I'm up the writing of the black moment in my novella, Aphrodite's Necklace (for Ellora's Cave written by Anh Leod). Oh no, wait, I already wrote it! It was about half a page long and doesn't seem very angst-ridden. I'm trying to show that a magic spell is over, and the h/h are back to reality, without making them sound like complete jerks (and unheroic) as they remember why their relationship is impossible.
   To be honest, black moments are not my strength. I have trouble with that concept where one thing changes everything and the formerly happy characters are ripped apart, then they fix it and all is well again. If the truth is finally told, why did they have that discussion earlier, for instance. That's kind of my black moment in Gunshot Grange, my novel in late-draft stage. Hey, I also have problems with managing the concept that all actions come out of people's behavior. I really admire authors who have every plot point seamlessly coming out of character's decisions, but I don't think I can pull that off in my own writing, at least not yet.
   I am trying to visualize my novella as an hourglass, and that black moment is the part where the sand squeezes through. When all the sand (or plot) is down at the bottom, we've moved past the point where the romance seemed over, and have opened to a point of endless opportunity for love, just like at the beginning of the story.
   It's making this danger zone compelling and big without making it impossible to get past that's the problem. Writers constantly fight with the knowledge that we have to make these characters we love unhappy most of the time until the end of the book!

 

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