Since I never learned to set limits, I’ve decided I’m not done with the first Heat with Heart post.
Since PBW roped me into doing the workshop, I figured turnabout’s fair play. (It was only a meme… she coulda not done it… :O>) I sent her the same questions I’d asked the other authors.
In response to this…
A good romance is going to have emotional tension. A good erotic romance has to have both emotional and sexual tension. How do you accomplish it?
PBW/Lynn Viehl responded
You know that RWA thing where you’re supposed to think of twenty reasons why your hero and heroine should be in love? I always think of twenty reasons why they shouldn’t, because I think the most interesting couples are the ones who are complete opposites (it helps that my guy and I are in that boat.) I build that ying-yang into their characters to create emotional tension. I also do the same for the love scenes — there are always a ton of good reasons why my H/H shouldn’t go to bed with each other — and I weave them into the story as I lead up to the love scene. In both cases, it makes the tension go through the roof.
I hope Jambrea doesn’t mind me using her example.
Jason was born into a cult and managed to escape, but lost someone very close to him. He is on a task force to help break this cult up.
Molly was abducted into the cult as a young woman (around 14) with no hope of escape.
This here offers a story line that has the promise of a lot of tension, a lot of conflict. The way it’s worded, with no hope of escape, it makes me wonder. Does Molly realize the situation she’s in? Does Jason understand that she isn’t there of her own free will?
Now if we were to make Jambrea sit down and list twenty reasons why these two shouldn’t be together, I bet she could do it easily once she got going.
An example from one of my current WIPs
T comes with more emotional baggage than three other normal people. T isn’t normal, though. (no details, just trust me…she’s not normal)
Cullen fell in love with T one hot summer years ago. But then somebody close to him died and he holds T responsible. She could have saved his loved one’s life
Can I go through and list twenty reasons why they shouldn’t be together? Besides the attraction, what is pulling them together? In my book’s situation, it’s one of those life or death things. No, the world won’t end, but somebody else that Cullen loves is in danger and T is pretty much his only hope. So his world will end if T can’t help. The problem is, if T does help, her world is very likely to end.
If you’ve gotten your hero and heroine and a little bit of backstory going…I want you to make a list and take PBW’s advice and explore 20 reasons why these two shouldn’t be together. You don’t have to list the 20 here. I’m paranoid and always worried somebody might swipe my ideas (it’s happened to me personally so I’m quite contest to stay paranoid) and I don’t want you to risk that happening to you. So just to get you started on your list, list two reasons here why they shouldn’t be together. But make sure you list 20 on your own.
July 11, 2007 at 8:54 am
She’s a princess and he’s a vigilante…never gonan be ‘allowed’ to marry.
She has to rule as there are no other heirs, he’s a free spirit who doesn’t want to settle down.
hey what do you know, i can think up loads more. i hadn’t even considered it before!
July 11, 2007 at 12:16 pm
1. He lied to her.
2. He lied to her.
…
…
…
…
19. He lied to her.
20. He lied to her.
There you go.
Seriously, I probably could come up with 20 serious lies. I probably do have 20 reasons other than he lied to her though, because I’m still not sure that they are going to end up together.
July 11, 2007 at 12:43 pm
Ayla, it’s never an approach I’ve used either but I’m going to give it a shot.
May~lies will do it. 20 serious ones. Hmmmm….
July 11, 2007 at 2:28 pm
I think the biggest reason my two characters would feel they shouldn’t be together would be their experiences inside the cult. Both of them would feel this is a big obstacle for different reasons. Of course their experiences inside the cult would be different causing numerous other sub reasons.
July 11, 2007 at 2:32 pm
1. His culture forbids inter-religious marriages.
2. She blames him for her exile (she has to live as an outsider in his country).
Tons more reasons, but these are the first 2. Good workshop idea!
July 11, 2007 at 5:05 pm
That was much harder than I expected it to be, but a good exercise that I, apparently, needed to do. So thanks. Here are two:
8. She’s not into the whole grain thing
9. He may never be able to understand and accept what she’s done
July 11, 2007 at 5:42 pm
1. She is an independent American woman from the 20th century. He is a living in a culture and a time where women are subservient.
2. He sees her as one of the enemy.
July 11, 2007 at 6:30 pm
They’re so doomed.
Ciaran is the star of the chariot races but still technically a slave. Julia is the daughter of a Roman senator.
Ciaran also is the leader of the Dal Riatans in Britain, and Julia, well, a Roman.
HCiaran is pagan, Julia is Christian.
Daddy makes Julia marry the guy who – illegally – claims Ciaran to be his slave.
When Ciaran returns to Britain, he has to wrestle the leadership from an ursurper. Having a relationship with a Roman woman would make things even more difficult. Julia doesn’t feel at home in northern Britain (where bad guy husband drags her in search of Ciaran), and as Christian, how can she break a marriage vow?
But it’s only a subplot in a more complicated novel, and I don’t need to give them an HEA.
July 12, 2007 at 12:31 pm
There’s this other boy.
There’s this other girl.
There’s this little problem of a curse, a hell hound hunting her, living in a foreign country under a curse, and a matchmaking cat. Oh and the neverending need to make a living *g*.