{"id":484,"date":"2015-10-20T01:00:43","date_gmt":"2015-10-20T01:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.melissagorzelanczyk.com\/blog\/?p=484"},"modified":"2015-10-20T14:10:44","modified_gmt":"2015-10-20T14:10:44","slug":"first-lines-love-shouldnt-hurt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.melissagorzelanczyk.com\/blog\/first-lines-love-shouldnt-hurt\/","title":{"rendered":"First Lines: Love Shouldn’t Hurt"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"love-shouldnt-hurt-1\"<\/a>This post is part of my series: First Lines<\/a>\u00a0from Arrows<\/em>, my debut young adult novel publishing\u00a0January 26, 2016, from Delacorte Press\/Random House.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sometimes as authors we get so caught up in developing our plots, characters and settings that we lose sight of\u00a0the reason we ever started to write in the first place.<\/p>\n

But then we remember: Our\u00a0stories\u00a0matter\u00a0to us on a deeper level.<\/p>\n

We write to understand things.<\/p>\n

We write to\u00a0explore extremes in a safe way.<\/p>\n

We write to say something important.<\/p>\n

Thematic Significance<\/h4>\n

When I was deep into revising Arrows, <\/em>I found the real reason why I had written the book. My reason went much further than, “Oh, it\u2019s an awesome idea about cupids,” or, “I love myth retellings.”<\/p>\n

I realized my story says something about what I\u2019ve experienced in life.<\/p>\n

Love Shouldn’t Hurt<\/h4>\n

Love shouldn’t hurt was one of the beginning thematic statements for my novel, which I later modified to:<\/p>\n

Love shouldn\u2019t hurt. Your partner should not intend to hurt you mentally, verbally or physically.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This statement matters to me.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m the oldest of six; I have four sisters who are my best friends (and one really patient mom–she\u2019s on the left).<\/p>\n

\"mom-sisters\"<\/p>\n

Two of my sisters have experienced relationship abuse, one of them for the most part in secret for more than ten\u00a0years.<\/p>\n

Love Shouldn’t Hurt<\/h4>\n

This statement matters to me.<\/strong> It never gets old. In fact, I would say that as I\u2019ve gone deeper into the revision process, the statement has only become stronger. It matters more to me now than ever.<\/p>\n

I wasn\u2019t going to break down in front of him. \u201cSometimes you have to make sacrifices for love.\u201d<\/p>\n

Aaryn smoothed the clean side of my forehead, and at the feel of his fingertips, my eyes closed, gently. \u201cMaybe your feelings for Danny aren\u2019t what you think. Love shouldn\u2019t hurt.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Arrows\u00a0s<\/a>hows\u00a0the effects of an unhealthy relationship\u00a0through Karma, a main character who is treated badly, yet thinks she is in love. In my story, Karma is under the spell of cupid’s arrow, but in real life the truth can be much harder to understand.<\/p>\n

Luckily, there are happy endings.<\/p>\n

In 2012, my sister left her\u00a0abusive marriage.<\/p>\n

She didn’t have much, not even a pot to cook in or a bed to sleep on, but she was strong and hard working, and somehow she knew she would be okay.<\/p>\n

Three\u00a0years later, she is doing so great.<\/strong> She has worked her way up in a good company and can provide for herself and her boys. She’s bought her first car, her first lamp, her first sofa.\u00a0These things may seem small, but for us they symbolize her choice to be free from abuse. With each choice she makes without anyone\u00a0controlling her, she is more free.<\/p>\n

That’s why I believe:<\/p>\n

True love empowers us to become better individuals.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Which is why in Arrows<\/i>\u00a0there’s this:<\/p>\n

\"arrows-dedication\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Resources<\/h4>\n