12 Points on the 12th with Kate Walker

First of all, I have some great news about my book - The 12 Point Guide To Writing Romance. (well - it's great news for me! If you've been looking for a copy, it might not be quite so great for you.)

I heard from my publisher last week and this book is now officially SOLD OUT. He shipped the very last copies from the wharehouse and there are none left. There might be some around on Amazon.com or B&N .com - but not many!

But if you want a chance to win a copy of this book, Lee actually has not one but two copies of it to offer as a prize in a contest and she'll be setting that up on My Tote Bag very soon - so look out for that or for the details on my blog too.

So for today's 'point' - I'd like to look at Conflict a bit more. On my blog, I wrote a bit about this in my mini-series of hints about Writing For Presents with reference to the Harlequin Presents Instant Seduction contest, where I wrote:

It's the emotional intensity that makes a Presents novel - and to create that emotional intensity you need to have a strong and emtional conflict.

The Instant Seduction Contest is still going on - just - so I'd like to add a little more to that thought about conflict and what makes a good one - and how you can deepen and intensify it by

Adding layers to a conflict

Very few reasons for conflict, however powerful, can actually last through the whole of a book without changing, adapting, developing, or just varying in tone and emphasis. The best sorts of conflicts are those that have layers and layers of involvement, and as each one is dealt with and peeled away, it reveals another complication, another aspect of the same problem, or a different development of it, going deeper and deeper until finally the central core of the problem is exposed, ready for you characters to tackle it.

This pacing and staging of the revelations that make up the conflict adds to the suspense and the tension that keeps the reader turning the page. It also has the bonus of increasing and building on the sexual tension between the hero and heroine as they want more and more to be together but feel more and more that it will be a mistake/a danger/a disaster.

I tend to start out with a main character - either the hero or the heroine and a situation that they are in - okay - classic secret baby conflict (overused - but it's quick and easy)

So she has a baby - So what happened in the past?

Why didn't she stay with the father/tell him about the child ?

The answers to that will give me some more idea of what the conflict issues will be -

- She left him because she knew he never wanted children and she feared he would force her to choose between the baby and him and she knew she could never have a termination

Next - What is going to bring the two together

He comes back into her life Why? Has he been looking for her - or is it by accident

The answer to that will give me an idea of how he's feeling and so how he's going to react when they meet again.

Then putting the two together creates the initial conflict.

Short term conflict - She doesn't want him to know about the baby He believes she walked out on him for someone else

Long term conflict - the unresolved problem of the fact that he doesn't want children and she does and he thinks she has a new man in her life

So - the first conflict we see is that she hides the child's existence That's stage one

Stage two: - But then he sees her with the child - doesn't realise it's hers - a different conflict - should she tell him or not?
Especially as he is clearly taken with the child

Stage three : Her friend gives away the fact that the baby is hers

He now knows about the baby - but thinks it is younger than it really is - so the conflict shifts again He thinks the baby is with her new man and that's why she left. Same original conflict - but it's changing and reshaping with additional information

Stage Three - He gets to know the child - thinking it's someone else's. Then he finds out the truth

A new slant on this stage - how will he react to the realisation that he's been deceived ? He also has to face the fact that it was his own refusal to have children that made her hide the child in the first place

Stage Four: He comes to love the child - but does he love the heroine?

He explains why he didn't want children Which adds another complication.

They are building peace in order to care for the child but is there any more to it?

Black Moment He has fallen in love with his baby and insists that he wants more than just access - he wants the child in his life The heroine sees this as a demand to take the child from her - that he wants the baby not her

So you see, this all started from the original conflict of him not wanting children but not saying why

Which leads her to react in one way

And he reacts to that - which changes the situation.

And she reacts to the changed situation . . . .

So the way to develop a deep, emotional conflict is to work from the inside - to go with the characters' feelings and the way they react to each stage of the developing conflict. That reaction will spark off an answering reaction in the other person - emotional reactions, not conflicts created by outside forces.

And because the reactions, the emotions and so the conflicts come from deep inside the characters' hearts, the conflict in the book will have the emotional punch that editors are looking for.

If you want to see these changes in action - the book is HIS MIRACLE BABY (Presents Feb 02)

So Lee will set up the 12 Point Guide Contest but today's prize from me is a copy of my best-selling Presents title The Greek Tycoon's Unwilling Wife. This is the book that came out in November and you don;t have to answer a writer question for it. Seeing as Valentine's Day is coming up, tell me your favourite Valentine memory. (Mine is the year that my husband and I both bought each other the same card - because we'd both loved it and wished we could be given it instead of giving it to someone!)

Post your answers and I'll get that cat of mine to pick a winner.

You can find more about Kate Walker on her web site or on her blog