(no subject)

[redfiona99]

So I'm trying to write this romance novel, because, why not give it a go. Most of the original things I write are sci-fi or fantasy and are nowhere near finished, this at least has the advantage of having a beginning, middle and end of story.

The problem is, in both the original idea and the very short draft, the girl ends up with boy A. There is boy B, but he is boy A's best friend and is mostly adorable comic relief (and okay, does do one awesome thing). Why, when I am writing it down, do I keep ending up nearly writing girl ending up with boy B?

The problem is mostly plot-related, as in the plot only works if boy A is the valiant hero who ends up with the girl.

I know why I like boy B more, he's infinitely more my type. To put it another way, whenever I engage with Pride and Prejudice, I can't understand why anyone would want Darcy when Mr. Bingley is there. And he's just so lovely and nice and I don't care that he has horrid sisters and only 5000 a year.

And A is very much a Mr. Darcy type while B is more Mr. Bingley. But I am not writing this book for me and the plot will be written.

Comments

[lilacsigil.livejournal.com]

Maybe the girl needs to be less like you, if boy B is the right one for you!

[opera142.livejournal.com]

Is there a reason--other than your original outline-- that girl must absolutely end up with Boy A? Plenty of valiant heroes do not end up with the girl, plenty of girls realize that while they appreciate the actions of valiant heroes, they truly prefer the quiet, nice types. Boy A will look like a million bucks if he lets her go to be with B; she'll look like a million self-assured bucks if she chooses the right guy.

On the other hand, two lovable males is mainstay of romance. It never hurts to have two dudes for the readers to swoon over (bad example: team edward and team jacob) or just flat out like. Praise yourself for creating secondary characters with as much life in them as your leads.

And please, PLEASE, let me know when you've finished it!

[redfiona99.livejournal.com]

>>Is there a reason--other than your original outline-- that girl must absolutely end up with Boy A? <<

Good reason, not so much. Basically the Big Issue had an article about how Harlequin were accepting submissions (article was worth reading, mostly "this novel writing lark is harder than it looks") so I had a look at the website and thought, why not. At the time I think I was aiming for Harlequin Teen. The only romances I had the faintest interest in when I was younger were the Barbara Cartland ones because they had swordfights, so there's also an element of attempting that sort of thing.

The reason for the grr argh is that I've finally hit the plot and I'm writing the scene where boy A realises that the girl is not the rich air-head he thought she was (hopefully the reader has already twigged this - I might need to expand one of the previous bits), because she bandages B's hand after a kitchen oops. Only it kept ending up being the girl, boy B and the stars. But I think if I move that scene forward by one night so it fits after another scene instead it might still work.

Will do. If I ever do. This original writing thing is hard.

[opera142.livejournal.com]

So very hard, and so fraught with failure.