I’ve kind of been slack at blogging lately. And slack at Twitter. About the only social media thing I haven’t been slack at is Pinterest. Sigh. I’ve never been one for collages for my mss but there’s something about Pinterest that’s just so…Hmmmm…..
Anyway, my excuse for this slackness is due to finishing Mr Sheikhypants. Which I now have. Yay. Of course it does mean that now I have to write the synopsis. Not yay. Synopses and I do not get on. I’d far rather immerse myself in my new idea. Because yeah, now the sheikh is done, I have to put him away and think about the next story, and in the interests of staying ahead of rejections, I’m going ahead with a new Presents/Modern.
This new idea has come together rather different to anything I’ve done before and I think it’s a good thing. Instead of coming up with a set up and charging straight into it, I’ve actually taken the time to think about it before I start writing. Isane, right? 😉 I’ve decided to do a marriage of convenience story since I haven’t done one before and they’re always popular, with an enemies to lovers slant on it. But it isn’t really the trope that’s the important bit. It’s the characters that matter most. And this time I’ve actually tried to think about who they are as people first, before I decided on their conflict.
What I find interesting about this process for me now is that it feels like the characters come together in a much more organic way rather than merely being a collection of traits and conflicts stuck together. And now I know what type of people they are, I can look back over their pasts and see what their conflict might be and how it has shaped them. All of this without writing a word of the story.
However, this is going to be a tricky story. My hero has a very dark conflict, though actually, that’s not the tricky part. The tricky part is thinking of a good reason for a marriage of convenience! Anyone read any good MOC stories lately? Was the reason for the MOC plausible?? Any hints gratefully recieved…
I think MOC ( I love the acronyms in this profession!) definitely fit in the HOT category – as long as they are done well. I guess it’s all wrapped up in the whole GMC – if the conflict is weak enough that it can be solved in a simple conversation between the two protagonists then that birdy ain’t gonna fly. Same goes for the MOC for a weak reason. If the heroine could just get a loan and doesn’t really need the Hero then why marry him? Also if he’s a real prat – I think most women would rather cut out their own kidney and sell it than marry him. But the really good ones – yep I like ’em. Especially when it seems that one party has all the power, but then the tables are turned (usually emotionally) and I get all “ooooh he’s falling, he’s falling….he’s gone!”
Go ahead and write your MOC, Jackie. I reckon you’ll come up with a real hum dinger of a reason to force them together – torture them both like crazy – and then write the best HEA ever!
Elissa – eeeek! *checks her idea to makes sure it’s not weak* Well, I’m not sure really but I’m going to give it a go anyway! Thanks for the Faith, Elissa! 🙂
Ha, I see you’ve been caught by the Twitter bug! I literally LIVED there for a weeks when I first discovered it! Luckily, I *had* to break the addiction to tackle the writing. But the siren call has commenced again…
I haven’t read a MOC lately, I don’t think but they’re a trope I LOVE!!
I meant the Pinterest bug, not the Twitter one, hehe…
Man, I love MOC stories, so I’m not the best person to ask if it’s “plausible.” I tend to go with it b/c it is like candy to me. I love anything with forced proximity, engagement of convenience, you name it.
One I read recently that I did really love was Liz Fielding’s SOS: Convenient Husband Required. It was a Romance, not a Modern, but I thought she pulled off the sexual tension well. The two characters had an interrupted love affair as teenagers and the heroine’s grandfather had broken it off and forced them to go their separate ways. I felt like their shared history made it a bit more realistic and helped the sexual tension as well b/c their first love affair was never “ahem” consummated even though they came really close. 🙂 So that longing and wondering is always in the back of their minds. . .
Maya – mmmm, yeah, I love it. I think it’s replaced Twitter for me. MOCs are pretty cool huh? I’m just hoping the reason for mine works!
Jill – Hehe! Yay for MOCs! Ooooh, that sounds very sexy. I love lots of ST. And yes, I think the shared past tends to help. Longing and wondering…such a lovely way to put it!