On Writing Romance_ How to Craft a Novel That Sells - Leigh Michaels [47]
animal-rights activism, or he wasn't all that fond of mink ranching anyway, then why did they wait until the last chapter to reach a compromise? If the issue turns out to be not so important after all, why couldn't they agree earlier?
In a case like that, you'd be better off giving one or both of them a different sort of cause to be passionate about—and realizing that up front, before you've written half the book, will save you a great deal of effort and frustration.
An ending is most satisfying when it requires both the hero and the heroine to give up something for the sake of their love. This establishes a basic equality in the relationship, and it also makes the conflict resolution more believable. If one person giving in would have solved the difficulty, why did it take them so long to reach that point?
A solution is most satisfying when the characters figure it out for themselves, not when someone else comes up with the answer. If this couple would never have gotten together or worked out their problem without the help of the secondary characters, the readers will have doubts about how they'll handle future difficulties. Make sure your hero and heroine sort out their disagreement themselves, together.
1. In the romance novels you've been studying, what was the happy ending for each couple? How did the happy endings come about?
2. Did the characters solve their differences through their own actions, or was there interference by other characters?
3. How were the main issues of the story resolved—did either the hero or heroine give in, or was there a compromise?
4. Did the happy ending startle you, or had you predicted how the couple would solve their problems?
1. How will you resolve the short-term problem of each main character?
2. How does the resolution of the short-term problems contribute to the resolution of the long-term problems?
3. How do your main characters contribute to the solution of their own problems?
4. If either your hero or heroine gives in to solve the problem, why couldn't they have made this decision earlier?
5. If the hero and heroine have a difference in core values, how will they compromise to achieve a solution that is satisfactory for both of them?
6. In what ways will you make the solution of the characters' problems unexpected for the readers?
Figuring out where to start telling your story is one of the bigger challenges you face. Do you show the hero and heroine together, or do you begin with just one of them? Do you start with the heroine at work or at home, or the hero with his family or at his job? Do you show the character talking, acting, or thinking? Should you begin with the characters in normal life or absorbed in the threat or problem that will change the rest of their life?
You have limited time and space—a few pages, at most—to seize your readers' interest. If you start too slowly and include too much of the characters' history, the readers may get tired of waiting for the interesting stuff to start. If you start too fast, with too much action, they may get confused. Either miscalculation may make the readers put the book down and never pick it up again.
STARTING TOO EARLY
Readers will put down your book if you fail to catch their interest right at the beginning. If they lose interest—or never develop any interest—chances are you started telling your story too early.
Starting too early usually means beginning with the background—the roots of the story—rather than with the story itself. If the heroine is returning to her hometown for the first time in years because her father's had a heart attack, then starting page one with her getting the phone call about his illness is probably starting too early, as is starting with her packing her suitcase and rushing to