Conflict is very important in a romance novel -- and really in any kind of a novel at
all. What would the story of Romeo and Juliet be without the family feud? How
good would Gone with the Wind have been if Scarlett realized from day one that
Ashley wasn't the man for her, and that Rhett was her true love? And even in Toy
Story, if Buzz hadn't shown up, and threatened to take Woody's place.... Well, you
get the idea. Ah, the interest conflict brings to a story!

What is not conflict?

Fights. Arguments. Misunderstandings.

What is conflict?

There are two kinds of conflict in a story, internal and external. I feel they are both
needed to carry most plots.

Internal conflict is something that is set inside your character.

Blair was in love with a cop, and he was killed in the line of duty. Now she finds
herself falling in love with one of her late husband's friends, another cop. There is
no way she will do that without a fight. The fear of losing him the same way is just
too strong. It will cause an internal battle that she will have to fight before she can
love him.

External conflict is just like you guessed, something on the outside.

Sam has growing feelings for Linda, but she is rich, from the right side of town, and
so are all of her friends. Sam is going to school full time, trying to work, trying to
keep up his grades; he can hardly make ends meet. Linda's father is a judge, upper
crust, his family line can be traced back to the Mayflower. Sam's family line can be
followed back to share croppers, his dad worked in a sawmill once, and died in
prison, after Linda's father sent him there--which brings us back to internal
conflict. If you have plenty of both in your story, it should help keep your plot
clicking along, and your readers turning those pages.

Charlotte Dillon

Charlotte Dillon was born in a small town in southern Louisiana, only a couple of hours from New Orleans. As a child, she feared bedtime, when the house would grow still and quiet; when all the lights would be turned out one by one, until her bedroom settled into inky darkness and shadows. There was one sure way not to notice the slow movement that she could swear was near her closet, or the soft breaths that she could almost hear under her bed--make up a tale, a wonderful story to carry her away. Each night, while Charlotte waited for sleep to come, she invented characters, designed worlds, and slipped away from the darkness and her childhood fear.

By the time she began school, reading was a favorite hobby--that and any kind of animal that needed a home. Charlotte devoured books about horses, far away places, long ago days and children brave enough to face any battle and win. She wrote short stories for fun and still made up her tales at bedtime, even when she outgrew her fears.

In high school, a friend handed her a romance novel to read one day. It seemed the perfect kind of book. In romance novels there were always happy endings, the good guys never finished last, and dreams did come true.

Thousands of romance books later, after marriage and babies, Charlotte wrote the first words of a romance story of her very own. Way back then she actually thought you just wrote a manuscript, sent it off to a publisher, and a few months later it was a book on the store shelves. At last count she had a folder full of nine year's worth of rejection letters to prove that greenhorn theory dead wrong! We are talking no need for life-support, don't even waste your time on CPR.

Charlotte still lives in that same little town in Louisiana, one house over from where she grew up. These days she shares her home with her hero husband, two wonderful children, too many spoiled dogs, and what ever wild pet she has taken in at the time -- from fallen baby blue jays to lost baby possums. Even now, she
makes up bedtime tales when she can't rest at night, but at least she has a perfect place to share her adventures -- in her books. She spends her days as a freelance writer, and evenings and weekends working on her tales of heroes, horses, and the kind of romance that dreams are made of.

Visit her at http://www.CharlotteDillon.com

View all articles by Charlotte Dillon