Day 03: I love You Cause I’m Drunk

Happy to say today I can say ire ached my goal of a daily 1000 words. I wrote 1220 words, although I started to get tired at about 700. I was going to talk about how this story ahs to many characters, but I’ll save that for another day, perhaps when I get done with my first draft.

So, just a bit of background. A character by the name of Jason, discovers that he is a murderer, and even tried to rape and kill one of my other characters (both of which could hit the cutting room floor) Jason wants to die, so he shuts himself down from the world. Alex, who finds/eventually finds that she was his accomplices stops by to tell him to stop wallowing in his own self pity> Now, of course, their is a reason why their here, there was a very important piece of revelation that serves the scene, but that’s a major plot element. Today, I just want to talk bout the romantic element between Alex and Jason.

Alex is supposed to start out hating Jason, and yet pitying him. This is the real first part we’re I need to start a friendship between the two characters. But how do you writ ea good romance? How does it stay realistic, without bogging down the story?

Take for example Lost. The main problem with the first six episodes of lost was that it was all about who Kate would choose. Do I care? No, I really do not care. The problem with Kate in the third season is that she is just a device to have romance in the story. It seemed an attempt to drag in the Grey’s crowd, or the fan girl crowd. I don’t care who she hooks up with. I care about if Jack will betray Sawyer and Kate; I care about how John Locke basically broke Sawyer. I care about John Locke and Jacob.

The lesion? Don’t let the romance bog the plot. Make it impotent, and make it matter. Make the romance matter to the plot; don’t just add it so certain characters have something to do.

Then there is the fatal flaw of the new Doctor who. In series three, Martha spends every episode saying, “The doctor will figure it all out,” or “I love him, and I don’t even know whim.” I can not begin to tell you how annoying this potently good character got. It was unrealistic. It was nothing more then a school girl drawling after a rock star.

I hate it when characters set their eyes on someone and are in love. There can be an attraction, I get that, but it’s a problem when it becomes a soup opera. TH either thing w can learn from this is that Davis is trying to hard to create a romantic flare between the doctor and Martha. You only got to say “He is amazing,” once, we get it!

Okay, so three lesions,

1. Don’t add romance for the sake of romance. Why does the princess always need a prince Charming? And, if your character has nothing else to do, then why are they even there? In other words, make sure the romance adds something to the plot.
2. Make it realistic. Characters can not just meet and fall in love. If this is not a fairy tale, and this woman, like Martha, is a strong, mature person, don’t just have them se their eyes on some dude just because he ca do some cool stuff, like travel back and forward through time.
3. Don’t overdue it. Do not underestimate e the intelligence of tee reader. If you write a romance correctly, we’ll get it.

Again, I’m talking about the scifi/action/susspnece genre. I do not mean fairy tales, or even romantic stories. Although, I believe romances would be a lot better if they were alto more realistic, but some people like that sort of thing.

So I have Alex, slowly open up to Jason. We reveal a side to Jason that we have not seen. I'm trying really hard to follow w these rules, but it’s easier said then done.

Okay, so I kind of stole it from “Dan in Real Life”, where they have the best night of their lives. And drinking is a fantastic plot device; it allows them to open up abit.

I can at least say that their romance is rather important, especially by the end of boo k 2. I think they will continue down his path towards a romance until that point.