How to Write a Brilliant Romance: The Easy, Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Romance (Go! Write Something Brilliant) (9 page)

Why
do
fools
fall
in
love?
I
don’t
think
we
even
know
ourselves
when
we
are
in
the
middle
of
it.
But when
the
dust
clears,
well,
hopefully
it’s
because
you
complete
each
other,
you’re
better
together, and
you
understand
each
other.

When
you
are
writing
a
romance,
writing
these
three
elements
into
the
story
will
convince
your reader
that
indeed,
these
fools
have
fallen
in
love!

• What can your hero and heroine do for each other that they can’t do
  themselves?
  
• What does your heroine do that affirms the hero? That accentuates his
  strengths?
  
• What does your hero do that affirms the heroine? That accentuates her
  strengths?
  
• How do they become better people when they are
  together?
  
• What core values do the hero and heroine share? How will you reveal them to the reader, and to each
  other?
  

But
what
about
the
tension?
So
far,
we’ve
just
had
all
the
reasons
the
hero
and
heroine
should
fall
in love.
But
a
great
book
is
also
about
why
they
can’t
fall
in
love
(and
do
anyway).
Which
means
you need
what
I
call
the
“Why
Nots.”

Falling
in
love
is
amazing.
Regardless
of
your
age,
when
you
find
that
one
you
love,
it
stirs
a breathlessness,
an
awakening
in
us
that
our
beloved
would,
well,
love
us
.
Because,
frankly,
we
know ourselves
enough
to
know
that
they
shouldn’t.
Right?
We
think:
If
he
or
she
only
knew
the
truth, they’d go running.

But,
eventually
they
do
find
out
the
truth,
and
they
stay.
And
that’s
what
makes
true
love
even
more breathtaking.

Add
to
that
the
little
sacrifices
we
make
for
the
ones
we
love,
and
pretty
soon,
life
is
a
romance novel!

But
the
fact
is,
without
a
few
struggles,
true
love
isn’t
tested.
Remember
your
first
big
fight?
I’ll
bet you
bemoaned
with
your
friends
and
said,
“That’s
it.
It’s
over.”

Which
made
it
ever
more
wonderful
when
the
one
you
loved
showed
up
at
the
door
at
1
a.m.,
red- eyed
.
.
.

A
romance
novel
is
the
delicate
balance
of
conflict
and
desire.
There
must
be
enough
desire
(Why) to
create
interest
and
stir
need.
But,
conflict
drives
the
story.
Without
the
fights
and
the
turmoil,
the story
isn’t
interesting.
It’s
just
sappy.
Most
of
all,
how
can
True
Love
triumph
if
it
doesn’t
have
to? Is
it
true
love
if
it
isn’t
tested?
We’re
not
sure,
which
means
that
conflict
is
essential
for
a
great romance.
But
not
just
any
conflict,
like
fighting
over
the
kind
of
coffee
they
drink,
or
driving
too fast,
or
even
stupider
things
like
fighting
about
the
way
he
or
she
did
or
did
not
look
at
our
character from
across
the
office.
This
kind
of
conflict
is
trite
and
unsatisfying.

No,
your
hero
and
heroine
are
going
to
fight
about
the
things
that
matter
.

In
other
words,
our
conflict
is
going
to
be
focused
on
the
true
obstacles
to
love
between
them. Something
that
I
like
to
call
the
Why
Nots.

A romance novel must have both External Why Nots and Internal Why
Nots.

The
external
Why
Nots
should
be
easy:
Why
can’t
these
two
people
be
together?
Think
of
the external
obstacles
as
the
plot
obstacles:

• He
  works
  for
  the
  bank
  that
  wants
  to
  take
  over
  the
  family
  farm.
  
• She is his new boss, and is supposed to fire
  him.
  
• He opens
  a competing business
  in her town.
  
• She’s
  a
  cop,
  he’s
  a
  criminal.
  
• He’s
  a
  bounty
  hunter,
  assigned
  to
  track
  down
  his
  ex-wife.
  

External
Obstacles
usually
arise
from
competing
Goals
and
Noble
Causes.
They
are
equally
valid, equally
strong,
and
equally
compelling.
And
thus,
big
enough
to
keep
your
hero
and
heroine
apart.

Let’s
take
a
look
at
the
obstacles
in
our
favorite
movies:

While
You
Were
Sleeping
:
She’s
his
brother’s
fiancée.
Or
not,
but
then
yes,
she
is.
So,
he
can’t have
her.
And,
she
has
lied
and
can’t
get
out
of
it.
These
obstacles
loom
larger
as
the
story
plays
out. (This
theme
is
used
a
lot
in
movies,
by
the
way,
and
it
never
seems
to
get
old.
Think:
Sabrina
.
Or, even
Maid
of
Honor.
The
device
of
belonging
to
the
wrong
person
and
loving
the
right
one
is
popular and effective.)

Return
to
Me
:
She
has
his
dead
wife’s
heart.
‘Nuf
said.

Casablanca
:
Well,
Ilsa
is
married,
isn’t
she?
And
it’s
clear
that
two
people’s
problems
don’t
amount to
a
hill
of
beans
in
this
crazy
world.
More
than
that,
her
husband
is
a
real
hero,
a
great
guy,
and Rick
is
a
man
who
believes
in
freedom
enough
to
let
her
go
for
a
greater
cause.

Note:
The
external
Why
Not
can
also
be
derived
by
something
internal,
but
it
emerges
in
something physical.
For
example,
in
my
novel
Happily
Ever
After
,
my
hero
has
a
brother
who
has
Down Syndrome.
This
is
an
external
obstacle
only
because
it
caused
an
internal
obstacle:
The
hero’s
father left
his
mother
when
he
couldn’t
deal
with
the
stress
of
the
brother’s
medical
condition.
The
hero’s wounded
past
created
internal
obstacles
that
manifest
in
the
external
obstacle
of
having
a
brother with special needs.External
Obstacles
are
sometimes
difficult
to
pinpoint
and
not
be
cliché.
How
many
times
can
an author
do
the
“wrong
side
of
the
tracks”
variant?
Amish
versus
Englisher,
high
society
versus working
class,
North
versus
South,
etc?
But
the
very
fact
that
we
have
so
many
of
these
situations proves
that
this
obstacle
is
very
real.

Turn
the
obstacle
over
and
look
at
it
creatively.
How
can
you
put
a
new
twist
on
the
o
bstacles? Here
are
some
recent
ones
I’ve
used:

• She’s
  an
  American
  writing
  to
  a
  German
  prisoner
  of
  war
  (POW)
  in
  Wisconsin.
  (A
  variant
  of the
  “wrong
  side
  of
  the
  tracks.”)
  
• He’s
  supposed
  to
  be
  her
  bodyguard.
  (The
  work
  related
  obstacle.)
  
• She
  suspects
  him
  of
  sabotaging
  her
  business.(Intrigue-related)
  
• He
  destroyed
  her
  hotel,
  and
  she
  wants
  money
  from
  him.
  (Opposing
  financial
  goals)
  
• She
  is
  trying
  to
  prove
  that
  he
  committed
  a
  crime.
  (Intrigue-related)
  
• She slept with his
  brother!
  
• She’s
  the
  fire
  chief,
  he’s
  on
  her
  crew.
  (Work-related)
  
• He’s
  a
  Russian
  FSB
  agent,
  she’s
  an
  American
  missionary
  on
  the
  lam.
  (Intrigue-related)She’s
  a
  private
  eye
  (PI),
  he’s
  a
  cop
  who
  is
  trying
  to
  get
  her
  to
  fail.
  (Opposing
  relationship goals)
  
• And,
  numerous
  times
  I’ve
  used,
  “He
  or
  she
  broke
  her
  or
  his
  heart.”
  (It
  works.)
  

The
External
Obstacles
are
the
key
to
creating
tension
in
your
story.
Without
them,
the
reader
will say,
“Grow
up
already
and
fall
in
love!”

Ask: What realistic External Obstacle in the plot pushes your hero and heroine
apart?

Make
them
realistic,
and
you’ll
have
a
powerful
reason
why
they
can’t
be
together.

Although
we’ve
discovered
the
plot
or
external
obstacles
(the
Why
Nots)
that
keep
our
characters apart,
we’re
not
finished
causing
problems.
Remember,
the
point
of
a
great
romance
is
for
love
to overcome
the
obstacles
and
triumph!
Which
means
we
must
have
Internal
Obstacles,
or
the
reasons why
we
(and
our
characters)
run
from
love.

Finding
internal
obstacles
isn’t
difficult.
We
can
all
come
up
with
a
long
list
of
the
reasons
why
we are
unlovable.
Our
sins,
our
flaws,
or
fears,
our
idiosyncrasies
—you
name
it.
It’s
a
wonder
we
don’t all
live
as
hermits!

The
problem
with
finding
internal
obstacles
is
finding
the
right
ones.
Often
authors
either
pick
too many
or
focus
only
on
the
internals
as
the
obstacles
to
love.
This
causes
your
story
to
end
up
being circular
and
boring
as
the
hero
and
heroine
rehash
their
issues
over
and
over.

We
also
pick
too
many
obstacles
(because
they
are
so
easy
to
pick!
We
just
climb
inside
the
skin
of
our character
and
ask
“Why
won’t
she
love
you?”
Let
the
bemoaning
begin!)

How
do
we
solve
these
problems?

Just
pick
one.
One
Big
Why
Not.
One
Big
Why
Not
that
has
many
facets.
One
Big
Why
Not
that has
many
facets
that
is
built
off
of
a
wound
in
your
character’s
past.
One
wound,
from
one
event. One
event
that
they
can
then
share
with
the
heroine
or
hero
when
the
time
is
right.

See,
our
internal
obstacles
to
love
are
usually
based
off
some
event
that
caused
us
great
pain.
It could
be
an
old
romance,
or
it
could
be
something
done
or
said
to
us
as
a
child.
It
could
be
a
failure in
the
teenage
years,
or
even
something
that
happened
to
someone
close
to
us.
Whatever
that wound
was,
it
causes
us
to
shy
away
from
love
and
not
be
willing
to
risk
it.
It
is
also
an
excellent
tool for
plotting
in
the
internal
obstacles.

Here
are
some
possible
woundings
that
might
create
internal
Why
Nots:

“I
am
afraid
of
love
because
my
mother
left
me
on
my
aunt’s
doorstep
when
I
was
six.
I
still remember
her
driving
away.
Thus,
I
am
afraid
of
abandonment.”

“I
drove
drunk
when
I
was
seventeen,
and
got
into
an
accident
that
killed
my
high
school sweetheart.
I’m
afraid
to
love
because
I
hurt
everyone
I
love.”“The
man
I
loved
got
me
pregnant
and
left
me
the
sophomore
year
of
college.
I
am
afraid
of loving
because
I
know
I’ll
be
rejected
and
left
with
the
pieces
of
my
future.”