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!

A quiz to help you evaluate the conflict in your novel.

If it were up to me personally, I'd say external conflict isn't at ALL important, because what I enjoy are the characters' emotions. Their thoughts, their feelings, their inner turmoil. Who CARES about what they do in the physical world?

But it's not up to me, and millions of readers DO care what they do. And if our characters are gonna be truly plausible people, they're absolutely gonna be doing things in real life. External conflict isn't about what they think and feel, so much as it is about what they do.

The book has to end happy.

The last chapter has to end happy.

The others? They don't.

In fact, they shouldn't. Because a chapter that ends with everything happy is a great reason to put down the book with a sigh of contentment, turn out the light and go to sleep.

So how should a chapter end? For that matter, how should every scene end?

Tension is a very crucial element of any novel, whatever the genre, because you can’t have a story so bland that nothing happens or worries the reader, or you’ll not be giving your readers any reason to turn the page. However, creating tension is a very complex task.

There are a few points you might like to bear in mind when trying to inject tension into your tale.