Alyssa: You know, I didn't just heed what I was taught, men and women should be together, it's the natural way, that kind of thing. I'm not with you because of what family, society, life tried to instill in me from day one. The way the world is, how seldom it is that you meet that one person who just *gets* you - it's so rare. My parents didn't really have it. There were no examples set for me in the world of male-female relationships. And to cut oneself off from finding that person, to immediately halve your options by eliminating the possibility of finding that one person within your own gender, that just seemed stupid to me. So I didn't. But then you came along. You, the one least likely. I mean, you were a guy.
Holden: Still am.
Alyssa: And while I was falling for you I put a ceiling on that, because you *were* a guy. Until I remembered why I opened the door to women in the first place: to not limit the likelihood of finding that one person who'd complement me so completely. So here we are. I was thorough when I looked for you. And I feel justified lying in your arms, 'cause I got here on my own terms, and I have no question there was some place I didn't look. And for me that makes all the difference.I don't normally go in for realistic fiction. You know, coming of age stories, without all the flash of aliens or doors to other lands. However, some of my favorite books are in the realistic genre. And I know they are good, because I didn't seek them out. I didn't hunger after their plots or ideas. And yet, when I picked them up, they spoke to me. They were the least likely stories for me to fall for, and yet, I did.
Recently, I've been glued to The Bachelorette. A type of show I don't normally enjoy. Which is not a dig toward the people who are die-hard fans of the show. There are no judgments here. But, that show had never held any appeal to me at all, until this season.
This season, there are plot twists, naivete, subterfuge, backstabbing, and all kinds of train-wreck ingredients. I'm hooked. I want to find out if this girl is going to make it through relatively unscathed. I'm not wondering if she is going to find "the one". I am wondering if she will ever trust guys again.
Maybe she'll veer off her path, toward the least likely.
While watching the show, I think about the power a writer has of controlling what the characters know, and what the audience knows. And manipulating what we think (as the audience) the Bachelorette, the main character, knows. And how her character traits (trust, and insecurity) informs how she deals with the information, and makes her decisions.
Who could have guessed? Least likely, indeed.
What least likely place are you garnering writing knowledge from? (Yup, ending on a preposition. Don't judge me.)
Do you write or read outside of your preferred genre?
What's got you hooked?
How sweet is it when the balloon rings Owl's doorbell?
