I have to redo an entire character... and it's a good thing!

[Carrie in PA]

My WIP has my MC in a love triangle. Originally, her fiance was a total jerkface. He's a minor character, so it was pretty easy to keep him flat and unlikeable.

Well, I've done more scenes with him in, and dammit, it turns out he's a decent guy. So I have to go back and edit all my references to him being a jerk. That kind of stinks.

The GOOD news?? This will create soooo much more conflict and drama for my MC. Bummer for her, great for me.

It was going to be soooo easy to wrap her up with the great guy, but now that they're both great guys, it's going to complicate things. And we all know that complicated is good. :D

And the better news is that I just cranked out 1200 words, when my goal for today was 500. :hooray:

I love it when my characters know better than I.

[RedMolly]

Rock on! Hooray for characters who start taking over and tearing $*** up!

[Neeli]

Hold on! I think you should have her still thinking that he's a jerk from the beginning, and then LATER she discovers he really a great guy--maybe once she's already dumped him. Still LOTS of conflict there I think.

Have fun!

[aadams73]

Maybe he's just pretending to be a jerk to protect himself. Maybe someone trampled all over him in the past.

[SeanDSchaffer]

Cool! I hope you have fun. It sounds like a good challenge.
:)

[Elena]

Hold on! I think you should have her still thinking that he's a jerk from the beginning, and then LATER she discovers he really a great guy--maybe once she's already dumped him. Still LOTS of conflict there I think.

Love this idea. Good luck!

[PeeDee]

That always drove me nuts in romantic-comedy movies, when the girl at the last moment realizes her heart's desire and leaves the one guy for the Love Of Her Life. And then we have the happy ending scene with the Happy Love Song.

...and I'm sitting there thinking, yeah, what about Ted? Poor guy! Probably went back to his apartment and hung himself! Where's his sodding good ending, that's what I want to know!

It's why I really adore movies like "In Her Shoes," and "Love Actually"

(don't tell the biker gangs I said that, please)

[Carrie in PA]

"Love Actually"

BEST. MOVIE. EVAH!!!!!!

I always cry when Jamie is talking to Aurelia in his butchered Portuguese...

Anyway. So you're suggesting that I have the jilted guy hang himself? I fear that may put me into another genre, but I'll give it a whirl. :D

[PeeDee]

If you were looking for a suggestion, then it's this:

At the beginning of your book, have the girl reach the alter with Her Man, and then realize that she's destined to be with the Man of Her Dreams, who is about to leave on a plane never to return. She flies away from the alter and rushes to her man, and they embrace (just like the ending of a romance movie) and go off on a plane, deeply in love...

...and then start chapter two. And then, from there on, tell me what happens to the poor sap who just got dumped at the alter.

...

Did I mention Elizabethtown on my little list there? no? I should have. That was a wonderful movie too. Very offbeat and entirely charming.

[Carrie in PA]

Actually, I've been thinking about this a good bit since you posted. It did annoy me in You've Got Mail (which I'm sure you've never seen :ROFL: ) that the MC and leading man both had SOs. And in lots of other movies. This topic was festering in my brain while I was supposed to be asleep. I think something is going to have to happen - maybe while she's deciding which man she should be with, Current Guy will dump her. Amicably, of course. I actually think that will work better for the story.

So I owe you a Coke. Or a spot on my acknowledgements page. :)

ETA: Elizabethtown was just OK for me. Quirky and fun, but it didn't make its way to my all-time favorites list.

[PeeDee]

Well, I don't drink soda any more, so that limits you to either a cup of tea, or a spot on your acknowledgement page. :)

Given the sheer amount of time I spending watching romantic comedies and then complaining/re-writing/explaining them, I think I'll wind up writing one someday, just to get all the problems I find out of the way and off my chest. I think I'll happily read yours when it's done, Carrie. :)

[Carrie in PA]

Whoops, forgot about the Dew. Tea and an acknowledgment it is. ;)