Archive for August, 2006
Writing advise abounds on blogs, in bookstores, on forums. There isn’t any problem finding information. There is a problem sifting through it to find something digestible that applies to what you’re working on.
Quite a while back I ran across an editor’s ten point checklist on eharlequin. Pearls of wisdom directly from the fingertips of an editor. While the checklist is helpful – I thought it’d be worthwhile to discuss the how to of each item.
Number one on the list – an opening hook that makes you want to read on.
Examples from the first six of the already read pile ( that I read them rather than tossing them aside as unworthy gives them an average or better overall rating – see I do have standards).
1) The Lady was small and fragile, but with the tall knight standing before her, her frailty was much more apparent.
What works? Instantly we have a heroine. We know it is a historical romance. Knight gives us a general time frame. There’s an implication of abuse or a possible underdog theme.
2) What had he gotten himself into?
Curiosity piqued, the reader reads on. What else is accomplished? The hero has an active voice in the story. The opening is in his POV all the better to introduce the heroine, whose story this is. This technique took me ages to catch onto. Books that appealed because of their strong heroes were actually told primarily from the heroine’s POV. His tone is reluctant, another plus who wants an easy hero?.
3) The vision came without warning, a door bursting open in her mind.
The tone is set an action story with a strong paranormal element. There’s an implication of unwillingness on the heroine’s part – a reluctant adventurer.
4) What the hell am I doing here?
Another reluctant participant, more than reluctant, actively opposed to the romantic adventure. Conflict shouts from the first sentence.
5) Christie sat in the far corner of her living room with her back jammed against the wall.
There’s a picture of a heroine under siege or at least being threatened, questions are raised without being asked.
6) Detective Joseph Shanan hated rain.
Provocative, possibly sympathetic depending on how the reader feels about rain and detectives. An odd detail to begin with and that too tells the reader something about the story – that it’s likely to be quirky and charming.
What do these openings have in common?
Each one reaches out to the reader offering an invitation to read on and an instant connection to the special world of the story. The information is offered subtly, a crook of the finger, a raised eyebrow, a gaze held for extra seconds. The invitation issued is different in every example (these aren’t from the same lines or sub-genres, though each is a romance).
There’s more – each of these opening sentences was followed by an equally compelling second sentence, a well crafted third sentences and so on. That’s the real secret – writing each sentence to make the reader want to read the next.
How is this accomplished? With a delicate invitation to meet a character, step into a new world, feel the chill of danger, a bubble of excitement, a smile or a sigh. Or a shout of alarm or squeal of fear. There is no one way.
Here’s the first sentence from the current WIP –
Brianna Taylor held her breath, trying to slow the jackhammer in her chest.
Perfect? No, not yet, but as good as I can make it right this second. How about you? All those who write – go ahead and post your first lines. I’d love to continure the discussion.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 5:43 pm |
This is a link to a posts that has been making the blogging rounds.
http://marisela.info/blog/?p=54 Susan Gable makes a good case for buying new books.
I love books. Before I started writing reading was my main leisure time activity. Writing made me cut back – a little. My book budget now runs in the mid-four figures. Yes, I have an active library card. Yes, I sometimes buy used. Yes, I sometimes get book presents. I don’t drink, smoke or gamble – I read. There’s no use pretending it’s not a vice. Other’s talk about their TBR piles – mine runs to bookcases. Believe it or not I’ve met people who read more than I do.
As an admitted book slut, I still have standards. I buy no more than a dozen new hardbacks a year. I keep the autobuy list ruthlessly pruned, disappointment me twice and you’re dropped. So what are all these books that I have to own? There are the category romance novels my library doesn’t carry. There are the autobuys. There are research books I must have handy. There are the books I know I want to read, but don’t have time to read right now – these must be purchased since the libary has limits on how long I can monopolize a hot title.
What with reading a couple of hundred books a year for entertainment and or enlightenment, tossing in the reference works, and market research titles I have a tough time sticking to even an extravagant book budget.
The point of the article I started out writing about, before I got carried away blogging on about my out of control reading habit, was that we should buy new to support our favorite authors. A pointless plea IMHO. We can’t all be bestsellers. It’s not going to work. There have to be lots more readers than writers to make this system work.
Harlequin caught on a while back to how common the urge to become a romance writer afflicts yet another of their loyal readers. What angst that must have caused in marketing. They hit upon the best possible solution for them, cheer on their aspiring fans! Help them, offer them forums, message boards, contests, articles, advice, even a critique service. Their first, last and frequently stressed advice? Read the lines.
So how does a poor author rise above the sea of mid-list authors out there? Is it brilliant writing, timing, fairy dust? None of that hurts. But does it guarantee success? Nope sorry, truly I’m very sorry. I’ve read excellent authors, award winning brilliant authors, beloved authors who’ve never gotten near the best seller list.
So what makes a break out novel? Reader connection. It’s not necessarily the best written book – though good writing is a prerequisite. The writers who are staples on the best seller list do not disappoint. What’s more, their stories connect with the reader. They cross genres because fickle readers like different things on different days. It is the author who gives us chills, thrills, tickles, teaches or makes us sigh that we shell out our hard-earned dollars for.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 6:18 pm |
Judging romance contest entries turns out to be more time consuming and demanding than I anticipated. I volunteered to judge five entries. I’ve read lots of romance both published and unpublished. I’ve critiqued, analyzed, enjoyed and even de-constructed. Judging is a new experience.
The judging tutorial provided was excellent and the more experienced judges infinitely kind and patient in answering questions. The purpose in judging is not to stroke the ego, nor to crush the spirit of the aspiring writer. Rather the daunting task is to give scores that indicate both strength and weakness as an editor would.
The true genius of editors lies not only in their keen eye for a manuscript’s potential, but in their ability to teach the writer how to strengthen her story.
This same responsibility lies on the judge’s shoulders, to assess fairly and to explain the assessment in a manner the contestant can absorb. Fortunately for the contestants and my conscience it’s much easier to evaluate someone else’s work than it is your own.
The criteria are clear and well defined. Applying them to an entry is fairly straight forward. Couching the comments so the writer takes away gems of advice is challenging. The reward for all this effort is invaluable. A chance to wear an editor’s hat for a few days.
The next challenge is to apply these lessons to my own work. I have no illusions the process will be either easy or painless.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 6:29 pm |
Yesterday the mail brought an ARC of the first chapter of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing an Erotic Romance. The timing couldn’t have been better. I’m in the early stages of my third romance with erotic elements (and okay – an itty bitty suspense subplot).
Along comes Alison Kent, who knows how to do what I’m trying to master. Not with a steamy new novel to distract me and make me pine for her skills, but with a step by step guide on how to write. How cool is that?
Ms. Kent pulls no punches, hitting hard with sensible advice focused on task and leaves me gasping with the brilliance of it all.
Here’s the meat of chapter one to whet your appetite:
- Crafting characters who bring your story to life
- Plotting the framework of your novel
- Creating conflict that keeps readers reading
- Understanding the push and pull of sexual tension
- Keeping sight of the romance
Best of all she delivers the goods in the form of easily understood advice.
Now for the bad news, you have to put this illuminating information to work all by yourself. That aint easy. The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Erotic Romance gives you a truly useful DYI guide. Pre-order yours today!
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 3:48 pm |
This year I entered my first chapter contest. There are thousands of aspiring romance writers. Like many of those women (and an occasional man) dreaming of seeing their words in print I’m a member of RWA, so I know many chapters hold contests.
The contest prizes are mainly symbolic. The real prize of getting your story in front of editor or agent, seemed like an unnecessary step. Why not just submit your story directly? Stories of the tottering slush piles and a few form rejections have convinced me I need all the help I can get.
Contests offer a whole cafeteria of writing advice. Most of them offer specific feedback.
Then I got an email requesting help judging. I thought about that for all of five minutes. Giving a thoughtful opinion on another writer’s work is a great learning opportunity. Judging allows for this classroom experience with a short term commitment. I said yes.
Second thoughts, trickled in almost immediately. Who am I to judge another’s work? Yes, I’ve been writing for a few years, and reading for many more, but does that make me expert enough to judge? All I can do is try to be constructive and objective. I take comfort in the training materials and the safety of numbers. Every entry in this contest is judged by three judges. The entrant has three sets of score sheets to study. If I’m the only judge who was bothered by an element or enthusiastic about a bit of prose, then I hope the brave contestants give that less weight and lean heavily on the areas that drew a consensus from the judges.
I’ll keep you posted on this adventure.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 6:48 pm |
I’ve already admitted I find new stories endlessly seductive. There are more snippets of stories on my hard drive than I care to count. They come in different flavors, a bio, a scene, blurbs, outlines and concepts (a lot like a synopsis except less focused)
I’d intended to complete a trilogy of Blaze stories, loosely connected by characters that appear as secondaries in the prior title, before doing anything else. While licking my ego wounds from the most recent rejection, I can’t help second guessing why. One of the probable causes is not enough focus on the romance. In an effort to remedy this short coming I decided to write a straight romance rather than the story with suspense elements I’d planned as the next project. I couldn’t even get through the outline without including dangerous developments.
Nothing is impossible, but it seems pointless to pretzel my natural bent to fit into a slot that I’d struggle to write. Hot romance with that zing of danger is what I want to write. One of the main advantages to being unpublished is you are entirely free of editorial restrictions. I plan to wallow in that freedom and indulge myself in another steamy thriller.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 6:25 pm |
The other day Nicole Hulst posted (over at Romancing the Blog) about never having read the big hitters in Romance. Bravely, she confessed to never having read Nora Roberts, Linda Howard or Jayne Ann Krentz until most recently.
In support of Ms. Hulst candor, I’m compelled to join her – at least in spirit. I’ve read all those authors but I’m still finding respected authors that I’ve overlooked. In the past few weeks I read my first Jennifer Greene, and Stella Cameron.
It’s only been the last five years or so that I discovered modern romance. I entered via the back door of romantic suspense. It is a crowded field with thousands of authors. Harsh experience has proven commercial success to be a poor barometer of an author’s appeal. Yet, I feel compelled to sample the legends with mixed results.
Georgette Heyer rates an unqualified endorsement. Linda Howard’s Mackenzie’s Mountain remains my favorite of all her titles, so far. Susan Elizabeth Phillips is IMHO best enjoyed in Audio where you can indulge in Anna Fields’ interpretation in addition to the most outrageous characters. I love Amanda Quick, but find her alter ego Jayne Ann Krentz titles too intense and energetic. I’m charmed by Julie Garwood even when she’s silly and implausible. My favorite Nora Roberts is one of her rare historicals – Lawless. I regret LaVyrle Spencer’s retirement. Did Judith McNaught retire too and just not announce it? Inquiring readers need to know. :(
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 1:53 am |
Reading about someone else’s rejection (misery does love company) made me think about my stories. She’d posted about feedback via her agent (I knew they were good for some things) that her story had been passed on by MIRA because it was too hero-centric.
Harlequin’s Blaze is one of the few lines that allow a major part of the story to be told from the hero’s POV (point of view). Their liberal allowance of hero page space was a factor in me choosing to target that particular line. Even the excerpt I posted here is from the hero’s perspective. Now I’m wondering if that was one of the reasons for my rejection. I may have exceeding the acceptable amount of hero time. Not knowing makes me uneasy. I reach out – straining to understand the flaws I’m blind to.
The hardest thing about learning anything is you don’t know what you’re missing. I know I followed the submission guideline. I know I’ve read the line. I know there were no obvious spelling or grammar errors. I know the manuscript was properly formatted. Too sexy, maybe but seems like an easy fix if they liked the rest of the story. Too similar to something they just bought, possible. If so I’d expect a no thanks – but we liked your voice – or a well written comment.
There’s the nub of the matter – they didn’t like it. At least one person didn’t like it- didn’t believe it was marketable for them. I can accept that. There are plenty of authors I don’t care for and they come in all shades of competence and success. The reader-writer connection is totally subjective.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 9:27 pm |
This is indulgent a blatant plea for reassurance, but damn it I love this story and this is my own personal corner in cyberspace – so here’s a teaser from chapter one of Paying For It
The door opened, revealing a long legged goddess with red hair. His stupid heart accelerated. He told himself to get a grip. She wasn’t Joanne. Her eyes were big, but they were more a sea green and she had way fewer freckles. A fast glance south revealed perky breasts rather than melons. Not that he considered size the only mark of a good breast, not at all, no ma’am. Further south, a narrow waist, a sweet curve of hips, and great legs. Up until that moment, he’d never really been a leg man, but those were the kind of long stemmed beauties that he could imagine wrapped around his hips. Suddenly, his initial disappointment was nothing but a bitter memory and the evening took on new possibilities.
“Hi. You must be Zane.” A sweet voice issued from a plump little mouth, touching zones he’d thought permanently frozen. He tore his gaze away from that x-rated mouth only to fall into those green eyes glimmering with sexy secrets.
“I’m Ciara, a friend of Shania’s.” She sounded tentative; almost as if she wasn’t sure he’d believe her. She had a point; she was way too beautiful and normal to be one of his sister’s hopeless cases.
He liked her name. It sounded soft, feminine like the rest of her. A horrible thought hit him; she was probably someone’s date, not one of his sister’s pathetic friends. Nah, sea green eyes wouldn’t be dateless.
If she were available, then Shania would’ve introduced her to him before. Or maybe not. When it came to women, he didn’t have a clue, not even about his sister. Most of the time she was as rational as the next guy but then she had all this subtext stuff going on. Hopeless.
“May I take that for you?” She held out her hand, presumably for the wine.
It dawned on Zane he wasn’t holding up his end of the conversation. Shania’s entrance saved him from making more of a drooling fool of himself than he already had.
“Hi, you made it.” Shania smiled as she moved toward him and the redhead with the amazing eyes.
“I see you’ve already met Zane.” His sister smiled at the gorgeous redhead. “Come on in, Nick’s here too.”
Zane stayed close, acting casual, while impatiently waiting to learn more about her.
“Nick, you remember my friend Ciara. January couldn’t make it, sorry guys you’re stuck with the b list.”
“I came for the food and the soft shoulder. Another beautiful woman would’ve been overkill.” Nick smiled, casting sad eyes in Shania’s direction.
“Pretty, but it won’t get you out of kitchen duty.” Shania gave Nick’s arm a pat.
“Can I help with anything?” Ciara asked.
“No, I think Nick and I’ve got it covered.” Shania smiled again, this time over her shoulder, as she towed Nick toward the kitchen.
“Can I get you something? A glass of wine? Soda?” Zane finally found his voice as he headed toward the small bar.
Zane itched to touch Ciara. She looked fresh, clean, and entirely edible in a dress that was fluttery and floral. She smelled as good as she looked, like summer, warmth, and woman.
There were rules that govern men in their sister’s house, or else she’d have been slung over his shoulder and on her way to his place.
Thank god, he had a face that didn’t reveal his thoughts. He could tell he was making her nervous. She was as easy to read as a rap sheet. As he stared at the pulse beating in the hollow of her throat, color raced up her slender neck to light up her face. Maybe his thoughts weren’t as hidden as he’d believed.
Big green eyes met his, locking. A primal recognition, definite – but on some level he couldn’t access or explain – washed through him, etching her into his heart.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 10:53 pm |
Sometime in the next few days I’ll be reviewing Chapter One of the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Writing Romance by Alison Kent. I suffer from acute book lust that probably exceeds my passion for writing. A great book on writing is an autobuy.
Of course I’ll post about the excellent advice in chapter one, but why wait? You can pre-order now.
Posted by Evanne Lorraine @ 10:41 pm |
When both Hunter and Tru bond with Amber their mating triangle threatens everything they hold dear.
Determined to help rescue the princess, Cassandra agrees to act as the dragons’ sex slave, but can she guard her heart from the dominant males?
Camille, a plump, sweet-natured breeder, is caught in New Eden’s endless war with Baldor. Her mates, Jaxon and Aegis, need cunning and courage to rescue her. They need a miracle to capture her heart.
Werewolf-whisper Daniel is the only one who can heal Scarlet’s broken werewolf connection. If he succeeds then the pack’s needs will eclipse his claim on her heart. But if he fails, they'll both die.
A lonely woman finds passion with a dominant much younger lover, when she tries to leave she learns her new master plays for keeps.
One dangerous warrior woman plus two rogue demon males equals a love to threaten an empire.
Getting paid to watch Eduardo is Desiree’s dream assignment, but when he reaches out to her, crossing the line, everything changes.
Deep in her secret heart, she lusts for a sexy pirate who’d be her master and commander in the bedroom. But, this man may be too dangerous
She finds paradise in the arms of twin brothers, but their law demands she chose one warrior to mate and one to die.
One woman, two men, three wounded hearts--though already mated their love is still forbidden.
