Writing Craft
September 28, 2006 | Uncategorized
Story Essentials Â? Continued
Recapping as we work our way down the category romance editorÂ?s wish list, so far we have:
An opening hook
An appealing, human heroine
A hero to fall in love with. He must be human, appealing and honorable
An original story line.
Dialogue that sings
Emotional roller coaster (highs and lows)
When I thought about examples to illustrate the emotional roller coaster, I got stuck. Emotional scenes don’t work well out of context. The reader’s heart strings are plucked because she care about your characters. Without that initial investment suffering in meaningless.
Watching the carnage of war or the aftermath of disaster leaves us numb and disbelieving. Too much information, too much emotion it’s harder to process. Which is why the journalist will bring the story down to own soldier, one displaced family, one set of grieving parents. A loss we can comprehend.
Breathing humanity into our fictional characters has to precede their trials and triumphs. The reader’s expectations both mandate and challenge the execution of the black moment before the final resolution.
How does the writer make the reader who has an iron clad guaranteed happily-ever-after ending doubt the lovers will resolve their issues? By making us believe they are honorable and intelligent people who have a serious (not easily resolved) conflict. Pulling out the believable, yepreviouslylunsuspectedtd answer to the last knot is the writer’s last challenge. All that remains after that is tidying up the confetti and champagne corks.
When both Hunter and Tru bond with Amber their mating triangle threatens everything they hold dear.
Determined to help rescue the princess, Cassandra agrees to act as the dragons’ sex slave, but can she guard her heart from the dominant males?
Camille, a plump, sweet-natured breeder, is caught in New Eden’s endless war with Baldor. Her mates, Jaxon and Aegis, need cunning and courage to rescue her. They need a miracle to capture her heart.
Werewolf-whisper Daniel is the only one who can heal Scarlet’s broken werewolf connection. If he succeeds then the pack’s needs will eclipse his claim on her heart. But if he fails, they'll both die.
A lonely woman finds passion with a dominant much younger lover, when she tries to leave she learns her new master plays for keeps.
One dangerous warrior woman plus two rogue demon males equals a love to threaten an empire.
Getting paid to watch Eduardo is Desiree’s dream assignment, but when he reaches out to her, crossing the line, everything changes.
Deep in her secret heart, she lusts for a sexy pirate who’d be her master and commander in the bedroom. But, this man may be too dangerous
She finds paradise in the arms of twin brothers, but their law demands she chose one warrior to mate and one to die.
One woman, two men, three wounded hearts--though already mated their love is still forbidden.
