This post by Mary Connealy first appeared in Seekerville on
October 1, 2014. Comments are closed today so we can catch up
on our reading and writing!
Part One-Putting Emotion on the Page
Part Two-The Medium is the Message
And now today, in part three I want to talk about the power of emotions and how God made us a list of the things that can either provide a motive for your bad guy in your books or it can challenge your good characters, because we all wrestle with sin.
It’s what keeps your romance from settling in easily.
It’s what haunts your characters in their backstory.
It’s what drives the plot.
We don’t have to go digging for these emotional hot spots. God has done the work for you.
All seven of these sins can be used in different degrees.
- 1. Lust
- 2. Gluttony
- 3. Greed
- 4. Sloth
- 5. Wrath
- 6. Envy
- 7. Pride
Lust is a sin but desiring your spouse or even desiring your beloved isn’t a sin. It’s what you do with it, it’s when it tips over from perfectly God-blessed desire to lust. Usually for someone you’re not in an honorable relationship with.
Do you remember the movie Wall Street when Michael Douglas says, “Greed is good.”
Well, that’s a little disturbing to us because greed is one of the seven deadly sins. But think of it another way. Not Greed is Good, but rather, it’s human nature to try and better yourself, provide for your family, earn enough to create a good life. That’s why capitalism works because it’s so basic, so normal to work for your own betterment.Don’t call that greed.
And envy, where is that line, where you see something and want it, or something sinful awakens in your heart because they have something you don’t.
You can see how each of these sins can be used in a powerful blatant way, or in a subtle way…driving your hero and heroine in a certain direction or keeping them apart.
I remember once, early on in my writing, telling one of my daughters I needed a crime.
I had the story and the characters and it was flowing along but I needed a bad guy and a crime. My daughter sat there and gave it some thought and said, “How about cattle rustling?”
For some reason that makes me laugh. It was a great idea and I used it. It might have been Montana Rose.
But note that my CRIME is an actual physical act. Stealing, like in the Ten Commandments. What we're talking about with the seven deadly sins ... did you notice that they are all EMOTIONS? They are all INTERNAL.
After all, Murder didn't make the list. Lying. Stealing. Even sexual sin isn't there. It's the emotional life that is all listed...separate from what you do about it. My rustlers no doubt suffered from greed, probably sloth, envy, maybe pride in some twisted version. But those are all internal. That they followed up with stealing is separate from their sinful internal life.
Sometimes we need a crime, a motivation, a barrier to love. So use this list. Use the seven deadly sins and slap one on your hero and heroine in a mild way, or onto your villains in a powerful version.
Tell me about the conflict in your book and whether it fits into the Seven Deadly Sins.
Mary Connealy writes suspenseful romantic comedy with cowboys. She is a two-time Carol Award winner and a Rita, Christy and Inspirational Reader's Choice finalist. She is the bestselling, award-winning author of 50 plus books and novellas.
Find Mary online at:
maryconnealy.com And
DRUMROLL!!!
IT'S COMING IT'S COMING IT'S FINALLY COMING
CIMARRON LEGACY BOOK #3 RELEASES OCT. 1st.
Cowboys, Action, Humor, and History Collide in Connealy's Latest
When an explosion kills men and damages the CR Mining Company, the Bodens realize their troubles are not behind them as they thought. Shadowy forces are still working against them.
Cole Boden finds himself caught between missing his time back East and all that New Mexico offers. Sure he fights with his siblings now and then, but he does care for them. He enjoys running the mine and, when he's honest, he admits that Melanie Blake captures his interest in a way no other woman ever has.
Melanie has been a friend to the Bodens forever. A cowgirl who is more comfortable with horses and lassoes than people, she never expected to find herself falling for someone. Particularly for refined Cole Boden, a Harvard graduate who may not stay long at the ranch. She's determined, however, to help the Bodens finally put an end to the danger that's threatened all of them. But will putting herself in harm's way be more dangerous than anyone expected?