Il triangolo no! or how I got stuck in a triangle...

Lauretta · Oct 5, 2009

Hi all,
I need help to get out of a triangle....
My heroine falls in love with a guy who is involved in a relationship with another woman.
When I started to write, I did not want him to be in a relationship, I wanted to write a sort of misunderstanding between the 3 of them, so that at the end he is not engaged with that one, but now I am thinking that it could be more challenging if they are together....
The question is how do I get my MC out of that place? do you think it will be interesting something like having his real girlfriend seing them? or that maybe she is his brother's girlfriend or a cousin whom none of their friends knew?
It is character-driven story and I feel wandering in the dark!
Any suggestion is welcome!

panda · Oct 5, 2009

My heroine falls in love with a guy who is involved in a relationship with another woman.

Err...right there I lose total sympathy for both characters...the homewrecker heroine and the cheating/wandering eye hero. I will say the only book I tolerated cheating MCs was in the English Patient.

do you think it will be interesting something like having his real girlfriend seing them?

This would give sympathy to a non-MC. You want sympathy to stay with your MCs.

r that maybe she is his brother's girlfriend or a cousin whom none of their friends knew?

This is often used. The heroine finds out the other girl was just a sister/cousin/some sort of blood relative..etc so as not to cast aspersions on hero's characater as philandering dog lol.

NewKidOldKid · Oct 5, 2009

Sorry, cheating would totally turn me off too. I don't buy the whole "but she's making me miserable and is not the love of my life, so it's ok to cheat." Well, then leave the poor bastard and then do whatever you want with the new date/lover.

sunandshadow · Oct 5, 2009

I could see it if the heroine fell in love with the guy, not knowing that he was in a relationship, but then when she finds out she resolves to remain silent about her unrequited love because she specifically doesn't want to interfere in their relationship. But maybe she tells her friend her troubles, and the friend knows the guy's relationship with the other woman isn't what it seems. Or maybe the other woman has more power/money than the guy and publicly mistreats him. Or possibly the guy was blackmailed into a marriage contract...

But, if you want to have the characters struggling with the problems of cheating and jealousy, you can do that if you want as long as you don't expect the result to be classified as a romance novel. I've got an 'erotic romance' piece where a man going through a midlife crisis realizes he wants a divorce, and meanwhile falls in love with a younger woman. It would never get published by a traditional romance publisher, but erotica publishers don't usually have a problem with infidelity.

Lauretta · Oct 5, 2009

panda said:
Err...right there I lose total sympathy for both characters...the homewrecker heroine and the cheating/wandering eye hero. I will say the only book I tolerated cheating MCs was in the English Patient.

aarrgghh!!! I can feel my people pleaser side coming forward!

panda said:
This would give sympathy to a non-MC. You want sympathy to stay with your MCs.

Good point, never consider it before

panda said:
This is often used. The heroine finds out the other girl was just a sister/cousin/some sort of blood relative..etc so as not to cast aspersions on hero's characater as philandering dog lol.

LOL that's a good one!

panda · Oct 5, 2009

laurafre said:
aarrgghh!!! I can feel my people pleaser side coming forward!

lol, I struggle with this too, just see my other threads in romance and everywhere else.

One place where I can think that this did work was in Shopaholic. He flirts with her (harmless--they don't actually do anything) and then he mentions he has a girlfriend (b/c he doesn't think they're on an actual date) and the MC gets all offended like you were leading me on (you asked me out on a date), they eventually end up together, but by the time they see each other again he is sans girlfriend and real flirting can ensue.

Lauretta · Oct 5, 2009

sunandshadow said:
I could see it if the heroine fell in love with the guy, not knowing that he was in a relationship, but then when she finds out she resolves to remain silent about her unrequited love because she specifically doesn't want to interfere in their relationship. But maybe she tells her friend her troubles, and the friend knows the guy's relationship with the other woman isn't what it seems. Or maybe the other woman has more power/money than the guy and publicly mistreats him. Or possibly the guy was blackmailed into a marriage contract...

all interesting solutions... My MC is 15 and she discovers he dates someone else almost immediately, from a common friend.
I have been writing of him in this way because I find it a bit hard to write about a super good hero deeply in love with the MC... I don't have personal issues with men (LOL) it is just that I do not think that one is all good or all bad, there is always a double side, I need to find out how to express this in my novel...

sunandshadow said:
But, if you want to have the characters struggling with the problems of cheating and jealousy, you can do that if you want as long as you don't expect the result to be classified as a romance novel. I've got an 'erotic romance' piece where a man going through a midlife crisis realizes he wants a divorce, and meanwhile falls in love with a younger woman. It would never get published by a traditional romance publisher, but erotica publishers don't usually have a problem with infidelity.

I noticed that I have a tendency to fall into the eroticism every now and then, and it takes me good time to get back on track.
I might need to explore this area a bit more I guess, in order to understand where I want them to go.

Lauretta · Oct 5, 2009

panda said:
lol, I struggle with this too, just see my other threads in romance and everywhere else.

OMG, that is why it always takes me ages to reply!!

panda said:
One place where I can think that this did work was in Shopaholic. He flirts with her (harmless--they don't actually do anything) and then he mentions he has a girlfriend (b/c he doesn't think they're on an actual date) and the MC gets all offended like you were leading me on (you asked me out on a date), they eventually end up together, but by the time they see each other again he is sans girlfriend and real flirting can ensue.

I did not remember they ended up together! I read it so many years ago that I completely forgotten about it!

AuburnAssassin · Oct 5, 2009

Oops, never mind. Read Panda's note below and saw the 15 yo age of heroine. My example that I had given would not apply.

panda · Oct 5, 2009

laurafre said:
all interesting solutions... My MC is 15 and she discovers he dates someone else almost immediately, from a common friend.
I have been writing of him in this way because I find it a bit hard to write about a super good hero deeply in love with the MC... I don't have personal issues with men (LOL) it is just that I do not think that one is all good or all bad, there is always a double side, I need to find out how to express this in my novel...

I didn't realize you were writing YA Romance. This might give you more leeway in the having a girlfriend department (because er...young love is fickle lol

). It's a good thing that you want your characters to be flawed. Flaws are what make them relatable. But there are certain flaws readers do not want or will not relate to cheating heroes/heroines is usually a turnoff in the romance genre.

If she finds out right off the bat that he is seeing someone else, why would she pursue him, knowing it will hurt the other girl? I would examine your MCs motivation. Why does she do the thing she does? Does she have commitment issues (at 15 lol), is he only attractive because he is unattainable (ie he's with someone else, so she can't get hurt). Really, delve deep into your MCs character. Vice Versa. Why would your hero unfeelingly toss aside his girlfriend? Be careful not to make the other man/woman a bad stock character (easily hateable). This is why it's so tricky in a triangle our loyalties are torn. REaders don't know who to root for, and they should always be rooting for your MCs. The number one rule is make her/him sympathetic. In real life, this sort of drama happens all the time, but fiction, especially romance is idealized versions of life, that's why we like reading instead of say a memoir or biography with not-so-happy endings or even worse in-betweens.

Lauretta · Oct 6, 2009

Yes, it is YA Romance, maybe I posted it under the wrong category, might need to ask the mod to change it.
I understand I need to work more on my MC's motivation as well as the story, as I keep on forgetting this is fiction, it's for YA and it's fantasy as well.....

Cathy C · Oct 6, 2009

For the moment, I'm going to leave this here, because there does seem to be a romance going on in the book, and it's a really good question that a lot of writers have. But because it's a YA, does the romance RESOLVE? That's what would make it YA romance (which really is a subgenre) or is it a love story where the parties don't end up with an HEA (Happily Ever After?)

Lauretta · Oct 7, 2009

Hi Cathy,
Yes, the story does resolve, but when they start to date properly, something else happens on her side. But, in fact, they stick together.

MaggieK · Oct 7, 2009

I usually like Rachel Hawthorne's YA romance books -- they are light and funny and a really fun read. Her "Snowed In" book, though, had a plotline where the heroine falls for a guy who already has a girlfriend. The heroine doesn't know he has a girlfriend at first, though, and it turns out to be someone the heroine knows. It ruined the story for me. I just wanted to punt-kick the book across the room.

Lauretta · Oct 7, 2009

MaggieK said:
It ruined the story for me. I just wanted to punt-kick the book across the room.

Ahh, that's very bad!
The same happened to me when I read that Anna Karenina throws herself under a train and dies! That was written in the introduction of the book, which I stupidly read without knowing the story!!!! I literally ripped off those pages!

Have you managed to read the book till the end? Or that put you off?

MaggieK · Oct 7, 2009

Hi Laura -- I confess I never finished the book! I was too busy being in a snit to finish

I still love Rachel Hawthorne's writing, though (for the most part). That plotline was just too big of a turn-off for me.

Il triangolo no! or how I got stuck in a triangle...

Lauretta

In the fantasy word.

panda

its harders sto type withh paaws

NewKidOldKid

diplomat

sunandshadow

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Lauretta

In the fantasy word.

panda

its harders sto type withh paaws

Lauretta

In the fantasy word.

Lauretta

In the fantasy word.

AuburnAssassin

Darkly Romantic Curmudgeon

panda

its harders sto type withh paaws

Lauretta

In the fantasy word.

Cathy C

Ooo! Shiny new cover!

Lauretta

In the fantasy word.

MaggieK

Lauretta

In the fantasy word.

MaggieK