Mette Ivie Harrison: The Romance of Talking

To me, romance isn't about the kiss that ends the story. It's about the way that people reveal themselves to each other in conversation. Think about Darcy and Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice. Though she hates him at first, it is his words and his willingness to explain himself that ultimately make her fall for him. Talking is the very stuff of their love.

Some writers write pages of backstory for each character—detailing their first pet, their favorite color, and their most embarrassing moment—before they even begin the story. But you don't fall in love with someone because of a list of their attributes. You fall in love with someone because of that magic or chemistry or whatever you call it that happens when there's interaction. There's no romance until two characters are together; then there's the sizzle, the unique way that they become more than they were when alone.

I try to do this with George and Beatrice in The Princess and the Hound. I want the reader to feel how Beatrice becomes different when George is around, because he speaks to her differently than anyone else. He speaks expecting her to respond to him as an equal. What is more romantic than that? To me, nothing.

When I really get into a story and have enough details about my characters that they feel real to me, I can close my eyes and hear them talk. There are moments when things slip out that they didn't mean to let go, and in those moments, a chance for a response comes. What will the other character say? Will they understand? Will they laugh? Will they betray? Will they weep? Will they love?

Do you know someone whose voice you just love to listen to? Someone whose voice grates on your nerves? Someone who seems to sing when they talk? How do you bring these voices into your writing?

But it's worth the wait.

Mette Ivie Harrison
Author of The Princess and the Hound