I admit I don’t mind love triangles. Well the idea of them
anyway. Too often they serve no purpose besides making the MC look stupid,
indecisive, or slutty. Done well though, love triangles can
create true tension. The tension only works though if the MC is genuinely torn
between two equally viable options. Unfortunately many love triangles involve
the girl, the guy she wants, and her safety choice who looks like a loser for
hanging around for scrapes.
So why would I sign on for a love triangle knowing how awful
they can be and how much they can piss off readers?
I like to give my characters options.
I’m a little bored of reading books where people have a
single choice and can only find happiness with that one person who they might
not even like or have anything in common with. It’s like the “mate” and “instalove”
ideas have taken the place of writing two characters who would fall in love even
if the universe didn’t decree it. If I get bored of reading it, I’ll get bored
of writing it. So I give my MCs multiple choices and let them pick the guy who
makes sense for them. (Angelic Redemption series is the exception to this rule).
Writing Blue Sacrifice was tricky mainly because of the love
triangle. One girl, two boys, many opportunities to make the girl look bad and
the guys look like saps. Walking the tightrope of making her choices
understandable versus selfish helped me appreciate the good love triangles out there.
I am impressed by the ones where I can imagine either guy with the girl and the
girl (the writer) isn’t merely dragging things out. Even if the guy I like never
wins, I can still admire the skills that have gone into a sizzling
heartbreaking love triangle.
