What hole is in his heart? What hole is in her heart? This is where your romance story begins. Both your main male and female characters—the ones that will commit to one another by the end of the book—need to have a hole in their heart they are trying to fill, or are resisting to fill, at the beginning of your romance novel.
Maybe he wants to find a lasting love but comes from a broken home. His parents divorced when he was young after a lot of fighting, and maybe they bounced him back and forth, or maybe one of them completely walked away from him after the divorce. These things cause him to believe that he isn’t lovable or that all marriages are destined for divorce.
Maybe she longs for a lasting love but has been hurt by more than one man she thought was “the one”. Maybe several men who seemed interested, loving, and kind turned into workaholics with no time for her, or verbally, emotionally, or physically abused her. Now she’s afraid to give another man a chance; unsure she could survive another bad relationship, leaving her with a bigger hole in her heart.
These two characters obviously struggle with an internal conflict.
When they are thrown together in your story, in whatever situation you choose, they may feel a physical attraction. They may think “this might be the one”, but their internal conflict is still raw, so an external conflict results. Each of them resist the relationship in some way, trying to protect themselves.
As time progresses and you continue to put them together through the setting or their circumstances, eventually one of them softens and warms up to the idea that this relationship might really work out.
The other one may still resist for a while, but sooner or later, they both soften and their love for one another builds to where they both believe this relationship isn’t like the one his parents had or like the previous relationships she had.
The hole in each of their hearts heals and they commit to one another.
This is one possible basic plot line for a romance story. Every romance novel needs a boy and a girl who want and need love. Maybe the hole in one of their hearts is something that causes them to believe they don’t have time for love and romance. But whatever the hole is will affect the relationship between them.
The romance plot also needs an external struggle because romance stories need conflict. Conflict is the driving force behind a romance story, and maybe the external conflict is the one I mentioned above, or maybe one of the men who hurt your female character comes back seeking another chance just when she thinks she may have some real feelings for the man you’ve recently placed in her life. There are many external conflicts you can use.
But in the end two characters who began hole-hearted, become whole-hearted.
Kelly F. Barr lives in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She is married and has three sons. She writes historical romance. She has also been a blogger for ten years, and every Friday, you can find her Flash Fiction stories posted for your reading pleasure. She loves her family, including the family dog, books, walks, and chai lattes.
You can find her online at:
- Website: https://kellyfbarr.com/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/kellyb_26
- Facebook: Kelly F. Barr, Writer
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