by Angela Ruth Strong, @AngelaRStrong
With Valentine’s upon us, let’s talk about my favorite part of the romance novel: the grand gesture. If you don’t know what a grand gesture is, think about Richard Gere climbing the fire escape in Pretty Woman or Adam Sandler singing “I Wanna Grow Old with You” in The Wedding Singer. It’s that make-or-break moment where the hero or heroine puts themselves out there to either be accepted or rejected.
Whether you are writing romance or not, the following secrets can help you craft a scene just as memorable. I’ll use examples from my own books so as not to spoil anyone else’s endings (and because I’m a grand gesture junkie).
Grand gestures must be:
- Sincere. Some people frown on grand gestures because they can seem like manipulation in a tux. For example, a jumbotron proposal puts a girl on the spot. Especially if she doesn’t like the limelight. So make sure it’s authentic to your story and characters. Does he have the connections to pull off something like this? Is it natural that they’d be at a sporting event? Are his motives pure?
- Sensible. I threw this in here, because even if the heroine does something ridiculous like rush the stage during the awards ceremony of a film festival in order to proclaim her love, she has to get to that point logically. There can be no other options. We want the reader to feel they themselves would do the very same thing and thus cheer her on.
- Surprising. It’s a romance, so every reader knows the characters will get together, but they still want to be surprised by how it happens. Say the hero knows another guy is going to propose at the beach promenade at the end of a race, and all the heroine’s friends are trying to help the hero reach her and profess his love first. There’s lots of energy. And expectation. And the possibility of a big public confrontation. But by the time he gets there, she’s gone. It’s over. He lost. The reader will be just as delighted as the hero is when, on his trek back home along the beach, he discovers she’s written Bible verses they’d shared in the sand. The surprise of her waiting at the bottom of his staircase makes the ending even more perfect.
- Sacrificial. This is a big one in any book because in order for the character to overcome his or her biggest fear, they must find something they fear more. For example, he must be willing to raft the Class V rapid that he’s always been afraid of because he’s more afraid of losing the woman he loves. By facing his greatest fear, he sacrifices his own desires. Which is pretty much how heroes are created.
- Symbolic. What is the hero or heroine saying with their actions? The message has to be layered for depth. She can’t just chase after him on her horse on Christmas Eve. She has to give him the horse as a gift because he stopped believing in Santa the year Santa didn’t give him the horse he asked for. Without words, she’s telling him she wants him to believe in her. On top of that, this symbolizes how God loves us and wants us to believe in Him, which every Christian romance should show.
- Satisfying. Let’s circle back to secret number one. It stated that readers want the grand gesture to be sincere, because if she’s just giving him coffee to get him to forgive her for something that happened in the past, then there’s no promise of a future together. The gesture is simply trying to erase a mistake. I’m not saying there has to be a proposal, but in order for the reader to buy the happily-ever-after, there has to be effort in paving a road with more than good intentions. Give the reader a ride off into the sunset on a motorcycle, in a plane, or even in a minivan, along with plans to fill up said minivan full of kids.
I hope these secrets will enhance both your writing and your Valentine’s Day. We aren’t all called to write romance, but we are all called to love. And grand gestures are a…well, a grand way to show that love.
In a world full of happily-ever-after love, Meri Newberg feels like the last young woman on the planet to be single, at least in her Christian friend group. So when she’s handed a strange present at the latest wedding–a 1950s magazine article of “ways to get a husband”–she decides there’s nothing to lose by trying out its advice. After all, she can’t get any more single, can she?
Her brother’s roommate sees the whole thing as a great opportunity. Not to fall in love–Kai Kamaka has no interest in the effort a serious relationship takes. No, this is a career jump start. He talks Meri into letting him film every silly husband-catching attempt for a new online show. If it goes viral, his career as a cameraman will be made.
When Meri Me debuts, it’s an instant hit. People love watching her lasso men on street corners, drop handkerchiefs for unsuspecting potential beaus, and otherwise embarrass herself in pursuit of true love. But the longer this game goes on, the less sure Kai is that he wants Meri to snag anyone but him. The only problem is that he may not be the kind of husband material she’s looking for . . .
Angela Ruth Strong sold her first Christian romance novel in 2009 then quit writing romance when her husband left her. Ten years later, God has shown her the true meaning of love, and there’s nothing else she’d rather write about. Her books have since earned TOP PICK in Romantic Times, been optioned for film, won the Cascade Award, and been Amazon best-sellers. She also writes non-fiction for SpiritLed Woman. To help aspiring authors, she started IDAhope Writers where she lives in Idaho, and she teaches as an expert online at WRITE THAT BOOK.