Wednesday, August 22, 2012

A Love List- In Retrospect


This Week's Topic is: Inspired by Stephanie Perkins' post on Natalie Whipple's blog, what is your novel's "Love List"?





I love this idea of using a a Love List for brainstorming a new book.

I'm going to attempt a retrospective inspirational love list for my CHEATER BEATERS, even though I wrote the original version many years ago.

For me, love started with the characters. And, like most stories, real and imagined, it started with a guy:


A playboy, honest but unwilling to commit


Who is the perfect girl for him (or, the one who will give me the best story)?


A girl who's been cheated on by all her boyfriends


Driver's Ed
Troubled past
Move from mom to dad
City boy/New country life
Cornhole
Half brothers 
Swimmer
Solid, book smart best friend
School? Who cares
Hiatus from guys
Country music fan
Younger brothers
Parents in love
Bruised Banana
Gross-out Dairy Queen Blizzards
Covered bridge
Wigs
Spy Gear
Revenge
Break from the usual


That's it. Easy to do after the book is written. More useful to do beforehand:)


What about you? Have you tried this before?

Want to win an ARC? Check below. Contest still open.

16 comments:

  1. Great premise, Jennifer! You had me at "A playboy, honest but unwilling to commit" and "A girl who's been cheated on by all her boyfriends". Sounds great! :)

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  2. I have to try this for my WiP--it's such a fabulous idea. Great list!

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  3. Cornhole as in the beanbag-toss game?!
    Bruised banana and revenge and covered bridge: I like the sound of this. Looking forward to reading it!

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  4. Rebecca- yes, only the homemade versions often use cornbags instead of beanbags (thus the name)

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  5. lol @ Gross-out Dairy Queen blizzards :)

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  6. Ah, a covered bridge. Lovely right there. And the characters sound very interesting!

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  7. I love the concept. Cool list, though I'm trying to figure out what cornhole is...

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  8. Awesome!I love the hero and the heroine already!
    And I'm super intrigued by "Bruised Banana" lol

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  9. Your guy and girl characters sound like they'd be just what the other doesn't need... which is a great set-up for a novel. :)

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  10. I agree with Colin. You certainly wouldn't expect those to two match up well. ;-)

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  11. Meeting a 'country music fan' might make me take a 'hiatus from guys'! Love the descriptions you have here, and the blurb for Cheater Beaters. It sounds like you have two amazing characters built there.

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  12. Oh the Dairy Queen and Country Music, a playboy whose honest but unwilling to commit, a girl whose been cheated on— are you writing about the college town in Texas where I grew up? :) Love it and look forward to the book release!

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  13. Cornhole! (My husband and I just hand-made our own football tailgating cornhole game set. Love it!) And I am so intrigued at gross-out dairy queen blizzard! Is that like... strawberry ice cream and Reese's? LOL. I love what you were working with from this list!

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  14. Hmm...wigs and spy gear? I wonder what those are for? Great list!

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  15. I CANNOT WAIT to read this! LOVE that it started with a boy. Mine too. :)

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  16. You had me at "Playboy, honest but unwilling to commit". And then you go and throw in things like driver's ed, bruised bananas, gross-out DQ blizzards, AND spy gear? Yeah, I'll be all over this one! :)
    Best of luck when this comes out!

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