How to Make an Okay Romance Plot Compelling

Two story sparks have been taking turns in my brain since mid-July. For one of the sparks, I only have a rough impression of the characters--they're going to be a LOT of fun! I decided to develop the other spark first.

I knew the setting, the hero's backstory, and a vague idea of the heroine. That was it! But it turned out to be enough. I immediately listed reasons they could be together throughout the story. The one I liked best was okay, but not page-turning.

How did I know? Well, I asked myself if the stakes were high for both characters. The answer was no. Sure, it gave them a reason to be together, but if either could quit at any time and go on their merry way, the plot won't be very strong.

So I tried on other reasons for them to be together, but I kept coming back to the first one. I figured it was a sign I was on the right track. At that point, I brainstormed ways to raise the stakes. A few came easily, but they still weren't as big as I'd like. Since I was busy updating my website and putting my business records in order, I didn't worry about it too much.

And what do you know? A week later the lightbulb flipped on, and I knew exactly how to raise the stakes. I was ready to plot the book! Yay!

Questions I ask to make an okay plot compelling:

1. What is keeping the hero and heroine together throughout the story?

2. Is it coincidental (ex: they live in the same town and bump into each other every other chapter?) or is it goal-oriented (ex: they're working together on a project)?

3. What is keeping the hero from walking away from this arrangement? Does he have a good reason to be in it?

4. What is keeping the heroine from walking away from this arrangement? Does she have a good reason to be in it?

5. Can you find a side reason for them to work together too? (ex: they are co-chairing a benefit dinner to raise money for cancer. His nephew has cancer. Her mom died of cancer. Side reasons? His sister begged him to help plan the benefit because he owns a local insurance agency and has tons of connections. He gave his sister his word. And the heroine's side reason could be that she is a party planner and trying to launch her own business.)

6. Do both characters have strong motivations to work toward this story goal? What are they?

I'm convinced a good romance writer can take an okay plot and make it compelling. Just give the reader plenty of reasons why the characters are doing what they're doing!

How do YOU make a plot compelling?

Have a wonderful weekend!!

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Discussing Plot: Complication or Situation?

For the next couple weeks, I'm doing one of my favorite things--studying books on the writing craft! Woo-hoo!

The Complete Handbook of Novel Writing was put together by the editors of Writer's Digest. Featuring seventy-seven essays on writing, this book appeals to my need for bite-size lessons. Gail Gaymer Martin wrote chapter forty-three, "What is Christian Romance?" Needless to say, I have an author crush on Gail!



Anyway, I recently read Monica Wood's excellent chapter, "The Plot Thickens," where she discusses complications in a novel. She explains that many newer writers mistake a situation for a complication. For instance, a bomb destroying a building our heroine just exited sounds like a complication, right? If the character runs to her car, drives to her boyfriend's house, and continues living her life with little consequence, the bomb was merely part of a situation.

Ms. Wood explains, "A good complication puts emotional pressure on a character, prompting that character not only to act, but to act with purpose."

Sometimes we come up with a great problem to throw at our characters, like the bomb above, but we fail to fully capitalize on it. We settle for letting the heroine escape with a racing heart rather than giving her a reason to act.

After I write a scene, I immediately take fifteen minutes to review it and ask a few questions.

- Did the viewpoint character learn anything in this scene?
- Did the scene answer a question? If yes, is a new question presented?
- How did the viewpoint character grow? If she didn't grow, did she regress?
- How did this scene move the plot forward?

I almost always find a way to bring the scene to a new level by doing this. It doesn't always take much to take a "good" scene to a "compelling" scene.

The questions go back to the dilemma of situation or complication. Sometimes we think we've written a complication, but when we analyze the writing, we haven't pushed our characters enough. We've either made the situation too tidy or we've ignored a potential complication in order to push our own plot agenda.

How do you turn situations into complications for your characters? I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Have a terrific weekend!

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When Plotting Goes Wrong

I tippity-tapped on my laptop for three hours, the words spewing onto the page, when all of a sudden my fingers stopped. I'm talking halted, frozen in mid-air. I had no idea what the next word, paragraph, or chapter should be.

What's going on, fingers? Why aren't you pulsating with the need to put my brain on a computer file? And what about you, brain? Why aren't you churning out the next scene? What's happening to me...and will chocolate cure it??

I opened the Excel spreadsheet where I keep my detailed scene list. The answer might as well have been flapping on a banner behind an airplane in the sky.

My plot was off.

Uggh. I'm sure there will be a future television show, part reality, part horror detailing this phenomenon When Plotting Goes Wrong, but meanwhile, I needed to get back on track. After all, I promised myself with this book I would set daily goals. I made a deadline to finish it, and even if I had to consume Lindt chocolate truffles by the handful, I would meet that goal.

How did I overcome this plot nightmare? I haven't lassoed it yet, but here are the steps I'm taking to tiptoe through.

1. Review the scenes I've already written.
2. Add any information necessary to that point.
3. Get out a notebook and plot the next scene with attention to the following:

• Point of View character for scene
• Mood of character
• Goal, motivation and conflict for the scene
• What's the logical next step? (What should the following scene be?)

4. Estimate how many words/scenes/chapters I need to write before the next major turning point. This helps narrow down what needs to happen between now and then.
5. Continue re-plotting the scenes from where I left off until the next turning point.

That's it. It isn't easy. On three separate days, I've spent twice as long, writing half as many words as I normally would, but this book requires a different plotting method than I've used for my other books.

Have you ever stalled in the middle of a writing project? How did you work your way through it?

One Goal Friday is going on hiatus indefinitely. I've enjoyed reading and tracking all of your goals, and I'm rooting for you to continue!

Join me on Monday when we begin to explore October's topic: A Little Help from Our Friends.

Have a terrific weekend!

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