Once Again With Feeling . . .
So, I've finished my next book-- the first in a trilogy -- and now I'm rewriting it after I've had a writer friend/editor read it and tell me where I've gone off the rails. This is actually the fun part. I think writing is pretty darn difficult. I'm like Carrie Fisher, who once said she doesn't actually enjoy writing as much as she enjoys "having written." Yeah, I can understand that.
Don't get me wrong. It's not easy sitting beside your editor/writer/friend and hearing that she doesn't understand or particularly like my heroine. Nope. That's no fun. Or that she thinks my hero is "too girlie" in certain parts of the books. Ooops! You never want that to happen! But I know myself and I know that, while the initial consultation stings and sometimes cuts to the bone, if I give myself time to lick my wounds, I will agree with about 95 percent of what she's telling and showing me. I also know that this isn't easy for her either!
You might think that most editors have feelings coated with stainless steel, but I think you'd be wrong about that. Having known a few professional editors, I can remember how they agonized over having to call a writer to discuss a major rewrite or even a rejection. They weren't cackling as they rubbed their hands together in glee. They were dreading it and going over and over in their heads how they were going to handle it.
My friend has told me that it hurts her when I argue or challenge her during these sessions, so I try to keep my mouth shut. Later, I tell myself. Later, after you give yourself time to think instead of defending yourself and your writing. I know that I can be rational after I "sleep on it."
I'm deeply into the rewrite now and my friend/writer/editor told me yesterday that she's really enjoying the newest version and that she can hardly believe it was written by the same person. Oh! Okay! I'm the Rewrite Queen! All bow down and show me some respect!
Patting myself on the back, I coo to my writer's ego . . . "There, there. It's all better now, isn't it?"
Wednesday, September 4, 2013
Monday, July 22, 2013
Riding the Big Wave
Go with the Flow!
Isn't it great when a novel sinks into your blood and you find yourself eager to keep writing? Even when you're not writing it, you are thinking about it, dreaming of the next scene and bits of great dialogue?
I am there right now. Loving the novel I'm writing and even plotting the next two novels in what I hope will be a series. It has been a long, long time since I was this excited about a novel project. I dream about it at night. I wake up thinking about it. I look forward to sitting down and writing 10 or 20 pages a night after I have worked all day at the computer writing non-fiction for my real job! Oh, yes. I am writing in a fever!
I love my characters. I love the plot. I'm doing something I haven't done EVER as a novelist. I am writing this book without a synopsis. I decided to just keep writing after I had enough for a partial because I didn't want to stop. I wanted to keep writing it because it's so much fun. It's going well, I think, because I have been thinking about this series for at least two years. Maybe longer.
It is a contemporary and it is in a genre that I have never written in before. Everything is new and risky and deliciously scary!
I have sent chapters to my friend, who helps edit my books. She is not too thrilled with it -- or so it seems at this stage -- and you know what? I don't care! I am loving writing on it so much that, if no one likes it and my agent passes on it, that's cool with me. Writing it is such a joy that it's enough for me.
Of course, I hope it's published. I want others to love it, too. However, if it isn't, it has been such a lovely ride that I surely won't regret the time I have spent on it.
This is such a different feeling for me! To write with joy and simply enjoy riding the crest of this sweeping, all-consuming wave of creativity.
Cowabunga!
Saturday, July 6, 2013
Attack Soggy Middles
The middle of a novel is where the quicksand dwells!
Plotting a novel usually begins and ends rather well. It's that middle part that is challenging. Most of the time, you know how the book will begin and how it will end. You might also know or have a good idea of some key scenes. However, as you plot and you reach mid-point in your book, invariably your pace slows and you are faced with every writer's dilemma: Now what?!
When you don't do an outline or synopsis, this juncture can be daunting. You've been flying along and now you're stuck in quicksand. Have you read books where all of a sudden a secondary character shows up along with a subplot? This new development is introduced and dealt with in the space of, say, four or five chapters. How convenient! Well, that's one way to shore up a saggy middle, but it can also be disconcerting to the reader and play hell with your pacing.
However, the surprise subplot is better than chunks of introspection where the hero and/or heroine review what has happened in the book so far, reflect on it, share memories of their childhoods, and wonder what the future holds for them. This "soggy middle" rescue operation is always a poor choice. You will put your reader to sleep or the reader will skim over these chapters, and the charm of your book is lost. You will also probably receive less than enthusiastic reviews.
Outlining allows you to address saggy middles efficiently and effectively. Since you aren't in the throes of writing the book, you can stop and reflect on what scenes of interest you can add that will further the main plot, keep up the pace, and add to your characterization. The middle of the book can be -- and should be -- a build up of what's to come in the novel's final revelations, black moment when all seems lost, and wrapping up scenes. These important middle scenes should engage the readers, not put them to sleep. They should include surprises, insights, and carry your "red thread" throughout. Think of the Harry Potter novels. Did everything exciting grind to a halt in the middle part of those? No! Things heated up!
So, the next time you read a book where a Stop sign pops up in the middle and everything slows to a grinding halt, you can smile knowingly and think, Ah-ha! The writer didn't plot this one out well enough and found himself/herself in quicksand!
Writers can dig themselves out, but it does take planning and good plotting! And it is much, much easier to do at the outline stage than at the actual writing stage.
Good Luck! And keep a shovel handy at all times.
Plotting a novel usually begins and ends rather well. It's that middle part that is challenging. Most of the time, you know how the book will begin and how it will end. You might also know or have a good idea of some key scenes. However, as you plot and you reach mid-point in your book, invariably your pace slows and you are faced with every writer's dilemma: Now what?!
When you don't do an outline or synopsis, this juncture can be daunting. You've been flying along and now you're stuck in quicksand. Have you read books where all of a sudden a secondary character shows up along with a subplot? This new development is introduced and dealt with in the space of, say, four or five chapters. How convenient! Well, that's one way to shore up a saggy middle, but it can also be disconcerting to the reader and play hell with your pacing.
However, the surprise subplot is better than chunks of introspection where the hero and/or heroine review what has happened in the book so far, reflect on it, share memories of their childhoods, and wonder what the future holds for them. This "soggy middle" rescue operation is always a poor choice. You will put your reader to sleep or the reader will skim over these chapters, and the charm of your book is lost. You will also probably receive less than enthusiastic reviews.
Outlining allows you to address saggy middles efficiently and effectively. Since you aren't in the throes of writing the book, you can stop and reflect on what scenes of interest you can add that will further the main plot, keep up the pace, and add to your characterization. The middle of the book can be -- and should be -- a build up of what's to come in the novel's final revelations, black moment when all seems lost, and wrapping up scenes. These important middle scenes should engage the readers, not put them to sleep. They should include surprises, insights, and carry your "red thread" throughout. Think of the Harry Potter novels. Did everything exciting grind to a halt in the middle part of those? No! Things heated up!
So, the next time you read a book where a Stop sign pops up in the middle and everything slows to a grinding halt, you can smile knowingly and think, Ah-ha! The writer didn't plot this one out well enough and found himself/herself in quicksand!
Writers can dig themselves out, but it does take planning and good plotting! And it is much, much easier to do at the outline stage than at the actual writing stage.
Good Luck! And keep a shovel handy at all times.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Prying Open the Lid
New Idea -- New Treasure
And so it begins. A new idea tickles my brain and fans the embers of my imagination. A book title floats to the surface of my mind unexpectedly while watching TV one night. And I am off and running.
While I am promoting my new novel that is now available, I am suddenly alive with the possibility of another tale. Another story set in Guthrie, Indian Territory right after the land runs when Guthrie was trying to find its way -- saloons sitting next to opera halls and lawyers obtaining divorces for people who traveled far and wide to the growing town to be shed of a bad marriage.
I love it when a story crooks a finger at me, bidding me to come closer. It's like a treasure hunt. You know the location of the buried treasure and now all you have to do is dig, dig, dig -- plot, plot, plot until you locate the gleaming crown jewel -- the crucible -- and the golden chain that binds all of your characters and scenes together. The crucible is extremely important, especially in a romance. It is the reason why the main characters can't escape their current situation. Without a believable crucible, the readers will think to themselves, why doesn't he/she just leave or give up? That's why some romances seem silly -- the characters argue and fuss and there isn't a good enough reason for them to continue to stay together. There has to be a life or death reason -- an all or nothing circumstance to keep the main characters in the same orbit.
In my new novel TO SEDUCE AND DEFEND ownership of a ranch is the crucible and the red thread is the tangled web woven by deceit.
I'm fleshing out characters now for the next book. I have uncovered the gems of the crucible and golden chain and now I'm adding other jewels or scenes to it. Plotting can be tedious and/or exciting, depending on your progress. However, once the book is plotted I always celebrate because the hard part is over. Now all I have to do is write. Oh, sure, writing is difficult, but it is the creative part of the process. Plotting is the business of it. Plotting is finding the right place to dig and then putting your back into it. Writing is after you find the treasure chest, pry open the lid, and begin to polish the beautiful jewels inside.
It's back to the shovel for me. Blisters are forming on my brain and my back is killing me!
And so it begins. A new idea tickles my brain and fans the embers of my imagination. A book title floats to the surface of my mind unexpectedly while watching TV one night. And I am off and running.
While I am promoting my new novel that is now available, I am suddenly alive with the possibility of another tale. Another story set in Guthrie, Indian Territory right after the land runs when Guthrie was trying to find its way -- saloons sitting next to opera halls and lawyers obtaining divorces for people who traveled far and wide to the growing town to be shed of a bad marriage.
I love it when a story crooks a finger at me, bidding me to come closer. It's like a treasure hunt. You know the location of the buried treasure and now all you have to do is dig, dig, dig -- plot, plot, plot until you locate the gleaming crown jewel -- the crucible -- and the golden chain that binds all of your characters and scenes together. The crucible is extremely important, especially in a romance. It is the reason why the main characters can't escape their current situation. Without a believable crucible, the readers will think to themselves, why doesn't he/she just leave or give up? That's why some romances seem silly -- the characters argue and fuss and there isn't a good enough reason for them to continue to stay together. There has to be a life or death reason -- an all or nothing circumstance to keep the main characters in the same orbit.
In my new novel TO SEDUCE AND DEFEND ownership of a ranch is the crucible and the red thread is the tangled web woven by deceit.
I'm fleshing out characters now for the next book. I have uncovered the gems of the crucible and golden chain and now I'm adding other jewels or scenes to it. Plotting can be tedious and/or exciting, depending on your progress. However, once the book is plotted I always celebrate because the hard part is over. Now all I have to do is write. Oh, sure, writing is difficult, but it is the creative part of the process. Plotting is the business of it. Plotting is finding the right place to dig and then putting your back into it. Writing is after you find the treasure chest, pry open the lid, and begin to polish the beautiful jewels inside.
It's back to the shovel for me. Blisters are forming on my brain and my back is killing me!
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Inspirational Women
Where Do You Get Your Ideas?
Any writer hears that question quite often. I usually quip, "At the Idea Shop on the corner of Third and Main." But, seriously, they come from everywhere. I'll tell you where I got my idea for the novel being released in just a few days -- June 1, 2013, to be exact.
I was watching a PBS TV program about the sinking of the Titanic. Out of the blue, the narrator mentioned a survivor who had lived briefly in Guthrie, Indian Territory where she had gone to seek a divorce from her husband. Huh? So, I went online and searched her name. Sure enough, this lady had traveled to Guthrie, which it turned out, was the divorce capital of the whole country in the late 1800's and early 1900's. In other parts of the country if you wanted a divorce, you had to prove that your better half was crazy or was trying to kill you. However, in Guthrie you could claim abandonment or several other reasons and get a divorce. Your spouse didn't even have to show up in court with you. There were a few stipulations, including that those seeking a divorce had to live in Guthrie for three months before the court would hear their case.
The writer in me kicked in and I thought of not one, but four different books all centered on women who came to Indian Territory seeking their freedom from a bad union. I hadn't been excited about writing another historical romance in years, but now I was bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. I enjoyed researching Guthrie, the Land Runs, and the court system in Indian Territory. I had been to Guthrie many times because it is one of my favorite places in Oklahoma. The center of town still looks like it did in 1880, except for the cars, of course. The buildings are still there. The history oozes from every sidewalk, every pillar, every post. That's why I was amazed that I had never heard anything about it being a destination for women (and men) who were desperate to end their marriages.
If I hadn't been watching that PBS show about the Titanic, I would never have stumbled upon these fascinating stories that happened in Guthrie (and my imagination). The first book -- see how I said "first" because I'm a positive person! -- is TO SEDUCE AND DEFEND. It centers on a woman who comes to Guthrie to claim land her deceased husband purchased. However, she finds instead that she has stepped into a web of lies and deceit that lay to waste everything she believed about her husband, her marriage, and her own heart.
I'm proud of it and so glad to shine a light on a part of Guthrie's colorful history that most people haven't yet discovered.
Any writer hears that question quite often. I usually quip, "At the Idea Shop on the corner of Third and Main." But, seriously, they come from everywhere. I'll tell you where I got my idea for the novel being released in just a few days -- June 1, 2013, to be exact.
I was watching a PBS TV program about the sinking of the Titanic. Out of the blue, the narrator mentioned a survivor who had lived briefly in Guthrie, Indian Territory where she had gone to seek a divorce from her husband. Huh? So, I went online and searched her name. Sure enough, this lady had traveled to Guthrie, which it turned out, was the divorce capital of the whole country in the late 1800's and early 1900's. In other parts of the country if you wanted a divorce, you had to prove that your better half was crazy or was trying to kill you. However, in Guthrie you could claim abandonment or several other reasons and get a divorce. Your spouse didn't even have to show up in court with you. There were a few stipulations, including that those seeking a divorce had to live in Guthrie for three months before the court would hear their case.
The writer in me kicked in and I thought of not one, but four different books all centered on women who came to Indian Territory seeking their freedom from a bad union. I hadn't been excited about writing another historical romance in years, but now I was bursting with ideas and enthusiasm. I enjoyed researching Guthrie, the Land Runs, and the court system in Indian Territory. I had been to Guthrie many times because it is one of my favorite places in Oklahoma. The center of town still looks like it did in 1880, except for the cars, of course. The buildings are still there. The history oozes from every sidewalk, every pillar, every post. That's why I was amazed that I had never heard anything about it being a destination for women (and men) who were desperate to end their marriages.
If I hadn't been watching that PBS show about the Titanic, I would never have stumbled upon these fascinating stories that happened in Guthrie (and my imagination). The first book -- see how I said "first" because I'm a positive person! -- is TO SEDUCE AND DEFEND. It centers on a woman who comes to Guthrie to claim land her deceased husband purchased. However, she finds instead that she has stepped into a web of lies and deceit that lay to waste everything she believed about her husband, her marriage, and her own heart.
I'm proud of it and so glad to shine a light on a part of Guthrie's colorful history that most people haven't yet discovered.
Friday, May 10, 2013
My Favorite Two Words
Another One Bites the Dust
My two favorite words as an author are "The End." Aaaah. Almost as good as sex. Definitely better than wine or any other alcoholic beverage. I have written those lovely two words recently as I finished my new novel. It is scheduled to be released in June through Amazon.
I am already plotting my next novel, so that proves there is no rest for the weary. But that is the bane of any writer. The plots swim in your head. Some turn out great and some never quite pan out. They seemed good, but once you wrestle them into submission, you realize they simply aren't substantial enough to keep. The one I am plotting now is a keeper. I have the title, the main characters, and most of the outline done.
I like to plot and outline before I tackle the actual writing of a novel. Some writers prefer to wing it. I've tried that, but it seemed to waste a lot of time. I would write myself into a corner and have to stop all forward motion and figure out a way to get out of it or even scrap a chapter or two and take the novel in a different direction. I'd rather solve all those problems in an outline instead of as I'm trying to actually write the story and flesh out the characters. Even with a great outline, I can run into bits of trouble and sometimes I have to stop my progress to do some research.
To each his own, I say. If you want to plot as you go and wonder, What happens next? then more power to you. As for me, I like control when I write. I need to know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. I have enough surprises, what with characters popping off and saying things I didn't plan on or even evolving into people I didn't envision. That's the joy of writing -- when the story and the characters become strong enough to take over and you hold on the ride of your life.
My two favorite words as an author are "The End." Aaaah. Almost as good as sex. Definitely better than wine or any other alcoholic beverage. I have written those lovely two words recently as I finished my new novel. It is scheduled to be released in June through Amazon.
I am already plotting my next novel, so that proves there is no rest for the weary. But that is the bane of any writer. The plots swim in your head. Some turn out great and some never quite pan out. They seemed good, but once you wrestle them into submission, you realize they simply aren't substantial enough to keep. The one I am plotting now is a keeper. I have the title, the main characters, and most of the outline done.
I like to plot and outline before I tackle the actual writing of a novel. Some writers prefer to wing it. I've tried that, but it seemed to waste a lot of time. I would write myself into a corner and have to stop all forward motion and figure out a way to get out of it or even scrap a chapter or two and take the novel in a different direction. I'd rather solve all those problems in an outline instead of as I'm trying to actually write the story and flesh out the characters. Even with a great outline, I can run into bits of trouble and sometimes I have to stop my progress to do some research.
To each his own, I say. If you want to plot as you go and wonder, What happens next? then more power to you. As for me, I like control when I write. I need to know where I'm going and how I'm going to get there. I have enough surprises, what with characters popping off and saying things I didn't plan on or even evolving into people I didn't envision. That's the joy of writing -- when the story and the characters become strong enough to take over and you hold on the ride of your life.
Friday, April 5, 2013
In the Weeds
I Am In Writing Hell
I am deep into a book and writing day and night to finish it by the contracted delivery date at the end of April. This month! It would not be as difficult if I didn't have another fulltime job and a parttime job in addition to writing a novel. Yes, I'm a tad bit stressed out.
Carrie Fisher once said, "I don't enjoy writing. I enjoy having written something." Ahh, that spoke to me. Writing is not all that fun. Sometimes it is exciting and heady, but most of the time it is grueling and you keep thinking all the while that what you're writing is crap. I have often thought that a scene sucked big time, only to read it the next day and find that it had gotten better with age.
The mere fact that I am writing this blog post when I am in the weeds, so to speak, with the current novel project proves how demented I am. It's like the murderer returning to the scene of the crime or someone bleeding jumping into shark-filled waters. Demented.
.
My agent writes to me and asks, "How is the novel coming?"
I write back, "Oh, fine."
I'm so glad we are e-mailing and not video conferencing. She can't see me bang my head against the computer keyboard and cry for my mother. Seeing such a display would not win her confidence.
I have been here before. Every book has sent me to this level in Hell where writers toil and deadlines loom. It's a place where we all think we're going to write the Great American Novel and end up hoping to be able to type THE END before our creativity dries up and we end up husks of human beings.
But I'm fine! And the book is fine! Really!
I am deep into a book and writing day and night to finish it by the contracted delivery date at the end of April. This month! It would not be as difficult if I didn't have another fulltime job and a parttime job in addition to writing a novel. Yes, I'm a tad bit stressed out.
Carrie Fisher once said, "I don't enjoy writing. I enjoy having written something." Ahh, that spoke to me. Writing is not all that fun. Sometimes it is exciting and heady, but most of the time it is grueling and you keep thinking all the while that what you're writing is crap. I have often thought that a scene sucked big time, only to read it the next day and find that it had gotten better with age.
The mere fact that I am writing this blog post when I am in the weeds, so to speak, with the current novel project proves how demented I am. It's like the murderer returning to the scene of the crime or someone bleeding jumping into shark-filled waters. Demented.
.
My agent writes to me and asks, "How is the novel coming?"
I write back, "Oh, fine."
I'm so glad we are e-mailing and not video conferencing. She can't see me bang my head against the computer keyboard and cry for my mother. Seeing such a display would not win her confidence.
I have been here before. Every book has sent me to this level in Hell where writers toil and deadlines loom. It's a place where we all think we're going to write the Great American Novel and end up hoping to be able to type THE END before our creativity dries up and we end up husks of human beings.
But I'm fine! And the book is fine! Really!
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