Quest For Conflict

Sherry and I are on a Quest for Conflict. For our WIPs, that is.

We both need a brush up on this concept, and what better way to learn than to utilize the resources on the internet to do this? Oh, and the conflict book I have on a shelf somewhere. (Makes mental note to go find said book.)

Sherry sent me an email this morning with the following tip she'd found: "...got a tip on conflict that I like. Said put your h/H in a room. Forget external conflict, subplots, secondary characters, everything. Face them together and ask, "Why can't you be together? What do you have inside of you, that won't allow you to get with this person?""

I thought this was a terrific place to start the Quest for Conflict and from there, I decided to google "creating conflict in romance novels". WOW! Tremendous resources out there! And because we're on another quest to improve our writing, I decided to put a mini-workshop on conflict together, based on what I learn from each website. And to keep it handy for us both (and anyone else who's interested), I'm going to create a Squidoo page dedicated solely to creating conflict in romance novels.

**Pardon me while I insert this commercial break to plug my Squidoo sites. I love Squidoo---it's a great way to create a webpage on your interests, or what you're knowledgable about, and have it in a handy dandy easily accessible place. To date, I've created 3 Writefield Squidoo pages, which you can see here on the first page: Writing Romance Novels. The other Writefield pages are: The Mechanics of Writing Romance Novels and Revising and Aditing. in the featured lenses module). Creating Conflict in Romance Novels will be http://www.squidoo.com/writefield4, but I'm still putting it together, so the link won't be live until later today (2-19-09). Commercial break now over.**

Here are links to the articles I read on creating conflict in romance novels.

Conflict and Resolution in the Romance Novel by Linda Shertzer A summary: Excellent article examining ways to create conflict. Best suggestion: make the hero and the heroine's goals the SAME. The author goes on to explain that there's the apparent conflict and the underlying conflict that need to be resolved. Ms. Shertzer wrote, "In setting out the apparent conflict of your novel, you must always keep in mind the underlying conflict. Just as the romantic relationship develops, the underlying conflict must be revealed bit by bit. In the apparent conflict lie the seeds for the resolution of the underlying conflict." (2-19-09; Conflict and Resolution in the Romance Novel by Linda Shertzer; http://www.writing-world.com/romance/conflict.shtml) When the hero and the heroine have the same goal (but different approaches to attaining said goal), no one comes out the loser in the resolution, thereby avoiding turning the hero into a wimp (when he loses) or the overbearing macho know-it-all male (when he wins.).

Creating Emotional Conflict and Tension in a Romance Novel @ Dummies.com This article discusses the difference of intellectual conflict and emotional conflict: "...the distinction between emotional and intellectual conflict is easy to make... Simply put, an intellectual conflict is a conflict of ideas, while an emotional conflict is one that grows from feelings." (2-19-09; Creating Emotional Conflict and Tension in a Romance Novel; http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/creating-emotional-conflict-and-tension-in-a-roman.html). The article notes that intellectual conflict starts in the mind, whereas emotional conflict has no basis in logic and "can't be reasoned away." (See above citation)."In any romance novel, the emotional conflict needs to affect the hero and heroine's relationship, to have romantic ramifications, so that they're irresistibly drawn toward each other, while simultaneously feeling that a relationship can't possibly work between them." "You can use elements of intellectual conflict in your book, too, but you have to be careful. Keep these two tips in mind:
Intellectual conflict can never be substituted for emotional conflict.
Relate any elements of intellectual conflict to the characters' emotional conflict as much as possible."(2-19-09; Creating Emotional Conflict and Tension in a Romance Novel; http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/creating-emotional-conflict-and-tension-in-a-roman.html). This article also discusses internal and external conflict and personal vs situational conflict. "Personal conflicts are conflicts that grow from the innate issues and insecurities that everyone has." "A situational conflict arises from place and plot." . "As with intellectual and external conflicts, situational conflict can work with the key emotional tension your hero and heroine have to deal with, but situational conflict can never substitute for emotional conflict. Situational conflict can provide the hothouse atmosphere where tension can grow, but the novel's deeper issues are always the characters' personal and emotional conflicts." (2-19-09; Creating Emotional Conflict and Tension in a Romance Novel; http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/creating-emotional-conflict-and-tension-in-a-roman.html). The final tip of the article is one that should be committed to memory: "The best romances are built around a complex emotional conflict that's played out in an equally interesting and tightly connected context — one that forces the characters to deal with each other and their issues." (2-19-09; Creating Emotional Conflict and Tension in a Romance Novel; http://www.dummies.com/how-to/content/creating-emotional-conflict-and-tension-in-a-roman.html).

Conflict in Fiction By Tina Morgan Two things from this article really stood out for me: "In many cases, the conflict within the story is the driving force towards the story goal. The need to overcome the conflict is often the central focus of the hero. The means to overcome that same conflict can then become a path to victory for the protagonist." (2-19-09; Conflict in Fiction By Tina Morgan; http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/conflict.html). Yes, we should already know that conflict is what drives the story to its conclusion, but it's always good to be reminded. "Romance novels require the primary conflict to involve two people struggling with a romantic relationship with/without sexual tension. By this, I mean the type of conflict that touches the reader emotionally, rather than intellectually - really "tugs at the heart-strings". (2-19-09; Conflict in Fiction By Tina Morgan; http://www.fictionfactor.com/articles/conflict.html). Another good point to keep firmly in mind.

Making a Minefield by Ellen Hartman This is an article on eharlequin's Learn to Write thread, and deals mostly with how to write a Superromance, but there were a few points about conflict that caught my attention. The first being Ms. Hartman's assertion that, "Romance novels live or die on conflict." (2-19-09; Making a Minefield by Ellen Hartman; http://www.eharlequin.com/articlepage.html?articleId=1342&chapter=0). I think I'm going to put that at the top of my list when I get to construction a "Creating Conflict in Romance" page on Squidoo. It's the best statement about conflict in romance novels I've seen yet, and I've looked at several articles through the course of the day as I've worked on this blog post. The author goes on further in the article to say that the conflict must impact the romance.

So there you have it--- a run down on the articles I found most helpful, and yes, while much of the information does strike me as falling into the "You Should Already KNOW This," category, it's also good to be reminded so that it works its way deep into the ol' braincell. Now that I've stuffed my braincell with all this information, it's time to put it to good use.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Valentine's Day Comments

Sherry said an interesting thing to me the other afternoon as we were IMing. She said that my Muse performs on command.

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! GASP!!WHEEZE!!!CHOKE!!!!

I'm delighted SHE thinks so. I think what we have here in another stellar example of Panster vs. Plotter writing styles. Unlike Sherry, I don't necessarily have to know what's coming around the pike, nor do I have the need to dissect my character's motivations before I can continue with a scene. My take on it is this: as long as I feel I'm "on track" all is good. My WIPs go through many stages, so I believe my rough draft can be ugly, hairy, scary, and it's a-okay. It's the final draft that counts, and I've found I best write in layers: you lay the primer layer, the base coat, the second coat (for full-bodied color), and the shiny layer (the one where you make sure it's all purty, all the plot holes are filled, loose ends are tied, the story concludes satisfactorily...). It all works out in the end for me.

Now then, I do try to be sympathetic to Sherry's method. I even try to understand it (it's kinda like algebra to me, however) and do my best to brainstorm with her in a way that feeds her creative style. I don't know if I'm successful, but I like to think I am. Sherry does try to understand my method, too, even if when I breezily say, "Well, that will come in the next round" and her eyes cross and her eyebrows join together in the middle.


So, back to my Muse performing on command. This is the mental image Sherry's comment left me with:



I've always wanted to name my Muse, and now she has a name, thanks to Sherry. It's *Prima* (as in *Prima Ballerina*, the Dancing Bear).