Tag Archives: Writing romance with speculative twists

😳 Sliding Door Moments: How To Nail Alternate Reality Plots

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Have you ever wondered what would have happened if… You had turned down that job, stayed with that love interest, gone travelling instead of going to university, or taken a different life path?

Would you love to glimpse at what I refer to as the road not taken?

I am reflecting on the crossroads in my life and the roads I didn’t take;

What would have happened if, at seventeen, I had stayed with the handsome lifeguard who was great to look at but didn’t talk much? When he did talk (not that often) it was one maybe two word type answers. I couldn’t cope with the lengthy silences…

What would have happened if I had not gone to university and remained a till girl in the teenage clothing department of C&A?

What would have happened if I had self published my first ever novel – a space romcom which defied the laws of science but was like – Bridget Jones in space – and I had become famous because of it? Plus the famous scene where they are doing saucy things whilst passing by the rings of Saturn would be like a legendary film clip.

My mind is boggling.

There are lots of good examples of alternate reality stories. In one of my favourite books, The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Nora steps into a library filled with books representing different versions of her life. She gets to glimpse at the roads she didn’t take in life. In the film Sliding Doors, Gwyneth Paltrow’s character misses or catches a train, leading to two different life outcomes.

I love how small moments can have a profound impact on your life; the text message you didn’t send, the bus or train you missed, the party invite you declined or the notebook you didn’t buy – the one which you would have taken to a writer conference and as you proudly waved it about you would have caught the eye of someone significant (my notebook addiction coming through here – sorry).

Can you imagine being able to see what would have happened if you had got on the bus or gone to the party?

Why do we love these types of stories? I suppose they tap into deeper emotions, such as regret and curiosity, and they make us ask whether there is such a thing as destiny? Or is everything down to chance?

Here are some things to consider when writing stories where the character gets to see an alternate reality:

  • What lesson is the alternate reality TEACHING your character? It’s not about how things could have been; it is about what the character needed to LEARN.
  • Think about why your story needs alternate realities. It is a tool and it must be used to explore a character’s inner journey. It’s not just a gimmick.
  • Think about what your character will think by the end? How has it changed them?
  • Don’t go alternate reality crazy. Limit the number.

Good Luck …

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⏰ Groundhog Day But Better: How to Craft Time Loops In Your Fiction

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I am a fan of books and films where characters get stuck in a time loop and are forced to relive the same moments.

My love of time loops probably stems from watching the movie Groundhog Day. I can still remember sitting on the sofa, shovelling popcorn into my mouth and watching that 1993 comedy with Bill Murray and Andie MacDowell. It is a story of a man, Phil Connors, who lives the same day over and over again. Initially, he is a cynical and selfish weatherman, but by the end, after reliving the same day repeatedly, he begins to help and connect with others.

I love time loop stories because the characters get to learn from past mistakes, see the consequences of actions and immediately put that knowledge to good use.

Over the years I have read some great time loop stories:

  • The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August. Every time Harry dies, he’s reborn into the same life.
  • Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver. The character relives the day of her death over and over again until she can rewrite her legacy.
  • The Opposite of Always by Justin A. Reynolds. The character keeps reliving the moment his girlfriend dies.
  • In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren.
    Her character is stuck reliving the same Christmas holiday until she figures out what (and who) she really wants.

As I am in my speculative writing era, here are some things to think about if you are writing a time loop:

  • Time loops are not gimmicks. They are clever tools for character transformation. It took me a while to see this, but it is true. The time loop forces a character to change. The character isn’t in charge of the time loop and this is what makes it cool. The only control they have is their reaction to the loops and doing unpredictable things to find a way of breaking it. You need to think about what sort of transformation you want your character to have. Is the time loop a tool for helping your character process grief? Facing an emotional truth? Or fixing a broken relationship? Think about Groundhog Day and the transformation Phil Connors goes through.
  • Make the repetition feel fresh. There is a real danger with time loops that readers will get bored of the repeated moments. Don’t replay full scenes unless something significant changes.
  • Make your character relatable and interesting. The reader is going to go through a lot for this character.
  • The stages of your character accepting they are in a time loop and getting out of it. 1. repetition / confusion. 2. Fun experimentation. 3. Frustration. 4. A new hope. 5. Resolution.
  • Rules of the time loop are key. You need to establish these early on: when does the loop get reset (examples might include death, midnight, or a specific decision)? Who remembers the time loop? Is it just the main character, or are there others who also remember it?
  • It’s all about the exit strategy. How does your character break the loop? This is so important. To break the loop do they need to have learned something about themselves? Have they decided to change themselves? Or have they decided to forgive? This goes back to the purpose of the time loop and the transformation it is giving to your character.

As a romance author here’s some of my thoughts on how we can use time loops:

  • ❤️ Exploring -The One That Got Away.’ Fate gives your characters a second chance at a break up they never got over or a confession they need to have made. Love this!
  • 💔 To let someone go. Think lost love or processing grief, perhaps. Yes please and I will bring my box of tissues.
  • 🔥 Forced proximity. Trapped with your ex in a time loop – yikes! This has great potential and the stakes are high if enemies to lovers.
  • 🙈 Choosing the wrong person. The time loop forces them to see the error of their ways. Yes, yes, yes!

Enjoy writing your time loops.

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💻 Let’s Start a New Blogging Chapter

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This little blog has been trying to get my attention for sometime. For months it has been tugging at my virtual coat tails. It is persistent, I will give it that, and it was not put off by my excuses: too busy, too tired, have not consumed enough sugar and need to wait for blogging inspiration . It didn’t care about those.

So, here I am at the start of a new blogging chapter.

What’s been happening in my creative life? I had five contemporary romance books published, and then… something beautiful (see below) came into my life and I wrote a funny and heartfelt romance novel with a speculative twist (enemies to lovers in the afterlife). It didn’t go anywhere, but it unlocked something inside me.

I got so much enjoyment from writing that book (I even enjoyed editing it) that I decided to write more of these sorts of romances. These are love stories where I add a sprinkle of fantastical, supernatural or futuristic subplots. In simple terms my new stories couldn’t exist in reality, as something about the world I have created is fundamentally different.

I have tried to get my writing brain to return to contemporary romance, but it refuses and keeps serving me these weird but delicious love stories. Writing has become a joy again, and I have found a part of me that I never knew existed. There’s something liberating and satisfying about this new journey.

I blame my new antique Gothic writing bureau. Isn’t she beautiful? My husband found her on a second-hand church furniture website.

She’s giving me strong female energy and has done so since she arrived in a van…during a thunderstorm. She is such a diva and I love how she made a dramatic entrance into my writing life.

Ever since she arrived, all these fabulous wild and wacky new love story ideas appeared in my brain. I can’t write the stuff I used to write. It’s as if she slammed the door shut to contemporary romance and yanked opened a new one.

So, if you have ever wondered where I am, I am sitting at my antique Gothic bureau writing love stories which combine my love of all things weird. I am also hiding secrets in all of her little drawers.

I do wonder whether my Gothic writing bureau is possessed and is channelling all sorts of weird stuff through me. If this is the case you need to remember this blog post 🤣

Oh, and I am going to start blogging about all things weird and wonderful. I am going to write about things that blow my creative mind: time slips, synchronicities, special gifts (not the type wrapped up in pretty paper and a bow) and the unexplained.

My Gothic writing bureau and I both say hello and thank you for reading.

Until next week 🙂

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