You could always go the mermaid route, there's been plenty of different interpretations of that story over the years. You could do it like The Shape of Water where it's more of The Creature from the Black Lagoon than anything like The Little Mermaid. You could also just do a summer camp romance between a pair of kids where one swims a lot. One could be at an athlete's swimming camp and the other person could be on the other side of the lake where it's just a normal summer camp. You could also just do something with animals over people. There's lots of ways you could take this.
Great ideas! I actuall considered doing one about fish in a pond or something since they would be outdoorsy swimmers haha
I've had tons of ideas (I have several for novels saved up over the years), but my main issue is how to make it short enough to be less than 10 pages but still be good. Romances usually take more time to develop, right?
It depends on how well you can write chemistry. 10 pages can be approximately 5000 words depending on which word processor you use, which is plenty of time to tell a short story. I personally think it's easier to tap into that young time when it was so easy to fall in love but it didn't carry that carnal part to it, where it was just about dedicating yourself to another person. No one falls in love harder than a 13-year-old that just started dating their biggest crush.
Good points! Mostly avoiding the sex part seems like a good idea.
I write about 300 words a page and have only 2,500 words for the story, so I will only get about 8 pages to work with. I have mostly just had misery with girls growing up, so I don't have much of my own experience to draw on. Literally only 2 girls, and one was my bestfriend and dating another guy. So I'm not sure how well I can write that kind of chemistry. I'm told I'm great with platonic checmistry, but I'm not sure how well that translates.
Honestly, work with platonic chemistry. Tell the story of a one-sided crush that someone has while they're dating their best friend or something, and just how much every little moment they have together means to them despite the two not being in a relationship.
In competitive swimming there's open water swimming. Do something about two of the swimmers. Either from different schools or different races or different countries -- something to provide tension. You'll have amazing settings and scenery, and there can be a sexual tension too, if you want (if they're in college you won't have the age stuff to worry about). You've got lots of other people to play off of throughout your narrative.
Home > Other > Questions > I'm in a writing contest where I must write a romance that involves a swimmer and the outdoors. Any thoughts or suggestions?
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You could always go the mermaid route, there's been plenty of different interpretations of that story over the years. You could do it like The Shape of Water where it's more of The Creature from the Black Lagoon than anything like The Little Mermaid. You could also just do a summer camp romance between a pair of kids where one swims a lot. One could be at an athlete's swimming camp and the other person could be on the other side of the lake where it's just a normal summer camp. You could also just do something with animals over people. There's lots of ways you could take this.
Great ideas! I actuall considered doing one about fish in a pond or something since they would be outdoorsy swimmers haha
I've had tons of ideas (I have several for novels saved up over the years), but my main issue is how to make it short enough to be less than 10 pages but still be good. Romances usually take more time to develop, right?
It depends on how well you can write chemistry. 10 pages can be approximately 5000 words depending on which word processor you use, which is plenty of time to tell a short story. I personally think it's easier to tap into that young time when it was so easy to fall in love but it didn't carry that carnal part to it, where it was just about dedicating yourself to another person. No one falls in love harder than a 13-year-old that just started dating their biggest crush.
Good points! Mostly avoiding the sex part seems like a good idea.
I write about 300 words a page and have only 2,500 words for the story, so I will only get about 8 pages to work with. I have mostly just had misery with girls growing up, so I don't have much of my own experience to draw on. Literally only 2 girls, and one was my bestfriend and dating another guy. So I'm not sure how well I can write that kind of chemistry. I'm told I'm great with platonic checmistry, but I'm not sure how well that translates.
Honestly, work with platonic chemistry. Tell the story of a one-sided crush that someone has while they're dating their best friend or something, and just how much every little moment they have together means to them despite the two not being in a relationship.
Fair enough!
In competitive swimming there's open water swimming. Do something about two of the swimmers. Either from different schools or different races or different countries -- something to provide tension. You'll have amazing settings and scenery, and there can be a sexual tension too, if you want (if they're in college you won't have the age stuff to worry about). You've got lots of other people to play off of throughout your narrative.