I read a lot. And I read in a lot of genres. But I’m going to talk about romance specifically. Part of this applies to all genres, but some of it is specific to romance.
I read quite a bit of romance, and I’ve read books I loved, books I disliked, and books that fell somewhere in between. The books I’ve noticed that fall flat for me and don’t entertain me like they should have something in common. There’s little or no real conflict. There’s nothing to make your heart hurt. Nothing to bring tears to your eyes or make you want to strangle one or more of the characters. Take Kait Nolan’s newest release, To Get Me To You. I wanted to slap both the hero and the shero for being so stupid. Why were they both being so stubborn? Couldn’t they just get together and talk about it? This book made me FEEL. It made me feel invested in the characters. I wanted things to work out, and I was frustrated that they didn’t seem to be. Kait did her job as an author. She made me care. And that’s done partly with conflict. With romance, you know you’re eventually going to get a happy ending. But while you’re reading, there’s always that little niggling doubt. That doubt makes it interesting. You know a romance author is going to make things work out in the end. Right? *bites fingernails and hopes*
Now there’s external conflict and internal conflict. External conflict is when outside forces hinder the characters from getting what they want or need. Internal conflict is when something inside the characters is hindering them. In my opinion, internal conflict is much more powerful. But external conflict can be heartbreaking, too, depending on what it is. Kait’s book had external conflict, too. You need to read it so you’ll know what it is. 🙂
My Vampires’ Curse trilogy had both kinds of conflict. Libby loved Adam, but she couldn’t get past the fact that, as a vampire, he needed to feed either from her or from a blood donor. She didn’t want to share him, but she didn’t want to feed him. This continued through three novellas until it was resolved. It led to a lot of tension. Then there were external conflicts involving lots of bad guys.
What spurred this whole thing was a conversation I had with someone about lack of conflict in books. I started thinking about it. So if you’re a new author, think about what you can do to cause conflict between your main characters. You know, sometimes, this can be a lot of fun. Torture those characters! 🙂
Here’s where you can buy the two books mentioned in the post. *shameless promotion*
Oh, thanks for the plug!
When I’m working my way through a book, I like to sort out what the characters think the worst thing is that can happen to them. And then do that. Because, of course, that’s never the worst ACTUAL thing that can happen and them learning that and going through it is a learning experience that pushes them along their arc. As an author, it’s our job to TORTURE the characters emotionally!
You do a great job at the torture, Kait. 🙂
I agree. If there’s not conflict, the story is boring. I’ve learned to pepper in the tension, too, in dialogue and actions. One of my favorite authors who is a master at writing conflict is Mary Kay Andrews. Her novel, Save the Date, starts out with conflict right away,and she ramps it up throughout the book. I am curious now about Kait Nolan’s romance, and I’ll look into it. Thanks for sharing.
Kait is a great author, Joy. I’ve loved all her books.
I loved Vampires’ Curse. The romantic tension/conflict kept me turning the pages.
Happy New Year, Lauralynn.
Thanks, Emma! I’m sure readers were like “Adam’s so hot! How can you not just give in?” LOL
Happy New Year to you, too, Emma!
Love the covers on those books!
I will say one of the best things about TV shows like Once Upon a Time, The Fringe, Grimm, and several others is that you get to visually see how conflict works. It’s one thing to read it, but when you watch it, I think it reinforces it.
I think some writers assume romance is just a boy meets girl and live happily ever after story. Since it’s romance, the idea of conflict gets pushed aside. But adding conflict to a romance is harder than it looks. People assume romance is easy, but it’s not.
I absolutely love Grimm! There was a big conflict between Nick and Juliet there for awhile. My favorite couple on that show, though, is Monroe and and Rosalee.
If there’s no conflict in a romance, the story is kind of boring. I like the way you do conflict in the scandals. Usually, one or the other of the main characters didn’t like that it happened, so they get mad at the other one. You make the conflict a lot of fun. That’s another thing. The conflict can be very serious, fun, or a combination of both. I’ve seen you do all three of these in your books.
Yep. Monroe and Rosalee are my favorite, too. One thing I did enjoy a lot in Season 2 was Nick’s boss and Juliet fighting their feelings for each other that was forced upon them by the fact he kissed her to wake her up. (I can’t remember his name, but he’s one of my favorite characters because I can’t figure out if he’s a good guy or not. LOL I love those complex characters. But my favorite character is Monroe.)
Oh, and thanks!
The captain’s name is Sean. I’m leaning toward him being a good guy, but he’s complicated. Which makes him more interesting.
Yep, Monroe is my favorite, too. You just gotta love him!