A Daily Dose of Romance

Sometimes, the words just leap right out of my mouth. One minute they’re there, the next? Well, they’ve made a daring escape. More than once words have circumvented my brain and gone straight for the lips.

Now fortunately, these incidents are rare. And they have never been words of hurt or anger - just, innuendo (the red-head in me, I guess). And after all, I let my characters say, imply, and do anything they wish, so habit might play a part…

But once those naughty words have wreaked havoc through my usual restraint, like King Kong through the jungle, and realization kicks me in the butt…there is always one. One person who gets both meanings and can’t help but display a sedate grin of enjoyment at the sly, innocent-on-the-surface turn of phrase.

And you know what? Life’s just too short for me to rephrase that.

Yesterday I spent some time clearing my desk of old sticky notes (one can’t live by coffee alone!) and bundling up the copy of my last novella that I had used for editing. I also pulled out my printed copy of an historical single title I still need to edit and got it binder ready to get started. Did a bit of reorganizing, filing and reshelving of research books.

I just work better in a clean space.

While I refitted things into drawers and in cubbies, the idea of ‘themes in writing’ sort of rolled around in the back of my brain. And I started to think about the stories I’ve written. I definitely write to a theme. In their most basic components, my stories are essentially a replay of emotional ideals and needs. Regardless of whether the main character is the hero or the heroine.

The idea of romance is so sweeping to me, that it replays over and over in each of my stories. Not predictably, mind. But it’s there. I doubt most readers would even notice it buried beneath the words and actions of my characters.

There is something quite comforting in knowing and understanding the underlying elements that hold the story together. We don’t often see the foundation or sub-floor, but it’s nice to know…it’s there.

In our fast paced world, we are assaulted all day long by advertisements and media noise, most of which we train ourselves to ignore for the sake of our sanity. And while I know that cacophony will not stop, it comes with a price.

People have forgotten how to listen.

When was the last time you closed your eyes and just took in the sounds of words? I don’t mean crank up the radio and sing along, or dance to MTV (I may be dating myself with that one), I’m talking about listening to someone else read.

I remember when I was in school, my teachers would often randomly choose students to read several paragraphs of material at a time out loud to the rest of the class. Not in front of the class, just from their desks, and the rest of us would listen until it was our turn. Before television came along, folks gathered round the radio and listened to programs. They took in all the nuances of sound and emotion as the story progressed. And before the radio, families read books around the hearth in the evening.

Now maybe it’s just my romantic nature, but there is a lot to be said about words and how they form and leave the lips of the speaker, the tone with which they are conveyed, the enjoyment of them. I like books on tape (or CD as the case may be) precisely for that reason, the sound of emotion.

Passions come in many forms. So take a moment today, and listen for them.

Aside from all the usual things like winning the lottery or a book deal I could retire on, yeah…I know those don’t exist, I have a wish list like everyone else. And what’s on the top of that list? Getting an agent.

But looking for an agent, not to mention submitting partials and queries, is another one of those ‘Other Things’ it talked about earlier this week that takes time. Researching which agents represent, and sell, what I write in and of itself takes a great deal of time at the computer. But it is necessary time spent. After all, no point in wasting an agents time or my time and money to send them something they don’t represent, or are not looking to acquire at the moment.

So I decided to start taking the time to do that research now, little by little. I have a couple of sites I use for researching agents, and I’ll start my list from there. After I’ve got my wish list of potential agents complete, I’ll separate that list into two groups - first and second round submissions.

I’ll keep that list handy, so when this next single title is ready to go, I’ll be ready to send. And fingers crossed, they’ll be ready to represent.

Writing is not all just about your fingers on the keyboard. Though we do that a lot. Other things come in to play in this business. Such as, copy edits for a book that has long left your brain. Fortunately, my recent set of copy edits came with good timing. I had just finished my option novella and put it in the mail to my editor, so no worries there. Didn’t have to stop in the middle of a story and redirect myself.

Often, I’ll stop and read. I find, for me, that helps to keep small threads of impressions and happenings consistent through the book. But this takes time, time I’m not generating new words. Even setting up a file for a new project takes time. Just yesterday I spent almost an hour setting up and downloading what I’d written (I write on an AlphaSmart, away from the distractions of the computer). Granted I downloaded over 60 pages - my efforts for the past week, but still…

Of course there is email, and spider solitaire, and BBC - I love to listen to their shows on the computer. Unfortunately, I have found I can only do that if I’m not having to pay attention to what’s been written on the screen. Being past-president of my local writer’s group doesn’t take too much time, but we do have the occasional meeting, or issue that needs to be discussed. There can be time spent on finding an agent or researching a new idea.

So once in a while, you just have to step away from the keyboard and take care of the other stuff…

Seems as though I haven’t posted in ages. And I guess I haven’t. But I can say I have still been writing. In fact, I’ve written a great deal, 60 pages in the last week or so. And all that with a stomach bug, and a busy schedule that could not be delayed.

This week will be no different as far as my schedule, just a shift in tasks is all. But the one quirk in all this is, I’m not writing on the trilogy at the moment. I’m writing a new story. One set in a period of history that I never thought I would write. But the words are flowing from my fingertips onto the keyboard with frightening speed. AND, I’ve come up with a basic idea for a follow-up book in the same era.

I don’t know where all this came from, but I like writing better than not. So fingers crossed…

Yesterday I mentioned the new story that has taken hold. This story has me very excited and so much of the story line has come together, key scenes, characterization, plot, even dialogue. I’m really anxious to get more written today.

Working on this story will be my reward after I review my copy edits for IN HIS BED and get them off to my editor today.  Last week turned out to be so busy, as did the weekend. And as a result, this week I started off behind. But I’m almost caught up, and ready to get back into my regularly scheduled program.

After an excellent start on the first book in my trilogy, I’m setting it aside. I know, it’s crazy. But when a different story comes at you with such speed and force that you will explode if you don’t get it down on paper…what else is there to do?

About the middle of last week, a story idea came to me, so strong that I already knew dialogue from secondary characters. So I began jotting the stuff down thinking maybe if I just wrote down what I had so far, I could tuck it away until after the trilogy.

Not.

By the end of an all-day conference I attended on Saturday, I had every character’s goals, motivations, conflicts, and back-story down, and scenes were flashing through my mind like a movie. So what else can I do? I’m starting the story today.

Sometimes, you just have to break the rules…

A comment on yesterday’s post asked how I found the local writer’s group I belong to. So I thought I would answer the question in today’s post.

As it happened, I learned about RWA (Romance Writer’s of America) by chance. I simply typed the term ‘romance writers’ into a search engine, and boom, right into my lap. RWA has many other resources for members as well as chapters, including on-line (for those who don’t live close to a land-based chapter) and special interest chapters (such as romantic suspense or historical or erotic).

At the time I discovered RWA, we were about to move. So I gathered some information on the local chapter in our new state and contacted them after we were settled. I’ve been a member ever since, of both RWA and the local chapter.

The Internet, libraries, bookstores, these are all great places to learn about local writer’s groups in your area.

Conferences and workshops are usually sponsored by these groups and are great places to improve your craft, try new methods, and make friends. Remember, writers love books, so who better to buy yours when you get published!

I must say I’m quite happy with my page counts for Book 1 of the trilogy so far. I’m still hoping inspiration will strike and give me something great in the way of a title, but for now…This morning will see the start of chapter 3. Later this evening I’ll attack the last of the edits for the novella, as I want to re-read and ship that off by the end of the week.

Friday and Saturday bring a much anticipated conference for my local writer’s group. So there will be an overload of wonderful information, camaraderie, and food, if less time for my page counts. We writers tend to be solitary in nature, but we do enjoy coming together once in a while.

All that and the usual routine around the house and the week will whiz by like flash of lightning!

Here’s hoping the rest of you have a great week, too!