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First small roadblock...

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Iconoclasm

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So I am writing a new romance novel for 2017 (woot woot)!

I've hit a small roadblock after 8k. So far, my characters have met at the school where they work, and I've done a couple of chapters showing their individual home lives. I now have them in a bar on a Friday night after work and I want something to happen - nothing big, just something that moves it from regular conversation to a little bit more of an exciting night out - that moves them a little closer in their relationship.

Any ideas?

:)
 

anakhouri79

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A bar brawl? There is kareoke and they discover they like the same music and do a fantastic/disastrous duet?
 

Iconoclasm

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I like the bar brawl idea... I'm thinking the male MC could have one too many and lose his temper at something :)
 

Marissa D

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Instead of looking for a random event, what can you do that ties into one of the hero or heroine's goals or fears? Does one of them hate to dance, or starts flirting with someone else and stirs up the other's incipient jealousy, or---?
 

mccardey

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Instead of looking for a random event, what can you do that ties into one of the hero or heroine's goals or fears? Does one of them hate to dance, or starts flirting with someone else and stirs up the other's incipient jealousy, or---?
Agree with this. You want to avoid a list of events: better to have some idea of either the end-point of your story or the theme you're trying to uncover and look at ways of drawing the reader toward that goal. This doesn't mean you have to plot it out - I'm a pantser myself - but you do need to have a strong enough idea of either characters, plot or theme (or preferably all three) that the next thing that happens has the integrity of the past as well as the potential to become an integrated part of the story.

Asking strangers who don't know your book to suggest something is probably not a bad writing prompt, but it may not serve your novel.
 
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andiwrite

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It really depends on what you want to happen. I agree with mccardey. We could give you any number of writing prompts, but without knowing where you plan to take the story, it's pretty random.

If the goal is simply to take the relationship to the next level, they could discover something important they have in common (if it involves a common challenge that has to do with the stakes, even better).
If you want something to challenge/set back the relationship, one of them could get drunk and do something stupid like you said.
If the goal is to introduce a side plot, the other characters could enter the bar at this time, etc.

Sorry if this isn't very helpful. Do you have an idea of where you're going with this?
 

Marian Perera

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Instead of looking for a random event, what can you do that ties into one of the hero or heroine's goals or fears?

I think this is a better approach. If the hero gets tipsy/drunk and starts a fight, I'd want to see if drinking and belligerence were a habit on his part, and how the heroine feels about it, and so on. There'd be consequences, in other words. So it would be better to pick some action inspired by the characters' needs, fears or goals.
 

Jack McManus

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How about taking a conflict from one character's personal life (examined in an earlier scene) and work it into their conversation? Something that will tie this scene to what you've set up previously. Or have them observe something while they are out together and have that affect one of them emotionally, recalling what you showed earlier from that person's home life. Then play on that spark to involve the other person, drawing them together.
 

Keithy

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We need to know their backstories to know what would make a significant event. What would be fun is if they were entangled together in the past and didn't know it and/or won't admit it. For instance, if one was a reformed drug addict and the other was once a drug dealer. Or one was a prostitute and the other once had "dealings" with her (I thought you looked familiar, but didn't dare say anything). And the perhaps turn up and raid the place, they both get arrested and there's some explaining to do.
 

Once!

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What's the worst thing that could happen to your characters?

What is the most likely?

What would one character want and the other would hate?

What is the most remarkable and interesting thing that has happened to you in that situation.

Stephen King said that he worked by inventing interesting characters and then putting them into a situation where even he didn't know how they were going to get out. That technique made for some interesting conflict and brilliant beginnings, if not always the best of endings.
 

Olde1649

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How about this? Someone returns to the bar: they've lost their car keys, and they were sitting where you two characters are sitting. They're really stuck without the keys (fill in reasons why); they're a bit distressed. Your two characters help look - they realise that both of them are moved by the story of the lost car keys.

(Something like this happened to me once.)
 

morngnstar

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Does it have to be a bar? You've picked sort of a generic go-to meet-up location. Nothing can really happen in a bar, except anything that can happen anywhere else. Mostly people talk in bars. Pick a different setting where something can happen. Maybe they are hosting a PTA bake sale. Maybe somebody drops the cookies all over the parking lot, but the PTA really needs the money, so they spend half an hour picking the bits of asphalt out. No idea if this would move your plot forward, but it would be something that happens and matters to the characters.
 

liritha

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I agree. I think letting the situation arise naturally from who your characters are and their unique traits/background is much better than forcing them in a predetermined scene. Think about where these two people might end up together - what are their hobbies, or the places they frequently visit? Off the top of my head, you can have them go for a hike and get lost, even spend the night in the wilderness (just make sure they have a tent or at least a pair of sleeping bags). They can decide to go to the nearby town only to have their car break down in the middle of the road - is there a motel in sight? Not sure if you want them to be that close so soon, but these are just some generic ideas.

If you're struggling with ideas, try a plot generator (I've never actually used the ideas it's given me but they were a great starting point for a brainstorming session). Hope that helps :)
 
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