How to Write a Brilliant Romance: The Easy, Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Romance (Go! Write Something Brilliant) (19 page)

Her hands found the collar of his shirt and she tightened her fists into it and held on, moving her mouth under his, tasting the seltzer water on his lips. He was so very
strong as he wrapped his arms around
her upper arms and—

Pushed her
away?

”Oh
.
.
.”
He
held
up
his
hand
as
if
stopping
something.
”
“Oh
.
.
.no.
Oh
.

.
.
Ronie.
Shoot!”
He
turned
away
from
her,
wound
his
hand
behind
his
neck, stepped out into the
street.

And
here
is
the
final
kiss
of
the
previous
LIS,
Point
of
No
Return
:

She looked so beautiful, a smile playing on her face, her red hair
down, tumbling
around
her
shoulders.
He
wrapped
his
hand
around
her
neck,
pulled
her
close.

“Chet, you’re
hurt.” “Not that
hurt.”

Then he kissed her, and she was so gentle, so sweet as she touched her lips
to
his,
and
he
wanted
more.
Would
have
more.

“Marry me, Mae. In Prague or Seattle. Wherever. Because when I’m with you,
I’m
home.”

[I
hope
you
enjoyed
all
that
kissing.
I
know
I
did.
☺
]

Don’t
take
your
love
away
from
me
.
.
.

If
you
know
story
structure,
you
know
that
every
book
must
have
a
Black
Moment.
It’s
that
moment when
the
hero’s
or
heroine’s
greatest
fears
come
true,
and
the
Lie
they
believe
feels
real
(the culmination
of
the
External
and
Internal
Obstacles.)

[To
learn
the
basics
of
story
structure,
you
may
want
to
pick
up
From
the
Inside
.
.
.
Out:
discover,
create and
publish
the
novel
in
you
,
the
foundational
guide
on
storycrafting.]

However,
the
Black
Moment
in
romance
is
different
than
the
Breakup.
The Breakup
can
happen right
before
the
Black
Moment,
and
even
contribute
to
the
Black
Moment.
Or
it
might
happen
right after
the
Black
Moment,
as
a
result
of
the
Black
Moment.
It
might
also
happen
all
at
the
same
time.

Let’s
take
a
look
at
some
of
our
favorite
Breakups:

The Pre-Black Moment
Breakups:

A
Walk
in
the
Clouds:
Paul
and
Victoria
break
up.
He
returns
to
reason
with
Victoria’s
father
and accidently
burns
down
the
entire
farm.

Sleepless
in
Seattle
:
Although
they
aren’t
dating,
Sam
and
Annie
“break
up”
when
Annie
sees
him with
another
woman
after
she’s
flown
to
Seattle.
(The
woman
turns
out
to
be
his
sister.)
The
Black Moment
is
when
Sam’s
son
goes
missing.

Post Black Moment
Breakups:

Dirty
Dancing
:
The
Black
Moment
happens
when
Johnny
is
accused
of
stealing
the
wallet.
Then
he and
Baby
break
up
when
he
leaves.

Return
to
Me:
Grace
finds
the
letter
and
realizes
that
Bob’s
wife
has
her
heart.
This
leads
to
their breakup.

While
You
Were
Sleeping
:
Lucy
confesses
the
truth
about
her
relationship
with
Peter:
that
they aren’t
engaged,
and
then
she
waits
for
Jack
to
save
her.
He
doesn’t.

How
to
Lose
a
Guy
in
10
Days:
Andie
discovers
the
bet
after
she’s
fallen
for
Ben—but
before they
break
up
(so
eloquently
and
publically
accomplished
through
the
song,
“You’re
So
Vain.”)

Simultaneous Black Moment/Breakup:

The
Proposal:
Although
they
aren’t
officially
dating,
Margaret
and
Andrew
are
in
love,
but
break
up at
the
altar
when
she
reveals
she
coerced
Andrew
into
marrying
her.
Her
Black
Moment
is
that
she loses
her
“family”—and
her
ability
to
stay
in
America.
He
loses
his
family’s
respect,
as
well
as
his shot
at
being
an
editor.In
a
romance,
the
Black
Moment
is
not
the
worst
part
of
the
story—it’s
the
climax
of
the
external and
internal
journey.
The
Breakup
is
the
darkest
part
of
the
story.
The
Black
Moment
is
used
to
bring the
character
to
that
place
where
they
recognize
their
fears
and
lies
(and
thus
have
an
Epiphany)
and make
a
change.
This
realization
and
change
is
what
empowers
them
to
pursue
the
relationship
again. (We’ll
talk
about
the
Epiphany
in
the
next
section.)

The
Breakup
happens
when
the
hero’s
or
heroine’s
wound
is
reopened
(it
may
be
one
or
both),
and it
is
too
painful
for
them
to
remain
together.
They
believe
that
nothing
can
heal
that
wound,
and they
will
forever
be
single.

In
order
to
effectively use the wound,
you
need
to
start
with
The
Hint.
At
the beginning
of
every great
novel
or
movie,
there
is
a
hint
at
what
a
character’s
wound
might
be.
He
or
she
doesn’t
have
to reveal
the
wound
right
away.
The
wound
can
be
expressed
in
their
history
of
relationships
or
how they
treat
potential
romance.

As
we
elaborated
earlier,
the
wound
is
derived
by
something
that
happened
and
they
never
want
to repeat.
It
can
be part
of
the dark
moment
in
the past
that
shaped
them,
or
perhaps
something
more recent.
It
might
be
something
a
friend
has
gone
through,
or
it
can
be
something
they
witness.

However
you
want
to
inflict
that
wound,
in
the
beginning
of
the
novel,
the
hint
of
the
wound
must be
injected
into
the
story.
It
can
be
as
easy
as
having
the
hero
or
heroine
say,
“I
don’t
believe
in marriage
because
people
aren’t
meant
to
stay
with
one
person
their
entire
life.”
Of
course,
this
might be
the
result
of
a
bitter
divorce
of
the
character’s
parents
are
going
through,
something
we
find
out later.
But
the
hint
has
been
dropped.
Or
a
character
might
say,
“I
could
never
be
with
a
man
who
.
. .
”
and
then
name
the
trait
that
would
kill
the
romance.
(Of
course
it
will
be
a
trait
the
hero
must have.)
Again,
there
will
be
a
dark
moment
reason
for
this
statement,
something
in
the
heroine’s
past, but
for
now,
we
just
have
a
hint
of
it.

This
hint
gives
us
a
foreboding,
something
to
recognize
as
the
romance
is
played
out.
And,
it
gives resonance
to
the
“story
of
the
wound”
the
hero
or
heroine
will
tell
each
other.
Finally,
the
Breakup then
makes
sense
because
we
already
know
about
the
wound.
(You’ve
read
those
books
where
the hero
and
heroine
break
up
and
we
don’t
know
why.
It
turns
the
entire
romance
into
a
formula
to
be followed
instead
of
a
natural
reaction
to
real
hurt.
The
author
hasn’t
hinted
at
the
wound
to
prepare the
reader
for
the
Breakup.)
This
is
why
romances
have
a
bad
name!

Here
are
some
hints
from
our
favorite
Matthew
McConaughey
movies:

In
How
to
Lose
a
Guy
in
10
days
,
the
heroine
finds
her
friend
crying,
overwhelmed
with
a breakup,
and
we
know
that
the
heroine
never
wants
to
truly
give
her
heart
away.

In
Fool’s
Gold
,
the
hero
shows
up
late
for
his
own
divorce,
and
gets
into
a
fight
with
his
ex-wife about
how
irresponsible
he
is.

In
Ghosts
of
Girlfriends
Past
,
the
hero
breaks
up
with
three
ladies
at
a
time
via
an
internet
video chat.
We
know
something
is
wrong
with
this
guy.

After
the
hint
is
dropped,
the
next
step
to
creating
a
powerful
Breakup
is
the
Set
Up.

This
is
a
more
overt
hint,
even
a
statement
of
impending
doom.
Someone
actually
says,
“Why
are you
with
this
guy?
He’ll
only
hurt
you.”
Or
someone
says,
“You
always
said
you
would
never
fall
in love.”
And
then
that
someone
states
the
reason
why.
It’s
a
step
in
the
journey
where
the
hero
or heroine
gets
a
small
reality
check
of
what
is
happening.
Most
of
the
time,
they
breeze
right
through it
until
the
bitter
Breakup.
However,
the
Set
Up
confronts
the
possibility
that
the
Breakup—or
true love—could
happen,
and
how
the
hero
might
react
to
it.

It
also
takes
away
that
element
of,
“didn’t
they
see
that
coming?
Oh,
they’re
too
stupid
to
live.”
Yes, they
did
see
it
coming,
but
they
dismissed
it!
It
makes
the
story
believable.

This
is
eloquently
accomplished
in
Return
to
Me
when
Grace
has
a
conversation
with
her
best
friend about
the
thank
you
letter
she
is
carrying
around
in
her
pocket.
They
talk
about
the
impact
the
letter might
have on
someone,
and
whether
a
person
might
want
to
know whose life
the donor
heart saved.
We
know
from
the
conversation
that
Grace
doesn’t
want
to
inadvertently
inflict
more
pain
on the
donor
family.
In
the
end,
this
is
exactly
what
she
does.

We
need
to
know
that
the
Breakup
and
reopening
of
the
wound
is
possible.
So
having
someone acknowledge
it
in
some
way
is
a
key
element
to
building
it.

So,
you
must
hint
and
then
set
it
up
.
You
may
even
choose
to
combine
them.
But
at
some
point
we need
to
understand
why
they
would
break
up.

Then, of course, we have the
Breakup.

The
Breakup
occurs
when
the
hero
or
heroine
reopen
the
other’s
wound.
Perhaps
they
abandon them
in
a
time
of
need.
Or
they
point
out
their
flaw,
and
it’s
insurmountable.
Or
their
fears
of rejection
push
them
away
from
the
one
they
love.
Whatever
their
wound
is,
something
happens
to make
it
so
raw
that
they
run
from
the
relationship.