Writing Competition Editor Tips: Generating Emotional Conflict
13 Comments December 4th, 2007 in writing contest Posted by Malleby Tessa Shapcott, Executive Editor
 
Generating Emotional Conflict
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Emotional conflict is the key to writing a Harlequin Presents novel. Ultimately, the characters, their romance and indeed the plot are all driven by it. To understand it better, let’s ask a few questions and get some answers.Â
Why does a Presents novel need emotional conflict?
Really, you can’t have a satisfying romance without it! Many people who scorn romances use the reason that they are ‘soppy’ and ‘slushy’. But those of us who read them and love them know that, actually, romance fiction is not all hearts and flowers. Just as real-life relationships have ups and downs, so do the heroes and heroines in novels. Readers want to see conflicts played out and resolved. In Presents, the level of conflict is high and it’s intense.
Remember these two things when writing conflict:
- Conflict between the two main characters generates emotional tension and sexual suspense
- Charactes are driven by conflict – and they, in turn, will drive the story.
What is emotional conflict?
There are two types of conflict that will progress a romance: internal and external.
Internal conflict is the more important and can come about by two routes:
- Character; a conflict can grow out of the hero or heroine’s fundamental personality, and will include how their lives and backgrounds have shaped them, what their motivations and aspirations are. For example, your hero is now an international billionaire who is ruthless in business and love, having clawed his way out of an orphaned background in the slums of Naples.
- Emotional conflict; this exists within the central relationship. For instance, an unexpected pregnancy or an arranged marriage can upset two colliding worlds!
External conflict is less important that internal, but still has a place within a romance novel. Basically, it comes from misunderstandings and circumstances, e.g., the hero has arrived to take over the heroine’s father’s ailing company and uses her perilous position to blackmail her into a relationship. Or it can come about because of another secondary character’s influence, e.g., the hero’s father is dying and wants to see his son married.
How can you create a satisfying emotional conflict?
Here are the Presents editors’ top tips.
• Choose internal conflicts as the main drivers of your story
• Use external conflicts as added twists
• Make sure your chosen conflict is well developed, well motivated and consistent with the characters and their situations
• Check that your conflict is believable, relevant for the reader and sustainable over the course of a whole book
• Ideally, construct two or three emotional conflicts that can be played out and resolved through your story
• Conflict isn’t a continual argument between the hero and heroine!
• Layer your conflict with highs and lows, advancements and retreats, passion and withdrawal.
Can you think of a Presents that you’ve read recently that you loved because it was passionate, high octane and kept you on the edge of your seat as you turned the pages? Chances are it had some great conflicts! Why not go back and study just how the author did it – and then let us know your conclusions back here!Â
Instant Seduction: How to Enter
13 Responses to “Writing Competition Editor Tips: Generating Emotional Conflict”
- 1 Pingback on Dec 20th, 2007 at 5:46 am
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Great tips! I”m going to print that out. Some people are fabulous at analysing conflict, doing all sorts of conflict boxes and diagrams and whatevers for their characters. I’ve tried those, but I just can’t do them, we’re all different in how we work, so a post like this is wonderful to have at hand.
That said, I’ve found a really neat way of thinking about conflict, and differentiating between internal and external conflicts, and maybe it might be handy to someone else. I only wish I could recall where I heard it so I could say thankyou because Iv’e found it really useful and, more to the point, simple. Here we go –
External conflict forces the characters together.
Internal conflict forces the characters apart.
There. Told you it was simple:-)
And you need both of these, internal and external conflicts, if you’re going to write a romance. You need those twin energies working for you, so your characters are caught up in this push-pull-push state of attraction, resistance and circumstance.
That external conflict is important because it pushes your characters together and keeps them in close proximity – the forced marriage, the blackmailed bride, the new boss who used to be lover – which then allows your internal conflicts to come to the fore and really drive your story forward. Because it’s your characters, who they are, what motivates them and how they react to this forced proximity that’s really at the heart of your story and is going to make the pages crackle.
Isn’t this contest fabulous? You guys are so lucky!
I just recently finished reading The Sicilian’s Christmas Bride by Sandra Marton, in one seating. It was passionate, high octane and kept me on the edge of my seat as I turned the pages. Just like you said.
Short of revealing the plot of the story, let me just say that I believe the book did offer all the necessary conflicts that glued me to the ebook version.
The characters were engaging, the plot had a nice twist to it and the pacing was great. I find that I am drawn to catchy witty dialogues and the interactions between characters.
I highly recommend this book as a study about conflicts.
Hey writeonjo, I haven’t got to Sandra’s book yet but I”ll certainly be moving it on up the pile. Thanks!
Writeonjo, I’m delighted you enjoyed The Sicilian’s Christmas Bride.
The qualities you mentioned: passion, high octane story, engaging characters, good pacing, are all qualities I look for as a reader and are also the ones I always try to deliver as an author.
Same as you, I love dialogue that moves the story forward. I always figure that if I hear the dialogue in my head as I’m writing it, if I can ’see’ my characters speaking it, I’m on track.
One thing I’ve always done with dialogue is not worry too much if I’ve gotten the syntax right. I once had a reader write to tell me, very politely, that a line I’d written: “It’s me,” was wrong. Should have been “It’s I.” Well, sure. Any grammarian would agree, but writers write the way people talk and I have never known anyone to say “It’s I” except one of my college English profs.
Presents deals in romantic fantasy but I love to give my characters conflicts that have a grounding in reality and that, I think, is one of the elements that takes the pregnant mistress, secret baby, etc. and elevates them to something special. The one kind of conflict that makes me grind my teeth is the kind that could have been eliminated if hero and heroine had ever had even one brief conversation.
By the way, I keep meaning to wish everyone good luck in this fantastic contest.
Oh my
I’m talking to Sandra Marton 
Miss Marton, I would like to ask if you use any form of outline or do you just get it out and edit and rewrite? How long does it take for you to finish a novel? Do you flesh out characters in the beginning or plot first then fill it with characters?
Personnally I find myself playing out scenes in my mind complete with blockings (just like watching a movie) then putting them down on paper. but I find this a bit ineffective. I kept going back and putting in so much details that I find my story drowning in details.
English is my second language and I find myself watching tv and movies to catch witty dialogues that I might use in my stories. Would Presents accept heroes and heroines from the Orient?
Comments, tips and suggestions would be much appreciated.
Thank you!
Sandra Marton is one of my favourite authors too, and one of the reasons for this, aside from the blistering passion, her gorgeous alpha males (swoon, thud) and feisty heroines, is the way her dialogue always seems so real. I can’t wait to read the Spanish Prince’s Virgin Bride, which is released this month in the UK.
I’m also enjoying the hints and tips related to the Instant Seduction competition and am now seriously tempted to dust off the keyboard and see how far I can get with my own Romeo and Juliet….
I am defiantly going to enter this. Christmas break is here (I’m a senior in college) and I am going to get back to my love of writing!
Tessa what if you have a prologue? Is it included in the five thousand word count?
Thanks,
Claudia.
Hi Claudia
Yes, a prologue is acceptable as part of the 5,000 word count.
Some authors find prologues very effective as a way of whetting readers’ appetites before jumping right into the relationship and the story.
The only thing to remember is, prologues should be no more than 2 – 3 pages long. Shorter, if possible.
Thanks so much Tessa. Yes it is only about two pages long.
Happy Holidays,
Claudia.