Tag Archives: #conflict

January 5, 2024 · 12:53 am

#fridayfive 5 Must-haves in a Romance book… 1.5.2024

For my first Friday five of 2024, I give you…the 5 MUST-HAVES in a romance book. And I struggle sometimes to get them all in my books, lol!

  1. the meet-cute. Whether they bump into one another, literally (!), suffer from mistaken identity, get introduced as new co-workers after having a one-night anonymous stand, the meet-cute is vital in setting up the conflict for the romance to thrive and reach its conclusion with everyone happy ( reader and characters)

2. Strong characters. No one is going to root for boring, flat, or negative characters who defy growth and change. That, after all, is the premise of the romance novel. Take two people who would never have gotten together if left to their own devices, throw them together, and then allow them to grow and change into a couple we all, as readers, adore. I’ve read too many books ( and DNF’d most of them) where the main characters were just…wrong.

3. Believable tropes. Just like we need to root for the hero and heroine, romance readers need to know the basic premise, or the tropes used, to get them to their HEA. Forced proximity, best friend’s brother, secret baby, mistaken identity and scores more, all help define the road these two people will take in order to have them find love in the end. And all romance readers have their favorite tropes to read, and writers to write. My personal fav to read and write is friends-to-lovers because I am always on the edge of my seat to see who lets the other person know their feelings first.

4. Believable conflict. Again, you want to lose yourself in the story and not be reading and then think, this is just too dumb and no one would ever do/say this. I heard a great definition of a true conflict in a romance story at a conference once. Here’s the set-up: a fire marshall is called to investigate a scene of obvious arson with a death associated with it. The supposed arsonist? His girlfriend, a girl whose family died in a fire and the person responsible was the one found in the above fire.

Conflict to a T!

5. HEA. Or happily ever after for those not in the anacronym-know. In recent years, the HFN (Happily for now ) ending has also been used to define the end of the story. Whichever you choose to read or write, the end goal is for the hero and heroine to be together, have a defined love relationship, and be committed to one another.

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October 12, 2021 · 12:00 am

A New Writing Guide for You: The Conflict Thesaurus (+Giveaway)

Do you have a bookshelf of writing guides? I do, and well, it’s an addiction, but a good one. I’m going to flag one for you to look into: The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Vol. 1).

This book is from Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, the authors of The Emotion Thesaurus. I’m such a fan of their writing guides I joined their Street Team. Every time they release a book they do something epic and fun to celebrate, and I get to tell you all about it!

But first, you’re probably curious about this book, so let me break it down. The Conflict Thesaurus is set up like the other books in their series: part how-to, part thesaurus. This guide shows writers how to maximize conflict and use it to build tension, drive the plot, reveal your character’s inner layers, and most importantly, keep readers glued to the page.

It’s packed with conflict scenarios like Moral Dilemmas, Ticking Clocks, Obstacles, No-Win Scenarios, Temptations and more. It can help you nail down your plot and character arc, so check it out!

Now, speaking of conflict, I have a BIG question for you.

Can You Survive Danger as Well as Your Favorite Protagonist?

You’re probably pretty good at throwing problems at your characters and making life difficult for them. After all, that’s part of being a writer. But do you ever think about how you’d do if you had to face the same situations? If you were the protagonist, would you hold up to the pressure? Would you make good decisions and succeed, or screw up and fail?

Let’s find out.

Introducing… The Conflict Challenge

Become the protagonist in a story Angela & Becca created using scenarios found in the Conflict Thesaurus to see if you’ve got what it takes to win.

The Conflict Challenge is fun, campy, and will put your wits and instincts to the test.

And if you survive, you will win some cool stuff!

GIVEAWAY ALERT

While you’re checking out the Conflict Challenge at Writers Helping Writers, make sure to also enter their Conflict Thesaurus release day giveaway, too. But hurry – it ends October 15th.

So, take the Conflict Challenge…if you dare. And don’t forget to come back and let me know how you did against Camp Deadwood!

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