Kristian Mercer

That All-Important Conflict

Last night was chapter meeting night for the Eastside Romance Writers, so I bundled myself into my car, braced myself for the terrible rush-hour traffic, and drove over to Bellevue. It was worth the effort: our speaker, Alexis Morgan, led us in a lively discussion about the benefits and challenges of "Changing Direction" in our writing.

What struck me most during Alexis's talk, however, was something that she mentioned almost in passing. And it wasn't even about change--it was about characterization. She told us that generally she defined her hero first and then made the heroine work for him. In other words, "If he's a firefighter, she's an arsonist." (For more details, see Lesson #1 of this Jenny Crusie post.)

Or--to put it yet another way--you have to have conflict.

That started me thinking about my own WIP and the challenge I've faced in bringing my characters to life. Justin, my hero, emerged from the creative mists pretty much fully formed. I knew his name, his family, his magical talent. I knew what he looked like. I knew the secret from his past.

He's a man whose life has been shaped by honor and loyalty. A man who experienced the most personal of betrayals--and vowed to retreat from love.

But what about the heroine? I wanted her to be a mystery, for the truth of her identity to be revealed in bits and pieces--and would you believe, she hid from me as well! I didn't have a strong sense of her at all when I first started writing. Was she fiercely intelligent, shy and retiring, cool under stress? Was she a little of bit of all those things? What did she want from the hero? What did she want for herself?

I didn't even know what she looked like until I found this ad from Banana Republic.

So that's Elen. As I've been working my way through revisions--and especially as I've been tightening and polishing the chapters for contests--her goals and motivations have become more clear. She wants a home. A family to replace the one she lost.

But she's masquerading as another woman. She appears calm and composed, always in command what she says and how she acts. She can't afford for her emotions to give her away. But on the inside...on the inside, she's always struggling to overcome her fear.

What does that leave me with? Item: one dark, brooding, emotionally withdrawn hero. Item: one heroine, desperate enough to risk a deception for love.

Well, that's conflict, all right. But now I have other questions tumbling through my brain. Is it the right kind of conflict? Will be enough to drive an entire book? Will it bring the readers back for more?

What kinds of conflict between the hero and heroine do you like to see?

P.S. Don't forget to join us for next week's Year of Craft session! Author Sandy Blair will be discussing which of "A Writer's Building Blocks" will keep readers coming back for more!