The secret of writing romances

WHAT I LEARNED FROM YEARS OF WRITING ROMANCE FOR HARLEQUIN, SILHOUETTE, AND DELL. IT’S ALL ABOUT CONFLICT BABY

BY LOUISE TITCHENER

I may be counter intuitive to think that romance novels are all about conflict, but it’s the fact and must be tackled when starting a first chapter. Conflict is central to any story telling. But in Romance the conflict is strictly defined and must be introduced in the first chapter, or at least, very early in the story.

Readers are surprised when I tell them that a romance is not the same as a love story. Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is a love story. The conflict in that classic play is not between the lovers. The lovers are in perfect accord. The conflict rocking their world, their parents’ feud, is outside of them.

Jane Austen’s Price and Prejudice is a love story, but it’s first and foremost, a romance novel. The conflict is between Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy. Until that conflict is resolved they cannot find happiness. So, as you begin writing your romance novel, figure out what the central conflict is going to be. Of course, there can and should be several conflict in a romance novel. That’s true of any good story. But in romance the central conflict is always between hero and heroine.

Here are the rules I’ve found to work best.

Your conflict should be as interesting and unique as you can make it. Not easy when you consider how many romance novels are out there. A good conflict, I find, often springs from the needs, likes, dislikes, and life goals of the main characters. If your hero’s life goal is to be the first astronaut on Mars, and your heroine hates flying and wants to settle down in a rose-covered cottage, they have a problem. Can a powerful attraction overcome this situation? I don’t know. At the least, it’s going to be an interesting struggle.

On the other hand, the conflict between the characters should not lessen their appeal. The reader needs to understand and sympathize with both points of view. If the reader starts to dislike the hero or heroine the story stumbles and falls down. Mr. Darcy may seem a bit priggish in his disdain for Elizabeth’s family. But given the behavior of her mother, younger sisters, and even her father, the reader can understand his reluctance court her. Elizabeth may seem extreme in her violent rejection of Mr. Darcy when he finally does declare his love, but we admire her integrity, wit, family loyalty and independence. When these two badly conflicted characters finally get together, it’s all the more satisfying.

Another requirement, and this is vital, the conflict must take your main characters all through the story and not be resolved until the very end. When setting up that conflict in your all important first chapter, make it one that will stick for the next two hundred or so pages.

I remember reading a romance in which the central conflict was resolved in the middle section of the book. The lovers spent the rest of the novel shopping for each other. Much as I love shopping, this didn’t work for me as a reader.

These days I’m writing mystery novels. But I learned a lot from writing romance, and I had a lot of fun doing it. There’s nothing more satisfying than a really great romance with a compelling conflict.

Louise Titchener Find out more about the author here (formerly writing as Jane Silverwood Anne Silverlocke, and with a variety of other pseudonyms collaborating with other authors)

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