Marriage in writing

I realize that in most books there is at least one married couple. This married couple either falls in one of two categories. The first one is the marriage going bad. They have some kind of issue, and either the wife or husband has been a victim of some kind. The marriage is heading for divorce city because he ate the last pint of Ben and Jerry's and didn't buy more. He is automatically put in the "selfish-pig" category. The reader connects the husband as a scum bag now.

The second version of the married couple is the older generic couple. They have been together forever, married for 55 years they have seen it all. They are usually thought of as the older sweet couple that don't mind helping out when needed.

Both of the versions of married people are almost in every book out there. I have been married for almost 8 years now, and I have been with my husband for almost 12 years. I feel that me and my husband don't fit into either of those verisons of marriage. There are other verisons of marriage other than those two.

I don't understand why it's either utter bliss and married ages or married just a few years and ready, no eager, to divorce. I have often questioned if the writers feelings toward marriage may have had some influence upon choosing which couple type to place in their book.

I know that now a majority of marriages end in divorce, but most of us married people like being married. The perks of being married is innumerable. I realise that single people have perks too, but really you have those perks alone. Who are you going to share that awesome home entertainment center with? Your cat? (lame!)

Before you add that married couple to your manuscript think about what kind of people they are individually. Not all of us fit into either slot of a married couple. Why not give them some flare and personality. Make them people too, just not page fillers for a hole in your story line.