On Writing Romance_ How to Craft a Novel That Sells - Leigh Michaels [107]
Dialogue in romance novels differs from author to author (one author will write light, witty, sparkling dialogue, while another will create slower-paced but more dramatic conversations) and among story types (romantic comedy requires a lighter, faster pace than romantic suspense). Many romance categories can include a number of different story types, so a single category won't necessarily have one identifiable style of dialogue.
1. Take another look at the romance novels you've been studying, reading the dialogue. How do the characters talk to each other?
2. Do you always know which character is talking? How does the author tell you who's speaking?
3. If you have several different types of romances on hand, look for ways the dialogue differs between types. Do historical heroes and heroines talk to each other differently than contemporary heroes and heroines? Than chick-lit heroes and heroines?
4. How do the heroes and heroines talk to each other when they're arguing? Just talking? Making love?
INTROSPECTION
Introspection is just a fancy word for thinking. When your characters talk silently to themselves, contemplate taking action, reflect on past events or worry about future ones, or otherwise share what they're thinking with the readers, they are being introspective.
Introspection is useful in romance novels because it gives the readers direct access to a character's thoughts and allows you to bring in emotions that are otherwise difficult to express on the page. Like listening to the characters' private conversations, eavesdropping on their thoughts draws the readers further into the romance.
The main advantage of fiction over screenplay is that it allows you to use introspection. That's also one of the main disadvantages, because you may be tempted to allow far too much think-time for your characters.
Showing a heroine thinking about how angry she is at the hero—and vice versa—is no substitute for placing the characters in the same room and letting them argue. When writing introspection, be careful not to allow the character to give too much information to the readers, or to give that information too early in the story, thus ruining all the suspense. If the readers know all the character's history or innermost thoughts, there's little left to surprise the readers.
Direct and Indirect Thoughts
Characters' thoughts can be shared with the readers in two ways—directly and indirectly. A direct thought is the exact words the character is thinking, while an indirect thought sums up the idea without using the exact words.
Direct: This guy is a major pain in the butt, she thought.
Indirect: She thought the man was a nuisance.
A direct thought most often uses present-tense verbs and first person—just as dialogue does—because it actually is dialogue; the words just aren't spoken aloud. If the character is thinking about past events, the thought will be expressed in past tense; a direct thought will be in the person's exact words (even if those words are unspoken).
An indirect thought uses past-tense verbs and third person—just like narrative— because it actually is narrative—it's a summary of what the character is thinking.
How thoughts are handled in the published book is often determined by house style—the rules and guidelines governing how a particular publisher edits and typesets text. All the books printed by the same publisher will show thoughts in the same way. In many cases, direct thought—using the character's exact words—will be shown in the finished book in italics, which makes direct
thought clear to the readers even if attribution (she thought) is omitted. So the above example would probably look like this:
This guy is a major pain in the butt.
Publishers vary, however; the examples in this book show several ways of handling thoughts. In your manuscript,