A friend posted this article on “negotiated infidelity” today and I thought it would make an interesting jumping-off point for a discussion of the use of relationships in story.
Perhaps it’s because of the recent sex scandals or a more liberal attitude towards marriage but everyone seems to be discussing fidelity these days. In the past few weeks I’ve seen Cairo Time and The Kids Are All Right, two movies which explore the nature of marriage.
I always encourage my writers to try and tap into topics that are important to audiences and writing about fidelity (or at least including the topic in your story) is a terrific example of that.
As an exercise:
Is your hero in a romantic relationship? If so, how long have they been involved with this person? What are the rules of the relationship? Deeply committed? Open marriage? Now consider the same questions for your villain? Do they have different approaches to love, or the same?
