Everyone has had such great posts lately, I’m feeling lame. At the moment, I’m gathering info and pushing to get things done. I haven’t come up against anything that has me stuck/scratching my head other than the phrase from Michael Hauge via Alice – “Remember the Michael Hague comment when he said that he wants a love story where it's impossible to imagine the two lovers EVER finding happiness with anyone else?”
It made me look at the hero and heroine in my contemporary. Yes, it would take this hero to have seen through the heroine’s ice armor and into her depths because of his past. But, does my heroine really understand his guilt and need for self-vindication? Is she the only one for him? Hmmm… I’ll be thinking about this as I wrap up the last chapters.
Is this something that should have been upper most in my mind as I plotted these characters? Yeah, I think so now and will make it the first thing I think about in upcoming books. But when I read, I don’t think about those things. I’m reading a Super Romance now to see if my contemporary fits that line. I’m thinking it does. Anyway, I can see how the hero is the best thing for the heroine, but again, like with my story, I could see him happy with someone else with less baggage. The past- hers- is what has bound them even though he didn’t know it until 2/3 of the way into the book. He just had a thing for her. And now wants to save her from herself, something he hasn’t been able to do for his father.
Okay, since writing this, I finished the book. It appears that the heroine being in the hero's life did make a difference in his father and ultimately made him want to change things- so I guess in a way the heroine is the best woman for the hero. But I must say the ending of the book fell kind of flat for me.
8 comments:
Paty, what an intriguing blog.
I guess what we're talking about is destiny. Is there a feeling that these two people complete one another and that they would be diminished if forced apart?
Like you, I never used to think too much about this, but in the first book I wrote after hearing Hague's talk it was really fresh in my mind. I hope it came through in the writing, but for me, as I wrote, it was the major motivator of the hero's actions. The heroine fought it though she always understood where he was coming from and there was something compelling to her about his conviction. In that way, writing a reunion book is satisfying (though sometimes it is also death defying) because there is a past to exploit between the characters.
I'm also attempting to keep this factor in mind as I plot. I think it was there in the book I just finished and your timely reminder will play through my head as I plot the next book (Note to muse: Anytime now, honey....)
Every book is different, and every relationship develops in its own way. I hope in the editing process, you can figure out why the ending of your book fell flat for you. Are you sure it wasn't just the dynamics of finishing the book?
I'm glad you've found a home for your contemporary!
Alice,
It isn't my book that fell flat at the end, but the Super I read. I hope my book doesn't fall flat!
I have three possibly four chapters and this contemporary is first draft done. And it's the exciting climax part of the book, I'm just still making sure the ambiance of the National Finals Rodeo are correct.
LOL, Paty -- reading skills, gotta get me some.
I wondered how you finished that book so fast!!!! And I also wondered why you were so calm about it falling flat. Easy to explain AS IT WASN'T YOUR BOOK YOU WERE TALKING ABOUT!
My bad.
Very glad it's not your own book that disappointed you!
I'll answer about the last book I finished. It's a reunion book. The H/h were high school sweethearts destined for forever, when he dropped her like a sack of bricks. They were both heartbroken -- he because it was his past that kept him from going forward towards a future with her. She married someone else on the rebound. He died, leaving her a young widow. Now the two old flames must face danger, and their past.
So, yeah. Destined. They never got over one another.
I think this Michael Hague comment is a wonderful test for our stories that makes them rise above the ordinary. If our stories meet this test, we have succeeded in writing three-dimensional characters; giving them solid goals, motivation, and conflict; digging deeply into their psyche, etc.--all the things we set out to do as writers.
Another piece of advice that I've printed out to keep by my computer when I dig into writing the first book in my series (which will be soooooon!)
Alice, That's okay, I've done that before too.
Danita, I know the story you're talking about. ;) And it definitely has the factor in it.
Genene, I think at least once a week something is said on this blog that I write down or copy and paste to stick in my writing folder. godo luck with the series.
Godo luck from me too, Genene.
hee hee.
Alice the Great. That's what I call her. Because she comes up with some zingers that really make you think about writing in ways you already know but aren't focused on. :)
You will all be happy to know I no longer want to kill my hero. :) Though the black moment got much worse than it was before, surprisingly, he needed that to figure out she IS the only one for him. So yeah, Paty, my hero has finally discovered he's not going to be happy with anyone else. All that's left to write is the grovelling. (Which is the part I like the most. LOL And after everything he's put me though, he deserves to grovel. A lot.)
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