As I near “the End” of my book, revisions cast their dark shadow over my future.   *cue menacing music* dun dun dahhhhh .

While I’ve been writing, I’ve stopped and made comments on a page in my journal called the “To Be Revised” page.  I decided that instead of stopping constantly to fix the things I was sure would need to be fixed later I would write them down so I could remember them when I trotted back through. 

Though many of my “To Be Revised” notes are specific and of no use to you (and of questionable use to me), there are some that seem general and perhaps applicable to everyone.  Here are a few snippets:

-          Check for any adverbs I can avoid

-          Plot out motivation to make certain it is consistent throughout

-          Check for plot holes

-          Strengthen verbs

As I read back through these notes, I started surfing around online to find other writing rules that might help direct me through my revising.  Here are some fun ones:

Kurt Vonnegut’s eight rules for writing fiction:

1. Use the time of a total stranger in such a way that he or she will not feel the time was wasted.

2. Give the reader at least one character he or she can root for.

3. Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water.

4. Every sentence must do one of two things — reveal character or advance the action.

5. Start as close to the end as possible.

6. Be a sadist. No matter how sweet and innocent your leading characters, make awful things happen to them — in order that the reader may see what they are made of.

7. Write to please just one person. If you open a window and make love to the world, so to speak, your story will get pneumonia.

8. Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.

– Vonnegut, Kurt Vonnegut, Bagombo Snuff Box: Uncollected Short Fiction (New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons 1999), 9-10.

Sort of an interesting take, huh?  I particularly like the cockroaches bit.

Here’s George Orwell’s list, though it’s more grammar driven than fiction driven:

1.       Never use a metaphor, simile or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.

2.       Never use a long word where a short one will do.

3.       If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.

4.       Never use the passive where you can use the active.

5.       Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.

6.       Break any of these rules sooner than say anything barbarous.

George Orwell, Politics and the English Language (Horizon, 1946)

That last one is the greatest reminder to me not to get carried away trying to follow ”the rules.” 

In the end, there are always exceptions to every rule.

What writing rule do you have the most trouble with?  What writing rule do you think is complete bunk?  What writing rule do you think is vital to good fiction (my personal favorite being show, don’t tell)?

Sorry I’m late this morning everyone.   Hopefully there’s still some rum left.  *dirty look at the pirates already smiling goofily.*

I just wrote a big black moment a couple of days ago.  I’ve been waiting for this part of my book for months now and I thought once I got there, it would be smooth sailing. 

Of course, I was wrong.

I didn’t want it to be over-emotional because too much drama seems silly.  But I wanted it to tug at my readers’ heartstrings too, in an honest way, a way that felt real to them.

Doing this was more difficult than I realized.  It seems attempting to string out your reader can string out the writer in the process.  *sigh*

I tried to write it from my heroine’s point of view, but she was the one who was really hurting in the scene (she already knew she was in love with the hero, she’s just waiting on his thick-headed self to get with the program).  Writing her pain first hand was a little too overdone.  So, I switched and wrote it in my hero’s point of view.

It worked for me (I hope) because my hero acted like a real jerk.   He said some things that, as one of the pirates pointed out, would have been hard to forgive if we hadn’t seen his motivation from his perspective. 

Then we watch my heroine’s pain from his POV, where it’s still apparent, but not so hit-you-over-the-head as to be overdramatic (I hope).

At the end, I cried, railing at him for being so stubborn and trying to tell her that it would be alright if she just didn’t give up on him.

Hopefully that’s how my reader feels about it after their read as well.

Have you ever written a black moment and if so, was it easy or difficult for you?  How did you get through?  Have you ever read a black moment in a book that really tugged at your heart?  Or one that you just didn’t connect with for some reason?  Why?

Something very strange happened to me this weekend.  My husband’s best friend asked me about my writing.  He and his wife were over to visit and he brought it up in dinner conversation.  As in, “how’s your book coming along?”

In typical self-conscious fashion, I immediately wondered if maybe my DH was complaining about my writing or putting it down to his friend.  So, as soon as this question left his friend’s mouth, I started looking between faces at the table, trying to gage if there was any mocking in anyone’s expression.  But, my hubby gazed back at me encouragingly and his friend and his friend’s wife had heads tilted in interest.

The first surprising thing about this was that my husband had obviously talked to his friend about how I was writing a book.  Oh, I’d never told him not to tell his friends; I just never expected him to tell them of his own volition.   My hubby is supportive of my writing, but sometimes I think he’s uncomfortable talking about the details of the story.  (“Honey, do you think it’s more romantic if he puts his hand in her hair or on the small of her back?” = DH running away, face hidden, to look up sports or something else manly on the internet).  

So, to find out that he’d probably been bragging to his friend about me was sweet and touching.

Then, his friend was genuinely interested enough to ask me about it, then continue to express how cool he thought it was, for the span of several minutes. 

Well, having his friend– a guy and “a guy’s guy” at that– go on and on about how cool it was that I was writing a romance novel was embarrassing for me.

I’m usually a confident person and I don’t embarrass easily.  And I’m honestly to the point in my writing where I don’t really care if people don’t think it’s important enough to spend my time on or if they’re going to be Debbie Downer about it.  So, even though scoffing and put downs still frustrate me and make me uncomfortable when I have to defend myself, they don’t pose any threat to stopping me anymore.

But, this open enthusiasm was a different story.  I found myself playing it down.  I was like, “well, I don’t know how it’ll go, but I’m going to put it out there anyway” and “maybe it’ll never get published but at least I’m more experienced for my next try.” 

Afterwards, I wasn’t sure why I did this.  I should have felt as confident in the face of praise as I did in the face of scorn.  I just wasn’t prepared for it, especially from such an unexpected source.

It was nice.  Really nice.

Have you ever received praise either for your writing or for something else that embarrassed you?  How did you react?  Is praise from someone unexpected any better than praise from someone expected?  Why do you or don’t you think so?

I started reading Harlequins in middle school.  Don’t hate on my mom, she took me to the library and let me rent books, even bought me some.  I just always read through them faster than she could keep me in them.   And when there was nothing else in the house, I reached for my mom’s Harlequins.  It was that or stereo instructions.  I’m sure you agree that Harlequins are a much better option.

Around the end of eighth grade, I picked up my first long historical.  And though I’d been reading romance for a while, I’ll still always remember this as my “first romance” because it’s the first one I can remember clearly.

It was The Gift by Julie Garwood. 

First of all, if you’ve never read Garwood, you should.  She’s witty and light but still has the emotional weight I love in my romances. 

Instead of getting into the details of the plot, as that’s not the real purpose of this post, I wanted to talk more about the experience of reading it. 

I remember laughing repeatedly; Garwood is the master of the one liner.  I remember there were pirates; even then I loved the adventure and suspense of pirating, but as it was longer than anything else I’d read, I really had a feel for the details.  I remember that the heroine, the very spunky Sara, was doing her best to make everyone love her, despite a knack for creating mayhem.  And I remember, as it was the longest one I’d ever read, feeling like I really cared about the characters so much that I didn’t want to leave them.  It was a grand, sweeping story and I knew I was smitten with romance on the spot.

From there, I started grilling my mother for other authors like Garwood.  I read Garwood’s entire backlist and then moved onto other big leaguers; Deveraux, Woodiwiss, Gabaldon, and fell in love with Judith McNaught. 

But, that first long historical is the novel that really got me into reading romance and therefore, it holds a special place in my heart.

How about you?  What romance novel was your “first,” the one to get you into reading romance voraciously, and why do you remember it so clearly?  Or, is there a novel that introduced you to a new subgenre? 

I’m nearing the end of my WIP.  Ok, I’m not nearly as near to the end as I’d like to be, but I can see that beacon of light at the end of the tunnel.

But, I’m afraid my black moment is going to create a few difficulties to my plot.  I hear the pirates grumbling.   “What hasn’t created difficulties to your plot, Marnee?” 

This may be a deal breaker, though.

*Pause for dramatic effect.*

My Regency heroine is going to save my hero’s life in the end.

In fact, she’s been saving him in bits and pieces throughout the story.  She’s a witch and she’s been called by Fate to save him.  One doesn’t mess with Fate, after all.  But, in the final moment, she’s going to sacrifice herself for him.

Well, almost anyway.  They do need their HEA so she obviously can’t die.  But, my hero won’t know that.

We write in the age of strong heroines.  In fact, I’ve started wondering if paranormals have taken off so dramatically because they allow for alphas that don’t seem like stalkers and still can hold up against the strong women in recent novels.  But, that’s another blog.

The neurosis for this blog is that I have been worrying that having my heroine save my hero might make my hero look too weak.

I feel horrible about this.  The feminist inside me screams that strong women don’t equal weak men, that a woman’s strength doesn’t downplay a man’s masculinity. 

But, I’m concerned that others might disagree, or at least the fantasy part of others, especially as my story is in a historical setting.  I’ve qualified it by telling myself that since she’s magical, she can be strong and it’ll be ok. 

Hey, it’s my little world; I’ll live here if I want.

What do you think?  Do you think a heroine saving a hero downplays the hero’s masculinity?  What about a heroine in a historical saving a hero?  What do you think makes it ok and what do you think makes it wrong?

<– (That’s what I looked like while I was writing my synopsis)

So, after much angsting on my part (ok, that isn’t a word, but it should be) I’ve decided to enter the “Put Your Heart In A Book” contest through the NJ Romance Writers.   The finalists in the category I’m entering are judged by people that I would love LOVE to work with.   While it is presumptuous to think I’ll even make it that far, I figured now’s as good of a time as any to get myself started.  So, I decided to dive in.

The only problem with this decision is that I had to write a synopsis.

Ugh.

The mere thought of writing a synopsis has filled me with terror.  I’m writing a book that will end up somewhere between 90-100K long.  How in the name of all that is good in the world am I going to condense that into a few pages and still make sense?

*shudder*

But, the deadline for the contest is June 15 so I needed to get going on it.

What does one do when they are faced with a task so enormous they don’t feel they can do it on their own?  Why, of course!  I checked the internet!

Here are a few websites I found useful, for your future synopsis writing needs:

1)      http://lirw.org/synopsis.html - This site was by far the most beneficial to me.  The author broke down the synopsis writing process into an exercise in answering 10 questions (hey, I can even answer 10 questions).  Then, the darling person gave me an example using “Beauty and the Beast.”  Ten easy questions and an example from a children’s movie?  That’s right!  It was as if they were writing right at me!  I went through and answered the questions and though it gave me a bare bare bones outline of my story, it was a great beginning. 

2)       http://www.writing-world.com/publish/synopsis.shtml - This site suggested creating an outline first, then instilling the outline with more enthusiastic description.   It also contains a list of don’t dos that helped me.

3)      http://www.fictionwriters.com/tips-synopsis.html  - This site included a checklist that helped me out and some basic guidelines.  It was a short article which I found beneficial because I get ADD when I read how-to stuff

After reading through these sites, I had some direction and started plugging away.  But, my first draft was, well, boring.  Really boring.  Then, one of my darling pirate wenches told me that my voice was one of my strengths and I should try to add that in there.

What, my synopsis should reflect me?  Revolutionary, I say!

But, it definitely helped, though I think I should check it out again, now that a day has gone by since I read it last.

It has helped that I started writing the thing a week ago.  Giving myself some time to leave it and come back a few times has helped me because I keep finding places to revise.

My last suggestion for you all is to check the contest website for any scoresheet/guidelines they give you.  I know that sounds self-explanatory but the PYHIAB contest has a part of their scoresheet devoted to the synopsis.  Referencing it helped me to focus my synopsis.

Have you written a synopsis?  If so, how was the process?  Any suggestions you can add to mine?  Any websites you found particularly helpful?  Did you just read my post and stick your fingers in your ears mumbling, “la la la, I can’t hear you, la la la!!”?

As a historical writer, I find it hard to not get all riled up when I’m doing research.  Recently, I read an article about asylums in nineteenth century England and the conditions of those classified mental ill and it made me want to throw something.  Especially when the article mentioned that women who were too difficult to control were likely to find themselves considered “lunatics” and sent away.   

From child labor to the conditions of the poor in Regency England, I can easily work myself into hysterics over these past events I read about knowing full well that abuses to children, the poor, and women still happen today, though the forms these abuses take may appear different than they did then.

My research inevitably finds its way into my work.  My WIP mentions asylums in two capacities; my witches are worried that if they are discovered they will be sent there and my villain ends up there at the end.   When I write about asylums, I mention the horrors I’ve read about, hoping that others who read my work will be as disturbed by them as I am. 

Misery loves company, I suppose.

Sometimes I worry that I’m standing atop my soapbox when I write, trying to push some sort of hidden agenda.  I try to make sure that any information I give has basis on the plot or the characters.  But, I think that there is always some level of ulterior motivation when it comes to what we write.  We want our readers to react and chances are we have a wish as to how we want them to react.

In Perfect by Judith McNaught, there is an entire subplot about illiteracy.  I remember reading about the levels of illiteracy in the US today and being stunned.  I’m sure that was Ms. McNaught’s intention, to raise awareness, and I believe that she donated some of the funds from the book to a charity fighting illiteracy.

I would never deem to hold myself up next to Judith McNaught, but I can see how something I feel strongly about would find its way into my work.  In fact, I’d expect my thoughts about controversial issues like war, child welfare, poverty, etc. have found their way into my work already, though I hope in the context of characterization and plot instead of outright preaching. 

Do you think it is ok for our work to make a statement about a controversial topic?  Do you think we can avoid that from happening?  Do you think we should even try to avoid it?

As I’ve been working up to writing my sex scene, I’ve been reading over my entire story. 

*GM dodges behind a barrel on deck as the Captain makes for her with an empty rum bottle, screeching, “Write AS IF!!”*

*GM holds out her arms in a defensive motion.*   I know!  I am not supposed to reread until I’m done, but I assure you it was necessary.

*The Captain returns to her seat, muttering and still appearing suspicious though pacified for the moment.*

*GM sighs, visibly relieved, and continues.*

As I started writing my love scene, I realized that I wasn’t confident that I’d built the sexual tension between my characters as well as I could have.   I started reading back through and found plenty of spots to shore up the tension.

Sandra Brown said somewhere that sexual tension is created by using “exaggerated awareness.”  Basically, every time the hero and heroine meet every sense between them should be electrified.

I tried to recall any time in my life I’ve felt like that and the closest I can remember required me to do a time travel back to middle school and relive my first real crush. 

*The Gunner begins moving her hands up and down a la Wayne and Garth in SNL*  Dododo, dododo…..

To me, he was Adonis.  He was very athletic and I remember he had the best body of all the boys in our grade (probably not difficult when compared to a bunch of eighth graders).  I would spend extraordinary amounts of time lying on my bed listening to music in my angst-ridden adolescent glory, dreaming of his muscular body and girlishly wishing for kisses and touches from him.

This was all horribly unrequited, of course.  He was “going with” the head of the cheerleaders and probably didn’t even notice me beyond the time he picked me to be in his science group.  Then I hoped pathetically that it was a show of affection.  Now I’m certain it was because I was a geekily good student.  *cue Taylor Swift’s Teardrops On My Guitar*

Every time he came into the room it was as if I could sense him even before I saw him.  His every movement set my little pre-pubescent heart thumping.  When he was near, I could hardly breathe and talking, HA!  I doubt I ever said more than one syllable to him at a time with the sum total of all of my syllables to him ever equaling one sentence, maybe.   My body would feel paralyzed when he was around and if I even thought his gaze was on me, I would blush horribly and my movements would feel jerky. 

Back then, those new experiences were equally awful and wonderful.  Half of me wanted to be around him while the other hated to be in his presence.

I imagine exaggerated awareness being something like that, though hopefully without the more mortifying aspects of adolescent misery.   I’ve been attempting to harness all that girly stuff for my characters’ benefits and trying not to dwell on my juvenile silliness.   

Though, maybe that juvenile silliness is the very innocence and vulnerability my characters need.

How do you create sexual tension in your WIP?  Any thoughts on Exaggerated Awareness?  How about horrible unrequited love stories?  *sigh*

Well, the Captain spoke about sex scenes on Tuesday.  But, as I’m in the middle of writing my first one and that’s all I’ve been able to think about this week, I’m piggy-backing off her blog.  (I know, PIRATE!).

I said that my sex scene is all I’ve been able to think about this week, but that’s kinda not the truth.  I have spent this entire week trying not to think about my sex scene. 

It actually started last week.  I knew the scene was coming, but I’d been hoping when the time came, I could just go with the flow and let it take me.

Alas, that is not what has happened.

I got to “the point.”  You know, where we (me and my characters) knew it was time for them to get it on.  I got the whole scene set up the equivalent of writing foreplay, very romantic, but then, the awkwardness came.

I thought such things were left to real life first time encounters, but I was mistaken.

What do they do?  How do they really feel about each other?  If they were real people, how would they be reacting in this situation?

I didn’t know either.

I started to doubt myself.  What if I’d been writing a romance novel and my characters weren’t even that into each other?  It’s like that relationship where you invest all this time getting to know the other person on a metaphysical level only to find that they just don’t “do” it for you. 

Wait, has that only happened to me?   I digress.

Mostly, I fear writing my sex scene because I’m afraid that while I’m tearing down all the boundaries between my characters and stripping them raw for all the world to see, that I’m perhaps breaking down barriers between myself and every single person who reads my work. 

I am silly, sarcastic my fair share of the time, and self-deprecating more often than not.  When I write these things, I doubt I’ll be able to hide behind all that.  Will people be able to see ME in my words?

In other words, am I doing the writing equivalent of running naked in public?

My answer:  maybe.  Probably a little, but maybe not.  Who knows?  And I don’t think we as writers can ever worry about it or we’ll paralyze ourselves, shut ourselves off from our readers and make our writing ineffective.  If we want to connect with readers, we need to find those things that strike a universal chord.  And love, well, that’s a big one, the one that’s most important to me.  And sex, well, sex in my sex scene, if it’s with the right person (and my characters have found the right people) it should showcase love and get me closer to that goal.

Have you ever written a sex scene and if so, how’d it go?  How about streaking?  Not interested in that topic?  Ok, well, how about telling me what about writing makes you feel the most vulnerable?

I make Thanksgiving dinner for my husband’s family every year.  Well, except the year I was in the hospital delivering my son.  They let me off the hook that year.  Usually the total guest list stretches to between 12-15 people.  I make a huge meal: turkey, stuffing, and all the trimmings.  Preparing the sheer mass of food can be a daunting process.  But, I manage and before I know it we all tuck in.  Then, in a sickeningly short period of time (consider it takes me days to get the food there in the first place), we all sit there, full, sleepy, and happy specimens of gluttony.

When I start preparations for Thanksgiving dinner, I generally feel like I’ll never get it all finished in time.  Let’s face it, Thanksgiving, though ridiculously yummy, is a high-maintenance, high-preparation, and high-stress meal.  Well, unless you’re parked on the couch watching football as my culinarily-deficient husband, then it’s not so bad.

But, for me, it’s a huge undertaking. 

As is the process of writing my novel.

I approached writing my novel similar to the way I approach Thanksgiving dinner.  I wrote lists and I tried to visualize accomplishing all the tasks necessary to finishing.

I’ve encountered similar obstacles as I do while making Thanksgiving dinner.   I swing viciously between annoyance that it is taking so long to get finished and giddiness that it’s almost done.  At times, I doubt that I’ll ever get it done and then I buckle down and attempt new and more efficient techniques.

This entire roller coaster has made me appreciate the value of micro-thinking.  If I stand back and stare at where I am in the course of my WIP, I start to get overwhelmed by whatever emotion has been riding so close to the surface.  Whether that’s doubt, elation, or plain old confusion, looking at the writing of a novel from a macro perspective can be daunting, the same way looking at preparing a huge meal for 12-15 can be daunting.

But, if I break down the huge task into smaller tasks, it becomes more doable.  In my novel, I have tried to focus on the goal of each scene separately and let the huge task of WRITING THE NOVEL take care of itself.

I’ve accomplished Thanksgiving each year by breaking it into smaller tasks.  Who says it can’t work for my story?

And I hope that at the completion of this process I feel pride and satisfaction that dwarfs the pride and satisfaction of a successful dinner party.

How do you keep the huge task of writing from overwhelming you?  Do you (even you panters) focus on scene goals?  Ever thrown a huge dinner party?  Got any tips for me?  (Hey, I’m a pirate; it’s in my nature to use you as a resource.)