Love, Sex and Happy Endings

February 2, 2022: Romance, Tips
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The storyteller knows each character in his or her story has goals and motivations that make their individual character arcs ripe for conflict.

Have you ever gossiped about a relative, a friend or a co-worker? It would be surprising if you hadn’t. Gossip is actually a handy tool, a survival skill that humans have nurtured for tens of thousands of years.
When you try to make sense of why people do what they do—including yourself!—and examine the conflicts that arise from those actions, you learn how to act and respond in a complicated social world. And it's the conflicts characters face that make a story a story. There is no story without conflict.

This post is part of Bardsy's free ​ Romance Toolkit, which includes plenty of resources and videos. Click here to see all the pieces:

Romance Toolkit
In romance writing, conflict fuels the narrative. These conflicts may be external or internal to the characters. Internal conflict is what a character feels when personal goals run up against moral or psychological roadblocks.
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The thinking and emotional growth of characters are driven by internal conflict, and manifested in character arc.

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For example, does the heroine have a lot of baggage from previous relationships? Does the hero have a problem with commitment? Or vice versa!
External conflicts are what characters encounter in the world when outward goals are thwarted by a particular individual, event or social barrier, say, the French Revolution, or a tidal wave.
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The conflicts that drive the story’s events are external conflicts, and they drive the narrative arc.

Most good stories have both Internal and external conflicts, but regardless, conflict is essential. We've included our conflict handout to help you develop the conflicts for your story. Just remember, the heroine and hero must overcome something so they—and you—can enjoy the prize of the story: love, sex and a happy ending!
Editor Marla Daniels says this:
One of my biggest notes is always conflict, conflict, conflict! Oftentimes, because authors—and readers alike—love when the hero and heroine are happy and in love, there isn't enough conflict throughout the relationship. Tension and conflict make the happy-ever-after a bigger payoff, so don't be afraid to let your couples get into it throughout the novel so that when they come back together at the end, the reconciliation packs an even bigger emotional punch.
Editor Meaghan Wagner adds:
For me, tension in romance has to really be authentic, and for that to work the obstacle has to be pitch perfect. It has to be real and the consequences of tackling that obstacle—whether it be family or circumstance or anything else—has to be real, and a dire enough deterrent to keep our leads apart; yet they do have to be able to overcome it, their lives intact enough to warrant the “happy” in “happy ending.”
Before that happy ending, however, the author must deliver the other key components of romance: love and sex. Many writers are stymied by sex in romance writing. So, how do you approach writing scenes of passion? Nora Roberts has the right idea. When asked how she handles sex in her novels, she explains:
Exactly the same way I approach writing any other scene. Action, reaction, motivation, emotion, all have to come from the characters. Writing a love scene requires the same elements from the writer as any other.
Regarding that all-important “happy ending,” Roberts says that—above all—she writes what she likes to read, and wonders why some readers have an issue with happy endings.
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Romance gets disparaged for the happy endings. But all genres have expectations and all genres require narrative resolution.
— Nora Roberts

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Roberts further notes:
[I]t's disparaged because it's happy. And if it was important, it would be tragic. Which is bullshit! Look at Much Ado About Nothing—everybody is happy! And it's a brilliant romantic comedy. It's one of my favourites. And that's not crap. A Midsummer Night's Dream isn't crap. There's nothing wrong with being happy.
Amen to that!
This is the fourth and final installment of our Romance Kit. We hope you've enjoyed our close encounter with matters of the heart.
Share the love by submitting your romance story to our current contest before February 10. There are some lovely prizes up for grabs, including $399 and publication in our Romance Anthology. Click here for all the details and to enter.
For more great specifics on creating your conflict and ending, click on our Romance Toolkit, which includes a nifty handout and video. Click here: Romance Toolkit
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