Fic Talk > General Discussion
The romantic debate
colorguard_diva:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 10, 2011, 03:13:54 PM ---I have two "rules" I tend to follow when I do include romance in my stories.
The first is the Doug and Carol rule. Doug and Carol are my favorite couple from ER, my favorite show, and even though they were clearly meant to be, they didn't get together until Season 4. When they finally did, it made their relationship that much better, because it had taken so much time and so much drama for it to happen. The lesson I took away from that was to draw it out (without making it too boring or infuriating), to make it more gratifying in the end.
The other is the Jack and Rose rule. I remember taking a trivia quiz on Titanic in a magazine, shortly after it came out, and one of the questions was, "How many times do Jack and Rose say 'I love you' to each other?" I think the choices were 0, 1, or 2; I just know I picked 2, obviously, because they were so in love, it had to be the maximum number of times, right? I was surprised to find the answer was only 1; Rose says it once, when they're in the water and she's saying her goodbyes. Jack never says it at all. That fact makes the one time it does get said that much more meaningful. The lesson I took away from that was to use the L-word sparingly, to make it count more when it does finally get used.
It's tempting to rush it, but more satisfying if you don't.
--- End quote ---
I think those are two great rules for writing.
Mellz Bellz:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 10, 2011, 03:13:54 PM ---The other is the Jack and Rose rule. I remember taking a trivia quiz on Titanic in a magazine, shortly after it came out, and one of the questions was, "How many times do Jack and Rose say 'I love you' to each other?" I think the choices were 0, 1, or 2; I just know I picked 2, obviously, because they were so in love, it had to be the maximum number of times, right? I was surprised to find the answer was only 1; Rose says it once, when they're in the water and she's saying her goodbyes. Jack never says it at all. That fact makes the one time it does get said that much more meaningful. The lesson I took away from that was to use the L-word sparingly, to make it count more when it does finally get used.
It's tempting to rush it, but more satisfying if you don't.
--- End quote ---
Great point Julie! I think I must've read the same article because somewhere in my collection of useless trivia in my head I have never forgotten that Jack never ONCE told her he loved her yet you totally believed it. Strangely enough I actually totally bought the fact that they fell so deeply in love in a matter of days. I have no idea how those writers pulled that off, but I wish I knew their secret. Sometimes I think in movies it's easier to pull off because you physically have the characters in front of you and can rely on the chemistry between two actors versus in writing you have to rely on a reader's imagination.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: colorguard_diva on July 10, 2011, 03:35:47 PM ---I think those are two great rules for writing.
--- End quote ---
Thanks! I try to learn from the best, especially with genres I'm not as comfortable writing. With romance, it helped me move past my early teenybopper stories LOL.
RokofAges75:
--- Quote from: Mellz Bellz on July 10, 2011, 03:42:07 PM ---Great point Julie! I think I must've read the same article because somewhere in my collection of useless trivia in my head I have never forgotten that Jack never ONCE told her he loved her yet you totally believed it. Strangely enough I actually totally bought the fact that they fell so deeply in love in a matter of days. I have no idea how those writers pulled that off, but I wish I knew their secret. Sometimes I think in movies it's easier to pull off because you physically have the characters in front of you and can rely on the chemistry between two actors versus in writing you have to rely on a reader's imagination.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, they are the exception to that rule. I bought that they were in love too, and he didn't have to tell her for her to know. I'm sure there are plenty of Titanic fanfics that explore this, but it's interesting to wonder how their relationship would have turned out if he hadn't died and they really had run off together in New York. Would they have lasted with the stress of being so poor and Rose not being used to it? Would the fact that they'd only known each other a few days lead to cracks in the relationship later on? Their relationship started off almost like a summer fling, something that was meant to be temporary and fun, but obviously it progressed to more than that. But how could you not fall in love with Jack Dawson? I was in love with him after about an hour, and I wasn't even a Leo fan the first time I saw that movie (I sure was from that point on, though! LOL).
Mellz Bellz:
--- Quote from: RokofAges75 on July 10, 2011, 03:47:54 PM ---Yeah, they are the exception to that rule. I bought that they were in love too, and he didn't have to tell her for her to know. I'm sure there are plenty of Titanic fanfics that explore this, but it's interesting to wonder how their relationship would have turned out if he hadn't died and they really had run off together in New York. Would they have lasted with the stress of being so poor and Rose not being used to it? Would the fact that they'd only known each other a few days lead to cracks in the relationship later on? Their relationship started off almost like a summer fling, something that was meant to be temporary and fun, but obviously it progressed to more than that. But how could you not fall in love with Jack Dawson? I was in love with him after about an hour, and I wasn't even a Leo fan the first time I saw that movie (I sure was from that point on, though! LOL).
--- End quote ---
Very true! In my more recent rewatches of that movie I've wondered the same thing. Then of course there is also something so tragically romantic about being put into a life/death situation. I know that sounds sick, but I think that being faced with the chance you may die definitely would cause you to have strong feelings for someone that you might not ordinarily feel that way about. Hmmm... That would be an interesting idea to follow for as story...
Navigation
[0] Message Index
[#] Next page
[*] Previous page
Go to full version