On Writing Romance_ How to Craft a Novel That Sells - Leigh Michaels [25]
The most important thing about the resolution is that the issues—big and small—that have separated the characters are settled in a way that is logical and satisfying to the readers. Each issue is handled rather than avoided; the solutions are plausible and fitting for the situations and the characters, so the readers can believe that this agreement will last and will continue to be acceptable to both main characters. A satisfying ending comes about because of the actions of the characters themselves, not through the interference of others.
Chapter six will go into more detail about planning the resolution of your conflicts and deciding how the issues you've raised between your characters will ultimately be resolved.
THINKING THROUGH YOUR FRAMEWORK
You may not be ready to put on paper all the ideas for your hero and heroine, con-flict, once-in-a-lifetime-love, and happy ending. After all, you've just started to find out why these things are important to your story.
However, you need to he thinking about these separate elements and how they interrelate as you develop your story.
The questions in the exercise below are good ones to keep in mind as you write. If you find yourself feeling bogged down as you think about your story, go back to these questions. The time you spend in quiet reflection early in the writing process could save you dozens of hours in revising.
If your idea is not yet developed enough to address these questions, that's okay. Keep them in mind as you read the next three chapters, and you'll be pleasantly surprised to find the answers taking shape.
1. Look back at the romance novels you've been studying and pick out the essential ingredients of each story—hero and heroine, conflict/problem, developing love story, and resolution.
2. What qualities make each hero and heroine heroic? Real? Sympathetic?
3. What makes each hero lovable? What makes each heroine someone you'd like to know better?
4. What is the problem that causes tension between the two main characters and threatens to keep them from reaching a happy ending?
5. How does this problem affect both hero and heroine? Why can't one or both of them simply walk away?
6. What makes the love between these two characters special? Why is this relationship perfect for them, the best love story they could possibly have?
7. How does the author resolve the big issues that have been raised between the characters? Is the resolution surprising? Satisfying?
1. Who is your heroine? What makes her sympathetic? What will the readers like about her?
2. Who is your hero? What makes him someone the readers can fall in love with?
3. What is the initial problem that brings the hero and heroine together?
4. What forces them to stay in contact? Why can't one of them just walk away?
5. What do they see in each other? What features about each one attract the other?
6. What larger difficulty, character flaw, or past experience threatens to make it impossible for hero and heroine to be happy together forever?
7. How do they solve those difficulties?
8. What is the happy ending? Does one of them make a sacrifice? Do they compromise?
Romantic heroes and heroines are a bit different from the sort of people we run into every day. Main characters have their flaws, but overall they're just a little nicer, brighter, quicker, and better than real people. They're allowed their petty moments, but in important matters they take the moral high ground.
Of course, standards vary by category and type of story. The hero of a mainstream stand-alone romance can get away with a great