VALENTINE'S DAY FOR WRITERS

Valentine's day is almost here! Guys are supposed to be above it, as if were a holiday made only for women. I just don't see it that way. I like everything about it. Even the cliches make complete sense to me. 

Well...everything except Vermont Teddy Bears. Who thought of that, anyway?

Romance is a writers dream. Stories of that sort practically write themselves, maybe because there's so many kinds of romance. 

There's tough guy romances for the worldly types...

...and over-the-top sentimental stories for those who like their emotion full-strength. 

You don't have to locate your story in exotic locations. Romance happens everywhere, even in small town America. The character types are all people we're familiar with.

Like the guy who muscles in.  It happens when you're least expecting it. A total stranger opens the car door for your girl, which on the face of it is harmless, but once in a while there's a palpable subtext that says, "Why don't you dump this loser and go out with a real man?" Yikes! 

The intruder usually has the advantage. He has plausible deniability on his side. After all, he was just being friendly. 

There's not a lot that you can do, unless it happens frequently. If you overreact your girl'll think you're crazy. Boy, love can be painful...but for a writer, all that suffering is pure gold. Nobody's going to put a book down in the middle of an intruder scene.

Romance is especially painful for the young and klutzy.  Here (above) our guy attempts to hold the door open for a special girl who's racing for the elevator.  Maybe he pushes the "Door Open" button to help her out. 

Only he pushes the "Door Close" button by mistake. That's what young people do. In real life these kinds of gaffs really aren't very important. If a girl holds them against you then she probably wasn't meant for you anyway.

The girl who really is meant for you will be blind to your faults, as you are to hers. That's the delightful, wonderful thing about love. It truly is blind!

I believe in it. It's a noble thought, both practical and transcendent; well worth endless novels and well worth a day of the year devoted exclusively to it. .