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).

Knee Pads and Buckets

Since Sherry and I are pretty much interchangeable, here's a picture of us. Sherry has long hair, Laura's hair is red---see how well we mesh? LOLOLOLOLOL

Because we're In This Together, we've both joined the ranks of Contest Contestants. (Is that redundant? I'm worried I'm repeating myself.) Luckily for us, we aren't competing against each other (perish the thought!), we've entered two different contests, but we're both wishing we had knee pads for huddling over the hurk bucket.

Nervous?

Us?

Whyever would we be nervous? With our e-publisher closing doors, we're back to hitting the pavement, as it were. What's so nerve-wracking about that? Rejection? Seeing other entries that we know are Better Than Ours? Have another neurosis. What's a little insecurity, obessesion/compulsion, and angst amongst friends?

So, here are the knee pads and some extra buckets. (I call dibs on the pink one, because it will clash with my hair.) This is going to be a long, delightful, nailbiting year.

2009...

Ready For The New Year?

First of all, lemme get this out of the way.

Sherry? TAG! YOU'RE IT! Next post is yours. Yes, I think this counts towards daily word count goals.

Daily word count goals? Holy shades of White Board Mania! If I'm ready to set goals, who knows what else is coming down the pike? White boards. Dry erase markers. Planning. ACK. Actually writing something to SUBMIT.

Thunk.

So, in avoidance of meeting any goals this fine New Year's Eve, I googled myself. *Ahem.* What did I find? A whole bunch of webbies I've started up over the years. Now, ask me, do I remember how to get into all these webbies?

Um. No.

But somewhere, I have a little book where I wrote down log in information, and just as soon as I get my hot little claws on that, I'll be able to have many ways to procrastinate meeting my goals.

In looking at one site, I found some writing tips---things I've learned along the way. Naturally, I thought to myself, "Self, you should review what you've learned along the way and see what you can add to that list." (This list is at the very least, 2 years old.)

So, here goes. The Original List:

1. Showing vs Telling. Active voice shows the reader. Passive voice tells the reader. To truly engage your readers, the Show/Active pairing is best.

2. Character growth. I like to show that my characters have learned and grown on their journey to their Happily Ever After. I like to think this brings my characters to life.

3. Identify and define/clarify your characters' Goals, Motivations and Conflicts (GMC), and use this as you're crafting your story to bring realism and believability to your work, and makes the characters come to life. This helps make the characters as real for the reader as they are to the writer.

4. The hero and heroine should be people the reader can fall in love with, identify with, and root for.

5. Word choice is as important as developing the characters. Strong, active, vivid verbs bring the story to life and convey the story better than weak, passive verbs. You're less liable to rely on adverbs to modify your verbs if you chose strong, active and vivid ones. Make sure you're saying what you *think* you're saying.

6. Critique partners are, in my experience, one of the most essential tools an author can have. Find a good cp, form a good, solid, friendly relationship. I can't imagine writing without my cp.

7. "You can never have too much emotion."

8. Your voice is unique to you. It's how you phrase things, it's how your personality leaves it's mark on what you write. Don't get hung up on the notion that the mechanics of writing are your voice. Don't forget... writing is an "art thing" as much as it is also a "technical thing."

So, what would I add to that? A few things.

9. Be teachable. I have no idea why I didn't include this in the first list. Mystery to me. What do I mean by "be teachable"? Just because writers aren't required to take courses to keep up their credentials doesn't mean that we don't need to continue learning and growing in our craft. There are so many ways we can do this. Experience, of course, is a great teacher. Take those rejection letters and learn from them, if you're lucky enough to have received one in which the editor told you what he/she didn't like about your work. There are articles and groups all over the internet devoted to the craft of writing. Listen to what your crit partner(s) have to say---there's little or no point at all of having a crit partner you aren't going to listen to her/him. (Sorry, my crit partner is taken. She's mine. All mine. Not sharing, even if you threaten to tell my Mommy that I'm not playing well with others and sharing.)

10. Have fun. Have fun? Yep. Have fun with what you write. What's the point if you're continually banging your head against a brick wall, which leads me to...

11. If you're blocked on your current WIP (WIPconstipation), there's likely to be a very good reason for it. Speaking for myself, from the perspective of being a panster, I've found that blocks can have several causes. To list a few: you're rabbit trailing (in other words, you've veered off the path, you need to turn your keyboard around and go back); you've lost sight of the story you want to tell (yes, this is very possible for pansters. Just because we don't outline the plot unto oblivion, doesn't mean we lack vision); you've written the wrong words (this means you need to go back to find where you think the problem started, read it through and then remove all the wrong words to a Wrong Word File, then go back and pick up where you left off). Ultimately, blockage is a state of mind that can be overcome. It may take a few days, or, heaven help us, longer, but there's usually a good reason for it and it's fixable.

12. Goals are important. Yes, even to pansters. Which leads me to...

Goals. I'm setting writing goals for 2009, and I'm putting them on a group I just started to keep them out there before me. My virtual white board, if you will.

Goals, not resolutions. Resolutions are too easy to break.

So, here's to a bright, fresh, happy, goal-meeting, joy-filled 2009!

Ear Worms

I don't know why, but late this afternoon, while Sherry and I were writing together (Okay, picture two women in two different states, in different houses, at different computers, linked by the wonderous Internet and chatting via instant message while they write and that's us. See us waving?), it occurred to me that the theme song from Laverne and Shirley might be an appropriate theme song for us and our endeavors. So, here I am, trying it on for size. And, of course, stuck on Nostalgia Road, thinking about this show and how funny it was and how even now, "Lenny and Squiggy" are still "Lenny and Squiggy" even when I see them on different shows/movies.

Laverne and Shirley Theme Song Lyrics
Title: Making our Dreams Come True
Written By: Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox
Performed By: Cindy Grecco

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Schemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated.
We're gonna do it!

Give us any chance, we'll take it.
Read us any rule, we'll break it.
We're gonna make our dreams come true.
Doin' it our way.

Nothin's gonna turn us back now,
Straight ahead and on the track now.
We're gonna make our dreams come true,
Doin' it our way.

There is nothing we won't try,
Never heard the word impossible.
This time there's no stopping us.
We're gonna do it.

On your mark, get set, and go now,
Got a dream and we just know now,
We're gonna make that dream come true.
And we'll do it our way, yes our way.
Make all our dreams come true,
And do it our way, yes our way,
Make all our dreams come true
For me and you.

WHEW!!!!

Okay, so it's really been over a year since last we posted?

Where did the time go? We'd like to file an official complaint.

Have we forgotten our goals? Heckadoodle no! Yanno that pesky li'l thing called "Life"? Well, it intervened. However, we are now ready to put it back in its place and proceed as planned.

Er...what was the plan? I'm the panster, not the plotter (planner). Sherry's the one with a plan. I'm sure anything I've articulated via phone calls or IMs, she'll remember. After all, she's the one with that scary white board and all those dry erase markers. (She's actually very skeery when she's wielding those dry erase markers. I think she gets high on the marker fumes, which can understandably happen when one takes the lid off the silly thing in preparation of using it.) But I digress.

Our biggest news: 1) Laura moved. Yep. Moved. Hence our absence. Do you know how hard it is to post a blog when your computer is PACKED AWAY IN A STORAGE UNIT SOMEWHERE and you're at the mercy of using library computers, along with every other computerless individual in town? 2) Our e-publishers, By Grace and Moonlit Romance, are closing doors at the end of this year. Sorry for the short notice. (See #1 above, and guess who does the majority of the posting on this blog, when it gets posted?)

While we're saddened that our publisher is closing, we've decided that it's The Sign. We'll expound upon this at a later date, after I've brow-beaten Sherry into getting back into the swing of things with this here blog. With some Metamucil for our (posting) regularity problems, and more time on our hands (after the holidays), look for this blog to be active again in the New Year. IN THE MEANTIME, if you're so inclined, what are YOUR goals for the New Year?