Fiona Lowe Outback Romance; small communities, big hearts

©Finding That Emotional Punch©

This article appeared in HeartsTalk, (September 2008 )the monthly magazine of the

Romance Writers' of Australia

Ever heard that expression, 'Emotional Punch'? It's one the editors at Harlequin Mills and Boon use a lot in rejection letters, over the phone to their authors, in revision emails to their almost-authors….in fact, they use it a lot. Why? Because it's at the heart of a good read and it is a strong part of the promise that HMB offers to its readers.

So how do you as a writer archive 'Emotional Punch' in your stories?

One way is know the themes of your targeted line and write to them. When I was faced with my third rejection after a full revision request, where the book was rejected on something never mentioned in the revision letter, I got steely determined. Someone had a list of 'what's hot in Medicals' which I studied and I remember thinking, 'if they want themes, I'll give them themes!' Instead of choosing one, I choose three, (Pregnant heroine, the Flying Doctors and the Outback) and that book sold. So do some research of the line you are targeting and know the themes.

At the recent RWA conference, Jenny Hutton, (Mills and Boon editor) and I chatted about themes and she said to me, 'themes are the emotional touchstones' for readers, and a strong reason why they pick up the book. So how do you convert a theme into a book and write it with emotional punch?

I tend to study the work of the authors I enjoy. How do they achieve books filled with emotional punch that pull me in, make me burn dinner, and have me ignoring the family? I discovered something so shockingly simple as it is complex. The Heroine and Hero start the book in many ways as polar opposites.

"Sympathy constitutes friendship; but in love there is a sort of antipathy, or opposing passion. Each strives to be the other, and both together make up one whole." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Ah! This is part of how you create a really strong emotional story…you start your book with your Hero and Heroine at opposite ends on the spectrum. This doesn't mean they hate each other. In fact they can get along really well but by putting them at opposite ends, it provides them with a long, emotionally tortuous journey and gives a lot of opportunities for emotional growth. The upshot of that is you get a story that lasts the book and a story with page-turning tension.

When I discovered this polar opposite 'thing', and I was planning The Playboy Doctor's Marriage Proposal, I grabbed a piece of paper, drew a line down the middle and wrote Emily on one side and Linton on the other. This is what panned out….

When you look at this grid you wonder. "how on earth are these two people ever going to end up together." The only thing they have in common at the start of the book is an overwhelming physical attraction. But this grid gives you their values and beliefs and you can see they are so different that their conflicts cannot be fixed over a cup of tea, which means you have a book.

You underpin all of this with a solid and strong internal conflict which is a ten lesson package all on its own : So for now, I will just say that internal conflict is a belief the character holds about himself/herself. It is their weak spot, their Achilles Heel. This belief can be incorrect but because they believe it, it drives their behaviour and colours every action and reaction so it is responsible for all they do whether those actions are destructive, constructive successful or disastrous.l

So how do you use their differences to give the story emotional punch? You have the absolute best time and you plunge them into situations that they will hate being in and would never actively put themselves in. While they are in these unwanted and uncomfortable situations, you challenge them on every long-held belief….or one long-held belief at a time.

In Medicals, well chosen medical scenes that integrate with the Hero and Heroine's emotional journey are the perfect vehicle to exacerbate things on the emotional front. Not writing a medical? No problem! Use your scene to make your H & H do something they wouldn't normally ever do.

Claustrophobic? Stick them in a lift or a cave unable to get out. Linton had no idea of family life having been an only child. I stuck him slap bang into the middle of family dinner with Emily, her five siblings, two nephews, a sister in law and three dogs with seven different conversations going at once. I basically put him on Mars and watched to see if he would sink or swim, embrace or walk away.

So challenge your characters. Challenge their beliefs. Stick them out over an emotional pit of writing vipers and see what they do. I can guarantee it will give your book the emotional punch an editor is looking for.

Emily	Linton
Grew up in the Country and loves it	Grew up in the city, very urbane, sees his life in Sydney
Grew up part of a large loving family	Grew up as an only child - parents married due to unexpected pregnancy which resulted in his birth
Her Father is a widower	His father is a divorcee
Short, freckles and hair that is pink today and green tomorrow	Playboy and dates 'model type' women
Sees marriage as a great institution although not for her due to complex failed relationship with control issues	Abhors marriage due to growing up with fighting parents who divorced and an acrimonious divorce himself.
Loves the idea of children	Will never have children because relationships always end and that's not fair on a child
Frumpy and not interested in clothes	Dresses very well and aware of fashion