On Writing Romance_ How to Craft a Novel That Sells - Leigh Michaels [113]
Sometimes, when you know that your hero and heroine are lovely people who are perfect for each other, it's easy to forget that the main characters themselves don't yet know that they're destined to be together. So the characters start acting as if they already have an understanding about how they'll spend the rest of their lives, even if they've just met.
This is how you get a heroine who, when her car breaks down in the middle of a strange neighborhood, puts her trust in a stranger with a gun, follows him back to his place, and spends the night—instead of locking the doors and asking him to call the auto club. This is how you get a hero who's sure that the strange woman shrieking insults at him is just having a terrible day, that she isn't ordinarily like that, and that she'll be the perfect woman to bear his children.
How would a sensible person react in these circumstances—knowing what she knows right now, not what she'll know in a few days or a few weeks? Is the character acting logically? Is she reacting realistically to the events in your plot?
What's the Motivation?
The character's motivation—her reason for doing what she does—is all-important, and the more understandable the character's motivations are, the more en-
gaging the story will be. Why do the characters get involved? Why do they think the action they're taking is the best one for them at the moment?
In the example of the runaway bride, the story would be much less compelling if she'd been having doubts all along or if—with no outside impetus—she simply decided not to get married that day. Because she has a good reason for calling off the wedding (discovering her fiance is more in love with her trust fund than with her) and for running away rather than facing her guests (her father's refusal to believe her), the plot is much more plausible and engaging. Of course, the story would also be much less interesting if the hero just went along on a whim. But, because he has a reason for wanting to protect the heroine (his gentlemanly instincts, brought out by her self-destructive impulses) and a reason for wanting to get closer to her (that crush he's had on her), his decision to go along for the ride is understandable.
Why does the character do this, rather than thai'? What does the character want, and why? Why is this event happening right now instead of last year or next month? Why is this event or problem seemingly the worst thing that could happen to this person?
If you can explain why—and make your readers believe that the reason is logical and sensible—then you can do almost anything you like with your characters and your plot.
The Convenient Coincidence
In real life, coincidences happen all the time. We shrug them off and go straight on. So the temptation when we're writing fiction is to say, "Well, it could have happened that way," no matter how improbable the situation.
The trouble is that, unlike events in real life, the events in a story have to make sense. Too many coincidences—too many convenient happenings, chance encounters, and just-happen-to-overhears—only serve to remind the readers they're reading a story.
In fact, books are full of coincidences. The trick is to make them so logical and believable that the readers don't notice (for example) what a strange thing it is for the hero and heroine to be in the same place at the same time.
If you have the slightest suspicion that an episode in your story is just a little too convenient, then it probably is. Your challenge is to find a way to make it logical and believable that your characters would be at that place, at that moment, in that company, under those circumstances.
To keep your coincidences under control, give your characters a reason for what they do, and foreshadow their actions (foreshadowing will be discussed in greater detail later in this chapter).
MAINTAINING MOMENTUM: THE IMPORTANCE OF SUSPENSE
In order to keep the readers' attention through the long midsection of the book, you'll need to continue to develop the conflict and advance the plot in logical steps without