Theoretical case here. Let’s say we have a girl, er, Jane, stuck between her two best friends…oh, let’s just call them Dick and Harry. Dick and Harry do like each other very much, but they are rivaling against each other for Jane. In the end, Jane chooses Dick. But don’t you find it supremely difficult to write a satisfying ending for Harry? How do you find a fulfilling ending for the poor bastard? Is he just supposed to be content, seeing one of his best friends and the girl he loves waltz off into the sunset?

How do you end love triangles in a satisfying way?

i forgot to mention in my previous comment, that I’d also far rather read about someone dealing with the consequences (and learning from the experience) of having made the “wrong” choices in such a situation, than to have them agonise for half the book before living happily ever after, with or without some act of god removing the other person neatly from the picture.

If the protagonist has a choice between GenericGuyA and GenericGuyB, opts for B and later figures that A was the one she wanted, well that’s got far more interesting outcomes than simply staying stuck between one or the other. Especially if there’s not actually anything particularly wrong with Guy B to justify leaving him in the lurch.

I guess what I’m trying to say is that often these situations are portrayed as if the only thing that hinges on the decision is whether the protagonist will find happiness, which in fiction is fairly obviously “whoever the author decides will make her happy”, it doesn’t add any tension to the story. What makes thinks like the Arthurian love-triangle work is that it isn’t JUST about what will make the people involved happy, but also what they will sacrifice to get it, and the fact that what they decide will make them a different person because it involves ethical compromises.

And that’s why what passes for “love triangles” in fantasy and sci-fi (not just urban fantasy) tend to annoy me, because it usually boils down to having as much emotional weight as choosing what colour shoes to wear.

Interestingly, the Washington Post had an article on a Polyamorists convention the other day. Not just “triangle,” but polygons!

Back to love triangles, though, and speaking of angsty adolescents — I just finished the first book of a YA trilogy I’m hoping to sell, and while the situation in it doesn’t break cleanly down into a triangle, it partakes of some of the same issues. The way I’ve chosen to play it there, at least initially, is a choice between friendship and lust, and the question of which one makes a better basis for a romantic relationship. It seemed a natural question for sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds to be asking.