I'm just going to cut straight to the chase. My main character needs to fall in love with someone she currently dislikes, and I'm not exactly sure how to go about making that happen. They eventually need to see each other in a different light, and things have to happen that force them to work together to accomplish goals, and of course they must share bonding moments that build trust and attraction in each other. The only problem is that I have no idea what situations to put them in. lol What I DON'T want is a cheesy, overly sappy relationship. Any suggestions?
You have to do exactly what you said. Force them into situations that make them interact, whether they want to or not. Again, and again, and again. Eventually, perhaps an outside force will require them to compromise, thus sparking the relationship onward. I know, I didn't really give you specific situations, I just repeated what you said in a different way. I hope it helps anyway.
I won't go into any specifics, cause it's your story. One thing to keep in mind, is that in order for characters to be believable to the reader, they need to do things, think things, react to situations etc... that seem natural to them. If you force their hand and manufacture the relationship without the characters really having a say, then the reader will likely see that. People are emotional and complex. All sorts of things can drive us to do the unexpected. yet at the same time, we can be steadfast in our convictions to the point where nothing will push us in a particular direction. In other words, don't make your characters so rigid that getting into a relationship with someone they would normally avoid at all costs, seems unrealistic.
What are they coworkers or something? Why does she dislike him? How stronlgy does she dislike him? Generally in these situations the man ends up being a different person than she thought he was. She could observe this somehow. Maybe the man somehow shows humility where his self confidence had come off to her as arrogance initially, maybe he had come off as selfish and she observes him sacrificing for another, you get the idea.
It doesn't have to be a wild, live-or-die scenario either. It can be something very simple, something like she sees him enjoying the sunrise or helping another person in need. The situation does not have to be powerful in order to reveal the depth of a character. It's the emotions, and the character's personal journey through that moment, that make it.
Hatred or dislike is focusing on the things you dislike about the person, in every person, there is usually something good about them too, just the anger/hate/dislike blinds us from seeing those points. Forced interaction makes the person see past the negitive and shows the positive over time. It is usually easier to accept someone if the anger/dislike is from a misunderstanding, rather then true actions. If the dislike is real, and the character did the thing that was disliked it will be hard to overlook that point. Thus harder to fall in love with them. You could go with fake love, like when someone saves your life. They feel what they think is love, when really its just gratitude. Florence Nightengale affect is another false love. When miserable some pretty care giver helps you feel better there is the tendancy to mistake it for love. (BTDT but figured it out before making myself look stupid.) Emotional infatuation.
Make sure you know exactly which thing they dislike in eachother and then set the characters up into situations where they'll reveal who they really are beneath that surface. For example, she might be somewhat arrogant and cold, and it just enfuriates him whenever she's doing it. Now, bring on a scene that breaks her down, reveals her softer, more insecure or self-reflecting side, as well as giving him some insight into why she had kept up this shield of arrogance around herself. He realizes he hasn't seen her for who she was, and she realizes she doesn't need that shield, and the two will be brought a step closer to liking eachother honestly. Very basic and mechanical, but it's quite often how it's done. It's said that first impressions last, but I beg to differ. It's often those we have mistaken for being someone else at first we get to like the best. Might even spring from a subconscious guilt of having misjudged the person, who knows.
