How to Write a Brilliant Romance: The Easy, Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Romance (Go! Write Something Brilliant) (23 page)

Once
you
have
your
Boy
Meets
Girl
moment,
you
can
move
on
to
the
next
ingredient:

Interest and Need: Something about their own situation makes
their heart vulnerable to romance. Let’s
look
at
some
of
the
movies
mentioned:

Titanic
--
Rose
hates
her
life,
feels
suffocated,
and
longs
for
freedom
and
adventure.
Jack
is
a vagabond,
and
when
he
sees
this
beautiful
woman
who
loves
him,
he
is
affirmed.
She
believes
in him!

Sleepless
in
Seattle
--
Annie
is
marrying
a
man
she
doesn’t
really
love.
Sam
lost
the
only
woman
he thinks
he
can
ever
love.

It’s
very
important
for
you
to
figure
out
what
it
is
about
your
characters
that
make
them
ready
or vulnerable
to
romance.
Often
this
element
is
revealed
though
a
conversation
they
have
with
their friends.
Or
it
is
a
part
of
Inciting
Incident.

Or
it
is
played
out
through
the
actions.
In
my
book
Nothing
But
Trouble
,
my
heroine,
PJ
Sugar,
breaks up
with
her
beau
during
the
first
scene.
She
wants
a
man
who
can
see
past
her
tattoos
to
the
real
girl.

Here’s
an
example
from
my
LIS
novel,
Undercover
Pursuit
:

Interest and Need
–

The
heroine’s
sister
is
marrying
the
man
that
she
thought
liked
her.
She
is
tired
of
living outside
the
romance
novel.

The
hero
used
to
be
a
wild
guy
and
has
changed
his
ways.
Now
he’s
afraid
to
be
with
a woman
because
he
doesn’t
know
how
to
date
a
nice
girl.
But
he
wants
someone
he
can
love
and trust,
and
someone
who
sees
him
as
a
hero.

What makes your character vulnerable to
love?

Right
now,
you’re
just
building
the
components.
Remember,
you
can
move
them
around
to
fit
the story.

(We’re
going
to
skip
over
the
Why
right
now
(but
we’ll
be
coming
back
to
it)
and
move
onto
the
next
beat:)

Why Not: These are the obstacles between the hero and heroine that conspire to separate them. Remember, we analyzed two different structures:
W
hy/Why Not and Why Not/Why.

The Why Not/Why romance structure is when the obstacles appear first and the Why appears second to pull them together.

Or you may have a Why/Why Not structure where they fall in love first and then realize why they can’t be together. A hint of the obstacles in the beginning are a way to keep the tension high between them even in a Why/Why Not story.

Here
are
the
Why
Nots
for
Undercover
Pursuit
:
He
needs
her
to
be
his
date
to
accomplish
the
mission he
is
on.
She
feels
like
he
tricked
her—and
now
trapped
her—into
helping
him.
They
don't
trust each
other.

So,
now
we
have
the
three
ingredients
we’ll
be
using
to
insert
into
our
Act
One
elements.

(Note:
If
you
are
not
familiar
with
basic
story
structure,
refer
to
Appendix
1
for
reference.
You
may also
want
to
pick
up
a
copy
of
How to Write a Brilliant Novel
)

Let’s
review
Act
One:

Act One
Application

Life

Inciting
Incident

The Big
Debate Noble Quest

We
start
with
Life
—
that
snapshot
of
their
ordinary,
everyday
world,
aka
the
starting
place
of
their journey.
Many
romances
start
with
the
hero
and
heroine
meeting
in
the
Life
scene
or
chapter.
If
you are
writing
for
Love
Inspired
or
Heartsong,
this
is
a
must.
If
you
are
writing
a
longer
trade
novel, you
can
have
them
meet
in
chapter
two,
but
definitely,
you
want
them
together
by
chapter
three.

So,
let’s
say
you’re
putting
them
together
in
chapter
one.
Along
with
the
other
first
chapter
elements of hinting at what is at Stake for your character, putting them in a Sympathetic Situation (or a situation
that
makes
the
reader
identify
with
them),
Anchoring
them
into
the
story
world,
starting with
the
story
already
in
motion
and
finally
hinting
at
the
story
problem,
you
also
want
to
weave
in the
ingredients:

Boy Meets Girl – You want them to meet each other. They don’t have to talk to
each other,
but
you
want
to
make
a
statement
that
they’ve
seen
each
other.
Some
of
my
first
scenes
are running
into
each
other,
seeing
one
or
the
other
on
television,
tracking
someone
down
as
the
object of
an
investigation,
being
assigned
to
protect
or
interview
or
fire
someone.
Asking
for
a
job, rescuing
someone
on
the
side
of
the
road,
being
assigned
to
work
with
them—anything
that
would put
them
together.
They
might
even
be
haggling
over
the
same
pumpkin
or
Christmas
tree!

Whatever
works.
Like
I
said,
they
don’t
have
to
talk.
They
just
have
to
remember
meeting
each other.

Start with asking: How do your characters
meet?

Weave
their
meeting
in
with
the
other
chapter
one
elements.
Can
you
combine
this
with
creating character
Sympathy?
For
example,
in
Escape
to
Morning
,
my
heroine
has
just
come
off
a
body
recover with
her
K9
SAR
dog,
and
the
hero
nearly
runs
the
dog
over
with
his
car.
He
feels
badly
for
her,
so he
invites
her
out
for
dinner.

After you have the Boy Meets Girl, you might add in an Interest or a Need. Something
about their
life
suggests
they
are
single,
or
in
need
of
a
good
woman
(or
man).
For
example,
in
Taming
Rafe
my
heroine
has
a
date
to
her
gala
event,
but
he’s
rude
and
condescending
and
it
is
clear
she’s
with the
wrong
man.
In
Nothing
but
Trouble
,
my
heroine,
PJ,
breaks
up
with
her
boyfriend
in
the
first
scene and
thoughts
of
her
old
beau
Boone
enter
her
mind
almost
immediately.
(This
is
how
I
get
him
on the page.
☺
)

In
Reclaiming
Nick
,
Piper
sees
Nick
as
a
patron
of
his
café,
and
watches
him
rescue
a
girl
in
need.
She makes
a
comment
about
how
she
doesn’t
need
a
man
rescuing
her.
We
realize
she’s
never
had anyone protect
her.

They
may
not
realize
they
have
a
need
or
interest,
but
the
reader
does
by
the
way
they
react,
the comments
they
make,
or
an
opinion,
or
internal
thought.
Remember,
the
key
of
this
scene
is
that
the characters
notice
each
other.
Something
about
them
piques
their
interest
because
they
have
a
need or
latent
desire
for
a
relationship.

Ask: How do your characters show they have an interest or need for romance?

Finally,
you’re
going
to
add
in
tension
by
hinting
at
the
Why
Not.
Let’s
go
back
to
the
other elements. You might incorporate the element of Sympathy here. Or you could move onto the Stakes
of
the
story:
What
might
happen
if
she
doesn’t
get
what
she
wants,
and
how
does
he
stand
in the
way
of
it?
Let
the
Why
Not
do
double
duty
and
be
a
part
of
her
overall
conflict.

For
example,
in
Reclaiming
Nick
,
Piper’s
and
Nick’s
Why
Not
is
that
she
is
trying
to
prove
that
he helped
kill
her
brother.
At
stake
is
her
career.
She’s
trying
to
land
an
anchor
position
and
getting
this story
will
cinch
it.
If
she
proves
his
guilt,
then
she
gets
the
job.
The
Why
Not
plays
a
role
in
the
plot. She
has
to
choose
between
happily
ever
after
in
love,
or
happily
ever
after
in
her
job.

Again,
just
to
reiterate,
early
in
the
first
three
chapters,
you
must
establish
their
home
world.
Have your
characters
meet
in
a
way
that
helps
the
reader
feel
sympathy
for
your
characters
and
also
show that
they
have
an
interest
or
need
for
something
more,
namely,
a
romance.
You
must
hint
at
the stakes
of
the
story,
and
weave
that
in
with
the
Why
Not
(or
obstacles)
between
your
characters.

Maybe
your
heroine
says,
“The
last
person
she
wanted
in
her
life
was
a
know-it-all
redneck,”
right before
her
car
breaks
down
in
the
middle
of
the
northern
Minnesotan
woods,
where
a
very
buff logger
redneck
walks
out
of
the
forest
to
help
her
get
back
on
the
road.
☺

So, let’s move the romance thread a bit further along, using our Why/Why Nots to help jump start the romance.

The
Inciting
Incident
should
cause
a
need
to
arise
in
the
hero
and
heroine—so
much
so
that
they are
“invited”
by
either
an
external
or
internal
force
to
go
on
a
“journey”
or
Noble
Quest.
Although this
is
a
plot
element,
likewise,
they
are
going
on
a
romantic
journey
as
well.
They
may
decide
not
to pursue
the
object
of
their
affection
at
the
moment,
but
you
are
going
to
feed
the
internal
interest
or needs
by
giving
them
a
glimpse
of
one
of
the
Whys.
By
doing
this,
you
will
lower
their
defenses
for
a second
meeting.

Now,
pick
one of
the Why elements
and
insert
a
hint
of
it
in
Act
One,
as
a
sort
of
“pull”
toward each
other.
Can
they
observe
the
other
doing
something
that
speaks
to
their
values?
Can
the
hero
do something
for
the
heroine
that
she
can’t
do,
or
vice
versa?
Or
are
they
briefly
working
together
or challenging
each
other
to
become
better
people?

Think
about
Act
One
of
your
favorite
romances:
What
Why
do
the
hero
and
heroine
hint
at
even before
they
begin
their
wooing
or
relationship?

For
example,
in
Return
to
Me
,
the
hero
sees
the
heroine
filling
up
the
water
bottle
of
the
crabby patron
in
the
sink.
This
act
feeds
his
internal
values.
He
likes
down
to
earth
people.
When
he
doesn’t rat
her
out
to
his
date,
this
ignites
her
interest
and
need
for
a
man
who
might
accept
her
(which, ultimately,
is
her
hope).
Thus,
she
writes
him
a
little
note
in
his
take-out
meal.
Likewise,
he
hopes
to see
her
when
he
goes
back
for
his
phone
.
.
.
and
the
story
continues
from
there.