It's About Conflict and Tension 3

Thanks to Phoebe for sharing her thoughts on brainstorming. I could use a good brainstorming partner right now as I'm dealing with a new WIP. And remember: leave a comment on her post for a chance at her giveaway. You have until Friday.

Conflict: the word conjures up images of people fighting. But, as I pointed out in last week's posts on microtension, conflict encompasses a much broader scope.

When Jay Boyar of Orlando magazine reviewed 4 romance novels, including my FINDING SARAH, he pointed out that in my book, unlike the others, “Sarah and Randy don’t, for some strange reason, immediately hate each other.”

Having hero and heroine not like each other definitely increases conflict and tension. But it’s not necessary to take that approach. (Confession: when I started writing FINDING SARAH, I’d never read a romance, so I didn’t know about this “hate each other” convention.) Hero and heroine can have a common goal, but with different motivations, and conflict can grow from that.

Example: In FINDING SARAH, both Randy & Sarah want to solve the crime, “Who robbed Sarah’s shop?” Randy wants to do it because he’s a cop, and that’s what he does. Also, the robber seems to be someone he failed to catch on another spree, so his professional pride is at stake. For Sarah, it’s a matter of saving her business—her livelihood. As the case progresses, Randy has a new problem: he’s violating his own code by taking a personal interest in Sarah. And Sarah is violating her internal promise to be independent and not rely on anyone. But there’s no real reason for them to dislike each other.

It's About Conflict and Tension 2

What I'm reading: Sweet Nothings, by Catherine Anderson

Yesterday, I showed how I attempted to keep the reader interested in my first scene of DANGER IN DEER RIDGE. I'm continuing that today with some analysis of the second scene, where we get to go inside Grinch's head. By having 2 POV characters, you have more opportunities for tension, as the reader begins to see more than either character can. I normally limit myself to only 2 POV characters, but in this book I actually added a third--the villain, which can also increase tension as neither hero or heroine knows what's going on in his head.

In this section, rather than snip and just leave the paragraphs I explained, I decided to leave everything there so you can follow the flow of the scene.

Grinch peeked through the passenger window of his pickup, reassuring himself that Dylan would stay asleep for the few moments it would take to get the gas flowing. The bumpy ride down the steep, pothole-filled driveway would have woken him up for sure. Besides, Chester was with him, and nobody would approach the truck with that mutt standing guard. He gave the window a soft pat, then headed toward the house. We can't have TSTL heroes. This paragraph shows Grinch dealing with his immediate conflict—getting the gas turned on for Elizabeth while his young son is with him. (And in order to make it work, I had to stick in the dog, which became yet another character to keep track of! But it turned out he was a welcome addition.)

It had been obvious that he'd frightened the Parker woman, and not by showing up unannounced. She had that trapped-animal demeanor. What's her story? He wandered around her car. Layers of road dirt. California plates. Tires in decent shape, but if this was her only vehicle, she was going to have some trouble once the snows hit. Sooner if she didn't get the driveway repaired and graded. Glimpse into Grinch's character. He cares about people.

It's About Conflict and Tension

Thanks to Lilian Stewart Carl for sharing all that information about kilts yesterday. I learned a lot. If you didn't read her post, you definitely need to scroll down.

When I wrote Monday's post, on why I decided to go indie with DANGER IN DEER RIDGE, I had several people email me asking me why I didn't put up more about the book itself.

Interesting question. First, although I definitely want people to buy my books, I've kind of had this "no self-promotion" rule about this blog. I did include links to my website for blurb and first chapter, as well as buy links, so that the information was available for those who wanted to look. And if you missed it, you can find it here.

More in keeping with the focus of this blog, I thought I'd provide a little more of a behind the scenes peek at the writing process. Donald Maass suggests there be tension on every page, and microtension in every paragraph. Characters have to want something, and there need to be reasons why they can't have it. There needs to be conflict.

Under the broad umbrella of all romance sub-genres, one critical element is the first meet between hero and heroine. So, I thought I'd share some of the first meet scene from DANGER IN DEER RIDGE with you, and mark it up with how I tried to create tension and conflict. In this scene, the heroine has a clear goal: start her new life. She's just arrived at her new home with her eight-year-old son. Making sure he's safe is her top priority.

She filled the pot with water, then set it on the burner. Checking the unfamiliar gas range, she matched the knob with the appropriate burner and twisted it. Nothing. She waited. Tried again. Was she supposed to light the burner with a match? Where was the instruction book? She yanked open drawers hoping to find one. Nothing. Conflict: without gas, she can't cook.

Adding Tension to the Mundane

Thanks to so many of you who went over to Author Expressions yesterday. If you didn't check my 'audition' post, you can find it here.

While doing edits definitely qualifies as writing, yesterday was the first time in about 10 days that I’ve been able to sit down and work on the new WIP. I’ve tried once again to analyze my process.

My basic premise in writing a scene is to decide what needs to happen to move the story along. I’ve discussed keeping tension in the story, so I’ll try to go over my points and show how I attempt to add that tension.

The scene: Elizabeth and Will return from shopping. Will is in his room drawing with his new pastels. Elizabeth is trying to relax by reading. (Yawning yet?). The moving van driver calls to set up delivery in two days. Elizabeth thinks about her husband and the risks she’s taking with her new life. Will comes in and shows her a picture he’s drawn—the hero’s dog. She puts it on the mantel. The welcome lady shows up to tell her about the neighborhood and gives her a basket of goodies. The welcome lady notices the picture and comments that it’s an excellent likeness. She asks if Elizabeth’s son drew it.

By now, you’re probably not just yawning, you’re asleep. Well, wake up for a moment and let’s see if I’ve managed to kick it up by adding some tension.

Confronting the Unexpected

What I'm reading: Rain Fall, by Barry Eisler

Thanks to Marie Nicole for sharing her story. There's still time to leave a comment on her post to enter the contest for a copy of her book. Scroll down. I'll still be here.

What's been going on in Florida started me thinking about disruptions, and how we deal with them. We spend a lot of time getting to know our characters so we'll know how they'll respond in any situation we subject them to. Or will we?

It's just as important to know how your character will behave when confronted with the unexpected. And, as authors, we need to keep the unexpected happening. After all, "Only Trouble is Interesting."

For example, here in Florida, we've had the longest cold snap on record. And it's been cold. Ice on the cars and rooftops in the morning. Some days, the temperatures never hit 40. True, if you're from Minnesota, you're probably laughing, but I've lived in Orlando for 22 years, and we've never had the heat running 12 days straight. Heck, most years, we don't have the heat running twelve HOURS, period. Now, it's been chugging along, eating up more kilowatt hours than our a/c does.

Some of the local power companies have been overburdened, and have had to cut power here and there. We have a nifty (usually) gizmo on our electrical system that allows the power company to shut down power to our heat or a/c units for brief periods of time when demands are too great. For this, we get a small rebate on our electric bill each month. In 22 years, it's been turned on exactly three times. Two of them this week.