A Writer's Dozen - Archive

12 Tips For Creating Stronger Chemistry
List compiled by June First posted February 2005
Chemistry. Who can say exactly what it is? The fizz. The spark. The clash when two entrancing characters meet. Whatever it might be, we want it in our writing, since it’s that indefinable, ineffable quality that makes a good romance a keeper. The following tips, based on an actual chemical reaction, will help you develop the chemistry between your characters and add depth to your story. Find the difference. Create two distinctive characters and make them clear to the reader. If your hero and heroine are too much alike, the reader won’t notice a reaction between them, much less anticipate one. And anticipation is the name of the game. Find the need. One of your characters is searching for something, something intangible and unexpressed that will facilitate change and bring out the best. S/he finds it, instinctively, in the other character and is caught up in the attraction. Find the conflict. Your character will have any number of sound, rational reasons why this attraction will only cause grief, pain, a boatload of trouble. Yet the attraction is too powerful to resist. Find the similarity. This is the key to the attraction. In one deep-seated, vital way, your distinctive characters are the same. For example, his wild side attracts her own hidden desire to let loose. The similarity compels your character to brave the risks. Find the truth. Right from the beginning, one character will recognize the true nature of the other and begin to expose it. The fact that the other character has a reason to hide that true nature is part of the mystery. And part of the challenge. Find the secret. What’s at the heart of your character? What does s/he need to face? That secret is the real reason for all the conflict. Your character doesn’t want the secret exposed: it leads to vulnerability and s/he doesn’t trust enough to be vulnerable, at least on this point. But trust and vulnerability are at the heart of every romance. Find the breakthrough. Sharing key elements is part of any chemical reaction. At some point in your story, your characters have to share an essential part of themselves. Yes, the sharing will be painful, heart-wrenching, emotionally exhausting. But it’s necessary for the chemistry to work. Find the release. With sharing comes healing. Old baggage is let go. At what moment will your character be released from her/his burden? It’s a vital step in her/his ability to accept love. Find the change. Your character has been tried in a crucible. An internal change has already occurred and now s/he recognizes it. S/he wants to make that change on the outside as well. This is where need and want merge, where your character is ready to accept what s/he truly needs and go after it. Find the heat. The kind of chemical reaction we’re after is exothermic. That involves sensory detail. In life, all our information is gathered through our senses. We need to remember that in our writing and give as much sensory detail as we can to allow the reader experience the moment in exactly the same way. Find the reaction. All of that sight sound, scent and touch will evoke a reaction–primal, unschooled and uncensored–in the character. These unexpected and unwanted responses feed the attraction before your character can squelch them with logic. Make certain they’re there for the reader. Find the action. What outward action does your character take, both conscious and unconscious, in response to all that sensory input? Unconscious actions reveal the attraction; conscious ones support the conflict. Attraction plus conflict equals tension, and tension is that critical element we need to keep readers turning pages.

February 2005