The Men Who Complete Them...Or Not...

Navigating one of many airports I conquered this past week, I had the fabulous fortune of meeting two terrific ladies who blessed me with a profound aha moment I'm anxious to share with all of you out there in blogburbiaville...

I'd 'carded' the ladies (with my business card) while traveling in the underground monorail system between concourses. Upon reading my tag line "It's all about sexy, sassy, smart women and the men who complete them", they waited for me at the top of the escalator beyond the monorail and suggested I might add "...and the men who complete them...or not...".

We all got a great laugh out of the idea, but as I waited at my gate - after spending $27 for two cheese, cracker and grape plates to tide me over for the next two flights (sorry...I digress) - I gave their sexy, sassy, smart comment the thought it deserved.

I'm always amazed and delighted by the God's Laughing Timing of how new information hits us as human beings. I'd been studying up all week on how to turn my chick-lit-toned novels into romantic comedies to position myself a bit stronger in acquisitions. Asking myself what it was that made a story more RomCom than Chick Lit. Thanks to one great screenwriting and story analyst legend Billy Mernit and these two 'ladies of the airport', I had my answer.

So here it goes...well, at least my D. D. Scott definition of what makes for a fabulous Romantic Comedy:

We see the Hero and Heroine meet that first time and feel the sizzle of that first spark between them. (For those of you who've read the excerpt posted on my website, that means, as a romantic comedy version, you're now going to see when Roxy rear-ends Zayne's tomato truck. Talk about fabulous fun...I laughed-out-loud adding the new chapters one and two!!!) We also get a lot clearer picture of why Roxy is who she is, and I like that. We immediately get a sense of why they complete each other as a romantic couple, even if they don't get it at first or get it but choose to downplay their attraction.

I've also used the three dogs in the story to a greater degree...so I upped the ante of my canine cast! LOL!!!

After studying Billy Mernit's take on RomCom, I feel exhilarated in that I've discovered that perhaps my true genre fit or natural proclivity as a writer is to create farcical Romcoms using a bit of satire and biting wit to expose just how much of an idiot we as human beings risk appearing and/or become in the name of love.

Fun stuff!

Okay...so there you have it...the D. D. Scott take on romantic comedies...and boy did the 'ladies in the airport' nail it...it's definitely the "men who complete them (my sexy, sassy, smart heroines)...or not...because it's that "maybe not" factor and the idiots we become to make it "you're mine, Baby" versus "maybe not" that keeps us turning the pages 'til the happily ever after...and then some.

Sexy, Sassy, Smart Wishes --- D. D. Scott

P.S. I do, for sure, keep my sexy, sassy, smart chick-lit edge and tone though throughout my novels. That's where my voice comes through loud and oh-so-catty-clear!!!

P.S.S. What keeps you as readers turning the pages? Is it humor? Fabulous characters? Can't-wait-to-see-what-happens-next plots? Settings you can 'see' on every page? An emotional connection with the characters allowing you to live vicariously through them?

Labels: My Muses (The Carrie Squad)

2 Comments:

jaw said...: Good Morning D.D., I just read your fabulous, latest blog!! The ladies you met at the airport sounded like a "hoot." I stay interestd in a book that keeps my attention & begs me to keep on reading to see what's going to happen next-----the one that you just can't put down! I can't wait to read yours!!!!!; March 31, 2009 at 6:14 AM
Unknown said...: Thanks soooo much for stopping by, Jaw!

I know what you mean about "the one you just can't put down". I've got one of those keepers in the works right now.

Talk about a book you keep turning pages of even though you could use the extra zzzzzzzzzs...try "Sleeping with Ward Cleaver" by Jenny Gardiner...from the title and the first page to every page thereafter, I'm laughing out loud along with devouring each new chapter.

Sexy, Sassy, Smart Wishes --- D. D. Scott; March 31, 2009 at 3:54 PM