Writing Tip of the Day-Villains

A mentor or friend can serve as the antagonist in romance fiction. Well-meant advice or benign motivation with unfortunate results can prevent the heroine from achieving her goal just as effectively as villainous intent.

Writing Tip of the Day-Villains

The hero can be the antagonist in a romance novel if something in his mindset, his past or his present forms an obstacle to the accomplishment of the heroine’s external goal or prevents their future happiness together.

Writing Tip of the Day-Villains

A mentor or friend may serve as the antagonist in both genre and general fiction. Well-meant advice or benign motivation with unfortunate results can prevent the heroine from achieving her goal just as effectively as villainous intent.

Writing Tip of the Day-Villains

The antagonist in a story need not be a person. It can be an entity, such as a large corporation or organization; a legal, tax or political system or a foreign country, etc. It can also be an event from the past or particular set of circumstances. Anything which creates an obstacle between the heroine and her external or internal goals can be presented as the antagonist.

Writing Tip of the Day-Villains

The purpose of an antagonist, or villain, in a romance novel is to act against the heroine’s good, providing a barrier to her happy-ever-after. Though the hero may play a part in solving the problem or dispatching the antagonist character, the fight against the evil the character represents is the heroine’s, and the final triumph belongs to her.

Writing Tip of the Day-Heroes

Ancient story tradition indicates that including an antagonist, or villain, in your plot makes for a stronger, more exciting story. This holds just as true for romance novels as it does for mysteries or thrillers.

Writing Tip of the Day-Heroes

The true secret to creating good heroes is simply this: make him the man of your dreams. Your ideal hero may not please all readers, but will resonate with those who share your same attitudes and values.

Writing Tip of the Day-Heroes

The sexually experienced hero is not only accepted but expected. Be wary of making him too callous about his affairs, however. There is nothing attractive about a man who uses and discards women. The implication is that he can too easily discard the heroine.

Writing Tip of the Day-Heroes

The reader’s attraction to, and emotional involvement with, your hero will be in direct proportion to your hero’s deep attraction to, and emotional involvement with, your heroine. Your job is to make her worthy of his intense interest.

Writing Tip of the Day-Heroes

Depth in a hero can be increased by allowing him to find lessons in the past, gain purpose in the present and have plans for the future.

Writing Tip of the Day-Heroes

Personal history, or backstory, is an important aspect of a hero. Greater interest is created for the reader by delineating the obstacles he has overcome in the past and the emotional baggage he still carries because of them.

Writing Tip of the Day-Heroes

The romance novel hero should have a definite purpose which includes both external and internal goals. For greatest story impact, one or both of his goals should be in direct conflict with the major goal of the heroine.

Jennifer Blake Newsletter, May 2010

Greetings:

April was a quiet month with little going on except work. I completed the first round of author revision for BY LOVE POSSESSED, book #2 in my medieval trilogy. (Actually, that was finished just this morning!) I'll give it a final polish over this next month, and then send it to my editor around June 1.

Most writers don't spend two months working on their finished manuscripts; they read through the rough draft and that's it. I discovered some time back that that's not enough. When my editor is ready to prepare this story for publication months from now, I'll be in the middle of a different story entirely. It would be difficult to get back into this book enough to make editorial changes. More than that, I'd likely be given a two-week window, or less, for returning the editor revision. Frankly, I'd rather try to get it right the first time around!

So what is the next project? The proposal (read synopsis) for book #3 of the trilogy is due on my editor's desk on July 1. The story, untitled at this point, is already under contract, so the purpose here is to show what I "propose" to write and insure no other book of a similar nature will be acquired just now. The normal length of a synopsis for me is five to six pages. I have this much already written with only two or three more paragraphs required to flesh out the story. The proposal should be submitted well ahead of its deadline, then. This finished book will be sent in on April 1, 2011. That's just four months before the trilogy is scheduled for publication, in August, September and October....

Some have heard it before, but this is my favorite time of year. My antique roses are blooming, also the iris, wisteria, magnolia, daisies, perennial gladiola, stokesia, amaryllis, verbena, and a dozen other things. The oleanders planted along the drive are budding, and the grass is so green it's like slivers of raw emerald. Temps are perfect for having breakfast, lunch and dinner on the screened porch while watching the lake and listening to the wind chimes. Of course the lake is white-capping today, splashing against the sea wall. Guess everything can't be perfect!

As I write this, I have a list of questions waiting for another online interview, this one for a Spanish language web site, El Rincón Romántico, The Romantic Encounter. The questions are in English but will be translated into Spanish by the interviewer. The interest, as you might guess, is because of the many Blake titles that have been published in Spanish speaking countries since the 1980s. To see how this turns out, check the web site near the end of this month: www.elrinconromantico.com

If you're wondering how I might have been affected by the huge oil slick off Louisiana's coastline just now, the answer is very little; we're well inland from it. The new restaurant in our town which serves fresh shrimp and oysters may have a problem, as these delicacies come from the shrimp boat of the owner's brother. Also, a national guardsman I know may be called up to help deal with the crisis. Otherwise, I watch the news and shake my head, fearing for the livelihood, wildlife and beautiful beaches of the gulf coast.

Summer is the traditional vacation time for a lot of people. It's mine this year as well, since I'll be ready for R&R after turning in my June book. The Big Plan is for a cruise with my two daughters and their children, a total of nine of us. We'll be sailing the Mediterranean out of Venice aboard the Costa Fortuna. My granddaughters want to ride the donkey caravan up the cliff at Santorini, as in "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants", and why not? I can't wait to see this area through their eyes, though I hope they will also view it through mine. The world is such a wide, wonderful place with so many marvelous things to see: it would be grand if they inherit the adventurous spirit needed to travel it all.

With warmest wishes for adventures and flowers in your life,

Jennifer