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It is about 12:30 or so and the sole light in the house is the one emanating from my monitor. I haven’t been home all that long. Earlier I was out at a party for my son’s school. It is the annual fundraiser.
I do ok at parties. When I am in the mood small talk is something that comes easily for me…most of the time. There are those moments where it is the last thing I want to do. My gregariousness is easily matched by my ability to sit quietly and watch the people around me.
The D.J. played an interesting mix of music. Maybe I am too sentimental for my own good, but a couple of them got me thinking about writing a story about a boy and a girl who fall in love. It is a tale full of passion. It is a tale full of drama. There are incredible highs and there are moment of utter despair.
A good love story has to have those. They are key elements, at least I think so. There is something interesting about the struggle to keep love going amidst all of the chaos and crap that life throws at you.
Fictional love stories sometimes leave that tumult out. They make it too easy to believe that the hero and heroine will overcome all of the challenges. It sounds good. It feels good. It is what we want to believe, but it is not always real.
I have that darker side that lives inside me. It is the one that says sometimes the hero fails. Sometimes he does everything that he can to get the girl. He fights every battle. He climbs every hills, but it is just not enough. She can’t wait. She can’t deal. She moves on and he finds himself desperate, despondent and dejected.
The question is whether he lies down and wallows in the muck. Is he defeated. Is he done. Or does he reach down to dig deep to try again.
The answer will be forthcoming. For those who are wondering here is a sample of the music that was played this evening.
The Morning After– Maureen McGovern
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face– Roberta Flack
Weekend In New England– Barry Manilow
You Shook Me All Night Long– AC/DC
Wonderful Tonight– Eric Clapton
Margaritaville – Jimmy Buffett
Melt With You– Modern English
See you in the morning.
Jack March 3, 2008 at 7:41 am
Doc,
Thanks for the comment.
Jack March 3, 2008 at 3:41 pm
Doc,
Thanks for the comment.
Fartsy McCallahan, Phd March 2, 2008 at 2:40 am
The dark side that “lives inside you” is where such solutions lay. It’s not “out there”, it’s “in here”. The hill taken and the battle fought referred to sounds like it is “out there”, as though your protagonist is proving something to the girl rather than himself.
What gives with that?
For your story to be a good one, have your protagonist focus on the “in here”. What are the inner battles and choices he has to make? What does he have to prove to himself, before he proves anything to the “girl”?
This is where the best literature is written. In fiction like in life, it’s written in our hearts and in the hard choices we are forced to make. In the best stories about heroes, it’s not about the girl’s choice – whether she can wait or “deal”. It’s about the hero’s inner struggle.
Good luck with your story, my friend.
Fartsy McCallahan, Phd March 2, 2008 at 10:40 am
The dark side that “lives inside you” is where such solutions lay. It’s not “out there”, it’s “in here”. The hill taken and the battle fought referred to sounds like it is “out there”, as though your protagonist is proving something to the girl rather than himself.
What gives with that?
For your story to be a good one, have your protagonist focus on the “in here”. What are the inner battles and choices he has to make? What does he have to prove to himself, before he proves anything to the “girl”?
This is where the best literature is written. In fiction like in life, it’s written in our hearts and in the hard choices we are forced to make. In the best stories about heroes, it’s not about the girl’s choice – whether she can wait or “deal”. It’s about the hero’s inner struggle.
Good luck with your story, my friend.