The Beginning

I’ve always wanted to write a book about love. I have this story in my head about two people who meet completely by chance on a metro platform and end up falling for each other. It’s one of those "love at first sight" plots, like there’s not enough of them. But the more thought I put into this love story, the further away I get from creating the characters. While I envisioned the two lovebirds to be young and hip urbanites, living out their dreams in a big city, the result when put down on paper, seems empty and meaningless. This is a problem.

I think back to the great characters of love: Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth or Heathcliff and Catherine and think, those couples could never exist in real life. The world is too complicated, too busy, too self-centered. Long gone are the days of courting and well-meaning propriety. Now we have one night stands and entire conversations where no words are spoken at all. The age of longing glaces across the dinner table are kaput. Gone and lost in a digital world.

Relationships need to get back down to basics. While I’m no love expert and anyone these days can give relationship advice, I believe that in this day and age of dating, a girl needs all the help she can get. Guys also need all the help they can get, but seeing as I am of the opposite sex, I cannot speak for my male counterparts.

So screw the love story, this is about to get real - real people, real relationships and real advice. We can’t all be Mr. Darcy or Elizabeth Bennet, but we do what we can given what we have. We survive, we advance and we love along the way.