How do you write a goddess-human romance sub-plot without the power dynamic being weird?

Normally, you story would be inspired by this relationship, and the power dynamic would be a huge part of this.

If you’re not inspired by this, then you might want to reconsider this, especially as a sub-plot. It will either come across as incompletely imagined, or else will take over the main plot.

It’s territory which has been explored many times before. You might want to look at Till We Have Faces by CS Lewis, The Iron Wolf by Richard Adams, the Odyssey, the final series of Angel, Leda and the Swan and Notting Hill.

You might also want to watch a few episodes of Gossip Girl, because the power relationship is going to be similar.

But, here are some thoughts:

You need to define what a goddess actually is. A big issue if it’s set in today’s world is the question: why are the gods and goddesses no longer worshipped? You need some explanation of how they came to be abandoned.

For this, it’s worth looking at The Long, Dark, Tea-time of the Soul by Douglas Adams, which features abandoned gods, and Brand New Ancients by Kae Tempest.

If the goddess still has her original powers, why isn’t she using them?

You might look at the film Hancock.

What is it about a human, or this particular human, which attracts the goddess?

Does the human know they are dating a goddess?

If so, how do they react?

If not, how is the goddess concealing it?

A goddess is going to be more intense in every way than a human. How does this work?

I actually have a friend who, in all respects apart from actually being a goddess, is pretty much exactly like a goddess would be. She is extremely intense, and totally focussed on whoever she is talking to at the time. When she’s talking to you, you are the most important (indeed, only) person in the entire universe. I’ve seen men (and women) fall in love with her in minutes. What they don’t understand is that, five minutes later, when she’s talking to someone else, she has already forgotten about them and is now fixed on the other person.

The result is that there is a long string of men (and women) who are convinced that they stand a chance with her, and it’s going to work out one day. They’re wrong. She’s long forgotten them.

If you know someone like this, then you might want to use them as your character reference point. If you don’t, again, you might want to either rethink, or else meet someone like her. Just remember, though, if you do, they’ve already forgotten you the moment they are talking to someone else.