WIP Wednesday

January 7, 2009 WIP Wednesday,writing craft

Back to the future–next

When I wrote Dalila’s Choice I knew that I’d only scratched the surface of the stories teeming on the distant world of Enyo. And there’s always something about the underdog that calls to me. So, the next story belongs to Joon.

As a Belle Amity commander and as a magic wielder she knows everything about courage, discipline, and self-reliance. But, she knows nothing of forming emotional bonds or of passion.

She doesn’t see herself as a romantic figure. Dreaming up her perfect match was easy–getting the lovers through their difficulties to a satisfying resolution will be a challenge… But, that’s the fun part of writing.

For the writers out there in the blogasphere, what’s your favorite part of writing?

For the readers, I’d love to hear about your favorite stories….

WIP Wednesday

December 17, 2008 WIP Wednesday,writing craft

Continuing the anatomy of a story, which I started with the hook here and continued with character building here, then comes plotting. Or as I think of it, making my characters miserable.

Strange but true, trouble, conflict, and danger are what moves every story ahead. The trouble may be a life of quiet desperation, the conflict maybe subtle, and the danger may be only to the heart. But it is conflict in all its many guises that makes stories compelling.

The art of plotting, closely related to the art of pacing, is all about leaping from the frying pan to the fire without exhausting the reader or straining her credibility. There are several excellent books that explore the subject. Volger’s A Writer’s Journey, Bell’s Plot and Structure, and McKee’s Story all do an excellent job with every different approaches.

WIP Wednesday

December 10, 2008 writing craft

Writing stories doesn’t seem all that different from reading them, just a lot more work. First, I need to be hooked. The next stage is immersing myself in the story world and getting to know the characters. The characters are alive in my head before a single word is written. But, translating that to the hard drive is an imperfect art.

The good news is that I don’t need to do it perfectly. The magic that happens when a book catches fire is part writer’s skill but the other part is the reader’s imagination. So, the writer’s job is to sketch the character with just enough detail to intrigue. Allowing the reader to fill in the nuances.

I’ve tried lots of different characterization approaches. There are a couple that work for me.

Color photos that match physical detail are placed on the WIP’s notebook cover. This saves referring to a bio, or worse the manuscript, when I need to know if the heroine’s eyes were blue or green years after I wrote the original story.

A playlist, containing the story’s theme song with tracks for all the major characters’ emotions is created and refined. The long version runs five or more hours. The short burns to CD, which keeps the story moving as I drive.

Written bios, one for each characters go in the notebook too. I’ve learned to leave plenty of white space so I can scribble updates as the story unfolds. By the time I reach the end there are stickies in addition to the hand-written notes.

Evanne’s Character Checklist

!) Do they have something of mine?

Every character gets something from me. A prejudice, a habit, a pet peeve, a character trait, a talent, a dream, an eccentric quirk, or a possession. To write them, I need to be interested in them and this deliberate act of transference helps the bonding process.

2) What defines them?

People are products of their environment and their genetic components, characters too. So what single event was the most crucial in making them who they are today?

3) What do they want?

Goals, goals, and more goals–who is a character without needs and ambitions?

4) Why do they want it?

Motivation, the key which unlocks the mystery of character behavior. The stronger the better for my taste, time pressure helps too.

5) Why can’t they have it?

Conflict, the core element of every good story. Inner conflict arises from character, which is why it’s so important to understand who they are first. Outer conflict hones and reveals character. There’s nothing like pressure to bring out the real character.

6) What does no one know about them?

Adding back a little mystery is good, layers are better, and complications are great.

7) What do they fear?

There’s no better road to character growth than conquering inner demons.

8) Does their name fit them?

I’ve driven myself nuts with re-naming–this demands thought up front.

9) Are they heroic enough? Sympathetic enough?

Tragic is fine. Tortured is good. Brooding is okay. Underneath all that there must be the heart of only slightly tarnished gold. Story stars must be bigger and better than real life folks. Noble, honorable, flawed but the hero and heroine still need to be sympathetic. Actually, I want my villains to evoke some empathy–even if it’s nothing more than a shuddered–there for the grace of god…

10) What are their flaws?

If those characters are going to resonate–they need imperfections as much as they need positive qualities–maybe more.

11) What makes them unique?

Memorable characters are special, different, individual. The writer showcases the lead characters with the story so those character need to be worthy of the effort.

12) How do they feel?

The character’s emotional response to story situations is the universal factor that pulls the reader into the story and keeps them glued to the page long after they should have turned off the lights and go to sleep. How the character reacts to events–mad, glad, bad, or sad is a start.  There’s more work, how do they express their feelings or hide them? And if they’re hiding them, what reveals the truth to the reader, to the other characters–eventually. This is the stuff you want to show, save telling for the weather and the scenery. Show emotion.

There you have my quirky list.

WIP Wednesday

December 3, 2008 writing craft

Deciding which story to work on next is always a tussle. There are partials on the hard drive, files stuffed with story ideas, and notebooks crammed with story scraps.

I have a plan, but things happen.

Thinking about December blogs and Christmas, led to digging out a Christmas story I wrote several years ago. A little polishing and I decided to serialize the first chapter on the blog as a Christmas present for Dangerously Sexy readers.

The first step in reading or writing is the hook. Unless I’m intrigued, amused, puzzled–something then there’s no point in continuing.

After a little digging, I found it the old partial. And fell in love.

Now, I need to figure out if this is infatuation or the real thing. Because, although I have a forty thousand word partial, eighty percent of it needs serious work and the other ten percent needs some effort.

So, I published part one of the first chapter here starting Tuesday the second, and then I’m going to let all of you help me decide if the story is worth telling.

WIP Wednesday

November 26, 2008 WIP Wednesday,writing craft

By the time you read this, the latest story should be winging it’s way to the tasteful editor’s virtual inbox.  But, as I write to you, I’m still polishing it.  I have two chapters to go, before a formatting pass and a final spell and grammar check.  When those are complete, it’s down to crafting a cover letter and cleaning up the synopsis.

The story has been unusually clean–and that makes me nervous.  Am I missing something or is this one really smooth and well written? 

I’ll keep you posted….

Wednesday writer’s whine

November 19, 2008 Whining,writing craft

For reasons that elude me, the only time the story fills my head is when I’m not at the computer.

Taking a shower, trying to go to sleep, or walking the dog–that’s when the characters start talking and the story starts running like a newsflash in my mind. As soon as I can grab pen and paper, I scribble indecipherable notes. Sometimes this works. And next session I type furiously. Other times I squint at the scratch marks, turning the scrap of paper this way and that and still draw a complete blank.

I’ve got the cure–step into the shower, walk down the hill, or start scrubbing something. Once I’m thoroughly engaged away from the office the words flow like a Spring flood.

Actually, I shouldn’t complain–this way the dog gets walked, I get clean, and chores get done. If the stories ran steadily I’d get carpel tunnel syndrome or computer eye or some other affliction that strikes down obsessed writers.

Feel free to sympathize.

Freaky Friday

November 7, 2008 Romance heroes,writing craft

The longer I write erotic romance, the more I’m convinced that it is all about the characters. Even the most compelling conflicts are character based. The tenderest romances are character based.  And of course, the hottest sex scenes are character driven.  Because it’s not about who’s doing what to whom–it’s about caring, otherwise why would we keep turning pages?

Like all writers, I was a passionate reader first and still am. Recently, I’ve read two different favorite authors. One I adore for her contemporary fiction, the other for her historical romances. Both of them write engaging women. The kind of heroines who you admire and would want for a friend. There heroes are, naturally enough, heroic–the very essences of feminine fantasy, but not nearly so real as their heroines.

These talented writers are quick to show the heroine’s honor and bravery,  but their men lack a feminine side.  Maybe this is just me, admittedly I do like the heroes best, especially when they’re well done.  And I am a greedy, want it all kind of reader.

This brings me to my question–do we want real men in a romance?

Speaking just for myself, yes.  But, it’s a qualified yes.  I want real men the same way I want real women in stories.  I want them to be believable, but a bit better than real life, a bit more consistent, and a bit quicker to do the right thing.

How much realism do you want in your romance?

Wicked Games, coming soon I hope

November 4, 2008 writing craft

Have to finish writing it first. But, it all starts with the blurb….

Damien, the exclusive resort’s masseur is the answer to Rhianna’s overheated fantasies. Except for him being fourteen years younger–barely legal. When his masterful touch unleashes her passion, will her heart survive?

So what do you all think–dangerously sexy?

Six sets of troublesome words

November 1, 2008 writing craft

I grew up with an intimidating father, who happened to be an excellent natural speller.  One of his fond sayings was, “If a man could spell every word in the English language correctly, I would wonder why he’d wasted his life.”

When he would say this, I would smile and silently congratulate myself on a well spent life.

Many years and classes passed unhampered by my less that perfect spelling.  Then I went to work for a man, who spelled even better than my father  Furthermore, he regarded anyone, who was so slovenly as to make spelling errors an example of a poor education and poor character.

Naturally, I adored my shiny new boss, wanted to impress him, and wanted my lovely paychecks to continue.  I became a fervent spell checker, stayed employed, and learned a slew of new skills.

Despite all this diligence on my part, to this day there are words that give me trouble.

Affect/effect–Affect the verb may mean to move, influence, or pretend.  Affect the noun refers to the emotion or mood associated with an action or an idea, such as he displayed a blunted affect.  In contrast, effect also can be a noun or a verb.  As a noun it may mean the result of influence, the power to influence,  being in force, belongings, and so forth.  The dictionary rattles on with more possible definitions.  When used as a verb it may mean do or make.  Such as ‘to effect an escape.’ Honestly, even after pouring over the definitions I wind up trusting my ear.

Callous/callus–the former refers to hard-hearted behavior, the latter to thickened skin.  The problem with this pair is simply why do we need to different spellings of the same word with closely related definitions?  Troublesome indeed.

Flaunt/flout–flaunt is to show off, flout is to rebel.  Thus one could flout convention, never flaunt it.  And yet, I’ve read them misused frequently enough to make me repeatedly question my understanding.

lay/lie(set)/lie(fib)–technically three words.  But, since two of them are spelled identically I’m treating the trio as a troublesome pair.  Why should I be more logical than the language?  There are twenty-one definitions for the verb lay in my small dictionary, to say nothing of the noun.  Personally, I think little words are often underrated, regarding their difficulty factor.

Meretricious/meritorious–sounding and spelling are distinctive.  Definitions are close to antonyms and yet they are misused quite flagrantly.  Keep that dictionary handy.

Wreak/wreck–one wreaks havoc and wrecks cars.  Again, why do we need two different words?  Why can’t one wreck havoc?  No, of course not, I’ve been thoroughly brainwashed.  Havoc must continue to the wreaked.  Clearly, nothing else would suffice.