Let's Talk Conflict

Without conflict, there is no story. It doesn't get any simpler than this. As someone who avoids conflict in real life, sometimes it's not that easy to throw trouble in my characters' way. After all, I love my characters. I introduced them to each other. I want them to get their happily-ever-after ending.

But a boy-meets-girl, boy-gets-girl story would not only be short, it would be a little boring as well. And we never want to bore our readers.

There are two kinds of conflict (obstacles to your characters goals and desires): External and Internal.

External conflicts are obstacles over which the characters have no control, but which affects their lives and the decisions they make. The heroine who is a suspect in the hero's murder case. The father who doesnt think the hero is good enough for his little girl. The hero who is a Union soldier and the heroine is a Rebel spy. External conflicts moves the plot along.

Internal conflicts are emotional and are a product of the character's background and personality and experiences. In order for them to be resolved, the character needs to learn something about themselves and/or each other. In the character driven stories that I write, the internal conflict is what drives the story. It's the main conflict in the stories that I write, the last to be resolved. Everything else is complication.

In the story I've just started, the heroine is newly divorced, her children have left home and she's embracing an independence she's enjoying for the first time in her life. Then she begins to fall for the hero, at a time when she doesn't want a man in her life, so she wants to take things really slow. The hero's wife died a few years ago and so when he falls for the heroine, he doesn't want to waste any time, because he knows how precious time is. Conflict!

I'll have to let you know how it all works out, but you can be sure these two will end up perfect for each other, even if life isn't always perfect.

I love stories where the character's change because of each other, where dealing with the conflicts, in the end, is simply a way to grow and to show their love for each other. And when I see characters strive to make things work out, then I cheer them on, and I believe in that happily-ever-after ending.

Natasha
www.natashamoore.com

A Hero in Conflict

I love heroes of all kinds in the romance novels I read or write. I love those tough alpha warrior or chief types who rarely smile... because of all that intensity and emotional baggage. I also love the teasing charmer types who seduce with nothing more than a wink and a grin.

Today I want to talk about that hunky caber-tossin' man, Scott MacPherson, the hero of my erotic romance novella Kilted Lover, coming soon from Red Sage. He's 6 1/2 feet of drool-worthy masculinity, with bulging muscles, an American who wears a kilt when he competes in Scottish Games. He's not afraid to throw a few punches and rescue the heroine, Leslie, in a life-threatening situation. If he can toss logs, chances are he can toss people if he wants.

Scott is a gentle giant who is honorable, serious at times, funny at times, and has a great respect for women and commitment. What happens if he is tempted to go against his code of honor? What if the woman he wants is already in a relationship with a man unsuited for her? A man who doesn't deserve or appreciate her? And what if, in the past Scott was the man whose girl was stolen from him? He'd certainly understand the pain of betrayal and rejection. He wouldn't want to make someone else go through that.

But his attraction to Leslie is so intense and compelling he can't turn away. When she asks him for one night to explore this unexpected, blazing-hot attraction between them, how can he say no?

He wants to say no. He tries to say no.

He is a man with a lot of inner conflict. At first glance it might seem as if he's being selfish and taking what he wants, but that's not the whole picture. In Leslie he sees an amazing woman who needs something she isn't getting. What she needs, Scott has and he's unwilling to deny her that. He knows he has to let her go after their one night is over, though it will nearly kill him to do so because he's falling for her hard. Still, at the core he is honorable and he can't ask her to leave her injured boyfriend who needs her.

I love writing conflicted heroes who must do the thing they believed they never would. I like to make them go out on a limb or throw them into uncharted territory and see how they deal with it. This will show what they're made of, deep down.

What about you? What kind of heroes do you like? Do you like them conflicted?

Favorite Book

While I love writing my own stories, reading has long been one of my favorite pastimes. And I often read outside the genres in which I write. Earlier this week an errand took me past our local library. My to-be-read stack is pretty high, so I didn’t go inside. Instead, I stood outside the beautiful historic brick building for a few minutes. Images from the past flitted before my face. Countless times my dear mom and I had entered the building through a doorway that is no longer used. This daydreaming spell spurred other thoughts. Thoughts of the first book I’d read that really made a difference and sparked my passion for reading. Many childhood tales came to mind. My all-time childhood favorite? THE POKY LITTLE PUPPY by Janette Sebring Lowrey. Such a delightful tale. Barring those favorites of my youth, it took me only a short time to come up with the book that made all the difference—the same book that started me writing creatively on a regular basis. In the seventh grade, I was blessed with an English teacher whose own fondness of the written word made her class one of my most interesting learning experiences. One of the books she chose for required reading was WHERE THE LILIES BLOOM. This novel by Bill and Vera Cleaver is a rich, thought-provoking study of character and setting. Truly an emotionally-stirring masterpiece and pleasurable reading experience. The day we received our reading assignment, I read the book in less than an hour after helping mom with the dinner dishes. Listening to my favorite rock tunes and playing the guitar could wait. I couldn’t put my classroom reading assignment down. Thanks to the skill of the authors, I became compelled to find out more about the Appalachian children and how they overcame the internal and external conflict heaped upon them.

What was the first novel to pique your reading interest? A novel whose plot, setting and characters remain vivid memories?

Wishing you all a terrific week,

Shawna Moore
ROUGHRIDER – Ellora’s Cave
HELLE IN HEELS – Ellora’s Cave
TORMENTED – Erotic historical romance coming to Ellora’s Cave
Shawna’s Myspace
Helle’s Myspace

Anticipation

For some reason, Carly Simon is serenading inside my skull. But there’s no zesty condiment being squeezed or tipped on end for this blog’s topic. Instead, an emotional reaction is the core of my subject matter.

There’s something unique and unrelenting about love, when it’s new and when you know it’s true. A couple meets and realizes their attraction. Then anticipation kicks in. As someone who believes love can solve so many problems, I enjoy reading romance novels and living the story vicariously through the central characters. The first romance I recall reading was ROMEO AND JULIET. What a tormented and sensational tale played out on the pages involving that amorous pair. Even though only ten years old at the time, I pondered what passion and love would hold for me when the time was ripe. After all, Shakespeare’s memorable characters gave their lives for love. Faced with a stellar conflict, they made the ultimate sacrifice. The Bard tapped the dramatic depths and stirred strong emotional reactions in his readers. Of all the romantic stories I’ve read over the years, I’ve never experienced more anticipation over the outcome than I did while reading R&J. From time to time I re-read this classic and marvel at the scope of the story and how it remains a timeless literary treasure. What kept me turning those pages was the hope to which I clung as their struggles and the sexual tension mounted.

What about you, readers? Do you delight in the rush of adrenaline and the surge of emotions as you embark on a romantic journey with those characters in romance novels? Do you find yourself eagerly anticipating the point where the couple has overcome their conflicts and earned their happily ever after?

Feel the heat in erotic fiction,

Shawna Moore
ROUGHRIDER -- Ellora's Cave
HELLE IN HEELS -- Ellora's Cave
Shawna's Myspace
Helle's Myspace

Pumping up Boring, Nothing Scenes...Make Them Work!

Watch out for Boring, Nothing Scenes!!!

What makes for a unexciting, dull scene?

By analyzing each and every scene, we can learn to avoid tedious scenes. Or at least recognize it when we're doing edits. Write them, fine, just to get something down on the paper. But edit the "boringness" out in the final phases of the process.

So what makes for a boring scene?

** Doing stuff, but not moving the story forward.
** No conflict.
** Not pursuing a goal
** Not showing something new and different...same old things repeated.
** Back story.
** Making unlikeable characters that we really don't care enough about to read.
** Not showing the motivation for why someone does something.
** Failure to show emotion.
** Failure to show actions and their resulting reactions.
** All dialogue.
** All narration.

Now, have you read published works that have scenes like this? Absolutely. I don't know how many times I've read a book and skipped over pages of boring back story or scenes that just don't move the story forward.

So make every scene count. Make them do double duty, triple duty. What do we want to say in the scene? The point we want to get across?

How can we make it as riveting as the rest of our scenes?

Make sure we show the characters pursuing a goal, changing, strengthening the characterizations, showing something that prevents characters from reaching the goal (conflict), show new twists, reveal new information. Make the reader care about our characters.

What else can you do to make boring, nothing scenes spring to life?

We owe it to our readers to hook them so much, they can't put the book down. Out with the boring scenes, in with the riveting. :)

Terry Spear Heart of the Wolf coming April 1st from Sourcebooks!
http://www.terryspear.com/

Winning the Highlander's Heart available now on Amazon.com!