"Want a half price coupon for the ebook version of 'Rowena Through the Wall'? Leave a comment on this post, with your contact info!"
Start with Conflict – Your Romance will Thank You!
Start with Conflict – Your Romance will Thank You!
By Melodie Campbell
No doubt about it, writing a romance novel was simpler in the old days. Even now, it can be easier to plot a historical romance than a contemporary. Don’t believe me? It’s all about conflict.
In Romance, we are looking to get a man and a woman together. But there must be conflict, there must be a reason why they can’t get together or there is no story. Otherwise two people meet and their relationship grows smoothly. A nice happy life for them, but not much for a reader to get excited about.
Drat that sexual revolution! Drat that our earlier taboos are now so much history. When writing historical fiction, it’s easy to find sources of conflict. The man is the wrong religion, or the woman is not the same class…the father can refuse to allow it…lots of reasons. Shakespeare made an industry of it. But today, anything goes. It’s enough to make a grown writer cry.
So how does one sustain a romance plot that will last 60,000 words? Somehow, you have to come up with conflict. There has to be a reason why the man and woman can’t be together, or refuse to be together, even when everyone else knows they belong with each other.
This is where many aspiring romance writers fall short. The conflict that separates the man and woman is weak or contrived. How can a romance writer today find enough plot to make the romance conflict seem fresh?
It’s simple. Start with plot, not character.
Here’s my secret to writing romance plots:
I call it the law of the ‘worst thing’. Take a situation, and ask ‘what’s the worst thing that could happen now’? Or the most embarrassing thing? Example: A seventeen year old girl moves to a new town and is the new girl. First day of school, very nervous, she drives her mother’s car into the school parking lot. What’s the most embarrassing thing that could happen? She hits another car in the lot with everyone watching. And the worst thing? It’s the prize car of the most popular boy in school. Whammo. Instant disaster. Later, she’s driving home on a country road, and her car breaks down. Who comes by in the next car, and stops to help? The same guy. He can’t believe it’s her. She wants to die of embarrassment. They never stand a chance as a couple, right?
Move it to an adult romance novel. The new girl at the advertising agency drives into the company parking lot on the very first day and hits the gorgeous eligible bachelor’s new car…
Your plot will determine the type of main character you need to make the plot work. What would she be like? In Rowena Through the Wall, I need someone who would be spunky and smart – someone brave enough to walk through that wall into an unknown world. Take the next logical step: what sort of man would be attracted to that kind of girl, and vice versa? Now you can build your characters.
With Rowena, I followed the ‘worst thing’ rule to the maximum. Rowena goes through lots of ‘worst things’ until she finally gets the man she wants in the last chapter. But even then, I couldn’t resist a plot twist on the last page. After all, there is a sequel coming.
ROWENA THROUGH THE WALL
Do you like comic time travel romance?
Meet Rowena Revel!
“Is that a broadsword on your belt, or are you just glad to see me?”
When Rowena falls through her classroom wall into a medieval world, she doesn’t count on being kidnapped – not once, but twice, dammit – and the stakes get higher as the men get hotter. Unwanted husbands keep piling up; not only that, she has eighteen-year-old Kendra to look out for, and a war to prevent. Good thing she can go back through the wall when she needs to…or can she?
“Hot and Hilarious!” Midwest Book Review
“Jack Sparrow meets Stephanie Plum” Former editor, Distant Suns Fantasy Magazine
Warning: This book is not a sweet romance. It is a sexy, funny, rollicking adventure that some may find outrageous! Continued in book 2.
Rowena Through the Wall (Imajin Books) is available at Amazon.com, Amazon.ca, Amazon.uk, Smashwords, and Barnes and Noble.
Smashwords: http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/65519
Follow Melodie’s comic blog at
thttp://funnygirlmelodie.blogspot.com/2011_06_01_archive.html
View trailer and read opening scene at http://www.melodiecampbell.com/
View trailer and read opening scene at http://www.melodiecampbell.com/
Short bio:
Melodie Campbell has been a bank manager, marketing director, comedy writer, college instructor and possibly the worst runway model ever. Melodie got her start writing comedy, so it’s no surprise that editors have called her fiction “wacky” and “laugh out loud funny”. She has over 200 publications and has won five awards for fiction. She is the General Manager of Crime Writers of Canada, and has taught fiction writing for ten years.
6 comments:
Hi Melodie--
I like the way you turned the usual approach (build character first!) on its ear. How many times have I been told that? But, it makes sense to have the challenges outlined--what kind of person/character/traits would someone need to overcome these obstacles? Building that character makes great sense.
Thank you!
Sharon
(Oops - Please forgive the above deleted comment - I was accidently signed in under grammy's name while I was doing PRG work!)
Hi Melodie,
Thanks for sharing that great post!
I have to admit, I do work the other way around, developing the plot according to what kind of situations I'd most like to see my characters in, according to their personalities, LOL. But I think it's very cool to hear how you could do it the other way around - turn that on its ear, as Sharon said.
I always find it fascinating to hear how different authors work. Thanks for sharing your approach. Developing strong conflict is very important to making a story work!
Thanks ~ Melanie
Hi Melodie,
Sounds like good advice for authors.
I'm going to wait until your sequel comes out before getting both books. (I want to read them one after the other.)
Lea Ellen {night owl in IL}
Thank you so much for your comments, PRG ladies! It is so good to see you here. I think my training as a mystery writer taught me to focus on plot first. And yes, it's wonderful to hear how other writers work, isn't it? I love discussing the 'craft' of writing.
Melodie - great article, as you know, I've read Rowena and boy did you put her in some bad situations. Bless her heart.
Post a Comment