Years ago, I read an article where Laura Kinsale was discussing her book ... (
Kinsale enjoys writing "wounded" heroes, so I would guess that she often starts.
PRE-PLOTTING CHARACTERS
LESSON 2 by Gloria C. Peterman
Romances by the very nature of the category are character-driven, rather than plot-driven novels. The stories are about relationships, and the center relationship is that of developing romantic love between a man and a woman. When I first started writing, one of the questions I was often asked by non- romance writers was, "How can you ALWAYS make your characters fall in love?" My standard response was that getting your characters together wasn't the difficult part -- keeping them apart for 185 pages, or 250 pages, or 400 pages was the difficult part Conflict is KEY for writing romances. How are you going to keep these two characters who were obviously made for each other apart for the duration of your story length? So, in the pre-plotting stages, after that initial spark (scene, line of dialogue, characteristic that has started your creative juices flowing), one of the absolute first things you, as writer, need to think about is: What's my conflict? What's the conflict between the hero and the heroine? What's the heroine's internal conflict? What's the hero struggling against? What is it that they want and can't get, or shouldn't get? Years ago, I read an article where Laura Kinsale was discussing her book Midsummer Moon. (Kinsale enjoys writing "wounded" heroes, so I would guess that she often starts with her hero's internal conflicts.) In the case of Midsummer Moon, she said, "I have a hero who is deathly afraid of heights, so what do I do? I give him a heroine whose only goal in life is to create a flying machine." See the immediate conflict? For lesson #2, I want you to finish filling out the Character portion of the Outline I posted in lesson #1 for your chosen study work of fiction and post it to the group so everyone can see how this works, how some spaces will be left blank, etc., but how most of the parts of character will tie together. (If anyone has found slots that I have overlooked, feel free to post those so that we can all add them to our study outlines.) Then, if we have time with all the holiday preparations and whatnot, I would also like you to begin filling in the character portion of this outline for your current WIP, or for a new idea that has been sparked in your mind. Feel free to post those as well, so we might learn together and help each other brainstorm.
Below is the character portion for MY SWEET FOLLY, my study book. (I'll post for my WIP once we get some discussion going, and everyone sees how this should work.) MY SWEET FOLLY I. Character A. Hero: Robert Cambourne 1. Name: I couldn't see where this applied. 2. Physical appearance: tall, dark, handsome with satanic touch (eyebrows & eyelashes) The satanic touch helped confuse the heroine in the early stages of the novel when she believed he was insane/evil; she had thought him perfect from their earlier relationship via letters but had no idea of his physical appearance. 3. Occupation: British military, inherit family business, East Indian Company Majorly plays into plot and how Robert gets involved in the scheme to poison the Prince Regent. 4. Back history/family: wife is daughter of a duke; wife''s personality (shrew) Father's disappointment, particularly in his lack of military career. Majorly plays into Robert's internal conflicts, the romantic conflict between Robert and Folly, and the plot to poison the Prince. 5. World philosophy/religion: interest in Hindu & Indian culture Ties with the poison. Ties with the good guys plan to "sting" the bad guys and draw them out. (Book is written from Christian Worldview, One God, etc.) Will be shown more in-depth in the Theme section. 6. Internal conflicts: "failure," insane, fear of rejection (particularly in love relationship) 7. Goals: to be with Folly, to keep her safe --> to uncover plot to poison Price Regent 8. External conflicts: someone is poisoning him, Folly's escape, attack, and capture B. Heroine: Folie Hamilton 1. Name: ties to nickname Folly and his view of her 2. Physical appearance: country plain and vivacious Ties to her personality and her back history. Quote from prologue, Folly to Robert, in a letter: "While I am indeed a princess, gallant knight, I fear I am not precisely pretty. Mr. Hamilton once mentioned I am quite passable when I smile, so of course I married him immediately." 3. Occupation: mother Ties to her goals and why she needs to escape from Robert when he "kidnaps" her early in novel.
4. Back history/family: wife without affection; step-mom; non-traveler 5. World philosophy/religion: pragmatic Christian 6. Internal conflicts: in love with Robert and doesn''t want to be 7. Goals: to get Melinda (step-daughter) a good match --> to discover bad guys and support Robert 8. External conflicts: Robert "kidnaps" them, she''s imprisoned, social faux pas of visiting without a chaperone, captured again C. Villain: Duke of Alcester (father-in-law) Balfour (Robert's wife's lover) Gen. St. Clair (Robert's ex-boss) Mr. Howard Dingley (Robert's neighbor, caught up in mess) Inman Dr. Varley (I'm not going to break down all the villains for this exercise, but I thought that the personal villains (Robert's father-in-law, ex-boss, wife's lover) were a masterpiece in layering her novel. So much of Robert's character grew out of his history, particularly his fear of physical rejection in marriage, which was the major obstacle in the love relationship -- after he escaped being drugged, of course, and Folly no longer thought he was insane. But we'll talk more about that under plot when we begin breaking the story into parts.) I've now realized how difficult it is to adequately un-layer a well-layered book. So please be patient if it isn't all clicking together yet. But do ask your questions, too. And don't be afraid to post your findings. This is subjective study....
