Hidden story – another example for minor characters
Was day dreaming in the car this lazy Saturday afternoon, when I stumbled upon a hidden story in Four Weddings and a Funeral.
Remember how FiFi (played by the very elegant and sylph-like Kristin Scott Thomas) always wore black to weddings? It was always there in the background. Fiona, smoking, always in black. She mumbles something about it to an old lady at a church once, but beyond that, we just think it’s her special thing. Her private diatribe against the entire enterprise, perhaps.
Until she owns up to Charles (Hugh Grant) that her love of her life is
You, Charlie.
It’s always been you.
Since first we met so many years ago.
I knew the first moment.
Across a crowded room. A lawn, in fact.
Doesn’t matter.
Nothing either of us can do
on this one. Such is life.Friends isn’t bad, you know.
Friends is quite something.
And then when he prepares to marry Duckface, Fifi is seen in the church to have broken her fast of wearing black, and the audience finally gets the Ah Hah!
Hidden story for minor characters. Doesn’t have to be huge. Just has to be effective and elegant.
The hidden story
Was reading an article about the narrative trinity – namely,
- the back story
- the present story
- the hidden story
of each character. And while I’ve been spending the whole of August and half of July pulling together the back story and the present story, I never got around to categorising part of the plot as the hidden story.
The hidden story has been defined in a couple of ways. Read more
How to write a eulogy you can live with
I just got back from two solid weeks of mass grieving. Seriously, we’re talking a week-long wake, a full-on funeral, and two memorials in two continents. And because it got to be such a protracted and elaborate affair, I ended up listening to a heap of eulogies and remembrance speeches. And there were good ones and bad ones.
I also ended up writing two of them – one for each memorial in each continent.
So here’s my cheat guide on how to write and deliver a eulogy
How to make your hero infertile
So I met with the writing group tonight, and we got to talking about male infertility during a brainstorm session. Basically someone in my writing group is looking to make her hero infertile but still, you know, studly.
Therefore, he couldn’t find himself Suddenly Emasculated (no pencil in back pocket dramas, ala While You Were Sleeping) or suffering from prostate cancer. Apparently stress-related infertility is a myth, and mumps as a reason has been “overdone”. And this is when I sat up and learnt something new.
Apparently,
- there are heaps of romance novels that deal with the hero thinking that he’s infertile
- the purported infertility in such novels is usually a temporary condition, or actually the fault of the previous lover
- if the hero does indeed suffer from temporary infertility, the most popular reason given is his brush with mumps.
Mumps! I don’t know which tickles me more – the fact that there are a swag of plotlines that revolve around male infertility, or the fact that mumps-induced infertility is apparently the most common reason given in romance novels.
I just read another reason for infertility that definitely could mark the hero as a stud. Too much nookie. Apparently, frequent intercourse can also make a man infertile. See? Sexier already.
Characters possibly getting non-standard and OTT. HELP!
So I’ve finished what I’d aimed to do today – 5 character profiles. One of which involves a pretty creepy villain who can honestly be described as a predatory stalker.
Which leads me to conduct a mini debate in my head over a couple of things.
- I have Christians in my romance novel, but I’m not writing an inspirational romance.
In all honesty, I don’t see why Christians – or any other religion, for that matter – should be left out of romance novels as if religion didn’t exist in Lurve Land. 1 in 3 people the world over are Christians; 85% of the world believes in some kind of religion. And yes, art, as the imitater of life, should be able to talk about sex and romance AND Christianity. Christians can be passionate, too.Problem is, I don’t think most publishers want to talk about Christian romances and all the angst about being in love with a non-believer. And yet it’s one of the most common forms of forbidden love in the world.
- I have a predatory stalker, as mentioned above.
And suddenly, my book seems OTT to me. It’s supposed to be light and fluffy and fun… and I have a villain that is, frankly, creepy. He is part of the subplot involving 2 of my minor characters… but the fact remains that I have a creepy villain who is psychologically disturbed. And I’m lacking the guts right now to go through with it. Even though I want to indulge my darker side.
So. If I were to not have a predatory stalker villain, can someone please devise a way for my subplot hero to save his woman in a grand, heroic gesture? That also involves, preferably, a punch-up?
Or do predatory stalkers happen more often in romance novels than I realise?
Anyone? 2M2Z3UTSJPA9
