Plot Problem

[StolenTurtle]

Okay, here we go...

I have a dilemma with one of my main characters in my "The Trip" series.

She is a woman who lives in Los Angeles and takes a trip up to San Francisco to meet with a lawyer to get a divorce from her imprisoned and abusive husband.

While she's there, her husband somehow gets released from prison and now is out looking for her.

My problem is:

I need a REALLY good reason for my main character to go all the way to San Francisco to find a lawyer. "Why can't she just find a lawyer in LA?" You ask?

Very good question. I don't know. Her sister recommended this lawyer to her when he helped her with a civil dispute a year ago. But since then he's moved up to San Francisco.

What else could my main character use this lawyer for to justify her going all the way there to him with her dilemma? He's the best lawyer around, but if it's just a simple divorce, she could get that anywhere. She needs another reason to see him and only him. Maybe something in the realm of restraining orders or ...Any ideas?

Thanks again in advance!

-StolenTurtle

 

[sr71plt]

It would be better (more plausible) if the case he had handled for her sister had been something that had more emotional support required (although there could be a civil suit that had a lot of angst connected with it for the sister, I would think). Then the choice could hinge on the sister finding the lawyer ultra supportive. That would be enough to plausibly swing a recommendation for her sister to justify going that far away to use his services. Most people will take a lawyer on recommendation of a close friend or relative given the chance.

 

[StolenTurtle]

It would be better (more plausible) if the case he had handled for her sister had been something that had more emotional support required (although there could be a civil suit that had a lot of angst connected with it for the sister, I would think). Then the choice could hinge on the sister finding the lawyer ultra supportive. That would be enough to plausibly swing a recommendation for her sister to justify going that far away to use his services. Most people will take a lawyer on recommendation of a close friend or relative given the chance.

Well, the real clicker to the story is that the lawyer winds up seducing my main character in lieu of monetary compensation. Now my main character has more than enough money to pay a lawyer, but I want it to be a situation where she is trapped and has no other alternative than to let him do this to her in order to receive his services (no pun intended).

What would be compelling enough to make her humiliate herself for his help?

 

[Varian P]

The lawyer in SF could be an old friend of hers, or an attorney she's worked with in the past--either could justify her trust in this lawyer for an emotionally sensitive case, at a particularly stressful time, and her willingness/need to go out of her way to work with this particular person.

ETA: Alright, just saw your second post, re: the sexual blackmail. That either nullifies the trusted old friend suggestion, or makes the whole thing ten times skeezier.

A question for you, as you develop your plot: what about being slightly out of town would make a person with financial resource so vulnerable? She can just fly back to LA and hire a human being to represent her, can't she?

 

[evanslily]

Could she flee to San Francisco because she somehow knows that hubby's being released from prison and she's not safe in LA? And San Francisco seems a good idea because at least she knows a lawyer there?

 

[StolenTurtle]

Could she flee to San Francisco because she somehow knows that hubby's being released from prison and she's not safe in LA? And San Francisco seems a good idea because at least she knows a lawyer there?

There's a thought. Her sister called her on the phone the night before and told her that he was out and looking for her. This could compel her to see the lawyer and the fear of not wanting to go back to LA in case her husband does find her.

Good idea. It's simple enough and only takes an extra line or two to add it to the story.

Thanks! I'll play with that one and see how it works!

You guys are awesome!

-StolenTurtle

 

[sr71plt]

Well, the real clicker to the story is that the lawyer winds up seducing my main character in lieu of monetary compensation. Now my main character has more than enough money to pay a lawyer, but I want it to be a situation where she is trapped and has no other alternative than to let him do this to her in order to receive his services (no pun intended).

What would be compelling enough to make her humiliate herself for his help?

I'd take this as a gold mine for character development. With the parameters set here, I'd probably abandon any saving grace for the lawyer--with the reader being the first one to figure him out. I'd have the sister paint him as a real hero who she'd melt over if she had a chance. And I'd make the sister's emotional state delicate. A hook of the story then would be the reader seeing through the lawyer before the main character did in her own interaction with him and him eventually blackmailing the main character into sex when she figures him out with the threat that he always could go back and mess with little sister. That leaves it in a no-man's-land as far as an ending, whether sweet revenge or with a twist. Would still have to think about that--but you haven't indicated where you'd want to go from his getting his way with her. (It's unlikely I'd end a story there. I'd probably then turn to the appearance of the husband and work with that a bit.)

But that's just what I'd probably do with it.

 

[StolenTurtle]

The lawyer in SF could be an old friend of hers, or an attorney she's worked with in the past--either could justify her trust in this lawyer for an emotionally sensitive case, at a particularly stressful time, and her willingness/need to go out of her way to work with this particular person.

ETA: Alright, just saw your second post, re: the sexual blackmail. That either nullifies the trusted old friend suggestion, or makes the whole thing ten times skeezier.

A question for you, as you develop your plot: what about being slightly out of town would make a person with financial resource so vulnerable? She can just fly back to LA and hire a human being to represent her, can't she?

That's my point. I want her to be trapped in San Francisco because that's how she meets her love interest.

Her love interest (at this point) knows nothing of her history with her husband, and so far doesn't even know she's married.

Trust me, it's not as complicated as it sounds, but I was just looking for a feasible reason for her to have sex with this sleazy lawyer and not pull the reader out of the story.

Thanks for you help!

-StolenTurtle

 

[StolenTurtle]

I'd take this as a gold mine for character development. With the parameters set here, I'd probably abandon any saving grace for the lawyer--with the reader being the first one to figure him out. I'd have the sister paint him as a real hero who she'd melt over if she had a chance. And I'd make the sister's emotional state delicate. A hook of the story then would be the reader seeing through the lawyer before the main character did in her own interaction with him and him eventually blackmailing the main character into sex when she figures him out with the threat that he always could go back and mess with little sister. That leaves it in a no-man's-land as far as an ending, whether sweet revenge or with a twist. Would still have to think about that--but you haven't indicated where you'd want to go from his getting his way with her. (It's unlikely I'd end a story there. I'd probably then turn to the appearance of the husband and work with that a bit.)

But that's just what I'd probably do with it.

LOL! This sleaze bag has no saving grace what so ever. He pulled the same crap down in LA but got away with it -- sort of. They took away his license to practice in Los Angeles, but he was free to roam about the rest of California. None of the harassment suits against him stuck (as he is the best lawyer around) and there was really no tarnish on his track record. But as soon as my heroine visits him in SF, things are very apparent about his work ethic with his female clients. I don't care if everyone hates him, I want them to.

And believe me, he will get his in the end.

-StolenTurtle

 

[sr71plt]

LOL! This sleaze bag has no saving grace what so ever. He pulled the same crap down in LA but got away with it -- sort of. They took away his license to practice in Los Angeles, but he was free to roam about the rest of California. None of the harassment suits against him stuck (as he is the best lawyer around) and there was really no tarnish on his track record. But as soon as my heroine visits him in SF, things are very apparent about his work ethic with his female clients. I don't care if everyone hates him, I want them to.

And believe me, he will get his in the end.

-StolenTurtle

Well, you seem to have it figured out. The one thing I'd try to do in my own version, though, would be to get the reader to like him and then let the reader be the first to discover he was a rat.