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Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 43
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HI everyone. I thought I would ask this question here. For my current romantic suspense I'm still writing/editing, I've developed a love triangle in mind, when my main female lead is in love with two good guys. I found out, that I wrote more scene with guy A than with guy B. Any ideas on how to write a good and successful love triangle? I need all the help I can get to equal out the scenes (and when and where to add Guy B), while I'm reading tons of romantic suspenses.
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Joined: 3/13/2011
Posts: 102
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Opal Carew has a love triangle in every book (her stories end with the woman getting both guys in some way). Although her genre is erotic romance, I would suggest reading one or more of her books for ideas on this subject because she does a great job with it, and her formula is consistent from book to book. She uses the first chapter to establish the relationship between the main female lead and guy A. Guy B is introduced and the relationship made plausible in the second chapter. She strengthens the conflict by providing POV from all three.
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Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 43
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Thanks Marcie. I would have to keep her name in mind for further reading. I guess I have to add some scenes of guy B to keep it in balance.
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Joined: 3/11/2011
Posts: 156
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If you're having trouble keeping balance, perhaps a love triangle isn't right for the story. With a romantic suspense, a more effective love triangle might involve the FMC being caught in a conflict between the MMC and the antagonist. That would add to the conflict since her attraction to the antagonist would potentially put her in danger and strengthen the tension and conflict.
If you add more scenes to balance guy B, make sure that you don't distract from or slow down the suspense part of the book. The attraction to both guy A and guy B have to work into the suspense conflict. It all needs to tie together. And it has to work through the entire novel.
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Joined: 5/10/2011
Posts: 3
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For the most part my novels have love triangles. My latest novel, Five Days Notice, has a complex relationship where a married man is seduced by a co-worker, as she attempts to keep her job during cuts. I don't think you have to divide the scenes as such because then it can feel from the readers point of view that you are trying to pad out the book. You can create conflict through the way characters act. The male in this example spends less visible time with his wife than the co-worker in the story, but the internal dialogue that rumbled around inside his head shows how he views both women. And he acts one way at home and one way with the co-worker. From the things he says, the way he acts, the guilt he feels and even though the wife doesn't get many scenes, when she does appear you can see she is a loving and caring woman, kind hearted, but not sexy and flirty like the other one. And he remembers why he loves her, the little things she does, and that creates guilt, conflict and so on. So you don't need to divide the scenes, you just need to make the scenes more meaningful.
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Joined: 3/29/2011
Posts: 43
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Thanks Marie and Alex. I would keep them in mind, as I write/edit my novel. Good to have everyone's thoughts on the subject.
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