1. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Is there any good reason to forgive a cheater?

    Discussion in 'Plot Development' started by Lea`Brooks, Apr 4, 2021.

    I kind of wrote myself into a hole by having my MC's boyfriend almost cheat on her, but she burst in the room before they kissed. The story is supposed to end up with them being soulmates of sorts, but I can't think of any reason why she would ever forgive him for almost kissing someone else.

    I can't go back and rewrite it because I'm already so far in and would have to delete whole chapters to fix it. And I can't really make it a twist thing, like "she's my sister" because that's something someone can easily say before the situation gets out of hand.

    Any idea how I can get out of this?

    ETA: It's a sci-fi so anything goes.
     
  2. Fiender_

    Fiender_ Active Member

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    If the only reason they didn't kiss is because the girlfriend caught them, he still effectively cheated on her. The cheating was not "prevented", in my opinion, because the intent to stop was not demonstrated by the boyfriend in the description you provided.

    Can you have her... not forgive him? Is it absolutely necessary for these two people to remain romantically involved? Perhaps she decides to end their relationship but remain friends, so the former boyfriend can still contribute to the plot?

    Since you're having your MC fret about catching her bf kissing another girl and not sleeping with one, I'm assuming these characters are young, perhaps 15 or below?
     
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  3. SapereAude

    SapereAude Contributor Contributor

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    Maybe because she's a good person and she loves him enough to forgive him?

    After all - that's what forgiveness is all about.
     
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  4. Viridian

    Viridian Member Supporter

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    I don't know what your story is about, but perhaps she doesn't forgive him, not yet anyway. Maybe it was a temporary glitch on his part (they'd had an argument, he was depressed, drunk etc etc) and spends the next however many chapters trying to make it up to her - IDK, maybe he does something completely selfless because of how much he loves her??

    It's difficult to come up with a reason why she'd forgive him without knowing your characters. Life is rarely black and white so it depends very much on your MC and her cheating fella.
     
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  5. alw86

    alw86 Active Member

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    If you really need them to end up together, he needs to show real character growth and contrition before then. In my recently finished project, the guy behaves really badly so the girl leaves him, but he then independently realises the reasons for his bad behaviour and begins to address them, not to win her back but because he is disgusted with himself. She is only open to getting back together with him because he is putting in that work.
     
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  6. TWErvin2

    TWErvin2 Contributor Contributor

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    It is not how you or I would view forgiving cheating, it is whether the character you've created can forgive the cheating.
     
  7. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Nah, they're 25. lol But there is a very very long history there and they had just finally rekindled their relationship, so it was a shock to her to find him so close to another woman literally the day after getting back together.

    I've gone back and changed the wording of the scene so that he wasn't the one trying to kiss her, but her trying to kiss him. So I'll be able to play it off later as he was going to stop her before MC busted in.
     
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  8. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    There's a fine line between being a good person and being a sucker, and I'm trying to stay on the right side of it. lol But I think I figured out the solution. Thank you!
     
  9. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    This is what I'm planning to do. They're going to spend a lot of time away from each other for a while before they reconnect, and I'm hoping she'll forgive him by then.
     
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  10. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Maybe they were on a break?
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Apr 4, 2021
  11. Lea`Brooks

    Lea`Brooks Contributor Contributor

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    Those are very good points. Thank you!!
     
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  12. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I mean, I know it sounds like just a joke, but it isn't. There are complicated reasons why people seek attention elsewhere. Try thinking it through the other way—what if the female character was cheating on the male? Think about why she might do that, what it might mean. And then reverse the situation.
     
  13. Bruce Johnson

    Bruce Johnson Contributor Contributor Contest Winner 2023

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    Asking if there are good reasons to forgive a cheater is like asking if there are good reasons to forgive a killer. No one can answer that, and 'cheater' and 'killer' just give a rather vague description that something horrible happened but no clue about the other dynamics.

    In real life, things aren't always so simple.

    Is he a serial cheater that sleeps with anything that moves? Is the killer a sadistic serial murderer or someone that killed an enemy soldier that was trying to surrender because his buddy just got wasted by him?

    Infidelity isn't always due to a partner seeking someone more attractive or just wanting to mess around behind their partners back. If that's what happened in your story, then you'll need to write it such that the cheater is somehow worthy of forgiveness and that the MC is capable of granting it.
     
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  14. Stephen1974

    Stephen1974 Active Member

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    No.
     
  15. Catriona Grace

    Catriona Grace Mind the thorns Contributor Contest Winner 2022

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    People make unfortunate choices in (ahem) the heat of a moment. People without sin throw stones at them. People who've made their own bad choices work through things or call it a day, depending on how important the relationship is.
     
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  16. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Often the ones throwing the biggest stones are hiding their own sins behind false righteousness.
     

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