Throwing Your Characters Into Trouble
by Melissa Schroeder
Are you halfway through your WIP and bored with your hero and heroine? Are you at a loss of what the problem is? The first thing a romance writer usually thinks of is GMC. Have you found it easy to give your character goals and the motivation to get them? The one thing you may be missing in there is major conflict. Readers know that the hero and heroine are going to make it to the end, fall in love and live happily ever after. The ups and downs you travel with your hero and heroine are what the romance reader craves.
As a writer, I struggle with goals and motivation but I kick butt as a conflict writer. I love giving my characters a set of problems. I’m mean that way. Ask my husband and kids. It may take me months to come up with the right goals and motivation and only a day to work out the conflict. What’s the secret? Pitch your hero and heroine a curve that keeps the reader guessing what will happen next.
Why is it a good idea to throw them these curves?
Well, that’s what life is like. It also makes for great conflict, a major component to any work of fiction. Don’t make it artificial. If it is, then your reader will become disenchanted. In Jennifer Crusie’s Crazy For You, Quinn, the heroine, wants to change her life. She breaks up with her fiancé over a dog, buys a house, and realizes the only man for her is her sister’s ex-husband, Nick Ziegler. So, does she fall in love and live happily ever after. Of course not, this is Jenny Crusie we’re talking about here. Sleeping together doesn’t solve their problems, just adds more conflict to the story.
How do I go about it?
First, you must know your characters well. If you haven’t used a worksheet for Goal and Motivation, then I suggest you do that first. What are their goals and what motivates them? Inner and outer.
Next, what is it your character wants more than anything else in the world?
Do you, as the writer, think that’s what he or she needs to be happy? If not, throwing obstacles in the path, can help that character grow and learn what it is he or she really needs. You have a heroine who wants to leave her little town and move to the big city, but you know in her heart she doesn’t want to. Or, you have a hero who is convinced he would never make a good husband or father.
Now, what kind of trouble?
Depends on your character and the plot. That heroine could see her best friend as the man for her, and start having second thoughts about the bright lights of the big city. Or that hero could come in contact with a child, and realize he would be a good father and husband.
One thing I use for major stumbling blocks for my characters is sex. Or lack there of. For me, I don’t like waiting until the end for consummation of a relationship. Having sex doesn’t solve your problems and most the time, it creates a whole heap of other problems for the characters. So, I throw my characters together in that respect and then watch them mess it up, in and out of the bedroom.
Throwing your characters into trouble, making them sort through the mess you’ve helped them create, is great fun for you and the reader. Conflict is an important part of any work of fiction and a major component to any romance novel. As humans, we don’t really want them to suffer, but then there would be no conflict and no romance novel. Conflict makes the happy ending that much more satisfying. One thing is for sure, you and your reader will enjoy the ride.
