One of the strategems that romance writers often use to create drama and tension is the “Great Misunderstanding”–words or actions tossed out that create hurt feelings. In romance, this has become if not a trope, a cliché. This in and of itself is not a bad thing. We all say things that are taken wrong. We think we’re saying one thing but our listener hears something totally different for whatever reason, be it difference in experience, expections, and/or emotions. What drives me batty is when this drama could easily be cleared up if those involved would just sit down and discuss the whys and wherefores, the ins and outs, the differences that pushed things off the rails, and the author just lets the misunderstanding keep festering in order to draw out the disconnect so there can be a big make-up scene.

Sadly, this does happen in real life, which is why it’s become a staple of romance scenarios. The Universe has an interesting thought on this.

It’s not what one says, Silver, that determines whether it’s true or false, but what they tried to convey.

Listen with your heart,
The Universe
© http://www.tut.com ®

For mere words, dear Silver, can be chameleons.

As writers, we need to be very aware of this. Yeah, yeah. I know, trust me. It’s hard enough to decide if we’ve picked the right word/words when we’re telling our stories. Don’t let that stall out your writing–especially during NaNoWriMo. My NaNo project is currently littered with **FIND THE WORD THAT SAYS THIS** (whatever this is). But our job as writers is to convey ideas and situations, emotions and actions in a way that advances the story as well as touches our readers in the way we want. In the real world, we also need to be aware of what comes out of our mouths and goes into our ears.