Thursday, June 14, 2012

Thursday on Definitions

I know y’all are getting tired of all my love related posts, but I write YA romances, so love is a pretty big component. Bare with me. This can apply to any genre not just the ones with romance.

My best friend and I are huge Vampire Diaries fans (the TV show version). I love the love triangle going on (which is surprising since I’m not a love triangle fan) for a very big reason.

I prefer Damon (not just because Ian Somerhalder is super attractive though I would be lying if I said that didn’t play a part in my decision).

My best friend prefers Stephan.

The reason I prefer Damon and my best friend prefers Stephan is because… we have different definitions of love.

I agree with Damon that love should be about passion (I blame all the romance books I read with the amazing relationships that glow from passion).
Damon: “You want a love that consumes you. You want passion and adventure, and even a little danger.’”

My best friend agrees with Elena that love should make you happy.
Elena: “’You should love the person that makes you glad to be alive.’”

The love triangle works so well because neither definition is wrong. Both guys offer their own version of love. I think we (people who watch the show) root for the guy that offers what we look for in love. Almost every book guy I like in books matches my definition of love, and I think the same goes for my best friend.

Normally, there is always one guy that 90% or the people lean towards since the writers favor that one guy or the guys are so similar (gorgeous, talented, funny, has a six pack, plastic, etc) that it doesn’t really matter who the girl chooses.

In Vampire Diaries, I don’t think there is a real winner. Each guy is so different in their personalities and offers something a new type of love to the table.The conflict is between which type of love do we want instead of which guy is more perfect. Do we want passion or happiness? Do we want adventure or comfort? Do we want danger or safety?

I really liked how the writers did this. As a writer, I’m always looking for unique ways to write, and I think the love triangle in Vampire Diaries is something we can all aspire to.

I think this could be an interesting way to add conflict to a story. Think of conflict that could have double meanings (like friendship, hatred, courage, beauty, knowledge, death, evil, trust, etc) and find a way to show case both sides of the definition. It’s not easy, but the conflict could be really interesting.

I’m not sure if this made any sense, but I hope someone might be inspired.

Are you Team Damon or Stephan? Why? Do you think the writers of Vampire Diaries used a unique technique to showcase the love triangle? What other twists do you put on love triangles? What other definition of something could you use to showcase this technique?

I found the quotes here.