The Big Question, Part 6

 THE INTIMATE BIG QUESTION

A more intimate version of the Big Question is usually found in romance.  The Big Question revolves around the relationship between the hero and heroine rather than being about large social or historical issues. 

The Big Question "Can illusions about your lover destroy a relationship?" is used in a number of romances including PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and my own TIME AFTER TIME.

One member of the romantic couple will be a victim to his or her illusion of the lover, and the reader and that character will have to decide if illusion is destructive in the face of reality.

In TIME AFTER TIME, my hero Justin remembers all of his past lives, and in each one, his soul mate, who is the same woman.  

In this life, he is so enamored with the different women from his past lives that he fails to see the real woman in this life, fails to see the pain he causes by not loving the present woman, and nearly destroys his chance at happiness.  

Whatever your Big Question, be sure to tie it into the romantic relationship.

ROMANCE COUPLES AND THE BIG QUESTION

I've talked about how I used the Big Question concept to shape my science fiction romance, STAR-CROSSED. In that novel, the hero and heroine are on the same side of the Big Question. Both believe that Arden's government and the harem are corrupt, and they are willing to risk anything to destroy it. 

In my romantic suspense novel, THE GAME WE PLAY, I place the hero and heroine on opposite sides of my Big Question -- After total betrayal, can a person regain their trust? (Trust versus distrust)

Here's the book's premise, courtesy of the book cover blurb:

Schoolteacher Faith Cody thinks she has the perfect summer job as nanny to Nicholas Price's two visiting children, but the children are kidnapped, and she and Nick are compelled to join forces to steal the ransom -- documents incriminating vicious criminals.

As an investigative journalist trained in the ways of the professional cat burglar, Nick has the skill to steal the hidden documents, but their dangerous owner guards the documents well since they prevent his death.

Thrown into this life and death game of betrayer and betrayed, Faith must trust Nick, but Nick is not a man to be trusted. And he seems willing to betray anyone for his children.

Here are my hero and heroine's character histories-- 

FAITH CODY's life has been shaped by betrayal and desertion. When she married Sam Cody over her father's objections, her family disowned her. His own life in crisis, her beloved, weak-willed Sam turned to alcohol and other women. Faith remained loyal until, in an alcoholic fury, he beat and raped her. She left him, and he died soon after. 

Totally alone, Faith became strong and courageous in the face of adversity. She reshaped her life, worked to free herself of the past, and learned how to protect herself so no one could ever physically hurt her like that again.

Avoiding another relationship with a man, she focused her attention on repaying Sam's debts and lavished her great love and loyalty on the children she teaches.

By the time THE GAME WE PLAY begins, she's almost healed from the betrayals of the past, and like a butterfly she's ready to emerge from her cocoon, her heart able to love again. 

NICHOLAS PRICE has also been shaped by betrayal and desertion, but his reaction has been very different from Faith's.   Several years before THE GAME WE PLAY begins, Nick is a respected investigative reporter for a major newspaper. He begins to exhibit erratic and violent behavior so his wife and his lawyer put him in a prestigious sanitarium which was more concerned about protecting the reputations of the families of the mentally ill than in helping their patients.

By the time he emerged eight months later, his wife had married the lawyer who'd put him into the sanitarium, he'd lost custody of his two children to that man, and his job was gone.

Only Nick and a few close friends know Nick's erratic behavior had been deliberately caused by chocolates spiked by hallucinogens. Nick is certain his good friend and lawyer Adam did it to steal his wife, children, and his life.

Formerly a warm, loving, and deeply empathetic man, Nick has emerged from this experience a cynic no longer certain of anyone. He expects the worst of others to save himself the hurt of disillusionment, and he avoids emotional relationships. 

You can see how I've placed my two major characters on opposite sides of my Big Question about trust.

When his children are kidnapped, the ransom is documents on criminal activities.  Nick and Faith must work together to steal those documents.

I also twist the knife on Nick's trust issues by making the man he must steal the documents from his best friend and those documents in the wrong hands will get that best friend killed. In effect, Nick must be the betrayer to save his children's lives. 

I twist the knife on Faith's trust by having their victim be a much nicer and more trustworthy man than Nick is. She must trust the least trustworthy and betray the better man.

In essence, to survive and save the children each must follow a path that is opposite to their experiences, and they learn to understand that other side. 

Do you want your couple on the same side or opposite sides of a Big Question? 

Part of this decision depends on story requirements, but the type of Big Question also helps determine this.

The more personal the Big Question, the more likely the characters will be on opposite sides. The more social or society-oriented the issue, the more likely the characters will be on the same side of the Big Question. This is especially true for issues where many people favor one side. 

In STAR-CROSSED, for example, if I had put the heroine on the side of the government and made her pro sexual slavery, most readers wouldn't have liked her, and the hero certainly wouldn't have fallen in love with her.

She could have changed her view, though, which would have been acceptable, but that wasn't the book I wanted to write. 

Romance and fiction are about conflict so having the hero and heroine on different sides of a complex Big Question will help keep the novel interesting for the reader.