When Your Plot Becomes Too Much

Romances are about relationships. The central focus is on watching the hero and the heroine get together and over-come all of the obstacles in their way.

Women's fiction is about the female journey. It is an exploration into the female psyche to allow readers a chance to understand their own lives.

I bring these two points up because with both of these genres, the goal can be lost if the emphasis on the plot is too extreme. If a writers focuses too much on the action and the things that happen around the characters, the goal is lost.

I listened to several authors in Orlando that did just that. I read it in submissions on a daily basis. If, when you tell someone about your book, you focus primarily on the plot elements of the story "and then they, and then they, then this happens..." there is a pretty good bet that the story is now plot driven and the relationship or character focus has taken a back seat.

Please note that I am not saying a story can be without action and movement. In fact, it should be present. But it cannot be the driving force.

This is a problem that really happens in a lot of different genres. In historical, if the writer is obessessed with the research, the story is lost. In paranormal, fantasy, futuristic, sci-fi and urban fantasy, if the world building is so extreme, the relationship is lost. And of course with mystery, suspense and thriller, if the case becomes more important, then the relationship becomes lost.

The key is to determine going in what your story is about. If you want to make it a straight thriller or suspense story then go for it. Move that romance to a secondary line and run with it. But reverse it if the romance is key.

I am reading an inspirational right now where it is about the inspiration and seems to be missing the romance. I am 3/4 of the way through the book and there has never once been any mention of a change in how the characters view each other. Heck, I'm not even seeing an element of "wow, I didn't see that in him before." In this case, the writer, I believe, focused so much on the inspirational message (it was about forgiveness of those that left and then returned in bad shape), that the relationship is gone. At this point, I would almost feel as if adding a relationship now and suddenly they want to get married would be a bolt out of the blue. It would almost be as if the hero and heroine decided to get married after they met each other in chapter 1. It just doesn't work.

So, what is the focus of your story? Is it up front for all to see, or have you shuffle it to the back.

Scott