Okay, more like Christmas gifts for the aspiring romance writer.
Need a few ideas for someone who wants to be published in romance? Here ya go.
1) Goal, Motivation and Conflict by Debra Dixon
If they don't have this, they're lost. GMC is the cornerstone of a good book -- especially romance. I use it to develop my books. One of my critique partners goes one step further and uses it to develop each scene in her book.
2. Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott
This book is not only inspirational it has loads of spot-on advice.
3. 12-Point Guide to Writing Romance by Kate Walker
Although this book focuses on writing short contemporaries, much of the information applies to other genres as well.
4. A comfy chair. What better place to stir thoughts and write?
5. A year (or two) of patience. Writing is a tough business right now and breaking in can take some time. So don't set expectations, just take things as the come.
Understanding your characters is important in writing. To read a good breakdown of how to build a character go to Maisey Yates' post here.
But did you know, your character can evolve from one archetype to another during the story? For example, an alpha can become beta and vice versa.
I am, hands down, a visual person. I can’t write a scene unless I can visualize it. So, I am going to give you a visual example. (And I can hear the groaning now from my critique partners.)
The John Sheppard (Joe Flanigan) you will see in the below video is Beta Sheppard. The cocky, laid-back guy who lets everything roll off his shoulders. Teyla Emmagan (Rachel Luttrell) is part of his SG team.
Note: I pulled these scenes from YouTube, but Stargate:Atlantis is owned by MGM studios.
Next scene (but from a different episode): After being injected with a retrovirus, Sheppard has started to transform.
Okay, did you get the Alpha-ness of Sheppard? More confident. Commanding. Ever so-slightly forceful, but not brutish. Kinda like a Presents hero.
By the end of the episode, Sheppard transforms back to his Beta self. If you want to see this, go here and scroll to 7:28 into the scene.
Now with short contemporaries, the transformation may not always happen. The hero generally transforms at the end of the story, but he usually stays Alpha or Beta the rest of the time.
Okay, what is the point of this whole post? Even though your character may be classified as Alpha or Beta, they may not always act that way in certain situations. It is the situation (and some of their past) that determines their reaction. So, don't kill yourself trying to keep your character the same way all the time.
Anyone want to gander at a literary example? I might be able to dig one up on a future post.
And, last, but not least, this post is dedicated to my high school English teacher who always downgraded me for putting my thesis statement at the end of the paper. :-P
I have decided to write and read next month to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis. By participating in Unleash Your Story, I have set goals to write 15,000 words next month and read 2,000 pages. (Page# may change because I can't remember exactly what I submitted.)
I will post my progress here.
For more information on Unleash Your Story, go here.
So it’s been awhile since I judged in any contests, probably about six months. I am almost finished with entries for a local contest and I am more concerned about my ability to judge than the actual entries. Two were actually great and I gave the entries/writers high ratings. One I felt was iffy only because he/she didn’t really explain some of the feelings and emotions that surfaced during the story.
Actually, I think they told what was happening more than showing what was happening.
Please note the below information is not from a entry. I made it up myself to use as an example.
Example:
Okay: He touched the edges of her fingers with his.
Better: His lean fingers reached out for hers as if it were his sole lifeline, the soothing touch of her supple skin the one thing that could bring him back from the bottomless waters.
(Okay, probably a little overboard, but I am writing this on the fly.)
I have had training through more than one organization. BUT: I am not published. I am not PRO (yet). I have only placed in one contest. (I have an editing background, but I really try to put that on the backburner when I am reading contest entries.)
Am I Qualified to Do This? I hope so. I try to be as fair as possible with entries. No one will ever get a 1 or 2 from me unless the story is really, really, REALLY bad and I have to kick in my editor brain to make sense of what I am reading.
His new name is . . . Hayden Kendall. Well, the name will stay that way at least until I finish the story.
And, now, The Stubborn One
That would be me, of course. Even though my pitch to an M&B editor went horribly, I am still determined to continue to submit. Plus, I can't not enter the Instant Seduction contest. I've entered each one since they started. I haven't placed, but I have learned alot.
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