A Daily Dose of Romance

Once in a while, my enthusiasm for a story takes a back seat to getting the story right. One of my favorite parts in the process of writing is editing, but sometimes, you just have to get it right from the get go.

That is where I am with my current work in progress. So while I’ll normally write anywhere from 6-8 pages on an average day (more on a good day), with this story I’m pleased with 2 or 3.  The setting and scene, the attraction between the main characters, are too critical for this story.

And in this case, for this particular story, I’d rather not write two dozen pages just to cut them down the line, or spend a solid week rewriting them. I’ve dumped pages before, rewritten them, and just plain started over. But not this time.

This story has to be right from the start.

The characters are in my head, in my heart, and I know what they want. But this hero is looking for more than redemption…he needs to get it right, too.

Ever notice a theme to your stories? You know, that pesky part that essentially makes all your characters core issues the same? Yeah, that theme.

It often doesn’t matter how much time you spend with a book on personality traits. As writers, we often write the same ‘type’ of characters over and over, especially if you write genre fiction. For me, it doesn’t matter if I’m writing a kilted Highlander, an axe-weilding Viking, or a Werewolf (yeah, I write those too), they all have the same core issue - redemption. My heroines on the other hand, tend toward being stronger than they realize.

So what’s the difference from one story to the next? Well, aside from setting and culture. It’s the way the story is told. Sometimes it is the hero’s story, sometimes the heroine’s. It’s the tone of the story, the seriousness of the issue and most importantly, how the issue affects the main characters. That is what makes your story different each time.

If you think about it, two people don’t usually react to a situation the same way. Everyone comes to a hitch in the road from their own perspective and past experiences. And it’s those experiences that shape how they react to the future.

So while you’ll often hear that you shouldn’t put backstory into you writing, you actually need to. Not a huge dump of every character’s childhood, but just those one or two important bits and pieces that affect why the character feels and reacts the way he/she does. Those are the essential elements that allow your reader to connect and empathize with that character. That is what makes the same theme different with each telling of a new story.

This past Saturday, I participated in an author’s panel for my local writer’s group. While our group has a dozen or so published authors, only a handful of us were able to attend and take part. We shared the stories of our first sale, and answered questions -everything from our daily writing routine to taxes to how we handle revisions.

I’m always amazed at the diversity of styles and methods in which writers approach their creative side. One of my favorite quotes is from Nora Roberts. In an interview conducted by Eileen Putman, and the resulting article published in the August 2006 RWR (Romance Writers Report), Ms. Roberts responds in part to a question about her creative process and using one’s muse as an excuse not to write, with this answer: “Go track down that fickle slut, drag her back, chain her to your keyboard, and get to work.”

I adore Ms. Robert’s bluntness. I have that quote posted by my computer.

If you want to be a writer, be a writer, but the flip side of that coin - you have to actually write.

One of the comments to my last post, Practice Makes Perfect, asked why I wanted to get better at creating titles. Well, aside from knowing that I have created a title worthy of being published, it is a skill I lack.

I am rarely happy with my working titles. In fact, there have only been two or three working titles that I have been truly happy with. Genre fiction often dictates a certain ’style’ if you will, of titles. Sexy stories have suggestive titles, chick lit has catchy ones, contemporaries often use a play on words…

So I guess the short answer to that question would be, I want to get better at it.

Titles are quite important. I know when I go to the bookstore looking for something new to read, I tend to pick books off the shelf that have a great cover (this catches my eye first), a snappy title, and a back cover blurb that intrigues me. Great titles are also ones that stick in people’s minds and aren’t hard to remember, or sound so great, you just have to read the book.

Now I won’t spend hours each day working on a title, just fragments of time, but a great title is worth the effort. It is one more tool to entice that potential reader to pick up your book and read.

Everyone has strengths and weaknesses, even published authors. But over time and with effort, we usually get over our weaknesses. Or at least, get better at them. For me, titles are tough.

While I always have a ‘working’ title, I rarely come up with a final title that makes me happy.

Lately I’ve been working on this. While I’m doing mundane tasks like the dishes or laundry, I’ll play with word combinations. And sometimes I come up with a title I think is great. The problem? I write historicals. And titles I’ve come up with tend to lend themselves more to contemporary stories.

Not to give up though…

No writer is great at every aspect of storytelling. But as a reader, I am more than willing to forgive a writer’s weaknesses if their strengths are well executed. A favorite mystery/suspense writer of mine had a definite weakness with tag lines in his first books - he had too many unnecessary ones. But his ability with characterization and setting are so phenomenal, that you lose yourself in the story and don’t ever want to come back from the fictional bay community he establishes in his books. In fact, you want his main protagonist as your best friend. I still read his books today.

So don’t give up. As the old saying goes…Practice makes perfect.

My routine is finally falling back into place. And for me, routine feels good. I’m comfortable in my structured world. While I love Chaos as theory, too much in my day gets overwhelming.

Sitting down to write in the same place, at the same time each day sends a trigger to my creative side and says ‘Hey, let’s work!’ For most of the writers I know, working in the same place is important. It doesn’t matter where you write - coffee shop, your desk on your lunch break, the laundry room - as long as it works for you.

Creative triggers can come in many forms, the scent of candles, music, the television on low in the background, a prescribed number of games of solitaire before you can put fingers to the keyboard…whatever it is, take the time to figure out the ones that work best for you and use them.

And don’t forget to let yourself off the hook once in a while. Sometimes the creative part of the brain needs a mini vacation to regenerate. I know mine does, especially between projects.

~Happy Writing~

Ever have a character wash through your mind like a flashback in a movie? I have one of those. She came to mind early this week, but she has not left.

I’m not sure how other writers work with regard to this, but I tend to ’see’ scenes through my imagination. At least, key scenes. And what I find so interesting about this one, is that it is in black and white. Just like something out of the movies. Now why is this unusual? Well, my imagination runs in full blown color - same with my dreams. So why black and white this time?

I know little about this story yet, only the protagonist’s first name, the setting and that the story hinges on her past. But I am intrigued nonetheless. So I’ll keep making notes…and waiting until I know the whole story.

Until then, it’s back to the keyboard and my latest story.

Routine is slowly returning now that Spring Break is done. It is amazing how quickly one can get out of ‘waking up early’ mode. Especially when early is long before the roosters even think of rising.

When I woke yesterday morning, I had a to-do list. And thought by giving up one whole day to get everything on that list done, the rest of my week would be free. Right? Please? No such luck. By midnight last night, a great deal more had been added to this week. So how do I write when there are dozens of things on my list to do each day?

I go back to writing in small chunks of time - this is how I started writing, 10 or 15 minutes at a go, here and there during the day. So it’s not too hard for me to fall back into that habit. Writing in small allotments of time throughout the day also helps me keep the story fresh in my head, so I don’t need any time to read back and pick up the tone of the story. It’s still there.

Finding your most creative time of day, or even retraining your creative time to a certain part of the day, can be done. But it will take time. The important thing is to keep creating.

Now that Spring Break is almost over, next week should bring back some routine. While I haven’t broken any records with my writing schedule this week, I have done some. Precious little some, but some.

Most of my time this week has been spent bouncing back and forth between three different projects, searching for an anchor to hold onto and get solidly back to work on one. Despite the cooperation of the weather, which has been downright cold, snowy even some days, I just haven’t been able to ground myself into a single project.

My goals for the year are clear. In fact, they are posted where I can see them every time I sit down at the computer. But I just can’t get a foot hold these last few weeks. Some of it is an itching for warmer weather and getting outside, but mostly I’m just a bit lost. It isn’t that I don’t have a passion for these projects, I do. But somehow, nothing is sticking at the moment.

No matter. Next week my routine returns. Maybe that will help. Regardless, something done is better than nothing.

I have to admit the writing has been slow this week. It is Spring Break here. And while the weather has made staying inside the optimal choice, there have been too many other things that needed my attention.

But while my fingers have not been on the keyboard as much as I would like, I have been thinking about my stories. I’ve come to the conclusion on one, that it just needs to start where it starts. I’ll work on adding in the essential backstory from there. The other book (two stories that work as one) got some clarification thanks to one of my critique partners. She managed to state out-loud the very thing I wasn’t seeing - and it made perfect sense. So now to get happy with my opening scene…

As of next week, I’ll be carving out some essential time for writing. I need to get pages done now, as the next two months will be very busy ones for me.