Posted by Visiting Vagabond on Jul 7, 2009 in
Visiting Vagabond 
Hi Elodie! Hi Vagabonds. Lovely to be with you. I’m a regular reader of your blog, so I feel right at home here.
I think all of us writing romance have heard of emotional punch, haven’t we? One of the most important tasks of any romance writer is to evoke emotion in the reader. Today, I’m going to talk about the mother of all techniques for evoking emotion–the emotional body blow.
This is a crucial moment in your story where an event floors your hero or heroine emotionally. There are many ways to set up an emotional body blow. WARNING some of the examples below might be SPOILERS:
The character longs desperately for something they can’t have and then has to stand by and watch someone else get it.
Examples:
In WICKED LITTLE GAME, my heroine, Lady Sarah, desperately wants a baby and can’t have one, then finds out her blackguard husband has fathered a child with another woman.
In SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, Elinor is in love with Edward, then not only does Lucy Steele tell her she is engaged to him but she treats Eleanor as a confidante.
The character has a secret fear about themselves confirmed by someone else.
Examples:
In Georgette Heyer’s DEVIL’S CUB, Mary, who believes she is not good enough by birth and breeding for the Marquis of Vidal, hears Vidal’s mother say exactly that.
In Susan Elizabeth Phillips’s LADY BE GOOD, Kenny Traveler lets everyone thing he is lazy and irresponsible, but when Emma jumps to the wrong conclusion about him abandoning his own child, it cuts him to the core.
Something the character fears and anticipates actually comes to pass.
This often precipitates the ‘black moment’, where it seems that all is lost.
Examples:
In PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, while Lizzie defends her family against Mr. Darcy, she is secretly afraid he’s right about their vulgarity. Her fear is realized when Lydia runs away with Wickham.
Someone they love sees them as they truly are
When a love interest zeroes in on the truth of a hero’s character–what Michael Hauge calls their “essence” as opposed to the “identity” they’ve built for themselves, this can come as a severe blow. You would think it would be a good thing, but for a character who has repressed his or her essence for so long out of a need to protect themselves, it can be terrifying.
Example:
Dain in Loretta Chase’s LORD OF SCOUNDRELS. When Jessica tells him she loves him despite every effort he makes to push her away, Dain cracks open inside. It’s a very powerful scene because it leaves this big, hard man totally vulnerable.
In Georgette Heyer’s VENETIA, when Damerel tells Venetia the story of his disgrace, she strikes at his heart when she takes his side.
The hero or heroine reverts to their identity when the going gets tough, dealing their love interest a body blow
Example:
In VENETIA, Damerel has shown Venetia in a thousand ways that he’s a rake and not to be trusted but she has seen beneath that exterior and falls in love with him. When the outside world closes in and tells him it would be a disgrace for her to marry him, he pushes her away, resuming the persona of the heartless rake. The devastation Venetia feels is underscored by a sense of unreality. She knows the real Damerel. Why is he behaving like this?
A great technique to use when delivering the body blow to your character is to do it when it seems the character is making progress toward their internal or external goal. In the PRIDE AND PREJUDICE example, the blow comes at the point where Darcy and Lizzie begin to understand one another during her visit to Pemberley. It’s like that technique actors use when they answer a phone on television. If the news on the phone is bad, they are smiling when they answer it, so the viewer can experience that powerful change in emotion when suddenly, the smile slips from the actor’s face.
As an exercise, try writing a scene where your character is dealt an emotional body blow. Ask yourself what they want most and show someone else receiving it. Ask who they want to be inside and have another character confirm to them that they can never be that way. Give them a disaster that strikes at the heart of who they are. This will often be a turning point in the story, the time when your character decides to be brave and take a step toward their goal, or thinks that it has all become too much to deal with, and retreats.
This isn’t an easy technique to do well, but it is enormously satisfying when you do!
Now, tell me, what’s a powerful example of an emotional body blow that you’ve read? One reader will receive a signed copy of my new release, WICKED LITTLE GAME.
Christine Wells writes Regency historical romance for Berkley. Her debut, SCANDAL’S DAUGHTER won the RWA Golden Heart award and her second novel, THE DANGEROUS DUKE, has been nominated for a RITA. Her next historical romance, WICKED LITTLE GAME, is in stores now.
Tags: Christine Wells, Devil's Cub, Georgette Heyer, Jane Austen, Lady Be Good, Lord of Scoundrels, Loretta Chase, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Susan Elizabeth Phillips, Venetia, Wicked Little Game
It is a truth universally acknowledged that there are only a handful of things in this world that are truly irresistible: Colin Firth in a cravat; a love story gone awry but with the promising outcome of a happily ever after; and a deliciously witty comedic scene a la Jane Austen.
Over the summer, a number of Austen-themed novels hit the store shelves: ever delightful and easily devoured in an afternoon or two by any real Pride & Prejudice fan who decided to harm her complexion by a day at the beach.
Undoubtedly, Mr. Darcy has captured the heart of every red-blooded wanna-be Elizabeth who dares calls herself a romantic (see: Colin Firth in a cravat), but where are those books for those fans of Mr. Knightley or Colonel Branden? Where are they to find their passionate read?
Look no further. Syrie James has satisfied us on every score…except that perhaps of a happily ever after. After all, anything titled: The Lost Memoirs of Jane Austen, comes with the ready knowledge that this romp does not end with a wedding. At least not Jane’s wedding.
But whereas we know Romeo & Juliet doesn’t end happily, it isn’t any less a great love story—and Syrie weaves for us a very credible tale about a witty, budding authoress who upon touring with her brother, Henry, in Lyme, finds herself in a similar predicament as one of the heroines of her stories: that of being in danger of falling love with a captivating young man.
Mr. Ashford has all the dash of Colin Firth in a cravat with none of the awkward, introverted behavior. He is charming, friendly, trustworthy, and kind. Not only that, he is a mentor. He encourages Jane to pursue her dreams of becoming a published novelist—but he doesn’t mince words about what it truly takes to do so. During their discussion about it, his questions if she’s written anything lately makes Jane feel defensive. She turns all prickly:
“Writing is not an occupation which is easily picked up and accomplished on a whim.”
He went quiet for a moment, and then said, “I am not a writer, I admit. But in my experience, I have found that there is never a perfect time or place for anything. We can always find a reason to put off that which we aspire to do, or fear to do, until tomorrow, next week, next month, next year—until, in the end, we never accomplish any thing at all.” (127.)
Instantly shamed, she realizes he is right; that she has been allowing her fear to keep her from writing. She then confides her next fear to him: what if she can’t find a publisher? He has an answer for that as well.
“What does that matter? In the end, talent will win out. Do you want to be a published novelist?”
“It is all I have ever wanted.”
His eyes locked with mine, as a sudden breeze stirred the branches of the trees above us.
“Then a published novelist is what you shall be, Miss Jane Austen.” (128.)
Yes, that’s where I swooned as well.
But the hallmark of a wonderful novel isn’t just all the passages with the cravat-wearing, dishy-accented hero. Oh, no. There are moments of pure comic timing and hilarity that unravel before our eyes like scenes in a movie. And granted, much of these scenes are endearingly familiar. Clearly Syrie offers us the suggestion that perhaps Jane did indeed pull moments of her real life and put them into the stories we know and love.
It was delightful to find the similarities between Jane’s story and that funny and wryly true novel, Sense & Sensibility, but maybe that’s a prejudice of my own, being I find bits and pieces of my own novel uncomfortably familiar. I’m sure if any of my Mr. Ashfords ever read my novel (of which I have no fear: I’m pretty sure they can’t read), they too would be able to pick themselves out of the pages—and question me, wondering if the anger and passion displayed in print had any truth. It does. Why let all the melancholy and angst go to waste? Apparently Jane is as much a recycler like me.
In the end, I think this novel is about writing…and writers. The nature of how our secret selves are transformed into printed word; how all our experiences brought together are truly what makes great books. We should not live our lives in a turret, weaving from a mirror of life we’ve never tasted. Our voice and interpretation of these experiences everyone has had—these are what give something as universal, as repeatedly done as a love story a fresh and new understanding. It is a book of hope for writers–the last line says it all–but I can’t tell you because you really should read the book for yourself.
Syrie James captures all that is best and true about Jane Austen. You will find yourself caught and enchanted and praying for an ending that will not come. For die-hard Austenites, this is the book you’ve been waiting for; for those of you who do not mind a bittersweet ending, this one is sure to entrance; and for those of you wishing for knowledge of how to be a writer like Austen, well, you can find that, too.
Speak up, fair Austenites: have you had a chance to read Syrie’s lost tome of Jane’s most intimate thoughts? Have you been swept up in the hubbub of this season’s crop of Austen-like fare? Any favorites (or any that should be left behind)? Colin or Matthew–which one is the definitive Mr. Darcy? (I think we can tell who my vote will be for.)
Be sure to stop by Syrie’s website (www.SyrieJames.com) and say hello. I know she’d appreciate it!
Tags: Colin Firth, HEAs, Jane Austen, writers
