Grace Hitchcock & First Dates
Karen here. I’m excited to introduce you to Grace Hitchcock. Graces writes super fun historical romances, and her latest features a Phantom of the Opera twist!
Take it away, Grace!
Crafting a Great First Date for Your Hero and Heroine
Early in my writing career, before my first story was published, I read a blog post about how you should give your characters first dates, planning them with the precision of a real first date. The idea stopped me in my tracks. I began to think of all the interactions of my heroines with the heroes in my works in progress. I realized that I was letting them fall into the habit of seeing one another, become friends and then, of course, discover they want to be more. While it does seem natural, sometimes the heroine and hero just need to have an intentional first date to get the relationship moving forward.
3 Tips
1. Make it fun, romantic, and memorable. When my husband, Dakota, planned our first date way back in the day, he had us do something fun and a little bit crazy. To begin our date, we visited a 4-story treehouse in New Orleans built out of debris from Hurricane Katrina by some nature lovers. Turns out, it was a slightly dangerous creation in an abandoned lot, but it gave him, a guy I barely knew, the perfect excuse to hold my hand “for protection.”
While there may not be any rickety treehouses for your heroine to visit, try to make the outing/location unique and romantic. Make her heart flutter for her new love interest and you will get your reader’s heart fluttering too!
2. It has to move your story along. Dates are about learning more about the other person. Have your hero and heroine bond through not only sharing a romantic and fun day, but also throw in some deeper conversation. Or, maybe it is light hearted conversation the heroine is needing to distract her from another situation. The point is that the characters have to grow along with your story.
Dakota discovered during our wobbly treehouse adventure that although I love rock climbing, I’m scared to death of climbing 4-stories high without some kind of safety harness. So, it was fun and romantic, but I had to be honest about my fears to someone I was trying to impress and risk sounding like a scaredy cat.
3. And finally, ask yourself if the date captured your heroine’s attention? This first date will make or break your heroine’s decision if there will be a date two. If she decides on not seeing him again, the reasoning has to move the plot forward. Sure, her love life is now digressing as she has to start from scratch on another first date, but maybe this date helped her to know what she doesn’t want in a man.
In Dakota’s case, he captured my heart and we were engaged 7 months later and ten years into marriage, we have three little ones running about J which is the power of a memorable first date with a hero.
While in my latest novel, His Delightful Lady Delia, does in fact not have an intentional first date, as it did not work for the story, I instead gave the hero quite the memorable first meeting with the heroine—a meeting that does not go well and takes a great deal of work to get back into Lady Delia’s good opinion, which includes a series of delightful dates to woo his lady love!
So, even if your hero does not have an intentional first date, he can create a memorable second chance date, which can be just as moving for the plot and even more fun for the reader.
Happy Reading, friends!
For a chance to win an autographed paperback of His Delightful Lady Delia, comment below and tell me about the most memorable date you’ve ever been on!
Grace’s Bio:
Grace Hitchcock is the award-winning author of multiple historical novels and novellas. She holds a Masters in Creative Writing and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in History. Grace lives in the New Orleans area with her husband, Dakota, sons, and daughter. Connect with her online at GraceHitchcock.com.
