This week: Romantic Conflict Edited by: StephBee  
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“Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.” – Maya Angelou
“True love stories never have endings.” – Richard Bach
I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. November has flown by and the holiday season is in full swing. I went to Walmart and bought a bunch of new decorations for my lawn.
The holidays usually imbue us with a feeling of good will. We seem to be a little more patient, a little more tolerant, a little more kind and cheerful, etc. If only that would last the year, right! Still, there’s conflict even during this time of year, and that’s the perspective I’m tackling in this newsletter – Romantic conflict, and how it plays into writing a solid romantic story that tugs on the heartstrings and resonates with readers long after they put the story down.
I want to thank everyone for taking my Thanksgiving Crossword. I hope you had fun. For this newsletter, I put together a poll.
Let me know what your favorite holiday scents are and I’ll share the results in my next Newsletter.
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Romantic conflict drives the story. That’s that push-pull - should I or shouldn’t I? Conflict makes the story interesting and compels the reader to read on. Without conflict, the journey is dull and boring. Conflict has two parts, external and internal. Let’s take a look at how both conflicts drive the romance.
External Conflict
This conflict is from an outside force. Usually, this type of conflict is used to drive the hero and heroine together. Without this conflict, they would never meet. This type of conflict needs to be believable to the story. Examples of this “outside influence” could be losing your job, taking a trip, or getting thrown together when something goes wrong. External conflict creates the situations where the main characters interact.
Internal Conflict
This is the complication or flaws within characters. It could be a moral or ethical dilemma. After all, every character wants something. How they go about getting it drives this type of conflict. This type of conflict creates individuality or motivation for a character.
Types of internal conflict include low self-esteem, choosing between family or a secret lover, a struggle over values, courage vs. weakness, or being promiscuous vs being faithful. Internal conflict is the heart and soul of romantic conflict. There always comes a moment in a romantic story where one of the main characters struggles to commit and the struggle stems from their internal struggle. Internal conflict allows the reader to see the growth of the character. A character could lack moral courage at the start of the story, but due to the influence of their partner and external conflict, the growth and journey to strong moral courage is rewarding.
Start with the external conflict, bring the characters together. Give them a mutual goal and let the internal conflict drive the character development. Think of Pretty Woman. What’s the external conflict? Vivian is a hooker, the Richard Gere character is loaded. They are thrown together to go to a party. What’s the internal conflict? The Richard Gere character doesn’t see Vivian as a hooker, but a person, so when the time comes for them to leave each other, he’s torn.
Finding the balance takes a bit of “fine tuning,” but striking the right balance will give you a great romance to root for!
What stories have you read where you enjoyed the Romantic Conflict?
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Feedback from my last Romance/Love Newsletter dated: 2 NOV 22:
There is no feedback on my last newsletter.
StephBee is a 911 dispatcher for LAPD. Her Christmas story, "Christmas in Bayeux" has Aiden visiting Noelle in France. Will sparks fly or will distance keep them apart. Now avail on Amazon as an ebook.
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Romance/Love: November 30, 2022 Issue [#11680]
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