Index > The Whirlwind Romance

The Whirlwind Romance

Every year, I can’t help but watch American Idol. The show is more than singing (sometimes badly,) Simon’s insults, and Paula’s incoherent ramblings. What always fascinates me is the way the contestants bond. A couple of seasons ago, there was a scene in which two girls were hugging and crying, one having made the finals, the other having gotten the boot. My son watched that scene skeptically, asking why they were so upset. I told him the girls were good friends and that one had to go home. He said, “But how can they be good friends? They’ve only been together for a few days.”

Well, probably more like a couple of weeks, maybe a month, but still, I understood what he was saying. Those two girls became very close in a very short period of time.

Thing is, I know firsthand how quickly strong bonds can form in stressful situations (and the AI competition has to be an incredible roller coaster of stress.) A couple of the best, most raw, most REAL friendships I’ve ever had came out of Air Force basic training and tech school.

During periods of extreme stress, the best and worst of everyone, including yourself, comes out. People are stripped down to their essence, and they do one of two things; they either become supportive team players who try to make sure everyone makes it, or their extreme survival instinct kicks in, and they turn into the “everyone for themselves,” kind of people, the Sawyers of Lost.

Those who become supportive team players have the ability to form intense bonds very quickly. And those elements that create those bonds are the elements that will make believable a love-relationship happening over the space of just a few days between a romance hero and heroine.

I’ve always taken issue with romances where the hero and heroine fall in love in a matter of days. It isn’t that I don’t believe it can happen, because I know, from experience, that it can. But making it happen believably is something that many writers fail to do.

“Bond-seeds,” as I call them, are planted quickly and bloom hugely. The seed of one of my basic training friendships was planted within an hour of arriving at Lackland AFB. I was trying to hook my dog tag chain around my neck, but my hands were shaking (two TIs were in my face screaming at me) and I couldn’t snap the fastener into place. I tried and tried, all the while being screamed at, and finally a girl named Lisa ran across the dorm bay, hooked the chain for me, and went back to her locker. She risked A LOT to do that. She was my hero that day, and I had a chance to pay her back the next day. A friendship was born.

Over the next 6 weeks in hell (and several months of tech school later) I saw exactly what it takes to form bonds quickly.

Risk

Sacrifice

Confession

Honesty

Vulnerability

Laughter

Teamwork

Support

Failure

Danger (not necessarily physical)

Give me those elements in a story where a hero and heroine fall in love quickly, and I’ll buy it. Strip those characters down to their cores in order for them to survive, and I will understand how they can form bonds you won’t often find even in relationships that progress “normally.”

I KNOW it’s possible to form intense bonds in a matter of days, hours, even. I also know that convincing readers of that is difficult. But not impossible.

Can I do it? I’m not sure. But that scene from American Idol brought back a lot of emotions and memories, and reminded me of what it takes.

Now to put those emotions on paper.

Index > The Whirlwind Romance