Past Romance

As I mentioned last time, once I started getting desperate for those sweet NaNoWriMo words, I started rewriting a part I had written earlier. In addition to upping the creep factor, I also delved into a piece of romantic backstory that had only been vaguely referenced before.

There's something notable about this. And yeah, it's the fact that I had a romantic backstory at all. I actually wrote out and explained how these character were connected, and how they had, um, connected. If I actually try to rewrite the whole story, it probably won't be dropped in there so abruptly, but I think it might actually have a place in the grand scheme of things.

To summarize it, Andrea and Jesse had dated for a few months, a couple of years prior to the events of the story. It didn't work out, but ended amicably. Yes, that can happen. Then at some point after that, her and Tony nearly hooked up after a night of drinking, but didn't go through with it. It was never spoken of again. But I found that after actually finally writing that down, there was a bit of certain… tension between the two of them. Which I'm kind of digging. It adds an interesting new dynamic.

Now, some might say that those two past events should have happened concurrently. That is, that while she's dating one guy, she almost does his best friend/roommate. For the drama and all that. But let me be abundantly clear.

That. Is. Not. Fucking. Happening.

I have some strong feelings about cheating. Especially in fiction. It's a cheap manufactured conflict. They say shit like, "Oh, it just happened!" No, it didn't just happen. Somewhere along the line, you made a conscious decision. It's not like tripping and spilling a drink, or accidentally eating a whole box of Oreos.

So yeah, not doing that.

The backstory events took place 2-3 years before the main events of the story. So while I know it's there, and it happened, I still haven't discovered all the present day repercussions of that information. How is it going to shape the plot in future drafts.

And yes, I do want to develop this story further. I went into NaNo half-cocked (or a quarter-cocked, more likely. I just… I wasn't cocked), and the story didn't really get to live up to its full potential. If I can develop some semblance of a plot and maybe finally figure out why they're going to California, maybe I can make something of this. I think these characters have a lot of potential so far (although Andrea needs to grow a personality), and they really deserve a chance to kick ass and die repeatedly.

I'll see you Friday.