Prince Nácil Blog Tour! Day Six | Isn’t It Romantic?

I’ve always been a romantic at heart. My favorite stories—whatever the genre—are those where the Hero and Heroine live Happily Ever After at the end.
… which is ironic, considering I still can’t stand to watch people kiss. In fact, for the longest time, I couldn’t bring myself even to write the word “kiss” in my stories, let alone describe a tender love scene. Mind you, my earlier works featured children and teenagers as the protagonists, so it wouldn’t have been appropriate anyhow. Still … squeamish much? :-P

[All pictures via Pinterest]

Prince Nácil was my first serious foray into the realm of Romance. I had dabbled with couple interactions now and then as I got older, but never put any concerted effort into their stories until Nácil and Múriel came along.

Admittedly, this was one of those times where imagination had to fill in for experience.
It’s one thing to read books and watch movies and TV shows where people fall in love and enjoy one another’s company (or go on a journey of discovery as they figure each other out *coughcoughDarcyandElizabethcough*), and (sometimes) get married in the end … but quite another to craft a convincing love story myself.

How does one write interactions between two characters one has destined to love each other, when one is so idiotically bashful and self-conscious around the opposite gender in Real Life? How does one write a convincing progression from attraction to love to marriage, when one hasn’t even been on that first date?

As I said, I’m a hopeless romantic deep down, and the Good Lord has given me an active imagination. With it, I’m able to take my observations and information I’ve gathered on the subject and imagine what I hope will be realistic scenarios based on that. I also tend to imagine 1.) what I find especially attractive and/or desirable in a man, and write my protagonist accordingly (with variations in personality and such, of course), and 2.) how I would think, feel, and/or do in a given situation if I was one or another of the characters (and if I wasn’t so [expletive deleted] shy and driven by emotion :-P).

In Nácil and Müriel’s case (or Victüriel, if you’re into this whole shipping† names malarkey ;-)), it was relatively easy to imagine how they would act because … they’re a lot like myself, actually.

Nácil is my noble, justice-driven, caring side; the part of me that is fiercely loyal to my loved ones and desires their happiness and success (and woe to anyone who hurts or mistreats them!). I probably made him a bit too emotional for one of the male persuasion … but seeing as this is Fantasy, I can lampshade it by saying that Elf-lords are more in tune with their feelings than the average Son of Adam. ;-)

Müriel … *nervous laugh* … Müriel wasn’t supposed to be one of my fictional alter egos, but it just sort of … happened. I ended up giving her a lot of my self-doubt, fears, and insecurities, as a result of past emotional trauma. (Mind you, I was NEVER emotionally or physically abused growing up like Müriel was, but I’ve always been too sensitive for my own good … and I kept running into people to whom considering others’ feelings was a foreign concept, so ….) On the flip-side, Müriel, like Nácil, has a lot of my highly-developed sense of justice and fairness, and a heart for giving help and comfort when needed. She’s just not as confident about it as he is.

† Shipping = Believing two people would make a cute couple. Derived from the word “relationship.” Often expressed by the phrase, “I ship it,” and combining the first names of the parties involved into one. Basically matchmaking.

No, it wasn’t their personalities that often had me banging my head on the wall in frustration (figuratively speaking). It was progressing their interactions from shy self-depreciation (on her part) and kind cluelessness (on his), to mutual love, respect, and understanding. I agreed with my family when they said Müriel’s character had to get beyond the “I’m not worthy” stage long before the climax. Brokenness and self-doubt can only go so far before people find it annoying. (At one point in the initial writing stage, my cool-headed, logic-driven brother declared, “I just want to smack her”—which shows you how much of a mess her character development was, LOL.)

It was only when they suggested that she follow Nácil’s example of strength in the midst of weakness, and in turn giving him some of her strength, that things began to click.

Similarly, Nácil was just as broken as Müriel, but in a different way. Like Müriel, he was also haunted by past trauma; but whereas Müriel internalized it and blamed herself for everything she endured, Nácil blamed the parties responsible and struggled with unforgiveness. This led to trust issues involving anyone he associated with the horrors he endured, and he had to learn the hard way that one’s own perspective isn’t the whole story.

Admittedly, I probably delayed the Declaration a bit too long … but I’d already written the climax long before the in-between bits of their relationship, and I didn’t want to toss out all the beautiful drama. :-P (Ahh, the joys of non-linear inspiration!)

On the whole, I feel I’ve learned a lot from writing this book, and perhaps taken a step towards integrating the Romance angle into my stories more believably, and with confidence.

But I promise not to allow it to overshadow the actual Plot; nor will you ever find anything graphic or “spicy” in any of my future work. I don’t touch that kind of garbage, and I certainly couldn’t bring myself to write it!

My prayer is that my writing will instead showcase romantic relationships patterned after God’s standards—relationships and marriages based on mutual trust, respect, selfless love. Not necessarily a Happily Ever After every time (because happiness isn’t forever), but more of a “We’re in this together” ever after. Couples whose mantra is, “Us against the problem, with God over all.”

In other words … the sort of relationship and marriage I would want in my own life, should God deem me worthy. Until then (if ever), I can give it to my characters, and perhaps inspire my future readers to work towards such a goal in their own lives. That would be awesome.

Thanks for stopping by! Be sure to check out the rest of the Tour:

July 5th

Rambling Rose: Isn't It Romantic?

Live. Love. Read.: Review

Until next time, Gentle Readers,
God bless,

~ℛ~