So, I was messing around with this idea, right? A story titled “Distance Love Between a Con Man & a Police Officer”. It’s a wild concept, and I wanted to see if I could make it work.
I started by brainstorming what kind of story I wanted. A cop and a con man? How do they even meet? What’s their dynamic? I spent a good few days just jotting down ideas, scenarios, and character traits. It was a mess, honestly, but a fun mess.
Then, I tried outlining the whole thing. I decided their first meeting had to be something dramatic, something that sets the tone. Maybe the con man is in the middle of a heist, and the cop busts in? Or maybe they meet in a more mundane setting, and the cop doesn’t realize who he’s dealing with? I went back and forth on this for a while.
- Wrote a couple of opening scenes to see which one felt right.
- Fleshed out the characters a bit more. What are their motivations? Their backstories?
- Read some similar stories to get a feel for the genre, but mostly I relied on my gut. The hardest part for me was dealing with so much death. It can be a homicide, suicide, or a car crash; doing CPR on a heart-attack victim or SIDS baby. There are so many ways that death touches a police officer’s life. So how can I make a love story out of this?
After that, I dove into the actual writing. I started with the first chapter, focusing on their initial encounter and the immediate aftermath. I wanted to establish the tension between them, the push and pull. I also wanted to hint at the “distance” part of the title. Maybe they’re from different worlds, or maybe there’s a literal distance between them.
I wrote and rewrote that first chapter a bunch of times. I kept asking myself, “Is this believable? Is this engaging?” It was a struggle, but I finally got it to a place where I was somewhat happy with it.
Next, I moved on to the second chapter. It’s tough, I won’t lie. How do you keep the momentum going? How do you develop their relationship without it feeling forced? I experimented with different approaches. Maybe they have another run-in? Maybe they start communicating indirectly? I don’t know how to make this going on.
I’m still working on it, to be honest. It’s a slow process, and I’m learning as I go. I’ve realized that writing a story like this requires a lot of patience and a lot of revisions. And maybe a little bit of insanity.
The Challenges
One of the biggest challenges is making the relationship feel real. These are two people who are on opposite sides of the law. There’s a lot of inherent conflict there. I need to find a way to make their connection believable, despite their differences.
Another challenge is balancing the action and the romance. I don’t want it to be all shootouts and car chases, but I also don’t want it to be all hearts and flowers. It’s a delicate balance, and I’m still figuring out how to strike it.
So yeah, that’s where I’m at with “Distance Love Between a Con Man & a Police Officer”. It’s a work in progress, a crazy experiment, but I’m having fun with it. We’ll see where it goes.
