you've written it yourself. Get a friend with good language skills to proofread the scene, and ask them to mark any mistakes they come across.

Make any required edits. After you've had your friend proofread your story, go over what they marked and correct the mistakes. You may be surprised with how many mistakes your friend noticed!