What's Love got to do with It ?

Well, I hope you’ve all had a good, productive week and maybe now are looking forward to a restful weekend, so, with that in mind, I thought I would choose to write about something tranquil, beautiful and filled with nothing but positivity – so my first thought was, the subject of love. But as all of us know, unless of course you’re an amoeba - (a single-celled little blob really, who bobs through life happily, although nobody can confirm that as they never give interviews) – love can sometimes be far from tranquil or beautiful or, in fact, positive. But it’s a part of every story, both in life and the written word, so I shall talk about it any way and hope my thoughts don’t disrupt your day too much.

Now when I said love is a part of every story, I believe that to be true, after all, at first glance, the Harry Potter series might seem all about the adventures of a boy wizard, which obviously it is, but love plays such a huge role too. From the very beginning, we learn Harry’s mother sacrificed her own life to save him and from then on, through all his adventures, it’s the fact he is surrounded by loving friends and mentors, which spur him on to his ultimate success. I believe he even says on one occasion, he feels sorry for his nemesis Voldermort, because he has no such support in his life.(Actually, now I think about that, it’s not entirely true as Mr V does have that very cool snake, Nagini, as a constant companion) but you see my point.

I think the term ‘love story’ has actually lost some of its true meaning, as now when you see that sign in the bookstore, it causes you to imagine, romantic love and little else, so what of those books? I admire authors who can write them well, who can create a plot line which feels entirely unique and manage to avoid the pitfalls of boy meets girl, boy loses girl through misunderstanding, boy tries to win girl back, boy gives up, girl realises she’s going to lose him, girl races to airport/bus station/local takeaway, girl declares undying love/ boy+ girl live happily. There are many wonderful books which avoid all of these moments and keep the reader guessing until the very last page, beautifully-crafted tales of love which, when you’ve read them, make you just want to go out and meet the man or woman of your dreams and experience that kind of love for yourself. I think it’s because the emotion described in those pages, feels real, it’s that simple, you’re carried along with the story, because it appeals to the very core of your senses. I do believe, and I know some of you will argue, love stories succeed and endure, because on some level, we all want to be in one, in our own lives – even if it’s only temporarily-the idea of sharing something that special with another human being appeals to us all, however much we might want to deny it.

But that’s only the positive side, isn’t it? Love can be just as powerful as a negative force too, as anyone who has had their heartbroken will testify. I am sure we have all experienced the pain of lost or unrequited love, there isn’t much worse than being completely besotted with someone who doesn’t feel the same way, or worse, has absolutely no idea you even exist. In a story, the heroine/hero often finds the courage to do something about their situation, which either brings them to the attention of the object of their affection or makes them realise, their much-overlooked best friend, is actually the real love of their life. But life isn’t always like that, is it? I know I have tried a few ‘grand gestures’ in my life which have had the sole purpose of making someone realise I was exactly right for them- they never worked and resulted in me, either looking a bit foolish if I was lucky or wanting to go and live far, far away- perhaps even on another planet- when luck deserted me.

I guess the authors’ job when facing the task of writing a ‘love story’ is to somehow maintain the balance of writing an effective piece of believable literature, while being mindful of how deep the emotions run in the readership, whichever kind of ‘love’ is at the centre of the book. So whether its about a brooding vampire who vows his eternal love to his ‘normal’ girlfriend, or the intrepid tale of an owner searching for his beloved cat, Mr Poshpaws- it needs to be handled with care.

The wonderful Tina Turner once sang,’What’s Love got to do with It’, (that’s where I got the title for this post, I’d like to claim I thought of it myself, but that could well result in a lawsuit), well, I can tell her now, from where I’m standing, Ms Turner, pretty much everything...so until next time

Take care out there xx