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writing realistic relationships
Dec. 19th, 2006 12:27 pmSo I'm a little late for the discussion over on ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
melissa_writing regarding deity as main character/love interest. I didn't have much to say at the time, since the books I'd read lately with undying (or at least, very long living) characters seemed to work for me. The authors had a plan for how to limit their otherwise-powerful characters, and to me it seemed all right. But now I've read a book where it isn't working for me, and I'm trying to think why.
One reason for this is that I felt set up for the two main characters to hit it off--there was a lot of romantic tension in the first half between them--and then everything changed in favor of this almost godlike guy. So part of it is the problem of the author promising one thing and delivering another.
The other, perhaps bigger, reason, though, is that the mortal characters' strengths and weaknesses complimented each other well in a complex and interesting relationship, but the immortal one...whatever weaknesses he has are in such a different sphere from the mortal girl that they can't possibly be equally matched. This was also a problem I had with The Hero and the Crown. (And Aerin was kind of two-timing, and I couldn't empathize with a character who would use someone who really loved her...but that's a different topic altogether.) Anyhow, in this first book, the immortal love interest is a little too perfect. I find myself wondering what exactly the mortal girl could contribute to the relationship. I think there are too many not-quite-true or not-quite-healthy relationships in literature, and it bothers me. Being in a very give and take, complementary relationship myself, I can't suspend disbelief in something that doesn't feel "real" to me, plus I don't like the idea of reinforcing unhealthy relationships for kids who maybe don't know what a healthy relationship looks like.
The other thing about this book that bothered me was that while the action was there, and the tension rose throughout the chapter and kept me reading, it still felt oddly episodic. Like all the chapters were hooked onto the same trunk on one end, but waving in random directions on the other. Events and characters need to exist for more than a one-time reason. Things that happen early on need to have reverberations later in the book, and events that help give a character what they really want need to be more intrinsically tied into the actual plot, not coming out of nowhere just to let the hero prove his worth and then receding into the ether. I know, prose is important, too, but sometimes I think overall plot issues get short shrift when it comes to writing education.
melissa_writing regarding deity as main character/love interest. I didn't have much to say at the time, since the books I'd read lately with undying (or at least, very long living) characters seemed to work for me. The authors had a plan for how to limit their otherwise-powerful characters, and to me it seemed all right. But now I've read a book where it isn't working for me, and I'm trying to think why. One reason for this is that I felt set up for the two main characters to hit it off--there was a lot of romantic tension in the first half between them--and then everything changed in favor of this almost godlike guy. So part of it is the problem of the author promising one thing and delivering another.
The other, perhaps bigger, reason, though, is that the mortal characters' strengths and weaknesses complimented each other well in a complex and interesting relationship, but the immortal one...whatever weaknesses he has are in such a different sphere from the mortal girl that they can't possibly be equally matched. This was also a problem I had with The Hero and the Crown. (And Aerin was kind of two-timing, and I couldn't empathize with a character who would use someone who really loved her...but that's a different topic altogether.) Anyhow, in this first book, the immortal love interest is a little too perfect. I find myself wondering what exactly the mortal girl could contribute to the relationship. I think there are too many not-quite-true or not-quite-healthy relationships in literature, and it bothers me. Being in a very give and take, complementary relationship myself, I can't suspend disbelief in something that doesn't feel "real" to me, plus I don't like the idea of reinforcing unhealthy relationships for kids who maybe don't know what a healthy relationship looks like.
The other thing about this book that bothered me was that while the action was there, and the tension rose throughout the chapter and kept me reading, it still felt oddly episodic. Like all the chapters were hooked onto the same trunk on one end, but waving in random directions on the other. Events and characters need to exist for more than a one-time reason. Things that happen early on need to have reverberations later in the book, and events that help give a character what they really want need to be more intrinsically tied into the actual plot, not coming out of nowhere just to let the hero prove his worth and then receding into the ether. I know, prose is important, too, but sometimes I think overall plot issues get short shrift when it comes to writing education.
