The Fight

The vast majority of romanic movies and books end after our protagonists fall in love. New love is raw and dramatic and exciting. We cheer for that first kiss, that first declaration of love. We share in the would-be lovers' heartache and frustrations as they step forward and back on the path to true love. And we fade out, before reality can hit and draw us back to the daily struggles of real relationships.
There is another love story, one that is seldom told, but one that holds as much drama and excitement and heartache. It is the story of fighting for love. Fighting to stay in love. Fighting to hold on through the stress and strain of daily life. Fighting to prove over and over that after all the years, you would still choose your partner.
So why isn't this story told more often? Why do we stick to falling in love? I think it's harder to write the other kind of love story. I think it's harder to fight with our characters than it is to watch them fall in love. We've all fallen in love, probably dozens of times, and fallen out of love just as often. But love worth fighting for is much rarer. In short, it's easy to fall in love. It's HARD to stay in love.
I want to write about the fight. I've loved writing about new love, about first kisses and yet-unrealized dreams. But there is so much more to love than the beginning. I want to tell those stories.