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Saturday, July 16, 2011

Lisa Dale: Weddings and Writers

Hi all!

It's official! I'm happily married! I don't have wedding pictures for you yet, but I will post them as soon as I do.

The wedding itself went well and I think everyone had a good time, which was what was most important to us. And Matt and I had fun too--more fun even than we expected to have (though honestly we didn't eat a bite and I can hardly remember the reception it was such a whirl!). It was so nice to see both of our families all gathered together in one place.

There are so many stories with weddings in them, it's impossible to even count. Ever wonder why? It's not just because weddings are great for visuals.

For writers, it's important to make private conflicts public at some point. If you can have the hero or heroine stuck in the most critical point of the story while he or she is in a public place and has a lot at stake, you'll increase the tension level.

A writer could make a scene where the hero confesses his love in private--and if the heroine rejects him then he simply skulks away with at least some of his dignity intact. Or the same writer could have the hero confess his love when it really matters--in public, at a celebration of love, in the face of wild optimism and huge risk. Then, if he's rejected, he's shattered both publicly and privately.

I think Frank Capra probably gets a lot of credit for this trope of "the big reveal at a wedding." Remember It Happened One Night (the movie, not my book of the same title)? At the end, there's a huge wedding--the heroine is about to walk down the aisle and marry the wrong man while Clark Gable is scrambling to stop things...

I love the movie It Happened One Night because it established so many strong techniques of storytelling for romance. But I think that having had my own wedding gives me a whole new understanding of the wedding as a plot device!

People have been asking, "Does it feel different to be married?" And the answer is, yes and no. Every time I look down at my wedding ring I feel all warm and happy. And when I hear Matt on the phone with someone saying "my wife and I..." I'm thrilled that he's talking about me.

My own happy ending. And luckily, there were no last-minute life changing reveals at my wedding!

QUESTION: What do you think? Are wedding scenes in movies overdone? Sick of them? Or love them?

Cheers,

Lisa Dale
http://www.lisadalebooks.com

7 comments:

Na said...

Congratulations on your wedding!
Wishing you and yours a wonderful marriage. I don't think wedding scenes in movies are overdone, if done right and they suit the couple and their perosnalities it can be both fun and romantic. It is only overdone to me, if there is nothing special about it, but if it is personalized I love them. I love the dress, seeing the man's eyes light when he spots his bride and all the other jazz that goes with it. Perhaps a harmless mishap or two for laughs :)

Estella said...

Congratulations on your wedding!


I love wedding scenes.

Sally Clements said...

Congratulations on your wedding! I love books with weddings in them, especially ones where the characters aren't the bride and groom.

Michelle Styles said...

Congratulations on your wedding!

Weddings are great in books as long as they further the conflict.
In real life, they should be all about celebrating.

Mary Preston said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

I don't think I could ever get sick of reading about or watching weddings. Magical or hilarious!!

Pat Cochran said...

Congratulations and Best Wishes to you
and Matt. May you share many happy years together! As for weddings, I love
attending them and enjoy reading about
them, regardless of how they turn out!

Pat Cochran

Jo's Daughter said...

Congrats!!!

I personally love weddings, can't get enough of them.