Because I Said So
This weekend I’m attending a writer’s retreat with my local RWA chapter. For fun, it was suggested that we try to write an 850 word piece in a genre in which we would never write. That meant I could write Inspirational or Paranormal. I chose Paranormal.
First I have to say I have nothing against Paranormal. It’s a huge seller right now and offers lots of great stuff for readers. But my practical streak together with my lack of ability to suspend disbelief has always made it difficult for me to enjoy it. Which is why I was so surprised to find myself enjoying the writing.
It turns out, when you create your own world and you put it in the Paranormal realm, you can do anything you want. Who knew?! It’s like when you become a parent and finally get to use the answer, “Because I said so.” It’s so cool. I created demons that can blend in with humans, but unlike humans don’t need food, water or sleep. And if someone asks why, I can say, “Because I said so.” I am LOVING this.
So, bad guys are done. Now I needed an Alpha hero (something I’ve never done), a kick ass heroine (something I’ve never done), and darkness (something I’ve never done). No problem. My hero was inspired by a Breaking Benjamin song called Evil Angel. Here’s his description.
Eyes the deep blue of lapis lazuli stared into my soul. Hair the color of blackest night fell in waves around his shoulders and made the fairness of his skin and the luster of his eyes all the more pronounced for it’s darkness. He wasn’t the largest man I’d ever seen, but he had to be close. Power poured off him like radiation, and a voice in the back of my mind warned he was likely twice as deadly.
The story is written in first person from the heroine’s POV which limited much description of her, but we do learn she works on the Termination Team, a group that battles the demons, and she does get to kick one of the bad guys in the nuts. Other than putting her in leather, that’s as kick ass as I managed to make her. But if there were more words, she’d kick lots more ass.
Now I needed darkness. That was going to be the tough part. You see, my voice calls for sarcasm and humor. Unless I make a concerted effort, sarcastic lines show up in my stuff with little or no effort on my part. After much struggle and at least one rewrite, here’s the opening that sets the scene.
Evil permeated the air. It lingered around the dumpsters, lurked in the shadows, and oozed in the scattered pools of water like an oil slick. A bulb at the end of the alley flickered dimly every few seconds, providing little light to battle back the dark. The sliver of moon over head provided no light at all.
This may never grow into any more than 850 words, but doing this exercise has taught me several things. The most important being that I can write in a genre that I never believed I could. And enjoy doing it. Again, who knew?
If you’re a writer, is there a genre in which you truly don’t believe you could write? If so, what genre would that be and why? If you’re a reader, is there a genre you’ve never tried because you don’t think it’s your thing? If so, what is that genre and what would make you change your mind and give it a try?
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:30 am
Good for you, Ter! As you know, I’m kind of schizophrenic when it comes to writing, so hardly anything has escaped my experimentation. I know I’d never be able to do an inspirational just because I read a couple by accident and they did NOT ring my bells. I wanted somebody to drop an f-bomb or actually f, but alas, it did not happen.I am going to h*ll. Pass the rum.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:06 am
Nice job Terri! You go with the bad alphas and permeating evil!
I think my writing shall never touch a historical. I love to read them, but my voice and style just isn’t suited for it.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:15 am
Terri, that’s wonderful! And the story sounds great too!
I’m with Maggie; I doubt I could ever write an inspirational for a long laundry list of reasons. Mggie got a coupl of them, but also I am not sure how I would weave God into my stories in such a way that it wouldn’t be too personal or too much.
Besides that, I’ve considered pretty much every other subgenre.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:22 am
LMAO @ Maggie!
Terri, your retreat sounds like a blast.
I don’t think that I could write a historical romance with the hero being a Native American still living with the tribe. Nothing against Native Americans. My great-great grandmother was full blooded Cherokee or Choctaw or something. I don’t like to camp, and there is nothing sexy or appealing about living in contraption made up of animal hides with bugs all around. It was a harsh environment, and sex would have seemed like another job!
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:41 am
Hmm, either Inspirational or Erotica. The first, because I’m a heathen (though I think my sister is trying to convert me); and the second because I don’t like using “those” words. You know the words I’m talking about.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
*blinking* what words?
(hee hee….)
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:46 am
Maggie - There are so many subgenres, I’m sure we could find ONE that you haven’t tried. LOL! Then again, maybe not. Anyway, if we did, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before you get to that one too. I envy you that!
J.K. - If it’s one thing I learned while doing this it’s never say never. I get you could write an awesome Gothic Historical.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 am
Mistyjo - That’s where the literary license comes into play. Just as lots of things are left out of historicals (i.e. disease, STD’s, Aunt Flo, and shaving), you could dress up the reality into something romantic. That’s really all any author does if you think about it.
And just think of the great snake killing scene you could add. *w*
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:50 am
Hellion - you could write anything you want to write. And you’d get past *those* words just fine. LOL! I didn’t think I could do it and it came (no pun intended) quite easily while writing that Erotic Romance short story.
Now, the Inspirational thing, that’s like saying I’m going to write a Political book. It’s just too touchy of a subject, and way too personal, for me to even consider trying.
June 23rd, 2008 at 8:55 am
I agree about the inspirational/political thing. I tend towards being fairly noncontroversial. I think I’d have a hard time tackling either to my satisfaction.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:37 am
No, I don’t think I would. I’d probably be better suited to writing the inspirational, but I’d hate for my family to actually be proud of my writing.
June 23rd, 2008 at 10:50 am
Fantasy. Plain and simple.
I’m definitely a historical writer. I like to write the gritty nastiness of medieval times. But I like to dabble a bit in other genres. Right now, I’m working on a Historical Inspirational, just to see if I can. Like Hellion, I’m too much of a heathen, but aren’t we all. The real heathens are those who think they’re without fault, white as snow.
Have a wonderful day ladies,
Renee
June 23rd, 2008 at 11:00 am
I don’t have the writing voice for a historical romance, although I love reading them.
I recently delved into paranormal reading because of a book suggestion from Sin. I have now stepped into the dark side, but only because the romance in the series is true perfection. Stay tuned for my blog this week about the series that can take all non-paranormal fans to the dark side:)
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Marn - when I first started my WIP I found myself writing a scene in a church and the pastor was actually going to play an interesting role in the story. Then I found the pastor giving my hero a talk on what was leaning toward religious undertones and realized I didn’t want the story to go in that direction.
But it also tells me I could write that kind of book if I really wanted to do it. I have 12 years of Catholic education and as adverse as I am now to organized religion, I think I could write an Inspirational if I really wanted to.
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
Hellion - Heaven forbid you give in to the man. LOL! Conforming would be worse than death!
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Hey there, Renee. So you’re with me on this Fantasy thing. I’m still not sure I’d want to write an entire book of it, but I don’t still have the distaste for it I did before. Then again, I don’t plan on picking up any Fantasy books anytime soon either. LOL!
Since you’re an Historical writer, do you think you’d ever try a contemporary of any kind?
June 23rd, 2008 at 12:24 pm
Lisa - I didn’t think I had the voice for Historical either until I entered the Avon Fanlit contest and had to write chapters in the Regency. It was actually kind of fun. You just have to write as if you are being as formal as you can possibly be. But you can still be sarcastic so that’s what worked for me. *g*
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Conform? No. *Pirate.*
I think I’d love to write some historicals though. A couple “blends” (historical/contemps). Historicals would be a lot of fun to write, but I get way wound up in research and can’t just “write.” But damnit, my cowboy book is made to be written!
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
By blends do you mean time machine stuff? Oh, or somethere where a couple in the present finds letters and is researching a couple of the past? Like that movie with Gwyneth Paltrow?
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Oh! Good question! I’d have to say inspirational (I, too, am a heathen). I could probably write something in every genre but I’ve just never been able to get into inspirational. Or, oh! Western! This is because, uh, I haven’t read one…don’t hate me! I’d like to try one but it’s a matter of which one to start on.
June 23rd, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Stephanie - get thee to a bookstore and find Lorraine Heath’s Texas Trilogy. You can start with any of them. Try Never Love a Cowboy. You’ll be hooked! Then you can move on to classic Nan Ryan and Elizabeth Lowell. Those will heat up your saddle, if you know what I mean. *w*
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:11 pm
I think I could write a chapter in any romance subgenre, although I would certainly find Medieval, urban fantasy, and erotica more of a challenge. But when it comes to committing to a book, my range is much more limited. I could not sustain a historical voice, and I could not maintain sufficient interest in the subgenres I rarely read. I actually thought I would like to write an inspirational until I read the “rules” and found them so restrictive.
I should add, however, that there are some excellent writers who write inspirationals. Beth Pattillo, for one.
Stephanie J, may I recommend Lorraine Heath’s Texas trilogy or anything by Maggie Osborne if you are looking for a good introduction to western romances?
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:17 pm
See Steph - now you have two of us recommending Heath’s books. LOL! Seriously, they’re that good.
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:35 pm
I’m going to jump on the inspirational bandwagon for a minute here. I don’t think I could ever write one in the way they are written now. Let me explain what I mean.
I’ve tried to read a couple of them - by choice - to see what they were all about, aside from the obvious. I’ve found them trying too hard to follow those guidelines and kind of fashioning themselves in the vein of traditional Regencies. Now, traditional Regencies do not have sex in them but they do pack a punch and you feel the tension between the hero and heroine. Not so much in the inspirationals and that’s what’s keeping me from reading more. And that is also why I don’t think I can write them. You don’t need explicit sex in all books but the build up can be magnificent.
I’ll fold my soap box back up now but I’ll also add that I don’t think I could write paranormals. M’hat’s off to those that do I just don’t think I have the skills at hand to convincingly world build.
Terri - It sounds like your retreat was fabulous. I can’t believe it’s already happened!
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:58 pm
Wow, there are a lot of heathens on this ship.
Awesome.
Kidding. I know you’re not really heathens.
But I think Santa has nailed it for me. There isn’t hardly any sexual tension in a typical inspirational. Mainly, and forgive me if I’m wrong, but quite a lot of sexual tension is about a) imagining someone naked and b) getting them into bed. Which for an inspirational would be breaking rule #7 (which doesn’t fornication/lust fall under the adultery category? Dang it, I know it’s a rule. Just maybe not where I thought it was at.) Anyway, there’s that whole Jimmy Carter thing of lusting/sinning in your heart–so you can’t have sexual tension because technically speaking, it’d be…sinful. Sorta kinda. (It’s a wonder any God-fearing people make love at all with all the guilt associated with wanting someone else.)
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:10 pm
Great job with the description Ter. Great blog!
As a writer, I couldn’t write an inspirational. Or a self help/instructional unless it was an instructional into top secret ninja monkey stuff, and that’s the sort of thing that requires black noted Zen tips like “always sharpen your bananas before using them to slice” and “always look inward at your inner ninja in times of ninja doubt”.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:27 pm
Many I need to read the tenants of how to write an inspirational but I’d have to say that I’ve read plenty of sexual tensions that does not include any ‘coveting’ of any kind but the fission that exists and the ‘hightened awareness’, if you will, can be written in such a way that the reader really does need a cigarette afterwards and nary a hair is mussed.
June 23rd, 2008 at 3:42 pm
I remember reading this category romance back in the 80s (this is rare, because I never read categories), but it was about a preacher who fell in love with a model (who, of course, had fallen off the straight and narrow)–and the last thing she wants is to fall in love with a preacher and become a preacher’s wife. But it was handled REALLY WELL. It had sexual tension, but still handled the fact he was a man of God in such a way that was believable without being preachy.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:24 pm
Didn’t LaVyrle Spencer write a book with a heroine that was a nun? I think it’s called Then Came Heaven. *glances over to keeper shelf* And I have two copies. How did that happen? Hmmmm
Santa - the retreat is not until this weekend. I just had to have the thing written before then so I finished it over the weekend. I’ll report back next week how it goes over.
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:41 pm
Oh. Um. Never mind, lol!
June 23rd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
I’d like to read more romances that are not labeled inspirationals but that focus on characters who have a spiritual dimension to their lives. One of the many reason that I am a huge Mary Jo Putney fan is that she does this so well in books like Thunder and Roses and The Spiral Path (the first historical, the other contemporary).
That’s the kind of book that I want to write–not a didactic novel but one that shows characters who believe in something larger than themselves and who struggle and sometimes fail to live lives in line with their ideals.
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Amen, Janga. That is kind of what I hope to accomplish. Wisdom doesn’t come without falling down every now and again. And if we were always on the mountain we’d never see the beauty of the valley. If I would have stayed hiding behind a mask of religious superiority I never would have discovered a beautiful world unknown to me. And I never would have discovered the treasure of God’s mercy and grace.
Ok, I’m stepping down from the podium. Someone please pass the rum. I’m a little dry.
I’m actually trying to read two inspirationals. I find them, dare I say, boring. And I don’t think it is the lack of sexual tension. I’m not sure what it is as of yet. But Santa, you are correct, they try to hard to fit into guidelines where if the Bible had to fit it would be rejected. For the most part I find them unrealistic and I love to write real characters.
Terri, I have a few contemporaries in the works, but I’m not sure I like my voice, at least not in romance.
Renee
June 23rd, 2008 at 7:39 pm
OMGosh, Sin, I would so buy the top secret ninja monkey stuff.
Renee
June 25th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
Anything contemporary. I have so many ideas swirling in my head, but I’m frozen by the thought of writing people in this day and age and all the work that goes into it.
June 25th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Evangeline - I feel the exact same way about historicals. I feel totally comfortable writing people in modern day, but I can’t imagine trying to create them in one or two hundred years ago. I could never do medieval.