By Jove, I think I've got it.

[seriousfic]

So having come to a point in a story where I need two people who hate each other to fall in love, I've taken the cliched approach of putting them in close quarters and forcing them to work together, then letting the banter lead to love. I know, it's a well-worn trope, but I figure I can execute it well enough to be readable. Really, what's a genre except a trope that we love reading over and over again? (Action: Good guy beats bad guy, with difficulty. Romance: Boy gets girl. Children's movie: BUY THIS FUCKING TOY!)

Then I stumbled across an approach that's much better. For Character A, the easiest way to complete his objective is to make Character B fall in love with him. For Character B, the easiest way to complete her objective is to make Character A fall in love with her. So, naturally, they're pretending to fall in love while falling in love (or not).

Basically, I get to take all the lame romantic cliches like huddling together for warmth and comforting the traumatized female, and play them subversively. When Character A talks about his dead wife and the angst that drives him, he's making it all up! It's all one big subterfuge.

Now I just need to think of the most cliched, shop-worn, dead horse, Imma-write-about-this-on-fanficrants romance tropes I can find and put them in the story. Got any good ones?

Comments

[potatoko.livejournal.com]

Trapped in an elevator/cave/skiing cabin/santa's grotto!

TIMESINK WARNING

[mcity.livejournal.com]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LoveTropes
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RomanceNovelPlots

TIMESINK WARNING

[potatoko.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah! The Love Letter I Didn't Mean For You To Read That Shows My True Feelings! (That in this case would be a complete fabrication!)