Guests and Players

We have out-of-town guests staying with us this week, and they're sleeping in the room which normally serves as my home office. For that reason, I will probably not get much writing done, and may find it hard to blog as well. However, I can't complain. At least my house was not flooded!

I'm not sure what this will do to my writing schedule for Book 2. I fear I was only able to join Sam's Virtual Write-In for about 2 hours. (I only wrote 500 words, but it was on a scene I had been struggling just to start.)

I'm trying to use the time productively by doing research for a character and storyline which has been giving me trouble. As I mentioned, one of my subplots is a rip of Dangerous Liaisons; a female character challenges a male character to seduce the heroine. I want to write some of the seduction scenes from the seducer's PoV. Even more fundamental, I wanted the lines he uses on her to be true to the kinds of lines players use.

Being a big nerd, I don't have a lot of personal experience with this, so I'm going on (a) knowledge of friends who are players and/or have been played, (b) memory of a couple of dates where the guys attempted to feed me lines, (c) a book about con artists and criminals and how to recognize their tactics, (d) a "guide" to modern men on how to get laid. I presume the techniques haven't changed much.

If any of you have great "player" stories -- from either side of the game -- feel free to share them in the comments.

Comments

greekwitch said…
Sorry, i have nothing for you!
I usually say what is in my mind( which is not a great thing!) and i have n't dated much. I am still with my highschool sweetheart which is as lame as it is cute i guess. I only know that i always fall for the guys that are playing hard to get.
Blessed be**
greekwitch***
Ban said…
really wish i could help with this - might provide insight for some of my characters too but i'm afraid i'm coming up short as well. i've never been played,(at least to my knowledge) which is a good thing for me but bad for a writer whose best resource is experience ... if i find anything useful i'll be sure to let you know.
Sara Raasch said…
Oh my, you asked for it:

Firstly: You can have him insult her, but in a way that makes her actually think he's right. For example:
Him: "Wow! That's a great shirt. Look how it complements the mannequin."
Her: "Mmm, I guess."
Him: "You should get it. I mean, look how busty that mannequin looks. And you do need a little more help in that area."
Her: *considers* "Yeah...I do...actually..."

Secondly: Have him talk about ex-girlfriends, but in a way that makes him sound "sweet and hurt" by what he did.
Him: "I ran into one of my ex girlfriends."
Her: *nervous* "Yeah?"
Him: "Yeah. She wanted to talk. So I had lunch with her. It was really nice -- she's got a boyfriend now, and she's happy."
Her: *confused* "Uhuh. What's her name?"
Him: "Awe, don't be jealous. I'll tell her all about you when we have lunch next Tuesday. She's going through a relapse in her relationship, and talking to me is helping her get over me. I really hope she pulls through."
Her: "Yeah. Okay."

Thirdly: Criticize, criticize, criticize. But it's never straight-out criticism; it's always smooth, slow, almost an art form. Like he is actually trying to help her.
Him: *blabbering about his lunch with his ex*
Her: "Uhuh."
Him: "You know, you never really respond. You'd be much more exciting/clever/pretty/smart if you responded. What are you thinking?"
Her: *that you're an idiot* "I don't know..."
Him: "Just try. Tell me. You really need to talk more. You're kind of boring. If you just said your opinion, once, you'd be so much sweeter/hotter/worthier."
Her: ...
Him: "Nothing? Really? That's all right. Weak people always struggle at first."

No, I have no experience with stuff like this at all...*coughcough*
No lie, the biggest player I know actually uses the line, "When are you going to drop the act and come date me."
Sounds like fun and interesting research! I am glad you are finding a way to utilize your time wisely you are inconvenienced. I've been too tired to figure out how to use my time wisely with my writing. When our house gets back in order, I think I'll get back into the swing! Good luck with that research!
lisa and laura said…
You should totally rent John Tucker Must Die or She's The Man or some other cheesy teen movies. Talk about inspiration!
AmyB said…
You might check out a book called "The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists" by Neil Strauss. Very, very interesting material, and it lays out some effective methods of seduction. It is a disturbing book.
Traci said…
Tara -Ohhh!!! I love the concept of seduction. Dangerous Liaisons is one of my faves! One of my characrters is very much like Valmont.

Sraasch -

Oh dear, I think I have had that conversation before! Yikes!

:-)
Davin Malasarn said…
Hmmm...interesting. You put up a great comment on Scott Bailey's blog by the way!

The first thought that came to mind when you mentioned players is the idea of lack of sympathy for another person. I don't know if that helps, but it might be at least part of the mindset you are looking for.
Kimbra Kasch said…
Sorry met my husband when I was 17 - no time to play.
SunTiger said…
I'm glad you are willing to tackle the seduction aspects of writing. Such things always made me feel uncomfortable (as a short story freelancer).

I don't know why. I mean, I'm totally open about all aspects of sex -- just don't want to have to live the pursuit and conquering aspects over and over in my head, repeatedly, until I get the wording just right. LOL.