Sorry I’m late this morning everyone.   Hopefully there’s still some rum left.  *dirty look at the pirates already smiling goofily.*

I just wrote a big black moment a couple of days ago.  I’ve been waiting for this part of my book for months now and I thought once I got there, it would be smooth sailing. 

Of course, I was wrong.

I didn’t want it to be over-emotional because too much drama seems silly.  But I wanted it to tug at my readers’ heartstrings too, in an honest way, a way that felt real to them.

Doing this was more difficult than I realized.  It seems attempting to string out your reader can string out the writer in the process.  *sigh*

I tried to write it from my heroine’s point of view, but she was the one who was really hurting in the scene (she already knew she was in love with the hero, she’s just waiting on his thick-headed self to get with the program).  Writing her pain first hand was a little too overdone.  So, I switched and wrote it in my hero’s point of view.

It worked for me (I hope) because my hero acted like a real jerk.   He said some things that, as one of the pirates pointed out, would have been hard to forgive if we hadn’t seen his motivation from his perspective. 

Then we watch my heroine’s pain from his POV, where it’s still apparent, but not so hit-you-over-the-head as to be overdramatic (I hope).

At the end, I cried, railing at him for being so stubborn and trying to tell her that it would be alright if she just didn’t give up on him.

Hopefully that’s how my reader feels about it after their read as well.

Have you ever written a black moment and if so, was it easy or difficult for you?  How did you get through?  Have you ever read a black moment in a book that really tugged at your heart?  Or one that you just didn’t connect with for some reason?  Why?