Being Slapped Upside The Head With A Lightbulb

You know I’m really going to miss going to classes. I get so much writing done.

But that’s not the point.

The point is that I finally know how to fix Getting Over Mr. Wrong. This is the novel I plan to tackle on the first. This 20k train wreck has been sitting on my computer since March. At the time I didn’t know how in the hell to fix what was wrong with this novel. A lot of it had to do with not wanting to write anymore, period. The other half is that I knew in my gut I was going down the wrong path with this story.

The blessing and the curse that comes with a straight contemporary is that it rides on conflict and conflict alone. Yes, I know all books need this one essential element, but I’m here to tell you it’s VERY obvious when you don’t have it in a straight contemporary. Romantic suspense–pfft–the dead body, or the serial killer can provide you with what can be missing. A romantic adventure can stall without it, but then you have the treasure, clock ticking to beat the bad guy to help guide you through.

But a contemporary lacking true conflict, glares like a big ass laser, repeatedly, directly, into your sensitive retina.

Sorry I got sidetracked…

I need to thank Debra Nixon, or whatever her name is who started the Goal, Motivation, Conflict craze. Me, sitting in my Litigation class–and hopefully my teacher doesn’t read my blog–I wrote out my characters’ name and their GMC. The hero’s was easy. And then I started on the heroine. All I had at the top of the page was the heroine’s name and her occupation. Nothing I thought to write down locked into what the hero’s GMC would be. This is the one thing I need in order to keep writing on a story–the hero and heroine have to be at odds. Where I was headed in this story the heroine was already half in love with the hero, and the hero was going to fix all the heroine’s problems. THE END. A boring ass story, far from what it started out to be.

So, I did something I don’t normally do–I started to think. It hurt at first, but then I got used to the strain. I kept thinking about how could what the heroine needed conflict with what the hero needed. I really looked like I was paying great attention to what the teacher was saying. A plus for me–unless of course he’s reading the blog now…

And then like the post title, a lightbulb slapped me upside the head. The heavens opened, beaming down rays of light and the chorus of people song that high note “aahhh”. I now know the path this story needed to go down. My heroine shall exact her revenge on the male species. It’s a simple, tried, true brillant idea. A woman scorned, but since it’s a romance I must make her fall in love. She’s going to hate me. And this is usually the sign a book will be going very well from here on out.

*le sigh* I’m going to totally kick this books ass now. Can’t wait for the first.