Tension is Necessary in Romance Fiction.

If you are writing a clean or Christian romance, you still need to build tension in your story. Depending on the story you are telling, the tension may or may not begin with a denial of attraction. Perhaps they will experience an initial dislike for the other person or have accepted that they are “just friends.”

Romances, by their nature, promise a love story with a satisfying happily-ever-after ending. Your characters must find a way past the denial stage and realize there is more to their relationship. This is a critical turning point in the story.

Foundation for growth

The first look or the first physical contact may cause butterflies, but there needs to be more of a foundation for a relationship to grow. For some characters, it will be a wish or a desire for affection. Maybe a dream of having a happily-ever-after, no matter how unlikely it seems with the person they feel attracted to. 

The wishing for a relationship must turn to your characters to wanting to spend time together, even if one or both are still in denial. They need to begin looking forward to seeing each other. Maybe external circumstances draw them together, which results in them becoming more comfortable with each other.

That doesn’t mean they are suddenly emotionally on the same page. They may have intense disagreements about something in the story. Perhaps one wants to sell a ranch, and the other wants to keep it, but neither is willing to walk away. So builds the push and pull of their relationship. 

As they learn more about each other, they learn to coexist in their story world. Your characters develop a daily routine, whether they are sharing the same space, as in the ranch example, or regularly seeing each other over a common situation. 

It’s at this stage, that each partner will begin to accept and even appreciate the strengths in the other person. Appreciation is vital in building a relationship. Without it, one or both have no reason to stay connected to the other person. 

They begin to ask the what-if question and begin to imagine what it might be like to be in a real romantic relationship. Maybe one or both of your characters start to wonder what a kiss feel like, or perhaps experience an encounter that makes them feel accepted and connected in a new way. They begin to toy with the idea that maybe it could work. However, if our characters come together too quickly, there will not be tension.

In Susan May Warren’s book How To Write A Brilliant Romance, she says, “The pull toward each other, is just one half of sexual tension. We also need the push away from each other or the fear of loss.” 

The fear of loss

An internal obstacle causes the fear of loss. The internal wounds of one or both characters may lead them to believe the risk is too high. The fear of losing the other person if their most guarded internal wound is exposed. One character may summon the courage to ask what the other person fears. Or even more powerful to risk rejection and ask them to stay. 

The internal wound cannot remain a secret from the other person if their relationship is to be realized. Each character must feel their love interest will accept the broken parts of them and all. They will be loved for who they are and will be there for them in times of hardship. Only then can they become more intimate with each other, both physically and emotionally, and have their wish for the happily-ever-after become real.

If you want to dive deeper into creating emotional tension, I’d like to suggest the following books:

• Writing A Romance Novel for Dummies by Leslie Wainger
• How to Write a Brilliant Romance by Susan May warren
• The Story Equation by Susan May Warren
• The Writers Journey by Christopher Vogler
• The Virgin’s Promise by Kim Hudson
• The Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Mass
• Troubleshooting Your Novel by Steven James

Rose Gardner’s writing journey has come in two phases. The first was focused on contemporary category romance. After a break, she returned to writing contemporary heartwarming stories about love, hope, healing and the power of forgiveness. During the first phase of her writing she was a finalist in thirteen contests and won her category in seven including a 2007 RWA Golden Heart finalist in the Long Contemporary Category, and 2nd runner up in the Harlequin Super Romance Conflict of Interest Contest in 2008. More recently she won 1^st place in the Blue Seal Award for General/ Contemporary/ Romance Novels at OHCWC 2017.