Soulmates

I’ve been reading a lot of books lately that happen to use soulmates as a plot device. And quite frankly, I’m getting tired of it.

I have no issue with the idea of soulmates, the notion that there’s one person out there whose soul is a perfect match for your own. And I don’t even mind versions of soulmates where they have some physical sign of it, like matching tattoos or something.

But the thing that aggravates me is when there’s a couple and they’re soulmates, but outside of that…there’s really nothing compelling about the relationship. I think the relationship has to be able to stand on its own outside of being soulmates in order for the whole idea of soulmates to work.

In some of these books I’ve read lately…it’s like there’s nothing more to the relationship than being inexplicably drawn to each other due to the soulmate bond. (I won’t name names, because I don’t want to hurt any author’s feelings. Authors can be sensitive, you know.)

I kind of like the idea that soulmate status is something that any couple could obtain. Like, it’s not necessarily some cosmic fate, but rather as they spend time getting to know each other and become closer and more in love…it just can happen for them.

I suppose at that point, it’s not quite the same as soulmates, but I like the idea. In fact, I can kind of see how it would work for a book. Maybe I’ll write it someday. I’ll add it to my Google doc where I keep all my book ideas.

I always try to finish the books I’ve started writing before starting new books in order to avoid having multiple unfinished manuscripts and no actual products, but it’s challenging because ideas come faster than I can write them. Although you never know. I could always get faster.

Unrelated to soulmates, I’ve been thinking lately that it’d be fun to play Donkey Kong Country 3 again. You know, the old SNES game.

Of course, if you look at the science, it’s been proven that people who spend lots of time playing video games probably write fewer books. Scientifically speaking.