Comments on: Getting Your Characters to Spark

By: Getting Your Characters to Spark | The Funnily ...

Getting Your Characters to Spark | The Funnily ... — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 10:49:31 +0000

[…] I just finished reading a story that had a major problem—no sparkage between the hero and heroine. Even worse, there was plenty of sparkage between the heroine and a secondary male character. I started rooting for her to get together with that guy, that started me thinking about sparkage—where does it come from, and how do you get more of it on the page? […]

By: Liz

Liz — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 02:46:00 +0000

Very thoughts provoking post. It's difficult to figure out how chemistry works between characters, but it is easy to see the difference between it working and not working.

By: SD Writer

SD Writer — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 20:27:03 +0000

In reply to Laurie Evans. Yes, it's really tough in a romance not to have the romance going on front and center. You can get by with a few pages of them being apart, particularly if you have interesting things going on, but 50 pages...I don't know many readers that would put up with that. (And thinking about each other doesn't really count.)

By: Laurie Evans

Laurie Evans — Thu, 05 Sep 2013 19:52:01 +0000

Great article. I agree about proximity...I've had to put down a few romances when it took too long for them to get back together...the guy left and...never came back? I know they have to go off and do their own thing *sometimes*, but in one book, more than 50 pages passed before they got back together again! Didn't finish.

By: SD Writer

SD Writer — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 18:02:53 +0000

In reply to Inion N. Mathair. Inion, I like the quote from Tolstoy that "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." That applies to couples, too, which is why folks with problems are more interesting. Shannon

By: littlemissw

littlemissw — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 04:43:01 +0000

In reply to SD Writer. Thanks. That and your reply to Karen make a lot of sense. Thanks for the great post and the helpful explanation.

By: Inion N. Mathair

Inion N. Mathair — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 02:54:41 +0000

Great post, Shannon, and so true. Perfect relationships in happily ever after land are downright dull and no fun to read. Some of the most beloved couples in history had love/hate relationships. Flaws are relatable, imperfections are endearing, and conflict makes for great stories.

By: SD Writer

SD Writer — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:51:34 +0000

In reply to ki pha. Thanks, Ki Pha! Shannon

By: SD Writer

SD Writer — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:51:15 +0000

In reply to sjmn60. The hardest romance to pull off is the "old friends" or "old lovers" -- the reader doesn't get that initial spark or meet, and so you have to use other things to weave in that delicious early stage of romance.

By: SD Writer

SD Writer — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 00:50:10 +0000

In reply to Lisa Belcastro. Lisa, I like it when the dialogue starts to snap--that's a good sign for me. Shannon