Dark Moments Ahead
It wasn’t easy. The shadows did little to hide me from curious eyes as I made my way down the sidewalk without shoes, my skin black and blue and what little was left of my clothes hanging on me by a thread. The rain beat down on me and each drop felt like nails being driven into my skin. I couldn’t remember the last time I felt this bad.
It was all because I couldn’t let go of him.
I turned onto the darkened street, and looked up. My eyes lit up the sidewalk in front of me and I kept putting one foot in front of the other by sheer force of will. My head throbbed with each step and I slowed my pace and closed my eyes. I felt Caed watching me, laughing at my weakness, enjoying my pain. The longer I pushed forward, the faster his power grew. He leached every bit of my strength and waited for me to squirm like a worm in a mud puddle, slowly drowning but unable to help myself. I wasn’t that weak. Yet.
Thunder clapped and I weaved unsteady on my feet and tripped onto the concrete steps. I brought my hand up to my forehead, the throbbing intensified until bile rushed up my throat. Electricity charged the sky, and goosebumps raced along my naked flesh. I didn’t have to do this. I could ignite my flame and stick my hand in the water. It wouldn’t be a painless death, but merciful compared with what I was about to do.
Instead I was selfish and stuck my finger in the doorbell.
I wrapped my hand around the wrought iron rail and hauled myself to my feet. My fingers clenched around the metal, pain radiated down my spine. I could feel my power welling up inside of me, threatening to overflow and I clenched my jaw until my teeth started to giveaway.
I never heard him come to the door. He opened it enough for me to see the firelight behind him, haloed around his dark head. Water dripped from my hair into my eyes and made my sight blurry. The rain kept coming down, soaking into me but as his eyes swept over me, I did not feel chilled.
He raised his black eyes until they met mine and I took a step into him. His hand brushed my cheekbone, thumb traced my lower lip. I trembled at the thought of what was to come next. He pressed the gun into my temple and his lips brushed against my ear.
“There is another way.”
I choked on the words I wanted to say to him- my savior, my killer. Instead the only words I could push past my lips were, “Maybe next time.”
I closed my eyes as I pressed my hand into his chest. Blue fire flickered to my fingertips and skittered along his chest just as he pulled the trigger.
****
I love the rain. There is something very pure and cynical about the rain. You might be wondering what I mean, and I’m not sure I can explain it. The rain is a way to cleanse, to purify, yet, the rain inspires me to do many things that go against this very nature. Many of the blackest moments I’ve ever thought of have to do with rain. It’s almost as if you’re being violated twice with the black moment, not only by the very thing that causes the black moment but also by power behind nature.
One of my favorite romance novel moments involves the rain. Sixteen years ago, I read my first rain scene in a
novel, Masque of Betrayal (Andrea Kane, 1993) and I fell in love. I wore the pages out of that library book. It was a very awe-inspiring moment for a girl who’d not noticed black moments or really ever thought about particular scenes in a book. There’s something about the way the heroine, Jacquie Holt, finds her way to the hero’s doorstep in the middle of the night in the down pouring rain. She’s soaked to the very marrow of her being, afraid, yet not afraid- I just can’t explain the feeling and emotion behind this scene.
I still remember it sixteen years later. Not to mention I’ve had to rubber cement my pages back to the spine of that book. That scene inspires me to write the right dark moment (not black moment, mind you, because there was nothing black about it, only that Dane, the hero, thinks Jacquie is a spy for the French.). Their relationship was so full of ups and downs but that moment was the perfect fit.
For me, there are three parts of dark moments in a novel. There is the dark moment in the first third of the book that brings the hero and heroine together. There is the dark moment that seals our hero and heroine’s fate together and then there is the ultimate dark/black moment that resolves the whole plot. Now, I like to refer to them as dark moments, because I’m still under the impression that black moments should involved death of the hero/heroine, or another main character.
Dark moments are my favorite kind of scenes in a book and I love writing them. There’s always enough room for a little angst in the plot.
How many dark/black moments do you like to work into your writing? Readers, what are your favorite dark/black moments and which ones do you think are overdone? And can you remember any books that you’ve read where dark/black moments have stuck with you?
Influence this week-
The Bottom (Under The Flood, The Witness, 2006)
Books by the Crew
46 comments:
Wow, Sin! I should have waited until morning to read this. Those images will probably keep me awake. I could feel the rain.
I have only one black moment in my mss. Both the H and H think what they wanted most is lost. Each knows his/her choices brought the moment about. Then they have to confront the darkness within themselves that led them to that moment. It's the interior action that I get caught up in.
Wow Sin!
Unlike Janga, I should have read that last night. I will be drifting in to day dreams now!
Is this a snip from one of your WIPs?
Its what I call a rollicking plot and I note there is hardly a shred of dialogue (sticks tongue out at Hellion!)
You might want to re-think 'and goosebumps raced along my naked flesh' though, but I know what you mean.
I can empathise with your rain feelings to. Living in the UK we get plenty of it!
There is something primal about walking in pouring rain without a brolly. Much like walking on the sea shore when the waves are whipped into a fury. Brings you close to your maker.
Sin, you never disappoint.
Its a bit early for a toast so I'll just say more power to your pen!
*Gulps down last crust of toast before dashing*
Gotta love the way you jump from a gun shot to so I love the rain. LOL! Talk about a bucket of cold water. Give a girl a chance to recover, wouldya?
Great scene. And this book sounds gut-wrenching. The best kind. There is something about walking in the rain. It's a feeling of vulnerability. No matter what you do, you can't stop that water from seeping through every stitch of clothing. No barriers.
Very much like falling in love.
This has me thinking about my planned dark moments and I only have two right now. Hmmm...is that enough? Then again, you never know when another one will show up during the writing.
I love reading your stuff, Sin. It's so full of emotion. As I find that to be one of the harder things in my own writing, I am always impressed by how effortless you make it look.
I usually put in a gray-ish moment in the middle and a black moment at the end. But I think this time around I have two different gray moments and a really black one at the end.
Wow, amazing black moments huh?
Perfect, by Judith McNaught - It's a really complex plot, but there's this scene where the heroine turns the hero, who's been been charged with murder, in to the authorities after a long time thinking he couldn't possibly have killed the wife.
She sets up their meeting and says she'll go with him into exile and they get to the airport where the police are going to take him into custody and she has only agreed to all this if they promise not to hurt him.
And when she sees him, he's got an engagement ring and the police start hurting him and she goes crazy. And he's all betrayed, coming to marry her and gets caught.
It's horrible.
Good morning Janga :) I hope you slept well.
I love internal dark moments. Since I tend to write inner dialogue better than the spoken, inner dark moments are easier for me to interpret.
Q, morning to you too darlin'.
I haven't gotten far enough in the WIP to near the end of anything. Yes, the concept is the same of my paranormal- probably not the ending I'll opt for, or attempt. Something like it though. I was going to write about bad boys (I'm feeling some Robert Downey Jr right now and he puts the bad in bad boy) but the music persuaded me a different route.
Marn - That was a horrible black moment! But I read all the McNaughts back when they were originally released, so the memory is sketchy. You brought it back. Man, she had amazing black moments. Never failed to make me bawl like a baby.
So many black moments these days are just misunderstandings that could be cleared up with a few words. But ones like in Perfect, that involve one or both of the characters having to really make a choice. A big choice where usually no one wins. THAT'S a real black moment.
Ter, sorry, you know how I am. LOL. I don't give much thought to a gunshot and death of a character as I probably should. My own writing doesn't effect me, in fact, I thought this little snippet was terrible but good enough to suggest a hint of dark moment.
Very good analogy about the rain and seeping into you and falling in love. That was inspired babe.
I always try not to plan for dark/black moments because the always show up regardless if I thought it was going to happen or not.
I love reading your blogs. And I love that description about rain: pure and cynical. I've never thought of it that way, but I can totally see it now. And I've always loved the rain, too; and I love a good thunderstorm (so long as there's not a tornado to sweep through and tear the roof off the house.)
I think the sort of plot strategy you're talking about (you know, multiple black moments) is called the W method. http://www.skotos.net/articles/PlotStrategies.html. I hate to burst your bubble and remind you you're plotting when you don't like to plan anything, but the W method has a number of black moments before the culminating HUGE black moment. Or maybe you like to do more of a "Mountain Plot"--"the mountain plot consists of a structure of increasingly significant mini-climactic moments, with increasing tension leading to a final climax of the plot."
In my first version of my devil story, I had lots of black moments. *LOL* It was almost like every other chapter had something dire going on, like a drama series that ends on a cliffhanger--to be continued next week. (Drama, drama, drama.) And around 2/3 of the book, I killed off the heroine, which was absolutely necessary for Luc's character development--which was clearly a BLACK moment. Then it recovered just so slightly, then went to the BIG black moment where they're sacrificing everything for each other and they're going to be separated forever--and they don't even get to say goodbye...and then Poof! There's a happily ever after. (So it sorta ended like a Charles Dicken novel, I guess: Grim, grimmer, grimmest, only-kidding-now-it's-the-grimmest, and miraculously, a HEA.)
Marn, you're silly. You do really great emotion seemlessly. I'm really quite jealous.
Not to mention action and dialogue. I think I shall slink off into the dark corner and cut myself now.
I love dark/grey moments. I think they are my favorites. Anything that causes a kink in set plans makes me happy as a writer and reader and only makes me want to push onward to see what's going to happen next. I know yours are going to be kick ass because I know this paranormal you got going on is going to be huge.
DAMN, Marn, that IS a black moment! What book was that? That's horrible!
Terri, you're right, I don't think they make black moments like they used to. That's it exactly too--the choice where nobody really wins.
Sin - That doesn't affect you? Really? All that pain and suffering and desperation? Are you dead, woman? LOL!
And I love me a good analogy. :)
Ter, Perfect and Paradise were the two books that made me cry in their black moments first. I read them back in the early 90s too. They were my first introduction into single titles.
And Paradise, when she's telling him that she didn't have an abortion, that she had a miscarriage? That plot element has been used before but McNaught seriously ripped my heart out.
Hellie, only you would worry about the impending tornado. I'm outside sitting in the rain, letting it fall all around me, thinking about how calm I feel on the inside while its complete chaos around me. You're outside waving your arms around and pirate calling like a banshee and got the telescope out looking for tornadoes. When it rains the next time, and it's a good rain, I'm going to handcuff you outside.
As you know, I know nothing of this strategy thingy you talk about. Though, I'm curious enough to go look at the link later and read through it for better understanding. I call my strategy "shooting from the hip". LOL
Marn - The memory cells aren't recalling that one. Which is probably a good thing. McNaught had that anguish thing down. I listened to one of her more recent ones, and was a bit disappointed. But I still love her.
Hellie - I'm adding that plot site to my favorites to check out later. (I really should reconcile these invoices covering my desk sometime soon.) It seems the emphasis today has been moved from the heartwrenching to the HEA. Which makes for some anti-climactic reading these days.
*looking around*
*shaking head*
It doesn't affect me one bit. Sad isn't it? I think only one book made me really upset and that was the beginning of Blue Eyed Devil. I had anxiety for days afterwards.
Hellie - I didn't even do the moment justice, trust me. That's probably one of my favorite books. Perfect, by Judith McNaught. It's amazing. The hero is a movie star who's wife ends up dead and he gets charged with her murder. He goes to jail for it, escapes jail and kidnaps the heroine, a small town teacher.
They fall in love, of course, but I'm not explaining it well. It's great. Really. Pick it up. And Paradise too. They're related, but not reliant on one another, but they're both great.
Oh, BED messed with me too. I totally didn't see that coming. Kind of like in Sugar Daddy when SPOILER ALERT...LOOK AWAY NOW her mom died. It wasn't as big a deal as the beginning of BED, but I still didn't see it coming.
Ter, I saw her mom dying. Her mother was one of those characters that reminded me of the girl's who never grow up. They live their lives hard and fast and usually die young. It was a good characterization though. LK is awesome.
Marn - Aren't they trapped in a snowstorm in a cabin? Or am I mixing that up with another one?
That's the right one, Ter. Yep, a snowstorm in a cabin and she tries to escape and he thinks she's drowning in a frozen lake and wants to die....
I love that book.
I love the scene in the rain. It's full of all the things I love, angst, emotion, determination, and a man:) As I said yesterday, dark moments are my favorite to write. I love twisting the knife, and wrenching every drop of emotion I possibliy can onto the page.
My favorite dark moments are those that are totally unexpected. It's such a turn off to read 20 or 30 pages of a book and have the plot completely figured out. To know all the angst before it happens is such a downer. I can't think of any favorite dark moments except for when Merripen finally breaks down and takes Win away to the cottage in Lisa Kleypas' Seduce me at Sunrise. I could lick that man.
Great blog, Sin. And thanks for the website, Hells. Those little diagrams are so helpful to me. I need visual instructions most of the time *g*
I love angst, and black moments/dark moments. I didn't feel like my last MS was nearly as agnsty as I had intended it to be, so I'm making a concerted effort with this current one, so really create good dark moments along the way, and a huge one at the end. Completely impossible choices, mixed with a complex and difficult history between the h/h. God, I hope I rip people's hearts out *insert wicked witch laugh*
What's rain? No, I do remember rain...January was known for rain in California. Not so much this year...
Again, I'm terribly impressed with everyone remembering black moments so keenly. I know I've read them, reacted to them. But the only absolute that comes to mind is when Gandalf falls in Moria. (I do read romance, really...)
When writing, black moments sneak up on me. I know I'm going there, not sure how I'm going to write it...then it's there. This discussion makes me examine whether I'm developing them enough...
I also think the winter is getting to the rest of you wa-a-a-a-a-y too much.
Inspirational, Sin. Really.
Lisa, you are known for your dramatic flare. It's hard to get anywhere near your standard.
And I'd love to lick Kev as well, but I think I'll go to Cam. I love his good nature, I love his inner darkness. And anyone who has a black horse named Pooka is alright in my books. Besides, that scene where he steals Amelia out of her bedroom and takes her into the clearing.. hot. And I will go on record to say that even though Kev kidnapping Win and going to the house was hot, Cam and Amelia's was hotter.
Hal, even if you don't get it as angsty and emotional as you wanted the first time, you can always go back and revise. I find that sometimes I can't connect with a scene until I've fleshed it out on page first. I have to make that real emotionally connection to the characters before I can really put any "oomphf" behind what's happening. I've just not been feeling the "oomphf" lately.
And you know you rip out the hearts of your readers. You leave your readers begging for more in FF, you know you can do it in your original. :)
Chance, you're right. The weather is depressing me. At least the sun is out today. It may not be 20 degrees outside and the ground is covered with white stuff (I mean, c'mon, I thought we were having global warming? Where the hell is my global warming when I need it!) but I tend to be dark all year long writing wise.
I think you can't examine black moments. I think a truly great one is when it sneaks up on you, the writer and the reader, and you have no way of bracing for it. That's a true black moment. Those are the kind that make writers.
I've always been a bit of meloncholy queen, but crisis in my later life has made that something I have to dole out in small amounts.
I know when writing, I've had the crash for my H/H that just makes me break down and cry. And the dastardly situations I've put them in that build character are there. Seldom black, but sometimes dark.
It's hard to write the truely dark moments for me. I've taken to not reading some novels because of the twist I can intuit. They cling to me, pull me off kilter... But I can appreciate them!
I need a rum...
That Winter time SADD is affecting all of us. More rum, people, more rum!!!
I'm with you. The abduction of Amelia was HAWT.But, Kev out of control gives me the shivers:)
I need a rum too please. Snow, sleet, rain, oh my.
Did I hear someone mention rum?
Mines a double if you please.
I just took a quick look at that plotting ref Cap'n.
Fascinating to note that Aristotle's ideas form a foundation of modern plotting theories.
Who'd have thought it!
I have now copied the complete series to browse at leisure.
If Aristotle knew all about it, then perhaps there is still hope for me.
It almost turns novel writing into a science!
Of course in science we moved on from Aristotle's ideas a long time ago.*grin*
But there's no doubt that the 'old uns' new a thing or two about writing!
OK, everybody...just relax. Cross your legs, lotus style and let your hands go limp...Close your eyes. (Well, read this first!) Deep breathe, hold it seven seconds, let it out and count to five... One more... And...here is some California sunshine, courtesy of Chance.
Feel that sunbeam crossing your shoulders? Heating up your back just enough? That barely there bit of breeze, tickling the hair at the back of the neck? The whisper of waves sliding up the sand...the sand cushioning your butt. A seagull flits by...
Ahhhhh. Now, open your eyes and have some rum.
Q, wasn't Aristotle a "creationist" theorist? (As opposed to Darwin and evolutionists?) We studied Aristotle in both my history of science class and my Shakespeare class...that man got around.
I just studied Aristotle last month in Philosophy. Not that I read the assigned pages....
Should I not mention it's 64 degrees here today?
*runs from various flying objects*
I'm in the Cam camp btw. Kev was good, but too stubborn for my tastes. Cam is just...H A W T.
Ah, Terrio - sometimes it's worth some flying rum bottles.
Totally worth it. ;)
I had nightmares, Sin. :)
I agree with the praise for Perfect and Paradise, I'm not a big fan of McNaught's historicals, but I love those two contemporaries.
Linda Howard's Cry No More is a masterpiece of dark moments. I find it painful just to think about it.
But as I was thinking about my favorite black moments, I realized how many of them occur in books that also have wonderfully humorous moments: Anne Gracie's Gallant Waif and Tallie's Knight, Mary Jo Putney's One Perfect Rose.
Janga, I've noticed that about Anne Gracie's historicals now even. I love how I'm laughing on one page, and in the midst of a black moment the next. It's brilliant; and I have no idea how she gets away with it because when I try it, I'm told to stick to one or the other.
Ooooh! Who tells you Hellion? There's an admiral out there somewhere?
Q's givin' up the Scotch for the rum? Have I stumbled onto the wrong deck? *muttering to myself* I knew I shouldn't have had that last shot...
Kev was just the right kind of stubborn for me, but I need a little fun loving with my stubborness. Kev is hot and what, an Earl? (I can't remember now), but Cam is sneaky. I like it. And he's got lucky and we all know I need it. LOL
Ter, I really don't mind the cold. I just mind all the clouds and grey skies. I need sunshine if it's going to be miserable.
Hm, I own that Linda Howard book, Janga. I've just not read it. Maybe I should pull it out of the box and put it into reading rotation.
Chance, I love the Zen yoga moment. LOL. I have to admit, I do that atleast five times a day while sitting at my desk.
I just wanted to say that I love this site
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