Hello, Campers!
It’s finally spring. What that means in Colorado is: dress in layers. It could be snowing in the morning and, by noon, the sun is out and you’re in short sleeves.
Last month we looked at the Midpoint Mirror Moment. Now it’s on to the Crisis. In a romance, this is usually where the hero and heroine break up and go their separate ways. It’s the effect of the Dark Moment.
As Susie May Warren says, “This is where the biggest Why Not (Obstacles) rises up to push them apart and scrape open their wounds.” It’s when the goal of being together is seemingly lost forever – with no way of fixing it.
The Crisis is when the wounds of the past are opened up again and the characters go back to believing the lie. Remember, you’ve set up the lies your character believes in Act I. And throughout the moments together in Act II, your characters have loosened their grip on their fears.
But now you’ll pull the rug out from under them.
For example, your hero has trust issues and that’s why he refuses to fall in love. All through Act II, the heroine gains his trust little by little. In the Dark Moment, the hero learns something that topples that trust. And he’s back to “People can’t be trusted. They’re never who they say they are.” The effect is – you got it – the Break-Up.
Or maybe your heroine is running from a bad guy throughout the book and she’s certain that falling in love would put the hero in danger. But, over the moments of togetherness in Act II, she lets go of that fear – again little by little – and allows the wall to come down. What happens at the Dark Moment that leads to the Break-Up? C’mon, this one is a bit cliched, and I know you’re way ahead of me here.
So, remember that all the blocks you’ve built along the way add up to this moment. You may have had this moment in mind before you even began plotting your romance. Many authors have three things in mind when they start exploring the what-ifs: the basics of the Boy Meets Girl, the Mirror Moment, and the Dark Moment that leads to the Break-Up. And they build from there.
Just remember “The thing I feared the most has happened.” And that will likely give you your Dark Moment. From there, the hero and heroine go their separate ways. Sometimes they’re angry. Sometimes they’re bewildered. Sometimes they’re just so very sad.
BUT you see the rest of the story! This is ROMANCE. So, your readers know how the book will end and are counting on you to give them a wonderful reunion. We’ll talk about that resolution next month.
Until then, remember: BiK-HoK – Butt in Chair, Hands on Keyboard.
You can do it! Cheers, Jax