- Jul 19, 2014
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I'm currently working on my debut novel, a science fiction love story about a disabled veteran and his mentor's daughter, who fall in love as the world falls to pieces in the zombie apocalypse.
Where I need your help is in building the romantic relationship between Vincent (my protagonist) and Blair (his love interest). What I won't do is a typical romance novel, where the relationship is based primarily on sexual attraction, things get hot and heavy after a week, and somehow they live happily ever after.
This is a love story, and it will take time for them to go from "hello" to "I do," and they'll grow into that relationship for the right reasons. I'm in the interesting position of being able to recognize love, though I've never been in love. Perhaps this thread will lead to interesting discussions on what love is, how to recognize when you're in love, how to avoid some pitfalls in a relationship, and so on.
My characters just met. Vincent is awkward, goofy, self-deprecating, and physically scarred. He's not used to people looking at his face and smiling in response because of his scars, and he's got the mental damage that can sometimes go with combat injuries. Blair was a combat medic until three weeks ago, when she retired from the Air Force.
They have an awkward exchange, after which Vincent goes to his room and tries to convince himself of the truth: Blair only smiled at him to be polite, not because she intended to express any interest in him. He berates himself for wanting to make too much of the encounter, and gives himself truthful, good, logical reasons to forget her as anything more than his boss's daughter.
We'll find out later Blair has some similar thoughts, the way people might when they have a brief encounter, but the memory lingers. I suspect I'm not the only one who has had a similar struggle to Vincent, which is what I'm basing his struggle on. I've had women smile at me, and because it's so rare that happens, my brain sometimes tries to make more of that smile than she intended.
Has anyone else experienced that? If you read that in a novel, would you be able to relate, or would that come across as creepy to have that window into Vincent's thoughts?
Where I need your help is in building the romantic relationship between Vincent (my protagonist) and Blair (his love interest). What I won't do is a typical romance novel, where the relationship is based primarily on sexual attraction, things get hot and heavy after a week, and somehow they live happily ever after.
This is a love story, and it will take time for them to go from "hello" to "I do," and they'll grow into that relationship for the right reasons. I'm in the interesting position of being able to recognize love, though I've never been in love. Perhaps this thread will lead to interesting discussions on what love is, how to recognize when you're in love, how to avoid some pitfalls in a relationship, and so on.
My characters just met. Vincent is awkward, goofy, self-deprecating, and physically scarred. He's not used to people looking at his face and smiling in response because of his scars, and he's got the mental damage that can sometimes go with combat injuries. Blair was a combat medic until three weeks ago, when she retired from the Air Force.
They have an awkward exchange, after which Vincent goes to his room and tries to convince himself of the truth: Blair only smiled at him to be polite, not because she intended to express any interest in him. He berates himself for wanting to make too much of the encounter, and gives himself truthful, good, logical reasons to forget her as anything more than his boss's daughter.
We'll find out later Blair has some similar thoughts, the way people might when they have a brief encounter, but the memory lingers. I suspect I'm not the only one who has had a similar struggle to Vincent, which is what I'm basing his struggle on. I've had women smile at me, and because it's so rare that happens, my brain sometimes tries to make more of that smile than she intended.
Has anyone else experienced that? If you read that in a novel, would you be able to relate, or would that come across as creepy to have that window into Vincent's thoughts?