On Writing Romance_ How to Craft a Novel That Sells - Leigh Michaels [128]
• One side is presented as right and the other is presented as wrong. If
one of them is trying to save the rain forest and the other takes glee in trying to destroy it, it's hard to be sympathetic to both sides.
• Circular arguments. The characters argue the same points again and again, without making progress toward a solution. If the conflict is genuine, a real discussion will develop and the antagonists will modify their points of view as they explain their positions.
• Coincidental interruptions. Just as the hero is about to explain what he really feels, the phone rings, or someone comes to the door, or another character happens to say something that perpetuates the wrong impressions—so the misunderstanding lives on for another day. A wrong number or someone asking for directions would not have the power to derail an important conversation.
• Not enough at stake. The issue doesn't seem important enough to deserve a story, either to the readers or to the characters. A difference between two teachers about how to run a classroom, or a quarrel between parents about whether their little girl should wear jeans or dresses, isn't likely to keep the readers up at night to find out what happens.
• Unrelated disasters. Throwing in earthquakes, car accidents, broken bones, etc.—unless they are actually related to the main story—fills space but doesn't develop conflict or advance the plot. Does every incident move the story forward? Does every incident have a connection to the characters' goals?
• Main characters whose every conversation consists of getting-to-know-each-other, first-date talk. If the only thing the main characters have to chat about is pets and jobs, there may not be enough of a problem between them.
2. The hero and heroine aren't realistic and sympathetic characters, or they aren't behaving in realistic ways. If your heroine's past experience with the Other Woman has shown that the Other Woman is a liar, but the heroine believes her anyway, then your main character is not only illogical but downright aggravating.
If your hero and heroine act on their very first meeting as if they've known and hated each other for years, they're not believable characters. If they behave badly toward each other throughout the story without overwhelming reason, they're not sympathetic. If they show nothing but distaste for each other throughout the book but then fall into each other's arms on the last page, their chances of lasting happiness are not convincing. Symptoms of this malady include:
• A heroine you wouldn't want to befriend. If she isn't someone you'd want to hang out with, odds are your readers won't either. You may know that, down deep, your heroine is really a sweetheart, but if she spends all of chapter one shrieking at her mother, the readers will see an unsympathetic, unpleasant woman.
• A hero you wouldn't want to be married to. (Notice that I didn't say "a hero you wouldn't fall in love with." Being attracted to someone is one thing, but he has to be more than handsome and sexy to have lasting appeal.) If he's angry, have the readers seen convincing reasons for his anger? Can the readers empathize with the character's emotions? Does the bad boy show a balance of characteristics, or is he so dangerous that a sensible woman would run?
• Characters who are out of balance. If the hero is aggressive and the heroine weak, or the heroine is pushy and the hero passive, the story is apt to trail off. In a good pairing of characters, the hero and heroine will be roughly equal in strength and assertiveness.
• Telling the readers about the characters rather than showing them in action. If the characters are not realistic, sympathetic, and believable, it will be difficult to bring them to life—and thus easier to write about them than to show them interacting.
• Unmotivated opposition. The hero shouldn't try to prevent the heroine from getting what she wants (or vice versa) simply to be nasty. Both characters are more sympathetic if there's a good reason for their opposition to each other.
• A wandering or unclear