From Bodkins to Back-Stabbing: Elizabeth Loupas on Spiking Your Novel with Conflict
By Jan O'Hara | February 21, 2011 |
“He murdered his first duchess with his own hands, they say,” the Ferrarese hairdressing-woman whispered as she braided a string of pearls into my hair. “She was so young, so beautiful.”
And I, Barbara of Austria, neither young nor beautiful, would be the duke’s second duchess before the pale December sun set. What did the woman expect me to do, shriek and fall down in a faint?
The above excerpt comes from the opening lines of one of the most lush and conflict-dense books I’ve read in the past year. They are penned by debut author Elizabeth Loupas in her historical novel, The Second Duchess, which will be released March 1 by Penguin/NAL. Initial reviews have been uniformly positive.
Because I know I can always use advice about structuring conflict, and I assume some of you are the same, I’ve asked Elizabeth to join us for a brief Q and A.
To set the stage, here’s a portion of the book’s backcover copy:
In a city-state known for magnificence, where love affairs and conspiracies play out amidst brilliant painters, poets and musicians, the powerful and ambitious Alfonso d’Este, duke of Ferrara, takes a new bride. Half of Europe is certain he murdered his first wife, Lucrezia, luminous child of the Medici. But no one dares accuse him, and no one has proof – least of all his second duchess, the far less beautiful but delightfully clever Barbara of Austria.
At first determined to ignore the rumors about her new husband, Barbara embraces the pleasures of the Ferrarese court. Yet…to save her own life, Barbara has no choice but to risk the duke’s terrifying displeasure and discover the truth of Lucrezia’s death – or she will share her fate.
Jan: Elizabeth, thank you for being here. It strikes me that certain locations and periods have heightened potential for generating external and internal conflicts. Do you agree?
Elizabeth: Thank you for inviting me, Jan! Conflict is a pretty basic human condition and can arise anywhere and anytime, of course, but I agree with you that some places and times can have heightened potential for conflict. Change is the key, I think — when the world is changing rapidly or unexpectedly, conflict results. And external conflicts by their very nature produce internal conflicts in the people who experience them.
Beyond creating external conflict at the macro level, you have plenty of it at the familial and personal levels. Sibling rivalry, husband-wife power dynamics, gossip, ambition… Do you have tips on how to ensure a character’s world remains very uncomfortable?
One trick is to play with the character’s levels of comfort. Lull the poor character into ease, then suddenly make her very uncomfortable. If a character is uncomfortable all the time, the discomfort loses its impact. If you give her moments of comfort, then sock her with discomfort at different levels and in different ways, you will keep her off balance emotionally and physically.
Historical fiction gives one particularly vivid ways of doing this. A noblewoman like Barbara of Austria wore clothing which was unthinkably (to our modern sensibilities) uncomfortable and restraining. I tended to dress Barbara formally to underscore her moments of discomfort and fear, and later allow her to wear a nightgown or dressing gown which gave her physical comfort, to underscore her moments of escape or consolation.
Your book has a good helping of overt violence and intrigue, yet one of the things I most enjoyed were what I’d call the times of “cold” conflict – when threats came through quiet glances or controlled speech. Beyond being consistent with character, it gave a sense of texture. Can you speak to the role and effectiveness of underplayed danger? Any tips on how to do it well?
This is the sort of thing I love to read, and so of course I wanted to write it as well. Point of view has a lot to do with it — whether the viewpoint character is being written in first person or third person, she should not know what the threatening person is thinking. She sees expressions or gestures, perhaps, gestures that may seem innocent, and to her they are full of menace. At one point I have my duke peel an orange. Perfectly ordinary, right? But he peels it in such geometrically perfect sections that Barbara is terrified. She sees his frightening obsession with control in the very way he peels a piece of fruit.
The Second Duchess is rife with internal conflict and characters in the grip of opposing desires. Barbara, for example, yearns to be self-possessed, pious, and confident, while at the same time possesses a measure of jealousy for her predecessor. Do you have recommendations for creating and writing about these warring impulses?
Creating them is easy — for virtually every emotion and impulse we have, we have some measure of an opposing impulse. It’s very rare to be one hundred percent one way or another. In fact, every time I found myself writing about a character feeling strongly about anything, I stopped and thought about how they might also have some element of an opposing feeling, and if so, how I could bring it out.
Objects are excellent vehicles for this. For example, as she enters Ferrara, Barbara is given flowers. Her first, unthinking impulse is delight. Then she remembers what a Ferrarese hairdressing-woman has told her — that flowers can be poisoned — and draws back in fear. At the same time she realizes everyone is watching her, and that by virtue of her name and blood she must show courage and generosity. She breathes deeply of the flowers — genuine courage on her part, under the circumstances — then gives the most perfect rose to a child who has come forward to recite a poem. Finally, she makes a wry, self-deprecating comment to herself. So embodied in those flowers we see Barbara’s whole gamut of conflicting impulses: sensuous pleasure, a regrettable tendency to listen to gossip, a desire to appear noble in front of people, her actual actions to accomplish that desire, and her use of humor in her self-talk to show us she knows she’s presenting an image.
One thing I appreciated in the book was the romantic subplot, given that I’ve read many romance novels where I don’t trust the couple’s ability to “stick” after their onscreen time. What are your thoughts about crafting a credible relationship by book’s end when hero and heroine begin in strong conflict?
Interesting and believable relationships always have conflict, in the beginning, the middle, the end, and forever. Nothing — certainly not sexual attraction or romantic love — is going to make conflict go away entirely. What gives me confidence that a couple is going to “stick” is to see them develop genuine motives and actual methods for working out the conflicts, or waiting them out, one by one, day by day, for the rest of their lives.
Lastly, you juggled many subplots, red herrings, genuine clues, and motifs in The Second Duchess. Can you describe your process for keeping it neat and tidy?
Oh dear, I wouldn’t say it was ever neat and tidy! But I did organize it all in my own scattered fashion. I think that’s the key, actually — find a way that works for you.
First, I am a great believer in plain old nested folders for research. I have hundreds of them, packed with notes and images, and the most important thing I’ve learned is to name the folders in detail so I can find them again.
I also keep a master list in a tabbed notebook application. (There are lots of versions of tabbed notebook software, many of them freeware.) As I work and something occurs to me, I write it down. That’s the key. Ideas flit in and out of my brain and if I don’t catch them and pin them down in writing they’re gone forever. I go over and over the notebook and use highlighting to indicate what I’ve taken care of. This saved me dozens of times from starting a thread and leaving it do dangle unresolved.
To loop this back into our main theme of conflict — one of the sections in my notebook is “Freewriting,” or what I call “Writing about Writing.” This is invaluable to me in developing conflict, intensifying conflict, and resolving conflict. I’ll just start writing about a scene, who’s there, what they want, what they don’t want, how they feel about the other character(s), what elements of the setting might influence them, anything that crosses my mind. It’s amazing how this will untangle plot knots and reveal new possibilities for conflict. Most of this stuff never makes it into the actual scene — but having it clear in my own mind as I write makes the conflict come into focus and stay in focus.
Elizabeth, thank you for being here.
And now, peeps, to celebrate release of The Second Duchess, Elizabeth has two copies of her novel to give away to those of you who live within the US. To be entered in the draw, simply leave a comment or question in the space below by midnight EST Feb. 28, 2011. To be entered in the draw twice, mention this Q & A with a link on Twitter, Facebook, or your blog, then let us know in a separate comment. (If you can include the url, that’s extra helpful.)
Elizabeth welcomes your questions! She has been a teacher, a librarian and a radio executive, so communication is in her blood. To that end, she loves visitors at her website where you can find much more about her research and writing.
Lastly, if you now yearn for a more indepth interview of Elizabeth, take heart; I’ll be grilling her at Tartitude on Mar. 16 and 23. Without remorse.
Elizabeth’s Alfonso would be so proud. ;)
A USA Today bestselling author, former family physician and academic, Jan O’Hara (she/her) left the world of medicine behind to follow her dreams of becoming a writer. She writes love stories that zoom from wackadoodle to heartfelt in six seconds flat: (Opposite of Frozen; Cold and Hottie; Desperate Times, Desperate Pleasures). Her latest Christmas novella, The Cowboy’s Comeback Christmas, is part of a 9-author-strong anthology (A Cowboy This Christmas: A Sweet Romance Anthology). She also contributed to Author in Progress, a Writer’s Digest Book edited by Therese Walsh.
OMG, must. read. That’s a helluva hook and I’m reeled in.
I’m intrigued by the back cover of this book and opening lines – I’m not one who reads Historical Fiction much, either. I loved the line that an author should play with the character’s comfort levels. Intuitive and brilliant advice.
Another TBR book for me!
[…] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SFWA authors, sillystoryideas. sillystoryideas said: From Bodkins to Back-Stabbing: Elizabeth Loupas on Spiking Your Novel with Conflict: “He murdered his first duch… https://bit.ly/gDE0CF […]
I love the concept of clothes adding to a character’s level of comfort. It would certainly work well in historical novels, but could also come into play in contemporary settings.
The Second Duchess sounds fascinating and I look forward to reading it.
What a rare and enlightening thing, to take us so deeply into the author’s writing process. Seeing the screen capture of your file hierarchy was fascinating!
Wow, this makes me want to start a series of “show us your folders” interviews. :) Thanks for taking us behind the curtain!
I love the idea of folders. I have pages and pages of actual writing paper and notebooks, but had never thought of putting them in the computer. I’m kind of old fashioned that way.
Thanks for such a great interview. This looks like it’s going to be a fave of mine to read.
I’m exactly like Anne, above: piles and piles of handwritten notes. I once bought a card file case to transfer my notes into. There it sits, an empty card file, blank cards, and the same ole piles of notes. Love your tabbed notebook app!
I love your note on creating comfort and solace first, and then taking it away. A great technique for ramping up tension. Also, love your obseration on the use of POV to heighten conflict. Only seeing what the POV character sees, and presumes, can heighten, and showing too much can deflate tension.
The Second Duchess sounds great, right up my alley. Thanks to Jan for a great interview, and to Elizabeth for sharing your tips!
Fabulous interview as usual, Jan. You do such a great job of whetting my interest in this book without giving the story away.
Elizabeth, thanks for sharing your writing tips, particularly the ‘writing about writing’ idea. It sounds very helpful and worth trying. (And I can’t wait to read this book!)
Thank you so much for sharing your organizational ideas. I so needed that. The book sounds wonderful. Can’t wait to read it.
Thanks for this wonderful discussion of creating conflict.
I’m totally hooked by your opening. One more for the “to read” list.
David Morrell said, “Without conflict, no plot can be interesting. Without conflict, you don’t have a plot. Without conflict, all you’re stuck with is high concept, a skinny, unfocused situation.”
Thank you all so much for your fantastic comments. This whole debut thing is freaking me out a bit, but of course Writer Unboxed is always soothing and encouraging. :)
I’ll check in during the day so if you have any questions, I’ll do my best to answer.
Thanks again to Jan O’Hara, one of the best interviewers around!
One of the best interviews on writing process I’ve ever read, seriously. Thanks for sharing the insight with us! I particularly liked the observation: “If a character is uncomfortable all the time, the discomfort loses its impact.” A good friend of mine calls this “falling asleep at the edge of your seat.” Thanks, again!
Fantastic interview — it sounds like Loupas keeps the tension crackling. Can’t wait for it!
I love this. I’m always working to layer more conflict into my fiction. The book sounds wonderful—almost like a take on du Maurier’s Rebecca!
Peeling an orange to create tension. Fantastic. I did something similar with a heroine’s meticulous eating habits, but never realized it was helping create conflict. (Maybe I’m a better writer than I thought?) :-)
Terry
Terry’s Place
Romance with a Twist–of Mystery
Morning, all. I’m taking a back-seat today to Elizabeth, but I wanted to say two things:
1. My discerning 18-year-old daughter read this book, because she was familiar with the Browning poem on which the book’s based. She couldn’t put it down.
2. Jordan, you’re spot-on. One of Elizabeth’s blurbers — and she has a ton of venerable ones, including Deanna Raybourn — calls this THE OTHER BOLEYN GIRL meets REBECCA.
This was a great interview and I am so intrigued to read the book, as someone who has studied both the early modern/renaissance period and Browning’s ‘The Duchess’. Definitely added to my TBR list!
– Sophia.
Great interview, tips and insights. Can’t wait to read this book–and what a gorgeous cover! Best wishes, Elizabeth.
I’ve been looking forward to this book for a long time, and now I can see how much I’m going to be learning while I’m enjoying it!
Thanks for sharing your folder system. I learn a lot by the “writing about writing”, but I don’t always get that info into an organized place. (Note to self: what a great job for those days when you’re a wee bit stuck with the WIP.)
So much great info here! Congrats, Elizabeth, and kudos to Jan, interviewer extraordinaire.
Fabulous interview! Congrats to Elizabeth! I can’t wait to read this book.
I’ve wanted to read this, too, since I’m familiar with the awesome source poem. Great interview, I love a balance of helpful and entertaining. Those folders are extreme. :)
Thank you for this wonderful interview. I can’t wait to read this book.
QUESTION – can you please tell us what software you are using? I love the idea of being able to have easily accessible folders. Currently, I use Excel tabs, but need to save folders separately. I have no idea what kind of software to look for, so a name would be great.
Many thanks.
Hi, Dolly,
The software in the screen capture is called Winorganizer, from TGS Labs. It’s an old version… as newer versions have come out it’s gotten kind of pricey so I haven’t updated. But I really love the graphic in the middle with the rings, just like the old ring notebooks I used in school. :)
A couple of very similar (but alas, with no rings) freeware tabbed notebook applications are AM-Notebook and TreeDBNotes. Both have free and “pro” (paid-for) versions. Another good open source tabbed notebook application is KeyNote.
These are all PC programs because I have a PC. I’m sure there are similar applications for the Mac… just search “tabbed notebook.”
Hope you find something that works for you!
Very good post! I would have reposted it even without the contest :-) (it’s on my facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/hmlfiction)
Tweeted! https://twitter.com/JordanMcCollum/status/39714661184053248
I cannot wait for this book to arrive!
Thank you, Elizabeth and Jan, for a great Q&A. I’m definitely going to look into the tabbed notebook applications. I’m so over index cards.
The Second Dutchess sounds like a great read, Elizabeth! Congratulations on your debut.
Wow!
I’m not sure what my favorite part of this interview is, Elizabeth’s breakdown of Barbara’s warring reactions to the poisoned flowers, or the glimpse of the fabulous planning notebook.
I’m fortunate to have read the book in an earlier form — I can’t wait to read THE SECOND DUCHESS in its completed glory!
And tweeted…
https://twitter.com/otherlisa/status/39807938570747904
I really like Elizabeth Loupas’s idea of nesting folders. I did that ll the time when I was working. It makes everything so much organized and easy to find. The rest of her tips are great too. Has she ever considered writing a book about writing like Pat Conroy and Stephen King?
I really love historical fiction and this book sounds so interesting with the internal conflicts and sub plots.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
Elizabeth,
Jan is touting your prowess all over the *NET :-)
Must look into your book, THE SECOND DUCHESS !!!
Chloe
Thank you for the great suggestions for how to create conflict within the pages of our own stories! Now I have to run out and get this book!!!
I had just come across Elizabeth via Twitter, and was already excited about her debut. Now, I can barely wait.
Thank you, Jan and Elizabeth. Loved hearing about the process, and I’ll be looking forward to Jan’s upcoming grilling.
Greetings from Laos (I do have a US mailing address if I’m lucky enough to score a free copy of this intriguing sounding book). Thanks for sharing your insights on conflict, and pacing of conflict in novels. That was something I found challenging when I first started writing fiction – I didn’t want to make my characters lives too uncomfortable. But the stories only really took off when I sacrificed their peace of mind :). All the best with your writing. Lisa
Thank you all so much for your comments. Writer Unboxed is really an extraordinary community.
Also, thanks again to Jan O’Hara for coming up with such excellent questions.
You had me at “she braided a string of pearls into my hair.” So sensual, and it takes you straight into that world.
I will be interested to see how the antagonist Duke plays out on the page.
Thank you so much Elizabeth, for letting us know about the notebook. You are right, I also love the cool notebook ring binders in yours :-)
Love this interview! I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, but the back copy has me hook, line, and sinker (pardon the clique, but it fits so well).
Many thanks, Elizabeth and Jan for such an excellent “look inside.”
I’m an historical novel junkie, and this looks fabulous.
What a great interview!
And here’s a link to my tweet: https://twitter.com/#!/ErikaRobuck
Elizabeth, congratulations! Thanks for sharing your note-keeping system, and for great tips like this: “Every time I found myself writing about a character feeling strongly about anything, I stopped and thought about how they might also have some element of an opposing feeling, and if so, how I could bring it out.”
Jan, once again, great interview.
Thanks for coming, everybody. Elizabeth makes it sound so easy, doesn’t she? I love it when people understand their own process enough to teach it.
I can’t get enough about the craft and Elizabeth has loaded this interview with so many goodies. Love the notebook! What a great way to organize-definitely has sparked some ideas for myself.
Great job, Jan!
What a great post! Finally, I am beginning to understand what conflict is and how to create it in my own writing. And like everyone else, I love the folders. Thanks for the inspiration!
Just posted this interview to Facebook. Thanks again!
What a great discussion of conflict. I particularly value Elizabeth’s comments about freewriting: “I’ll just start writing about a scene, who’s there, what they want, what they don’t want, how they feel about the other character(s), what elements of the setting might influence them, anything that crosses my mind. It’s amazing how this will untangle plot knots and reveal new possibilities for conflict.”
I’ve done this now and then for my most complex scenes, so why don’t I do it more often? Thank you for drumming this bit of writing sense into my head.
I really enjoyed reading this interview and I look forward to reading the book!
So many helpful tips — thank you! I especially loved the idea of developing opposing emotions in a character, and the concept of freewriting — something I used to use a lot in my classroom.
Just posted a link on my Twitter account.
https://twitter.com/#!/Lisa_Ahn
Don’t know how I missed this interview! The book was already on my TBR list, but the interview just bumped it up. I love books where even the smallest details (peeling fruit, sniffing flowers) add to the larger story.
[…] in a tabbed-notebook piece of software. This is mostly for my notes to myself. (Readers: see this Q & A on Writer Unboxed for a […]
[…] Elizabeth Loupas, Author of THE SECOND DUCHESS – Part II of Interview and Giveaway Leave a Comment Posted by Jan O'Hara (Tartitude) on 03/23/2011 If you’re joining us today, I’m interviewing a historical novelist who has earned rave reviews for her debut. It features the glittering court of Ferrara, and the type of intrigue one might expect whenever the Medicis and Borgias mix. (Find Part I here. You can also find a helpful Q&A on conflict Elizabeth did with me on Writer Unboxed here.) […]