Unexpectedly, I find myself doing a series bible for an author whose work I’ve read and enjoyed (though not the specific series for which she wants the bible). She posted on a blog about needing it done, and I emailed and said, “I’m sure you’ve had lots of offers, but if not, then I’m your girl.”
She hadn’t, so here I am. I just finished the first book, and my brain needs a break.
For those of you who don’t know, a series bible (I believe the term was borrowed from television) tracks all those hundreds of details about characters, settings, events, worldbuilding, and the like that, unless you have an eidetic memory with instant total recall, you will forget over time.
Does the hero’s cousin have blue eyes or brown? Is the heroine’s favorite bookshop on the corner of Main and Vine, or Main and Blossom? And so on.
So my task is to read the three books already finished and organize all those details in a format that is usable in the middle of writing the next book in the series.
I’m enjoying it a lot – I get to read good books, even if they’re in a genre I normally wouldn’t pick up (*such* a hardship – GRIN), and I’m a legal assistant at my day job, so organizing information is … well, I do it a lot (GRIN).
But the first book brought something to mind about the so-called “love triangle” that’s apparently spectacularly popular lately. (See, e.g., Twilight and The Hunger Games, and there are lots more that I’m not remembering off the top of my head.)
(And before I go any further, please note that I’m going to use an M/M/F setup for this discussion because that’s the one I’ve seen most often in fiction. I respect other setups, and I hope that if you prefer one of those other setups, you’ll make the mental adjustments necessary so the example flows for you, too.)
I say “so-called” because the triangles … aren’t, really. They’re more like Vs. Male A is attracted to Female, and Male B is attracted to Female; ultimately, Female will make a choice between the two of them. (Presumably; obviously there are other ways that scenario can play out, but we’ll stick with the outcome mostly expected for this discussion.)
Sounds great, right? I mean, what woman wouldn’t want to have two desirable guys interested in her? Even competing for her attention?
The problem is that … that’s all it is, a competition. Female will choose between Male A and Male B, and … what? What’s at stake for the males in this scenario?
That’s why I call it a V. Without consequences to the relationship between the males involved, there really aren’t any stakes to the relationship as a whole.
If the worst that happens when Female chooses, say, Male A is that Male B slinks off and licks his wounds and then, oh, picks up again with his ex or finds a new relationship soon-ish … what was the point of having the choice in the first place?
(To pad out a word count, suggests my slightly cynical subconscious, and there’s probably a grain of truth to that, since publishers require certain word counts, and subplots are a good way to increase the count. But that just proves my point.)
So if you want to write a triangle, rather than a V, invest some time in the relationship between Male A and Male B as well as the relationships between Male A and Female, and Male B and Female. Think about what happens after the choice – how will all three relationships change? What effect will those changes have on the story going forward?
And, just maybe, ask yourself if a romantic choice actually matters to your overall story.
