Thursday Watching - Queen of the Ring

Hi everyone,

Welcome to the first segment of what I’m calling Thursday Watching. That name might change along the way for something catchier, but for the time being, I guess it is pretty self-explanatory; I will use these posts to give you recommendations for what to watch.

The goal is to help you find shows that will entertain you, but moreover that will inspire you in your own writing.

My first pick, the show I will dwell on and review this week is called Queen of the Ring. It’s a k-drama (I know, big shocker). If you’ve never watched a k-drama, it’s a short one, only six episodes, so it’s good to dip your toes. The main actress is super quirky and likable. Also, main boy? Swoon.

The premise? The main character is a “plain girl” (I put these in apostrophe because I don’t think she’s as plain and not beautiful as the show is making her out to be, but that’s just my personal opinion). So, this plain girl falls in love with the hot guy. She falls hard for him, but she knows she doesn’t have a chance, and she complains about this to her mother, blaming her for her plain looks (her dad is hot, her mom is “plain”). That’s when her mother tells her the family secret—women in their family have been passing on a ring that makes any guy that puts it on them see them as the most beautiful girl in their eyes.

You can guess what happens.

I’m going to try not to spoil this too much for you guys, but there’s a couple of things I want to focus on.

First off, their first meeting. Adorbs. Not the first time you see them meeting, but their actual first meeting. She’s an art student and he’s the model for her class. The first time he models, he’s sitting at her spot feeling all stressed out. He doesn’t move and drags her beside him.

I don’t know why specifically, but I adore that first meeting. It’s so wholesome. It’s the kind of thing I wish I had invented myself. His mannerism, with his hoodie on, and how confused and shocked she is at seeing him. It’s just a really really adorable meet-cute.

In your own romance writing, your main characters might not meet for the first time in your pages, but if they do, it doesn’t always have to be a big thing. Sometimes, it’s just the little details around that will make people want to read and re-read the scene. Where your characters look, what they’re thinking, their mannerism. Sometimes just writing “I saw this hot guy from across the room and he proclaimed his love for me” is cool and all, but saying “the first time I met this cute guy he was a hot mess” is more fun. It’s a little bit more unpredictable.

Another thing I loved about this show is that, as you can kind of assume, the message at the end is that looks don’t matter when it’s the right person. Without realizing it, the male main character notices all the little quirks of the main girl and he loves them. At first, it’s the looks that reel him in, but looks are not enough.

In your writing, this is not a new concept. What might be something fun to focus on though is to remember that even if you make one of your main character hot, that’s not enough to make someone else fall in love with them. Looks are not enough. You need something more. You need your characters to notice all the little things that make the other person unique. So, you need to figure out those little things you’ll give your characters that will make them their own unique person.

I think that covers in large what I wanted to focus on. I hope that if you do watch the show you have as much fun as I did watching it.

I'll leave you with two video montages from the k-drama that I enjoyed.

See you Sunday for stuff to read!