How to Write a Brilliant Romance: The Easy, Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Romance (Go! Write Something Brilliant) (8 page)

In
Sleepless
in
Seattle
,
Sam
longs
for—but
doesn’t
believe
he
will
ever
find—that
perfect
woman.Annie,
too,
is
looking
for
that
romance
that
feels
perfect.
She’s
even
asked
her
mother
if
she’s marrying
the
right
man.
Even
though
she’s
in
a
relationship,
it
doesn’t
fulfill
her
like
the
dream
of finding
the
love
that
Sam
talked
about
on
the
radio.

In
While
You
Were
Sleeping
,
Jack
expresses
jealousy
that
Peter
always
succeeds.
“It’s
not
fair,”
Jack says.
Just
once,
he’d
like
to
get
the
girl.

Lucy
is
desperately
lonely
and
lives
to
see
Peter
walk
by
her
subway
stand
each
day.
She
is
willing
to marry
him
because
she
has
nothing
else.
(Until
she
has
Jack
and
realizes
she
can’t
marry
someone she doesn’t love.)

In
A
Walk
in
the
Clouds
,
Paul
has
returned
from
war,
hoping
his
wife
has
missed
him
even
though she
never
wrote
to
him.
His
heart
is
broken
when
she
practically
throws
him
out.

Victoria
has
found
a
man
who
is
honest
and
honorable
and
won’t
use
her,
like
her
college
professor did.

In
Return
to
Me
,
Bob
isn’t
sure
he’s
ready
to
date
again
after
the
death
of
his
wife,
even
though
his friends
say
he
is.
But
his
life
is
lonely
and
his
heart
is
healed
enough
to
try.

Grace
wants
to
live
for
the
first
time
in
her
life.
As
her
father
said
to
Bob,
“When
she
met
you,
her heart
beat
truly
for
the
first
time.”

Why
this
guy?
Why
this
gal?
Why
are
your
hero
and
heroine
ready
for
love?

Ask your hero and heroine: Why would you like to fall in love? You’ll find your answer.
More than
that,
knowing
this
answer
will
assist
you
in
crafting
that
moment
when
all
their
wounds
are healed
and
they’re
able
to
fully
give
away
their
hearts.

• Ask
  the
  Hero:
  What
  about
  this
  meeting
  and
  this
  person,
  stands
  out?
  What
  stirs
  your
  interest?
  
• Ask
  the
  Heroine:
  What
  about
  this
  meeting
  and
  this
  person,
  stands
  out?
  What
  stirs
  your
  interest?
  
• Ask
  the
  Hero:
  Why
  would
  you
  like
  to
  fall
  in
  love?
  
• Ask
  the
  Heroine:
  Why
  would
  you
  like
  to
  fall
  in
  love?
  

Why
do
fools
fall
in
love?
I
could
list
off
all
the
reasons
why
I
love
my
husband:
He’s
kind,
and
he believes
in
me,
and
he’s
patient
when
I’m
not,
and
he’s
wise.
Yes,
these
are
all
great
attributes,
but they
aren’t
necessarily
the
reason
I
fell
in
love
with
him.
I
remember
our
first
date.
We
sat
on
the beach
and
chatted
until
2
a.m.
(No
kissing
at
all!)
And
what
did
we
talk
about?
Our
values—the things
that
were
important
to
us—and
the
biggest
of
those
was
our
desire
to
be
missionaries.

The
glue
that
draws
two
people
together
isn’t
that
they
both
like
tennis,
or
the
same
television shows—it’s
that
their
values
have
connected
deep
inside.

I
love
to
teach,
and
one
of
my
favorite
events
is
the
annual
MBT
Deep
Thinker’s
Retreat.
I
get together
with
twenty
or
so
other
authors
and
assist
them
in
crafting
their
stories.
I
love
it
for
three big reasons.

First,
I
live
in
the
woods,
and
when
I
say
woods,
I
mean
tucked
into
a
little
hamlet
in
the
snowy
tip of
northern
Minnesota,
where
ice
and
snow
clasp
us
in
solitude
for
the
better
part
of
four
months. Worse,
I
am
an
extrovert,
so
.
.
.
well,
you
get
the
picture.
I
shed
my
layers
going
south,
meet
my friends,
stand
on
the
beach,
and
shout
out
a
hallelujah!
The
retreat
fills
that
empty
place
.
You
could
say it
completes
me
.

Secondly,
I
get
to
do
what
I
love:
teach
about
writing
craft.
The
writers
need
to
learn
brings
out
the
best
in
me.

Lastly,
these
writers
are
there
because
they
have
a
desire
to
write
amazing
stories.
Their
values touch
the
heart
of
my
Core
Values.

Earlier,
we
talked
about
beauty,
and
we
looked
at
it
from
the
hero’s
POV,
or
“the
eye
of
the beholder.”
We
asked
the
hero
to
look
at
the
heroine
based
on
his
vacancies,
as
well
as
his
strengths.

But
this
applies
to
the
heroine
too
and
helps
us
unlock
the
mystery
of
true
love.
Let’s
take
a
broader look
and
apply
it
to
our
hero
and
our
heroine.

Why
do
people
fall
in
love?

1. A hero and heroine complete each
   other.
   

We
are
drawn
to
people
who
“complete”
us—who
can
do
the
things
we
can’t
do.
I
am what
I
call
a
“fire-starter.”
I
have
lots
of
great
ideas.
My
husband
knows
how
to
complete them.
Thankfully,
we
get
a
lot
done
this
way.

This
can
be
a
difficult
element
to
define
in
a
book.
What
can
the
hero
do
for
the
heroine that she can’t? And
vice-versa?

In
Sleepless
in
Seattle
,
Annie
can
travel
to
Seattle
whereas
Sam
can’t
leave
his
home
to
find her.

In
While
you
Were
Sleeping,
Jack
can
give
Lucy
the
world
(or
at
least
a
stamp
in
her passport).

In
A
Walk
in
the
Clouds,
Victoria
gives
Paul
a
family.
He
gives
her
respectability.

Ask: What can your hero and heroine do for each other that they can’t do themselves? Then, have them do it.

2. They hero and heroine make each other better
people.

We
like
people
who
can
see
the
best
in
us
and
draw
it
out.
I’m
a
very
impatient
person. My
husband,
however,
is
patient
and
encourages
me
to
wait.
My
husband
is
very
black
and white,
I
help
him
see
the
gray
areas.
We
are
better
together.

In
Sleepless
in
Seattle
,
Annie
believes
in
romance
and
Happily
Ever
After.
It’s
her
belief
in this
one
true
love
that
propels
her
to
the
top
of
the
Empire
State
Building
and
into
Sam’s arms.
And,
she’s
stirred
in
him
a
hope
of
something
new
and
right,
also.

In
While
you
Were
Sleeping
,
Lucy
convinces
Jack
to
tell
his
father
the
truth
about
his
love
for furniture
making.

In
A
Walk
in
the
Clouds
,
Victoria
draws
Paul
into
her
world
and
helps
him
heal
and become
a
part
of
a
heritage.

Ask: What does your heroine do that affirms the hero? That accentuates his strengths?
(And vice versa.) How do they become better people when they are
together?

3. The hero and heroine share essential values.

We
like
people
who
understand
and
embrace
what
we
believe
in,
who
hold
our
values
dear to
their
hearts.
It’s
more
than
goals
or
a
similar
life
plan—because
those
can
change.
It’s
that core
belief
deep
inside.
Call
it
a
vision
statement,
maybe,
but
it’s
that
core
statement
about life,
faith,
and
purpose
that
glues
people
together.

Christians
like
to
marry
Christians,
Jews
like
to
marry
Jews,
and
Muslims
like
to
marry fellow
Muslims.
Why?
Because
each
of
these
religions
come
with
a
set
of
values
and
beliefs that
translate
into
expected
behaviors.
This
is
why
it’s
difficult
to
marry
outside
your
faith. Even
within
denominations
it
can
be
difficult.
Catholics
marry
Catholics,
Lutherans
marry Lutherans
and
Baptists
marry
Baptists.
When
two
opposite
worlds
collide,
it
can
be confusing.

When
we
don’t
share
core
values,
then
we
run
into
trouble,
and
not
just
with
religion. Raising
children,
handling
finances,
dealing
with
in-laws,
and
the
list
goes
on.
Is
it
possible
to have
the
same
core
values
without
having
the
same
religion?
Absolutely.
The
bottom
line
is, couples
who
believe
in
something
together,
i.e.
true
love,
or
that
God
is
in
control,
or
even that
they
will
protect
their
children
at
all
costs,
that
freedom
is
worth
fighting
for
forge
an unbreakable
bond.
My
husband
and
I
share
the
belief
that
our
lives
are
in
God’s
hands,
and we
can
trust
him.
And
that
without
grace
we’d
be
lost.
Whatever
challenges
we
encounter, we
connect
on
a
core
level
that
strengthen
us.
In
essence,
we
get
or
understand
each
other.

Even
people
who
are
vastly
different
may
agree
at
their
core
that
their
differences
are
their strength.
That
their
belief
in
the
essential
value
of
others
binds
them
together.

Just a note here: Your characters’ core values may change during the course of the story, but at the end, they find that common ground.

• Annie
  and
  Sam
  bond
  over
  the
  belief
  in
  true
  love.
  (
  Sleepless
  in
  Seattle
  )
  
• Jack
  and
  Lucy
  share
  the
  value
  of
  family.
  (
  While
  You
  Were
  Sleeping
  )
  
• Victoria
  and
  Paul
  value
  heritage
  and
  honor.
  (
  A
  Walk
  in
  the
  Clouds
  )
  
• And
  Rick
  and
  Ilsa
  (
  Casablanca
  )
  believe
  in
  freedom.
  

When
you
are
developing
your
character,
you
will
naturally
discover
their
core
values.
We’ll
explore how to get at the root of this when we explore the
Backstory, and the Dark Moment.

Ask: What core values do the hero and heroine share? How can you reveal them to the reader, and to each
other?