First off, Merry Christmas! Even though I didn’t send cards out this year showcasing how cute my dog is, know that I send you the warmest of holiday wishes nonetheless.
Yet, while many are making their lists and checking them twice, my thoughts are in a much more futile place. Rather than hunting down last minute Christmas presents, my mind is dwelling on this thought: How long is too long to wait to put two main characters together?
In the interest of full disclosure, I must confess I have an opinion on this matter: I believe in organic unions, with only rare cases where people create insurmountable ninja gauntlets to protect them from potential relationships with people they are madly in love with.
And yet, there is example after example of storytellers who fear bringing their protagonists together because they think their plot cannot survive the loss of sexual tension. Here again, I disagree. In my mind, a consummated relationship is an even stickier web than when the couple was just dancing around each other. Now they have to dance in each other’s space, not around the perimeter, and that’s a whole new game.
But clearly I am an outlier in this way of thinking, which is why I ask you my non-Christmas question: Do you think bringing couples together in TV or fiction destroys a series? There are definitely examples where it has. No doubt. But was it REALLY because the characters got together, or did the show’s producers put the characters together because they knew they were nearing the end of their ride?
What do you think, my fellow readers and writers?
How long do you like to wait before seeing two characters get together? And how long is too long? Literary, TV, and film examples of relationships done right and wrong are welcome!
Looking forward to your thoughts!
