Saturday, February 19, 2011

First Sight

Have you ever seen or met someone who you're instantly drawn to? Like they have a specific gravity to them that draws you closer. Your heart starts racing, beating so hard you hear it in your head, and a tingling feeling starts in your stomach before spreading to the rest of your body. And then you meet the person's gaze and everything seems to stop just so you can bask in each other's eyes. Suddenly, you're face to face with this person and you know, you both know, that you have fallen in love at first sight.

Sounds wonderful, doesn't it? :-) I'm one of those people that truly believes people can fall in love practically instantly. I think that's why I don't hate YA stories where the two leads fall in love quickly. I will admit, though, that some instant love stories are rather unbelievable, but for the most part I don't mind them. Love is something everybody wants, especially teens and I think that's why the YA romance genre is so popular right now. I think falling in love at first sight is ridiculously romantic, but some think it's impossible and that all these YA novels give teens skewed perceptions of love.
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Do you all believe in love at first sight? Do you like books where the characters fall in love in a span of, like, two chapters? :-) I'm looking forward to reading your thoughts!

8 comments:

  1. I actually believe that love at first sight cheapens the entire notion of love.

    I'm a softie, but I only believe in lust at first sight. Love, to me, is a bond that develops gradually, over time, and grows stronger with each passing day. I find it somewhat saddening when others suggest they get the same feelings instantaneously with strangers they've just met.

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  2. Let me speak from experience. I knew my husband for years. We had a great friendship with something else sort of simmering there. We went to a party (separately) and something felt different and without talking to one another or arranging anything, we caught each other's eyes and walked off together.
    So, not really love at first sight, but the change in relationship happened instantly.

    And, I think it cheapens it to just "happen" - I have no problems with instant attraction, that happens all the time. The real thing, takes more.

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  3. Sorry, but I'm a nonbeliever in love at first sight. I DO believe in strong, mutual attraction at first sight - that chemistry that pulls you together and makes you want to get to know each other and fall in love as quickly as possible. It's a beautiful, exciting, and vulnerable feeling to have an immediate connection like that. *Sighs* :)

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  4. Great commments so far, everyone! I actually haven't seen many cases of love at first sight, but I still think it can happen sometimes, if at all. I do agree that sometimes, in regards to books, instantlove does somewhat "cheapen" the characters' relationship. Usually the sequel is when all the things that should have happened in the first book happen with the characters, and it's almost as if the author realized the relationship grew too fast, you know?

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  5. In RL, I don't really belive in love at first sight. Like some of the others said, I do believe in a strong attraction or maybe the feel that this person is different, but not love. That being said, as long as its written well and believable, I don't mind it in books from time to time. I think the idea of it can be romantic and I read for escapism. I don't believe in vampires, but LOVE a good vampire romance, so it doesn't bother me to read about love at first sight either. It's something else I don't think is real, but it's exciting to believe in for a few hours while reading a book. Again, it has to be well done though and I don't want to read about that quick love ALL the time.

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  6. I don't believe in love at first sight. That's not because I'm not a romantic, if anything I'm a very romantic kinda person, I just think the idea of love at first sight is no where near as romantic or wonderful as love that's been built up. I find it hard to take 'love at first sight' as real. I can't help but think of it as lust. That being said, there are some wonderful stories out there based on love at first sight.

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  7. My mum knew the moment she saw my dad that she was going to marry him. I'd call that love at first sight. They were together for more than 40 years before he passed and they had NEVER had a single fight. Some people get the fairytale (until he passed that is).

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  8. Although I think there are cases of instant attraction in real life (but probably not love--instant infatuation definitely), I've come across too many cases of love-at-first sight that just seem like lazy writing.

    Or newbie writing--I remember a crit partner questioning my MC's motivation, and I just choked and said, "Cuz that's the way she is." I had to realize that wasn't enough and step up my game.

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