(Notes
from my workshop presented to the Melbourne
Romance Writers Group, Feb 2005.)
What makes a satisfying end to a romance?
What leaves you with a smile on your
face, convinced the characters have achieved
a lasting happy-ever-after?
- Satisfying resolution of internal
conflict.
- Plot has a believable resolution.
- You believe the hero and heroine
will make it together, even after the
consuming heat of first love has cooled.
What works against this happening?
Why would you doubt that the h/H will
be happy together and not facing the
divorce court in a couple of years’ time?
- The I hate you-I hate you-I hate
you, swiftly followed by the I-love-you
about face without sufficient motivation/credibility
- The relationship is all about lust
rather than love
- They have nothing in common beyond
a mutual physical attraction
- They haven’t resolved the conflict
satisfactorily
- They still have issues
- They haven’t changed or grown
during the book.
In a romance we need the reader to believe
that this pair has something very special
going on, that despite all the conflict
pushing them apart during the pages of
the book, they will make it. And yet…if
we make that too obvious, too early,
we risk diminishing the tension.
How do we set up a believable HEA without
sacrificing tension?
We need to recognise that this is a
juggling act of conflict vs attraction.
We need to acknowledge that our characters
will clash and will bond. We can think
about the points or road-signs only the
rocky path to love.
Ensure your characters clash (conflict)
and bond.
This is a lesson I learned from Heroes
and Heroines – Sixteen Master
Archetypes1 where
suggestions are provided for how
each pair of archetypes might bond
and clash. This is something I work
out for my characters in the story
planning stage. In the books I write,
I need there to be plenty of spark
between the hero and heroine, and
not only based on external plot or
conflict. BUT to create a believable
HEA, I also like to know their common
grounds.
Taking an example from The Ruthless
Groom (book#3 in my Princes
of the Outback trilogy):
Alex and Zara clash/conflict:
* she craves independence and a career
after delaying her medical studies to
nurse her mother through a debilitating
illness; he not only wants a
marriage and family, he needs a
baby to fulfill his father’s dying
wish
* she has secrets that would lead to
scandal, secrets she has vowed to protect;
he is a high-profile personality (Princes
of the Outback) and all his relationships
provide instant tabloid fodder
* he thinks marriage should be based
on similar interests, leading to a nice,
solid, stable relationship; she would
only marry for passionate, intense, can’t-live-without-you
love
Alex and Zara bond:
* both are strong, athletic and competitive;
they acknowledge, understand and respect
this in each other
* recognition of a common sense of humor
leads to instant attraction
* both have a notorious mother (which
lead to scandals in the past) and a birth
father who had no part in their upbringing – this
means they understand a lot about each
other on a level that doesn’t require
talk (they work it out quickly). Because
of the circumstances in their past, each
has a fierce protective love of their
mother which motivates some of their
current choices.
Exercise: think about the hero
and heroine of your wip – write
3 points on which they clash, and
3 on which they bond. (NB:
3 is an arbitrary number – your
particular characters may have more
areas in which they bond and/or clash.)
Your homework is working out how to
incorporate both some points of conflict
and some points of bonding into your
story. To help that along, we’re
going to talk about – and think
about – how we can show the bonding
points, in particular, because I think
that is something we overlook in the
pursuit of strong conflict. (or at least
I do!)
That said, conflict is often times the
starting point of the relationship between
your hero and heroine. That may be the
external conflict, but it’s often
what creates the compelling beginning
to drag the reader into the story. But,
along the way the reader needs to see
change and growth in their relationship,
gradually, in little steps, which may
include both give and take. Things get
better, things get worse, things get
better, things get MUCH worse, before
they’re ever close to the HEA.
Along the way we need to show:
* Conflict, the kick-off point
* Attraction – the spark of awareness,
the special intensity that is recognized
and which makes the conflict far worse
that it otherwise would have been
* Respect – this may start out
reluctant or begrudging, but at some
point there needs to be recognition and
acceptance of the other’s good
qualities (even though the conflict is
still there.) This may be as simple as
our heroine thinking, he’s not
ALL bad. Or our hero deciding, she’s
still a PITA, but she’s smart and
gutsy and I can’t help liking those
qualities.
Can you see how our characters’ attitude
can start to change? How this might challenge
a character’s perceptions and influence
his/her choices? This doesn’t have
to happen for both characters at once
or in this order e.g. best friends have
respect and liking for each other from
the start, before the conflict, before
the change in thinking that leads from
best-friends to love.
Another point to ponder: sometimes the
reader will see that growing respect
before the character is prepared to see
and admit it.
* Trust – to create a believable
resolution and HEA, I submit that our
hero and heroine need to trust each other.
How can you demonstrate trust in your
book? Is it stronger for one character
to decide, in introspect: I trust
him now? Or is it better to show that
trust by sharing a secret or admitting
a weakness -- something he/she has never
shared with another person or perhaps
even admitted to themselves?
Trust is about taking a risk on the
other person, about exposing a vulnerability,
about giving without any expectation
of reward. And it sure does help if this
crucial scene develops naturally from
the plot, from character growth, from
cause and effect. You do not want the
reader thinking: now why the blazes
is she telling him that?!
This can be a very useful tool when
you’re planning your book’s
emotional climax. Think about how powerful
and emotional and all-is-lost your black
moment could be if that admission, that
secret, comes back and bites them on
the butt.
* Acknowledgement of love. This may
be an admission only to oneself, not
shared with the other character, but
even so it can be tricky in terms of
maintaining tension. If the character
acknowledges love, you may need this
to make matters worse between your protagonists,
not better.
* Demonstration of love (which is what
happens in the resolution.) Notice the
use of the term “demonstration” rather
than admission. The reason, once again,
is the power of show over tell. Yes,
it’s always lovely to read a lyrical
and moving declaration of love, but think
about the power of showing that
love. Think about the power of sacrifice.
This demonstrates the character’s
change and growth. It may not come to
anything – it can just be a willingness
to give up something of vital importance
that provides the winning final touch.
Example:
At the end of The Ruthless Groom,
Alex doesn’t care about the scandal
of marrying Zara. And in the final scene,
when he proposes marriage, he says he
will move his home, his office, to another
city so Zara can finish her studies there,
if that’s what she wants. That
offer, that willingness to sacrifice,
is enough because it shows his change/growth
and is a demonstration of how much being
with her and her happiness, her goals,
mean to him. This follows his disclosure
of a vulnerability he’s never admitted
to anyone– the reason why he’s
afraid of passion; why he’s been
looking for a nice, safe, stable relationship.
To Zara, those two key points mean more
than any declaration of love. He has
shown he means it; hopefully the reader,
like Zara, will believe they belong together,
that they have earned their happy-ever-after.
References:
1. Heroes and Heroines – Sixteen
Master Archetypes
Tami D Cowden, Caro LaFever, Sue Viders
ISBN 1580650244
2. From Lust to Love
Tami Cowden, Caro LaFever
RWA Conference Tape RW7-61 |
