Villa in Tuscany

The Meat and Potatoes

2008-01-23T08:18:00.000-08:00

I know I've touched on this topic before but sometimes it hits me and I feel like talking about it again. I'm talking about the core emotions involved in a book. The deep center of a story which defies a pure definition; the heart and soul of a novel.

Some books are easy. Probably not for the writers but for the readers. I'm sure in high school and college you had to dissect a book, dig in for the deeper meaning. Books like "To Kill a Mockingbird" were pretty obvious along with most Shakespearean plays. Some aren't so easy. Who knew "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" was about more than a kid on a raft? I still remember hissing "the horror, the horror" for more reasons than one after reading "The Heart of Darkness" in high school.

At the time I really had no other understanding why my teachers were forcing this crap down my throat. I didn't have a whole lot of interest in writing at the time. I think my career goal at that time was to become Mrs. Adam Ant or President of the United States. But when I started writing I finally figured out why all this is important.

The meat and potatoes of a story is the emotions evoked. Our personal stories are based on the emotional issues we feel. But our own lives are not played out in the extreme. In our fiction, we have the freedom to get as extreme as we want. In reality, we might be sad because the San Diego Chargers won't be going to the Superbowl. When we write, we need to kick that emotion up a notch. In our novel, we might translate that emotion into something else. Maybe our heroine is despondent because her husband went to Vegas and bet the farm on the Chargers and now the bank is going to foreclose and they are out of a home. Now if we wrote literary fiction, we could keep this heroine down. But if you are writing commercial fiction, you gotta bring her back up. For us, our sadness will be eased because we know next season will be back before you know it and the Chargers will have a chance again. That's not going to work for our heroine, it's going to take more. Maybe she discovers her secret half-brother plays for the Chargers and he pays off the bank loan. Her home is safe again AND she had found a sibling she never knew existed. The happiness she experience is twofold.

We as writers need to take those everyday emotions and make them worse or better. It is the heart of our story. It really doesn't matter what genre you are writing in, whether it features a Regency miss or a vampire-hunting amazon, the foundation is the same. Too often I can see authors who forget that the heart and soul is what is important. They start thinking it is their characters and plots that are bringing in the readers. And that may work for a book or two, but eventually a reader will drift away if they aren't getting the satisfaction of hard emotions.

After a long hiatus from writing, I started back again. I wrote 7 pages of a story and realized I had no idea what emotions were driving the novel. It was more of a mish-mash of normal emotions. Seven pages is too long to go without evoking the emotions I want. Instead of starting with the story, I need to start with the core emotions I want to explore and go from there building my characters and my plot. And if you are one that does a lot of pre-writing, maybe make a character chart for the emotions you want to explore and the issues you want to delve into. In the end, it makes for a more satisfying read and an easier write.

Believe In Me

2007-11-07T14:15:00.000-08:00

To the agents and the publishers who've given me the nice rejection letter that invariably states, "World War II is a hard sell" or "we're not looking for this type of story", I have three words:

Believe in me.

That's all I ask.

I've done my homework. I've studied my craft. I've written a terrific query letter. I've written a detailed synopsis. I know all about marketing. I worked in a book publishing marketing department for two years. I have written more than 500 back cover copy blurbs for fiction and nonfiction. I have a blog. I network. I have attended writing workshops. Belonged to writing groups. Have critique partners. Entered contests. Wrote two novels - complete and finished, not drafts. I've read and read and read. I keep up on the industry. The Publisher's Lunch email lands in my inbox every single day. I read published authors' blogs. Read agents' blogs. Make deadlines for myself. Have writing friends who encourage and support me. Have a family who encourages and supports me.

I write. And I write some more.

I don't write what's hot - I write what I love.

Believe in me.

Take a chance. Read it. Start a new trend, a trend that features the Greatest Generation because that's what I, and many, many others - write about: the Greatest Generation. I write about their struggles to live in a world at war. I write about a war that drew the distinction between good and evil. I write about good triumphing over evil.

Believe in me.

Let's Toast Your Success

2007-07-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

Did you get any writing done? I got maybe a page. However, I've written 1200 words since BIAW ended. So perhaps it did some good.

Even if you didn't accomplish your writing goals, hopefully you spent some time thinking about your writing and placing it higher on your priority list. With all of the other hats we wear during the day, it is hard to remember that we are writers and we owe it to ourselves to indulge our passion.

OH, Come ON! Can't you BLEEPING WRITE?

2007-07-12T06:42:00.000-07:00

No Chef! Yes, Chef! Sorry Chef!

As you can see, Dirty Harry's warm, cuddly approach hasn't had its desired effect and I'm moving on to Chef Gordon Ramsay of Hell's Kitchen fame. I have been an utter slug about writing until the evening and suddenly I caught literary fire. But then my hubby got home and I had to work on dinner. However, I did come up with some great stuff later on in the evening. So though I didn't actually write, I had a mental break through for my plot. Sometimes that is worth a thousand words.

Did you get your writing done? Well did ya, punk?

2007-07-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

As much as I hate to say this, especially with Clint's steely gaze fastened on me, I have to confess, I didn't get a word written. I have no real good excuse (I got watching a documentary yesterday afternoon about people waking from comas). I fell asleep last night before I could get near a computer.

But there is always today.

This is a forgiving BIAW, kind of like "Weight Watchers." Don't worry about what you didn't do yesterday and focus on what you do today. Hopefully some of you did have some sucess. Please share with us who might need a little extra boost.

BIAW Begins Tomorrow

2007-07-08T12:04:00.001-07:00

Gerard has that smokey look in his eyes because his is thrilled with the idea of you writing this week. Lets not disappoint him. Make sure you check in tomorrow with your word count. Let us know what your are working on as well.

BIAW: Summer Edition

2007-07-06T11:03:00.000-07:00

Summertime and the livin' is easy. I don't know about you, but I've gotten lazy. So its time to put a kick in writing and do a BIAW (Book In A Week). This is a time to focus on your WIP and devote a little extra attention and hopefully rekindle the spark of your creativity.

It starts on Monday. Post your totals and lets all celebrate and encourage one another.

The End

2007-02-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

This is it, the last day of our BIAW. Post your totals and share your progress.

Mine wasn't nearly as much as I'd like, but I did finish a chapter and started a new WIP. It was more writing than I'd done in awhile. I only did about 20 pages, but it was real progress.

I'd like to host another BIAW in March, but I don't think I will be able to. It is going to be a busy month and I'm not sure I will get anytime to write, including blogging.

April will be a good month. The blooming of the flowers, the promise of Spring, it should provide us with plenty of inspiration to write.

Thank you for participating.

Lucky Shoes

2007-02-15T22:14:00.000-08:00

Author Rebecca Forster's advice is to get yourself a pair of lucky shoes. She said this once in a presentation I saw her give at a chapter meeting and she told me again when I talked to her at a book signing.

Shoes are wonderful things. They don't care if we are 20lbs. overweight or having a bad hair day. A cute pair of shoes looks cute no matter what. They make you feel good. And that is how writing should make you feel. Oh sure, we have those moments when writing becomes difficult, particularly as we advance in our careers and writing becomes more than a dream. Even the cutest shoes give blisters. But we should be able to look down at our feet and admire them in their lucky shoes and we should feel the same way about our book.

I wrote the sequel to a book that was out in submissions. I knew it wasn't the wise thing but I couldn't help it. The story burst forth and I wrote in in a couple of months. The first book wasn't picked up by any agent ergo the sequel isn't going anywhere either. But it doesn't matter. I love the story and will pull it up to read it just for the pure enjoyment of it. Its like that cute pair of shoes you know you don't need or have anything to wear with, but they give you pleasure just looking at them. This book does the same thing for me.

So get yourself some lucky shoes. Not at Wal Mart or Payless, but at a nice store (the shoes pictured are the ones I'm going to buy at Nordstroms). There is no reason for them except they give you pleasure in some way. And when you look at them, remember why you write. For the joy of it.

My page count yesterday was miserable. Not surprising considering it was Valentine's Day. I wrote 5 pages today. This brings me to 50 pages for my current WIP and the end of the 3rd chapter...enough for a proposal. So tomorrow I'm going to move onto something different. I feel like exploring. I have a historical and another dark fantasy in mind, so I might try those tomorrow.

Brick Wall

2007-02-14T07:46:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was not a good writing day. I only did 3 pages. I felt like I was hitting a brick wall. I'm not sure why, in the bright light of morning, it looks fine, but yesterday, my mind couldn't go any further.

Brick walls are nothing new in writing, we hit them all the time. How do you deal with it? Do you get out your climbing gear and find a way over it or do you punch through? Do you find the wall so impenetrable that you abandon it altogether? I've been guilty of that one before.

Sometimes the brick wall has nothing to do with the WIP but something else entirely. Had those moments when there seems to be a brick wall sitting on your keyboard?

What sorts of strategies do you employ to get passed this obstacle?

James Bond Says Get Your Pages Done

2007-02-13T06:44:00.000-08:00

Sorry, I wrote this post last night and my computer froze before I could post it. Darn computer.

I got six pages done. Once I sat down and started writing, I had little trouble getting the pages to flow. But getting my butt into the chair was tough. So I made promises to myself. If I got my pages done, I could read, surf the web, clean my pantry, play a video game, etc. I needed the proverbial carrot on the stick.

Do you ever need to see a reward at the end or is the writing enough? And is Daniel Craig staring at you with his shirt off pretty good inspiration? It inspires me, that's for sure.

Romancing your Romance: BIAW Begins!

2007-02-11T07:11:00.000-08:00

Is your WIP clamoring for attention? Do you remember your hero or heroine's name? Are there cobwebs on your keyboard?

If so, its time to blow off the dust on your creativity and get down to business. To celebrate Valentine's Day, we are going to share some lovin' with our writing. For one week, we are going to put some extra focus on our WIP and see why we fell in love with writing in the first place.

If anyone has done NaNoWriMo, then you have some idea how this works. In a Book In A Week, we are going to spend a week putting our writing at a priority. We are going to crank out as many words as we can for the next week.

Today, think long and hard about what you want to accomplish. What kind of word count do you think is reasonable? I always aim low, that way I feel even better if I go over. Post what your goal is and everyday check in with what you've done or if you are having a problem. I'll post everyday with something to inspire you or something like that.

And no, you don't have to be working on a romance to join in, I just liked the title. My WIP isn't a romance per se, so there you go.

This may mean you are going to have to skip a "CSI" or record "American Idol," but it is only for one week and your WIP will be grateful.

I'm going to start:

My Goal is five pages a day. I'll be working on "Fianna Unleashed," the sequel to my book out with editors.

The Hero's Journey

2007-02-02T09:50:00.000-08:00

This is an article I wrote for my RWA chapter newsletter and I thought I would share here.

Stories have beginnings, middles and ends. A story progresses through a series of scenes to achieve those elements. Pretty simple, particularly if you write genre fiction. But I have found writers losing their way, adding extraneous elements to their story that makes it confusing, diminishing the value of the story.

One problem a writer faces is the bombardment of rules, exercises, etc. which tell them what they can and can’t write. Is your GMC in place? Watch those POV’s. You have too many characters. You don’t have enough characters. The list is endless. These are guidelines pure and simple but it seems as if we writers have internalized them as law.

Hence I’m talking about another one. Oh great, just we need. However, it is as old as stories themselves. Its relevant, there are stories which have existed thousands of years and we are still reading them and watching them as film.

The Hero’s Journey was made famous by Joseph Campbell in his Hero with a Thousand Faces. He points out the common thread of literature as it reflects with human experience, pointing out the elements of a person’s journey and how it is personified in literature.

I’m not going to go into the deep details since most of us have probably either learned or taught about heroes, archetypes, fatal flaws, etc. in high school English. But what I want to point out is how the basics of the hero’s journey can work for a writer.

The basic tenet of the hero’s journey is change. Whether your story is full of high adventure or pure romance, the hero or heroine must follow a journey and change. Along this journey the confront foes and allies, some real, some within their own psyche. Below are the basic elements of the hero’s journey:

1. Ordinary World – Limited Awareness
2. Call to Adventure – Increased Awareness
3. Refusal of the Call – Reluctance to Change
4. Meeting the Mentor – Overcoming Reluctance
5. Crossing the First Threshold – Committing to Change
6. Tests, Allies, Enemies – Experimenting with First Change
7. Approach the Inmost Cave – Preparing for Big Change
8. Ordeal – Attempting Big Change
9. Reward – Consequence of the Attempt
10. Road Back – Rededication to Change
11. Resurrection – Final Attempt at Big Change
12. Return with the Elixir – Final Mastery of the Problem

Within these steps are further breakdowns which discuss archetypes found in these journeys. I’m not going to go there for the purposes of this article. It isn’t necessary for this topic since it defeats the beauty of the hero’s journey.

The hero’s journey is simple. As you can see there are only twelve points to keep in mind and there is no rule that says you have to incorporate all of them. Rather, for writing, it works as a nice skeleton for a story. It allows the writer to incorporate other methods of plot development and the like.

The Writer’s Journey by Christopher Vogler incorporates these steps in a more practical manner for the contemporary writer. Although his book is geared more towards screenplays, his demonstrations of the elements of the journey help clarify the various points, giving further detail to the archetypes commonly seen.

Chances are you already incorporate much of the hero’s journey into your writing already. Some of the names have changed but they are basically the same. Black moments for Ordeals for example.

The hero’s journey basically provides a roadmap for a story. How much detail you want to take from it is up to you. It gives you a beginning, a middle and an end. What you use to achieve those elements depends on what you are comfortable with. So if you are stuck with a story and don’t not sure where to go, perhaps reviewing the hero’s journey might give you ideas, work you through a rough spot.

Labels

2007-01-12T09:47:00.000-08:00

I'm a historical romance writer. That was my belief for years. It was all I wanted to be. I researched, joined historical writing groups and knew what I was doing. While I was working on a historical book, another idea popped in my head. I started working on a contemporary paranormal, completely on the other end of the spectrum from my historical. It took off and I finished it before I finished my historical. In fact, I abandoned my historical (it had a fatal flaw) and focused on my paranormal. But I still considered it my side project. When I started submitting it, I got a lot of positive response on it. So maybe my first sale wouldn't be a historical, but still, I would get there with a historical romance.

Well, my paranormal never went anywhere after many requests and such. So I went back to historicals. I had a couple that I really liked, one in particular really caught my spark and I was diligently writing away. And then a fantasy story popped in my head. And it was in first person. So I went ahead and worked on it, alternating with the historical for time, maybe I was a historical romance writer who also wrote fantasy romance.

I'll cut to the chase, I finished it, submitted and landed an agent. Not only is this book not a historical, it really isn't a romance. Sure, the romantic element is strong, but it isn't the primary story line.

So not only am I not a historical romance writer, I'm not even a romance writer. It is a little freaky in my view. I've lived with one label for so long, it is hard to adjust.

Do you see yourself as a "such-and-such" writer? Can you wear more than one hat and be good in all of them?

Gut Instinct

2006-12-21T16:29:00.000-08:00

I'm doing some very minor revisions of my ms, getting ready to send it back to the agent. It's tough going. Not that the revisions are hard, they aren't and they are exceptionally minor. But I have to force myself not to take them further. When I finished this book, I revised it. Not much. Had some continuity errors and I needed to fix a few word choices. I went through it again. I changed some grammar and smoothed it out a bit. When I started to go through it a third time I stopped. My instinct was to leave it alone.

Apparently it was the right call. My agent feels its a very strong ms and needs little correction.

So now I'm on my revisions (I think I'm done) and I find myself trying to tinker with it. I shouldn't. Whatever my instinct was, it worked for this novel. Changing it might ruin the balance. So I'm running through it, finding only the scenes I feel need some change and leaving the rest alone. It is tough, though.

How about you? Do you have any instinct when it comes to writing and editing or are you more systematic?

Writing Challenge

2006-10-18T10:29:00.000-07:00

November is a big month for writing challenges. National Novel Writing Month occurs, challenging writers to produce 50K words within the month. I myself signed up for this. However, that's a lot, especially considering the holiday season. But I also find my writing takes a dive during the holidays which is a pity because it also a time where some kind of anchor can really help with stress.

So I'm setting up a challenge for the month. Write 15K words for the month. This averages about 500 words a day. Two pages. Whether you write everyday is up to you, but the goal is 15K words by November 30. I'm hoping this accomplishes two things: keeps us writing and forces us to take some time during the busy season to for ourselves doing something we love.

Sign up by November 1st. And if you are doing NaNoWriMo, you can count those pages as well. We'll try to have some fun during the month as well.

Day Six: September BIAW

2006-09-29T09:58:00.000-07:00

"All words are pegs to hang ideas on." ~ Henry Ward Beecher

"The faster I write the better my output. If I'm going slow I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words instead of being pulled by them." ~ Raymond Chandler

"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon." ~ Robert Cromier

"The artist, like the God of creation, remains within or behind or beyond or above his handiwork, invisible, refined out of existence, indifferent, paring his fingernails." ~ James Joyce

"Be yourself. Above all, let who you are, what you are, what you believe, shine through every sentence you write, every piece you finish."~John Jakes

Day Five: September BIAW

2006-09-28T09:18:00.000-07:00

"Writing is not a profession, occupation or job; it is not a way of life: it is a comprehensive response to life." --Gregory McDonald

“I write when I'm inspired, and I see to it that I'm inspired at nine o'clock every morning.” --Peter De Vries

"Every writer I know has trouble writing." --Joseph Heller

Day Four: September BIAW

2006-09-27T17:23:00.000-07:00

Thought for today:

Just write.

Day Three: September BIAW

2006-09-26T06:26:00.000-07:00

Take a "I CAN DO it!" attitude with your writing today.

"Write with major intent. Nothing less will do."
--Paul Raymond Martin

Day Two: September BIAW

2006-09-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

"Writing became such a process of discovery that I couldn't wait to get to work in the morning: I wanted to know what I was going to say. " --Sharon O'Brien

Have you made this discovery yet? Do you wake up in the morning and think, "I can't wait to write!"?

Before you sit down to write today, take a moment and ponder the above quote. Think about the process of discovery in your writing. Then clear your mind, take a deep breath, and put pen to paper (or fingers to keys) and let yourself write. Immerse yourself in your story. Feel every single emotion. Put yourself right there with your characters.

What will you discover today? The possibilities are endles...

Day One: September BIAW

2006-09-24T17:37:00.000-07:00

"Keep going. Writing is finally play, and there's no reason why you should get paid for playing. If you're a real writer, you'll write no matter what. "-- Irwin Shaw

"Writing a book is like driving a car at night. You only see as far as your headlights go, but you can make the whole trip that way." -- E.L. Doctorow

"The first secret of good writing: We must look intently, and hear intently, and taste intently." --James J. Kilpatrick

BIAW Set for Sunday!

2006-09-22T15:22:00.000-07:00

For those of you interested in doing a BIAW starting on Sunday, September 24 (or on Monday, if you'd prefer), please go ahead and leave a comment on this entry. I'll be posting encouragement throughout the week.

Hope to see you!

Day Seven

2006-08-20T07:45:00.000-07:00

This is it, the last day. Time to go for that push. We hope this BIAW has been helpful. Putting our writing at the forefront of our day is not always easy, but it can be rewarding.

We will be doing this again next month. I find that if I participate in a BIAW, the effects spill over into the next week and beyond. Hopefully it will do the same for you.

When you post your final totals, mention how you found this BIAW helpful or if you found it hindered you.

Thanks for participating! Happy Writing.

Day Six

2006-08-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

"Far away in the sunshine are my highest inspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see the beauty, believe in them and try to follow where they may lead."Lousia May Alcott

"An artist cannot fail; it is a success to be one."Charles Horton Cooley

"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken bird that cannot fly."Langston Hughes

"If you can imagine it,You can achieve it.If you can dream it,You can become it."William Arthur Ward

"Great deeds are usually wrought at great risks."Herodotus

"Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion."G.W.F. Hegel

"Sometimes when I consider what tremendousconsequences come from little things...I am tempted to think...There are no little things."Bruce Barton

Aren't these great quotes? Don't they inspire you? Well, if they don't, how about this?
or maybe this?

Or maybe this?

Pick your inspiration and run with it!!

DAY FIVE: BIAW - And Now, for Something Completely Different

2006-08-18T06:17:00.000-07:00

I think some of us are struggling in our writing this week. I know I did yesterday. Every word I wrote felt like I was giving birth. Ok, ok, since I have experienced the agonizing miracle of giving birth, that's not quite accurate. But you know what I mean.

I want to share an article I wrote a few years ago that might remind you why you write. And you'll know this is from a few years ago when you read the line, "Grabbed a handful of chocolate." I don't get to do that anymore! ;-)

I Write, Therefore I Am

By Melissa Marsh

Tonight I sat down at the computer to do my daily (or sometimes nightly) freewriting session. I grabbed a handful of chocolate, watched my dog’s chest rise and fall in sleep (and wondered at the same time how he could possibly be comfortable sleeping on my shoe), and clacked away on the keyboard in between sips of cold water while I tried to shut out the bickering between my two kids. Pretty normal in this household (unless I am without chocolate, in which case, a tic develops in my cheek).

But this evening’s writing produced a wayward thought that struck me quite hard:

What would I do it if I didn’t write?

Writing has been embedded in my life since the sixth grade. Before then, I had dabbled with the notion of being a teacher or a lawyer. But once the writing bug hit me, I didn’t want to do anything else. I even wrote to my favorite authors, asking, “Must I go to college? I don’t need a four-year degree to write a novel!” Thankfully, they urged me to continue my education – all of it would be fodder for the writing mill.

I loved college. My undergraduate years were full of self-discovery – I became independent, responsible, and self-sufficient. I also developed friendships that I still cherish today. But there wasn’t a day that went by that I didn’t think about writing. Not a single day.

After I graduated, it didn’t matter what job I ended up at – I always knew it would be temporary. My goal was to someday become a published novelist and to earn my living as a writer.

Years later, I still have that goal. Sure, life happened in the meantime – college, dating, marriage, children, graduate school, buying a house, etc.

But always, underlying it all, is my compulsion to write. It is ingrained so completely within my soul that I cannot imagine not writing.

So what would I do if I didn’t write?

If I could completely eradicate writing from my brain, well, I wouldn’t be me. Who knows what path my life would have taken if God had not put this desire to write within me? He had His reasons and I’ve come to believe I just have to let Him lead the way.

Quite simply, I’m a writer. This is who I am. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Copyright 2004 by MMarsh

DAY FOUR: BIAW

2006-08-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Feel like you've had it up to here with your writing? Characters not cooperating? Plot going in too many twists and turns to handle?

Don't despair! Just keep writing.

And if you need some inspiration, read a few of the quotes below - then get back to that WIP!

"The best advice on writing I've ever received is to take it seriously, because to do it well is all-consuming." - David Guterson

"Don't think and then write it down. Think on paper." - Harry Kemelman

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." - Jack London

"Just get it down on paper, and then we'll see what to do about it." - Maxwell Perkins.

DAY THREE: BIAW

2006-08-15T14:17:00.000-07:00

"There is no perfect time to write. There is only now." —Barbara Kingsolver

"If the writer has a masterpiece within, he had better save it on paper. Otherwise, none of us will ever miss it." — Steve Martini

"When I start a book, I always think it's patently absurd that I can write one. No one, certainly not me, can write a book 500 pages long. But I know I can write 15 pages, and if I write 15 pages every day, eventually I will have 500 of them." — John Saul

"The worst thing you write is better than the best thing you didn't write."—Unknown

DAY TWO of BIAW: Just Write!

2006-08-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

"Don't say you don't have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur, Michaelangelo, Mother Teresa, Leonardo da Vinci, Thomas Jefferson, and Albert Einstein." ~ H. Jackson Brown

"Writing is the only thing that, when I do it, I don't feel I should be doing something else." ~Gloria Steinem

"The art of writing is the art of applying the seat of the pants to the seat of the chair." ~Mary Heaton Vorse

"Good work doesn't happen with inspiration. It comes with constant, often tedious and deliberate effort. If your vision of a writer involves sitting in a cafe, sipping an aperitif with one's fellow geniuses, become a drunk. It's easier and far less exhausting." ~William Hefferman

"When I sit at my table to write, I never know what it’s going to be until I'm under way. I trust in inspiration, which sometimes comes and sometimes doesn't. But I don't sit back waiting for it. I work every day." ~Alberto Moravia

DAY ONE: Get Ready...Get Set...BIAW

2006-08-14T08:45:00.000-07:00

Ready to put your writing into overdrive? :-)

I'm excited by all those who are participating in Villa in Tuscany's First Annual BIAW! We're going to have a great time!

If you need to review what BIAW is all about, just scroll down a few posts until you find the links.

We'll keep this pretty simple - no need to clutter the muse with lots of rules, etc. This is pretty much the only rule you're going to need: when you've finished writing for the day, check in at Villa and leave a comment with what you did on the day you did it - whether it's two sentences, two paragraphs, two pages, it doesn't matter! If you're writing, you're doing great!

The biggest thing about BIAW is to turn your internal editor off and just write. I'll give you some great quotes to motivate you every day. And if you're struggling to get started, leave a comment and we'll try and help you out. We want this to be a fun, supportive, motivating exercise.

"If you write, good ideas must come welling up into you so that you have something to write. If good ideas do not come at once, or for a long time, do not be troubled at all. Wait for them. Put down little ideas no matter how insignificant they are. But do not feel, any more, guilty about idleness and solitude." -- Brenda Ueland

Sign Up for BIAW!

2006-08-08T10:57:00.000-07:00

BIAW is an acronym for Book In A Week. In a nutshell, this is the chance for you to devote one entire week to your novel. My local RWA chapter has done two of these BIAW's and they've been highly successful at motivating us. There really aren't any rules - just that we write. And if we write an entire book in that week - which is really, for most people, writing the "skeleton" of the book - all the better.

Since I have been in the midst of projects whenever we have a BIAW, I use this time to focus all my attention on my current WIP. And let me tell you - it gives me the desire, the drive, and the motivation to write.

There are several ways to do a BIAW - you have to choose what is best for you. Here are a few links you can check out.

BIAW as explained by April Kihlstrom

Historical romance author Gaelen Foley talks about her experience with BIAW (scroll down toward the end of the article)

If you want to participate, please leave a comment stating so. Hope you can join us!

BIAW Set for August 14

2006-08-07T10:19:00.000-07:00

Get your writing muscles ready! We're going to host a BIAW for the week of August 14.

Watch this site for tips and suggestions on how to make your BIAW a success! And if you can't make it this time, don't worry - we'll have another one in September!

Sign up by leaving a comment on this post!

Expectations

2006-07-30T16:22:00.000-07:00

My husband sat on the couch reading the paper the other night and I heard him issue a big sigh.

“What’s up?” I said, wondering if the Angels had made a bad trade or he was reading about the oil companies’ record profits.

“How come these women can sell their books but you can’t?”

He was reading a puff piece done by the AP which usually shows up this time of year with the advent of the RWA conference, this year in Atlanta.  If you haven’t seen the article, here is a link: Romance Writers Changing Plots.  They interview a couple of writers, both of them former attorneys who quit working to make a living writing novels.

Trying to explain to a family member the intricacies of the publishing industry is tough.  They have no concept of how difficult it is.  My husband doesn’t understand how hard it is to write a book, find an agent and sell it to a publisher.  Writing isn’t an easy job.  What we write must resonate with an audience and the audiences taste changes like the wind.  We can write the perfect novel, full of brilliant characters and interesting plots.  But if it isn’t what the public wants, it won’t sell.

Writers are the victims of vagaries.  What an editor loves on Monday can be loathsome on Friday.  We slave away on a story, pouring our guts into it only to find out the market is cold for the genre.  Or it is too hot and every writer has submitted, flooding the market.  I think there are a lot of wonderful writers out there and so luck does have a part in it.  Sometimes it is being in the right place at the right time; presenting the right story to the right agent who knows an editor with an opening.

Being a writer makes us invest our blood, sweat and tears.  Publication is difficult, and the work we do to get to that point is overlooked and dismissed.  I didn’t get mad, my husband really has no idea what goes into the process and I really haven’t tried to explain it.  How do you explain the craziness of it all?  How do you try and explain how hard it is not to be published?

How do you explain that you ask yourself the same question?  How come these women can sell their books but I can’t?

I ended up doing what I always do, blaming my kids.  The answer makes sense to him and gets me off the hook

BIAW Coming to Villa!

2006-07-13T16:52:00.000-07:00

Do you struggle to churn out the pages in your work-in-progress? Trying to find time to write but always have an excuse?

Then BIAW is for you.

We're going to host a BIAW here at Villa in Tuscany in August and September - you can do either or both. One may work better for you than the other. But we'd love for you to join in the fun!

Stay tuned for more details!

Creativity

2006-06-17T12:56:00.000-07:00

I am back to writing again with the help of my writing buddies. We have an informal book study group reading Julie Cameron's "The Artist Way at Work". I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to recover their creative spark. I do.

Although the book centers on "work" as office work, outside of the home work, I'm reading it with a different slant. I'm reading it and doing the excercises with the slant on my writing as work. Since writing is very solitary with no office mates, some things don't apply, but the majority of the book dovetails nicely into the writing career.

We are only one third of the way into our journey of releasing creativity and I can see changes already.

I am writing. I am going to finish my novel.

Although I have been trying to write, I would sit at the computer and nothing would come out. It was easier to read the chapters I had already written than write more. What had happened? Was I just lazy? What about the commitments I had made in the prior months? I could sit at my computer all day and nothing would get written. I envied Rene and Melissa. How could they write so much? Dammit, it's not fair! I'm trying!

But, I have been saved. I needed outside help. All the discipline in the world was not going to bring words out of my head and onto paper.

Daily, I e-mail a book study writer friend and we share writing experiences. Somedays it's how much we've written, somedays, how much not. But always, we have the shoulders of each other to lean on. I sometimes feel I'm in therapy. And that's a good thing.

My journey is no way complete. We have many chapters to go. But, I feel a turning point, a change. I feel the book and group has given me back. . . . me. I am finding my inner source of creativity and bringing it back out to my writing.

Women, Resilience and Romance

2006-05-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Today the L.A. Times had an interesting article about women and their natural resilience to adversity. Biologically and psychologically, women were far more capable of surviving difficult times than men. Women have a naturally more dependable in crisis situations than men. Not in a "let me solve the problem" way but rather as able to adjust to a bad set of circumstances and another route for survival. They find more to live for in their lives than men. They are more apt to create social networks to get them through the tough times.

While the article in and of itself is fascinating, it is also interesting when applied to the romance genre both for readers and writers. As readers, I think women are attracted to stories where they see women face tragedy or adversity and triumph. They have a natural desire to read such stories because, in lesser or more ways, it mirrors their lives. Not many of us go through what a romance heroine goes through, but we do go through day to day crisis which affect us in much the same way. We also look for the happy ending. We believe in happy endings, it is in our nature. The world needs us to provide the optimism in order for it to keep turning.

I've often heard the comment about how supportive romance writers are of each other. The wealth of networking is amazing for the genre. Whether you are a member of RWA or not, you will find a place where you can find like-minded writers who are willing to support you and offer assistance whenever needed. We are quick to take the success of one writer and celebrate it rather than lament our own lack of success. Romance writers have a built in cheerleading section. It is our nature to press our friends and writing buddies to finish their stories or work out that conflict. Quite often our writing needs to be nurtured. Generally, we have to look no further than the Internet or our friends for caring advice. We care passionately about our writing and our writing friends, feeling the flush of excitement when the get "the Call."

I think it a unique situation and one we should appreciate. It is another positive approach to romance and another reason we should be proud of our genre.

Catch A Wave

2006-04-05T16:12:00.000-07:00

Melissa shakes her head a lot at me. I can't blame her. Every time we talk, I tell her about my newest WIP. I seem to go in fits and jerks. One day I'm bemoaning the fact I have too many projects going then I go through a spell where nothing works.

So what do you do if they are all winners in your writing mind? How do you balance the creativity? Do you focus on one until it is finished then move to the next, hoping the creativity is still there? Or do you budget your time and energy on all of them? I'm going to try to budget my writing time. I'd like to write on one project one day then move to the next. I'm hoping to keep my enthusiasm not only for my WIPs but for writing in general.

I suppose it feels like I'm surfing and I'm in the middle of a long pipeline, euphoric as I cruise the wave but knowing it will end eventually. I hope it is in a nice sandbar and the waves are still crashing so I can jump out there and catch another one, but I fear there is a shark waiting instead, eager to gobble up all of my creativity and leave me a hull.

The Muse - She Must Be Obeyed!

2006-01-22T00:35:00.000-08:00

I can still remember it. The ideas for a story were churning through my mind. It was Saturday, a day off from the drudgery of high school. I had this plan to devote the entire evening (even if it meant staying home from the high school basketball game) to brainstorming my latest project. I couldn't wait.

But the moment had to be special. No chores looming in front of me, no homework, no family obligations. It would be me, a pen, a clean, fresh notebook, and my muse.

As I went through my day, ideas kept popping into my head. While I was doing the dishes. During my studying breaks. While I dusted the living room.

And you know what I did?

I ignored them. I pushed them away. Later! I said to myself. We'll have time for this later! Lots and lots of time, uninterrupted by chores and anything else, to brainstorm!

I bet you can guess what happened.

When that treasured moment came, when it was perfect, when I sat down to put pen to paper and write down all those wonderful ideas...

The ideas were gone. Vanished. Poof!

I had shut off my muse the entire day. During those mundane activities, when my brain had nothing better to do then to think of my writing, I shut it off. I wanted that perfect moment.

When that moment came, the muse refused to work with me. I had denied her.

(Well, I've always thought of my muse as a 'he' and he has morphed through the years from Harrison Ford to Johnny Depp (21 Jump Street days) to Armande Assante to Patrick Swayze to...ahhh....Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey.)

I learned a very important lesson that day. Don't deny the muse. Ever. If she/he/it demands that you sit down now and write down an idea, obey. Don't fight it, don't rationalize that you have not a single second to put down the dishes or ignore the fighting kids or duck into the office bathroom. You do have that second.

And when you feel like writing, ignore the housework and the other responsibilities in life if you can. Within reason. Take five minutes. Take two. Here and there. Just don't ignore the need to write. That need is there for a reason. You need to listen to it, for your own sanity and happiness.

If you let that moment pass you by...you'll never know what could have been created. It might have been the idea for your next book...the plot twist that your story was missing...the perfect word to complete a description.

Listen to yourself. Ignore the inner editor. Ignore the inner conscious that says you must sacrifice your writing time for your family or your job or your spouse. You need to take that time - even if it's five minutes - to indulge yourself. If not, the muse will not come knocking nearly as often. If she's ignored too much...she starts to feel abandoned.

But it's your creative spirit that is being abandoned, the spirit that allows you to put those words on the paper.

Be good to yourself. Write!

Rites for Writing

2006-01-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

When you sit down at your laptop, Alphasmart, PC, yellow pad, etc., do you start writing immediately or do you have a set of rituals?

I was reading the paper this morning and came across this article.  It Just Feels Rite talks about the rituals people perform in the workplace.  For some, it increases productivity, others, rituals are as necessary to their day as breathing.

When I worked full time, I had a set of rituals I followed when I got to work.  I spent a few minutes checking some websites and reading the news before I started my workday.  I headed to the coffee machine with my friends and caught up on any gossip.  At 3 p.m. we had a ritual of going up to the cafeteria for a cookie and coffee.  It got me through my day.  I also think it helped me get myself mentally organized for my day.

Now, when I sit down to write, I feel the lack of ritual.  Or the rituals I do perform actually waste more time than they should.  I do not drink from the same cup.  I do not have a set snack that I munch on.  I sit down, read through the blogs, post a bit then hit my writing forums.  If this only took ten minutes, it wouldn’t be a big deal.  But I tend to spend more time than I should.  Ten minutes easily becomes thirty.

So I need to find a small ritual that will put me in the mindset and save bloghopping for another time.    Any ideas?  What do you do and how do you make sure you do not over do it?

Time

2005-11-20T20:45:00.000-08:00

Mel's post about the year flying by made me think about how my writing time has been flying by. If I don't write everyday, I have nothing to show for that day.

Okay, that seems like a simple concept, but then if a week goes by and I haven't written anything, then I've lost a week of writing. Whoa, what's going on here? Then a week streches into two, then a it becomes a month. When was the last time I picked up my novel? How long ago? I don't even want to admit. Too long. Waaaay too long.

Darn, I have been procrastinating. Yup, procrastinating. Not doing sh~t. Not writing even the lowiest, pukiest garbage. Not even opening the word doc, or the printed pages to read what I do have written.

Pathetic.

So, Olivia, wha'cha gonna do 'bout it? Whine and complain to everyone, or get off your fat arse and do something?

What's that saying about hard work being ten percent inspiration and ninety percent perspiration? I think I've been waiting for the inspiration to take over again. But it's not. I have to use perspiration. Have to.

I have to do something that I haven't had to do since college, study. More accurately, apply the dedication of studying. I remember college and high school bringing home my book and doing math problems on the kitchen table. I would write my essay or book report in a notepad. Then, at the end of the chapter, I had to study for the test. I would write out notecards to memorize facts. I would reread my notes.

My daughter in college carries her science book and notebook wherever she goes. Every opportunity that she has with fifteen minutes of time, she whips out her book and is doing something. My husband and I just remark that she has become a more dedicated and mature student in college than she ever was in high school.

I need that discipline today for my writing. I need to emulate my daughter (and that's a hard thing for a mom to admit) and return to college myself. I need perspiration. I will make deadlines for myself. Maybe a promise to someone else for so many written words, or whatever.
Perspiration, hard work.

Just do it

Finding Inspiration

2005-10-15T21:17:00.000-07:00

Finding the will and desire to write has been difficult lately.  So I have been on a search for inspiration.  Usually I find the desire by reading, but I haven’t really been in the mood to read romance or even fiction for that matter.

Talking about writing or the lack of writing sometimes helps.  Commiserating with those suffering the same malaise is often comforting but it can often have a negative affect on my struggles.

I’ll read my RWR, but lately the articles have either been geared towards new writers or published writers.  Even the PRO articles don’t feel relevant.

My latest is the RWA conference cd’s I just received.  I’ve loaded the first disc onto my iPod and I listen to it while I am working out or doing my housecleaning.  It helps.  I really haven’t learned anything new although I have learned some new ways of looking at an issue.

I think true inspiration comes from within.  The creative ju-ju kicks into gear and sends us on our literary path.  But finding what feeds inspiration is a struggle on its own.  And it is different for everyone.  Maybe a change in a writing schedule will do it or a change of  place.  It could be a song on the radio or a poem.  Whatever it is, I think it strikes with the spontaneity of lightening.

What inspires you to write?

Which Time Period?

2005-10-10T16:32:00.000-07:00

I'm not bored with writing. Quite the contrary. I've got a great new World War II series I want to work on. And the inspirational World War II book is going great.

But now I'm in the midst of a conundrum. (Don't you just love that word?)

An agent requested the full manuscript of my historical Regency romance, POSSESSION. I haven't looked at this manuscript for awhile, but I truly believe it is a good story. The only problem is that I'm bored with this particular time period. The market has been completely saturated with Regency historicals and it's frustrating. While I absolutely adore this time period, lately it's just too darn much. I'd love to read more stories that take place during the French Revolution or American Revolution or World War II. But those are very few and far in between.

But I digress.

How, I wonder, will I drum up the enthusiasm to make the necessary edits to POSSESSION if I'm so darn burned out on the whole Regency period?

More importantly, why do I flip flop between time periods so much? I will immerse myself in the Regency and absolutely love it. Then I'll become fascinated with World War II and not want to work on anything else but that time period.

I haven't quite figured out how to circumvent this whole problem. I love both time periods. Granted, I'm pretty bored with the Regency right now, but I have a feeling that once I delve into POSSESSION, I'll be right back "in love" with it again. If I could only have a bit of balance, I'd feel better. Why can't I immerse myself in TWO time periods with the same amount of energy and passion?

This writing process is just that - a process. If I can somehow figure out how to balance my passions in the particular time periods I enjoy, I'll be just fine. :-)

Jaded

2005-09-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

I remember the first time an agent requested a partial of my ms.  I was so breathless with excitement.  I couldn’t believe it.  With shaking hands and tremulous hope, I got it into the mail the very next day, excited and filled with expectations.  Requests for partials continued and was so excited for each one.  But as the rejections came in, my enthusiasm dampened.  Excitement peaked again when I got my first requests for fulls.  I knew, just knew, they were going to love my book.  But they didn’t.

And I got jaded.

Maybe it is a defense mechanism, I’m not sure.  I am still submitting and I am still getting requests, but my anticipation isn’t nearly what it was.  I do not get breathless, I don’t get excited.  I feel very matter-of-fact about it.

I miss the hope, the shaking feeling of submitting.  I miss the need to watch for the mailman or the email inbox.

I think it is a little like being pregnant.  When you first find out you are going to have a baby, you are excited, treasuring every twinge, focusing on the hopes for your new child and how wonderful life will be.  But as the pregnancy progresses, your enthusiasm fades as one day melds into another and all you can thing about is how you wish you could sleep on your stomach again or go 15 minutes without going the bathroom.  The focus on the new life you have created fades into the misery of the long, drawn out physical work of being pregnant.   At least at the end of the 9 mos. you will have a cute little bundle to cart around and show off and you can say it was all worth it.

I hope I get to the point where a publisher delivers my “baby” into the world and I can sit back and say, yeah, it was worth it.

History Lesson

2005-08-22T20:03:00.000-07:00

For the past five years, we housed a library in our front room. Upon the death of my husband's brother, Paul, his books needed a home. My husband thought we would have some use for Paul's books and brought them to our house and subsequently, filled every available wall space in our living room with books.

I love books. I love history books. But I love the human part of history, the everyday life, the simple and mundane. Paul's books are political and historical and relate to war and upheaval and the ugly side of history. Yes yes, World War II and the psyche of Hitler is important. But not to me. I don't care about Stalin or the making of the atomic bomb. I don't want to read about living in a prisoner of war camp during the Vietnam war. I could care less about the PT boats that shot at the Japanese. And so, apparently, could everyone else in my family.

After five years of seeing these books crowd my living room, fill with dust, lay fallow, be ignored and never getting read, my husband as agreed to give them away. He has agreed that they are doing no one any good by rotting in our living room. Paul would have wanted them read, and enjoyed by someone. These books are great reference materials for someone doing research about war and politics.

For the past three weeks, we have been cataloging the books with Author, Title, Dewey Decimal code and ISBN. We have filled thirteen boxes with approximately 600 books. I would guess we are about forty percent done. We are hoping a college might find some use for them.

While I have been gleeful at every book that goes into a box, it's been difficult for my husband. These books represent his brother's legacy. Paul never finished his doctoral dissertation, but he loved history and political science enough to create his library.

So as I type the names of books into an Excel spreadsheet, I have been thinking how narrow my knowledge of history has been. I really have no interest in the political side of a country. I usually skim passages in a novel that describe bills in The House of Lords or discussions in The House of Commons. I'm not about to read all those books (now) neatly packed away in boxes, but maybe I will pay closer attention to some of the poliitcal details within a novel.

A Writer's Journey

2005-08-10T10:09:00.000-07:00

I fondly remember those first few days of my writing journey. The writing itself started with a children's story, typed on my mother's manual typewriter. Called "The Adventures of the Fanner's Gang," it shared the exciting escapades of an all-animal detective gang. There was Kanga, the kangaroo, and Yak, the...uh, Yak. I can't remember all the other characters, but I still have that manuscript. Each chapter was separated into a different mystery, one of them being, "The Mystery of the Va-Va-Voom!"

Years passed and I remember laying on my bed after school, reading a book, as usual. This book happened to be Rosalind Laker's The Smuggler's Bride. Rosalind Laker will always be one of my very favorite historical romance authors. She wrote the book that introduced me to romance, Tree of Gold. When I finished reading The Smuggler's Bride, a thought popped into my head: Why can't I write a book?

A dream was born. I was in the sixth grade.

I set up shop in our downstairs basement. Using an old school desk from the torn down country school down the road, my plastic table and chairs, and my mom's thesaurus, I had my new office. My first story was a historical romance (naturally) set during the French Revolution. I clacked and typed away all summer long, listening to the radio. To this day, whenever I hear one of those songs from that summer, it takes me back to those early days of innocence in the writing world, when I didn't worry about craft or getting published. I just wrote. I kept track of my progress on a lined piece of notebook paper and you know what? I still have that piece of paper.

My writing zeal began to grow. I switched from the manual typewriter to my Dad's MS-DOS computer - green letters on a black screen. I had to share my computer time with my mom since she was a newspaper reporter. There were times I lost my stories - pages and pages. Oh, the anguish! (which I just experienced again a few days ago). My writing became more and more a part of me. I'd spend hours at the computer. During the summer, while Mom and I watched our soap opera, Guiding Light, I'd clack away during commercials.

In the seventh grade, our English class started a section on creative writing. I had to write one page stories. I was completely horrified. One page? How could I develop my characters? What about my plot? So I talked my teacher into letting me write a longer story - just do a page a day. She agreed. *grin*

Throughout high school, I kept writing. I'd stay home from high school basektball games on Friday and Saturday nights to write. Didn't bother me a bit. I wasn't an introvert in high school - I was in band, participated in drama, had good friends, etc. But I wasn't a partier.

THAT happened in college.

As my Dad is fond of saying (hi, Dad!), "All hell broke loose."

I still wanted to write during the college years, but to be honest, I didn't get much done. I wasn't focused on it and even after I graduated and got my first job out of college, I wasn't focused. I did the normal things - got married, had a baby, became a stepmom, bought a house, went back to get my graduate degree...etc. But every single day, I thought about my writing.

I think I've become quite serious about my writing in the past year. I finished my manuscript and started two more. I'm very active in my local RWA chapter. I write as often as I can.

And it's funny...

My desk is in the basement once more. But instead of a typewriter and a transistor radio, I have a flat-screen computer and a CD player.

I'm a writer. I've always wanted to be a writer, but I suppose I didn't realize at the time that there was no "being" a writer. I just was a writer. And I still am.

The Joy of Query Writing

2005-08-03T19:18:00.000-07:00

Heaving a sigh of relief, you look at the last page of your manuscript and proclaim your baby ready for submission. The toughest part of the battle is over.

HA!

Anyone who has written a query letter knows how painful and difficult it is. I’ve written three chapters in the length of time it has taken me to write one measly little letter. But it gets easier.

The query letter I’ve been using for the ms out in submission hell has had about a 70% success rate, meaning I’ve either had a request for a partial or full based on the letter 70% of the time. At first I thought it was a fluke (the genre I wrote the story for is hot) or maybe luck. But when I helped Melissa revise hers, she sent it out to three agents and immediately received three requests. So I thought I would share what I have gleaned and maybe my ideas will help everyone else.

First, I need to explain. I am a person that likes to see things in order. Everything has an equation. This includes a query letter. For me, the query letter has five parts: the opening, body paragraph one, body paragraph 2, body paragraph 3 and a closer. I also like to keep my queries to one page.

I should add that the queries I’m discussing are for single title romances. I know category queries are different and I’m not the gal to follow on that topic. I’m not promoting this as a guide for any other genre.

Okay, so where to begin. I’m sure most writers have heard of the TV Guide method, a simple, one sentence blurb about the story. I like this as a starting point. The sentence does not have to be brilliant, it is not going to go into your query, but it will serve as a guide. Here’s an example:

“A Manhattan woman falls in love with the 19th-century Duke of Albany who has stepped through a time portal.”

Or

“A veterinarian tries to make a woman who has short-term memory loss fall in love with him.”

Yeah, I snagged these from the cable guide, but you get the idea of what you want to do with your own story.

Looking at my sentence, I start with a character and write a sentence about him or her. This is my first paragraph. I give a detail about them, basically where they are at for the beginning of the story. Next, I look at the second character and do the same thing as I did for the first. This is my second paragraph.

The third paragraph is the beef of the conflict. You aren’t telling the story but cutting to the heart of the matter. In the example of “50 First Dates” the third paragraph would be about his attempts at “dating” her. And it could be left open. Will he succeed in winning her heart? That question doesn’t need to be answered at this point. For “Kate & Leopold,” the third paragraph would deal with the difficulties inherent in the situation and how they will resolve it. Will he return? Will she give up all to be with him? You get the picture.

At this point, you aren’t worried about the hook. Get the basics down and feel good about what you have written. Once you are there, now is the time to punch it up, show how unique this story is. Let your voice shine through. Too often writers try to get the hook in before solidifying the body of the query. It’s like decorating a cake. You can’t put the plastic animals and frosting roses on until the whole cake has a basic layer of icing. It will look funny if the cake is covered with decoration but no frosting. Queries are the same way. You might think you have a really clever hook, but if it doesn’t have a solid base, it falls flat. Here’s an example from my own query. It had this line:

“Her job and her boyfriend are boring. But it changes when she finds a strange vampire in her house.”

Dull but it gives me something solid to work with. In the real query, it reads like this:

“Life holds little excitement, her job is routine and so is her boyfriend, but things change one dark dawn when she comes home to find a sexy vampire named Lucas reclining in her La-Z-Boy.”

So write down the basics then make it interesting.

Now to the rest. For the opening paragraph, keep it simple. I state the name of the ms, the fact that it is finished, the word count, the genre and the setting. No more. No hook. The agent/editor can see exactly what they are reading. The last paragraph is the credentials. Give only specifics. Contest wins, publishing credits, that sort of thing. If you think your education really has an impact, go ahead and add it. But if it doesn’t, don’t. Remember, the less filler you have at the top and the bottom, the more room you have in the middle to strut your stuff. I usually mention that I’m working on another project, but I don’t get detailed. I want the agent/editor to know I am writing and not sitting around eating bon bons. I also do not specify how many books I’ve written. An agent doesn’t want to read how you’ve written 20 books, none of them published. I always thank them for their time and if you are including a partial, you should mention it.

I hope this is helpful to some of you out there. DO NOT be looking for the sequel “The Joy of Synopsis Writing” any time soon from me. I hate those little buggers.

A Writing Prompt

2005-07-21T17:56:00.000-07:00

Do you remember junior high writing classes? The teacher would put three topics on the board and you would have to choose one. You were to write an entire page about the writing prompt

I feel that I have created my own version of writing prompts. In my despair of getting back my writing "flow", I have been trying to write. . . anything. If a topic inspires me in the least bit. I will write a paragraph.

For example, a play-writing contest prompted me to think of theater scripts. A news story will inspire a letter-to-the-editor. Someone's blog will have me writing a response. I've been trying to write a review of a book. Anything to get back into writing.

I've picked up my first manuscripts that were no more than scenes with no plot. I've been trying to decide if any of the characters are worthy of a story, even a short story.

And, of course, I've been reading whatever I can. A variety of stuff, historical romance, chick-lit, fantasy, contempory, romantic suspense. sigh . . . I keep hoping for inspiration that will bring back the flow of words that I once had.

In the children's book, the Phantom Toolbooth by Norton Juster, the main character (Milo) goes off into the doldrums. In this book, the doldrums is a real place where you do nothing. . . no thinking, no moving, not even breathing. When Milo realizes his predicament, he is encouraged to think, about anything. . . about birds that swim and fish that fly. Milo's thinking gets the wheels of his car started again and gets him out of the doldrums.

I feel like Milo, in the doldrums and thinking about anything to get out, trying desparately to get my wheels moving.

Where did it go?

2005-07-11T09:33:00.000-07:00

Last week, I looked at my WIP's and realized I couldn't write. Not only could I not write, I had no desire to. What a frightening feeling. Particularly scary was my total lack of emotion about it. For almost a week, I didn't care if I wrote again or not. I could feel this coming on weeks ago, but last week, I looked at my writing and decided I couldn't do it anymore. I packed up my laptop and put it away. I turned all of my writing Yahoo loops to digest. I tossed my latest RWR into the stacks of unread magazines, something I never do. My desire to be a writer shriveled up like an ice cube in July.

What happened? Where did it go? I think it went into hiding. The environment I find myself in now is not conducive to creativity. My kids are home, bored and eager to annoy me. I am exhausted emotionally, physically and mentally. I need a break and I'm not finding a way to get one. So I think the my muse decided to pack it in for awhile. I took a mental vacation, losing myself to reading and cleaning. Doesn't sound like much, but it can be. I found myself forcing the words onto the keyboard.

In all fairness, it may not be right to blame the external pressures. They really haven't changed in the last 3 years. I think in some ways my writing drought was self-induced. I've come to a point in my writing where I expect more of myself. I'm a good writer but I can be better. I read my stuff and think, yeah, its good, but I can do better.

The writing bug came back yesterday and I re-started one of my WIP's. It's not easy, but it really shouldn't be. Growth can be a painful process. Re-thinking each word I write is a difficult thing for me. But if I want to be the best I can be, I have to struggle, climb the Hilary Step as it were. Eventually I will reach the summit. I want to be exceptional. I think my drop of writing desire was the fear of how much work that was going to take.

So the lesson learned I suppose is to realize the climb to writing greatness is an arduous one and to accept the fact some days you need to hang around base camp and catch your breath. I think my writing will be better for it.

The Power of Organization

2005-06-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

I'm trying to get my left brain and my right brain to work together in my writing endeavors. I think I might have hit upon the perfect solution.

The last completed novel I wrote was an exercise in perseverance, dedication, and WHAT NOT TO DO NEXT TIME. I am taking those lessons to heart. I keep remembering all the problems I had just trying to recall what my character's goals, conflicts, and motivations were. That should be simple to do, right? But I hadn't plotted those particular aspects of my novel before I began writing it. I did a lot of other work, but not the most important - which are the GMC's.

After attending a writing conference in Iowa a few weeks ago, some authors handed out very simple charts detailing what each character's GMC's were, the plot turning points in both the plot and the romance, the black moment, the resolution, etc. So I decided to try my hand at it.

After doing a few detailed charts, I can't believe how much better I feel about this novel. I don't feel as though I'm wandering in the dark. Does that make me a pantser or a plotter?

Or...

Am I just being organized?

I think I must be a plotter. I can't just sit down and write without a clear road ahead. Sure, I leave room for lots of things to happen - but I have my points that I have to reach in order to get to the end.

More importantly, I know who my characters are. I had problems with this in the last manuscript I finished and I was bound and determined not to let it happen again.

At any rate, I feel like the path is now smooth and not riddled with lots of bumps and potholes. I'm sure the occasional mudhole will appear, but now that I have my trusty 4Wheel Drive Organization Extraordinaire, I should be able to navigate through them with no problem. :-)

Dying in the Desert of my WIP

2005-06-24T16:33:00.000-07:00

I have been crawling, exhausted and parched, through the desert that is my historical WIP. The blazing sun of aggravation has burned me out while the shifting sands of my story have sucked up my creativity. Once in awhile I have found an oasis of genius where my WIP looks really good, but I'm hot and tired and cannot for the life of me see the end of this desolate wasteland.

So I'm departing from this inhospitable landscape for greener pastures, I hope. Maybe this new WIP will be a five star hotel with excellent roomservice. Perhaps my new WIP welcome me in 1000 count sheets, cuddling me with brilliant bursts of creativity and passion.

I know, I know, writing is never easy. But sometimes the struggle just isn't worth it and a writer has to step back and wonder what in the hell they are doing. I've done it before, no doubt I will do it again.

Good bye, desert. We had some good times, but you are a little to arid for me.

Inspiration

2005-06-19T19:36:00.000-07:00

I love the women at my local chapter of RWA. They provide so much support and inspiration for me. Many of the group gathered at a local bookstore for another member to sign her first hardcover. What a wonderful show of support! And we stood around and gabbed for a while, sort of an informal meeting. I was asked about my stories and how they were going. I received encouragement, ideas, and some stern words about my procrastination. All in all, a good gathering.

I came away inspired! I know I can continue writing. I am trying to start a new suspense book and complete a historical. I can do it! I came home and started writing on the historical. I think this will be easier to complete. I have more work to do on the suspense. I have to plot more and come up with a good beginning. I know how to start, but not the details.

It is wonderful to have such a support system locally. What a joy to meet face to face with other writers who have the same love of romance that I have.

Thou Shalt Not Abandon Your First Manuscript!

2005-06-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

I don't really think of my first novel as a "mistake." But what I've learned since finishing it is invaluable. I've learned about GMC. I've learned about the Black Moment. I've learned about (gasp!) organization!

I owe a lot to RWA. They've helped me a lot. Yeah, I subscribed to "Writer's Digest" before I joined RWA, but it didn't have the "punch" I needed to help me hone my craft. Belonging to an RWA chapter, having a critique group, the email loops, writing workshops, etc., have all made my writing 100% better than it used to be.

But what I did not do was abandon my first novel. I re-wrote it, using everything I learned, and kept at it because darn it, if I spent that much time writing it, I was going to do it right. I guess I'm not one of those people that abandons a project because they feel it's never going to amount to anything. I figure, if I'm spending X amount of hours/days/weeks/years on this baby, it's going to get finished and it's going to be GOOD.

But, having said that, there is something to be said for starting over fresh, for remembering your earlier mistakes and avoiding them. I've already done some great new things for my next historical - ways to keep track of where I'm at without having to go back and re-read the manuscript. I'm excited simply because that will cut down on the amount of time I need to search for things when I can just look at my handy little charts.

It's exciting to use your knowledge and even more exciting to see the results!

Finding the Love

2005-06-12T11:44:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I feel like I focus so much on the elements of writing a novel I forget about the big picture, the enchilada grande. The ROMANCE! I'm so worried about my conflicts, my plots, my POV switches, I forget the heart of the story.

It's all about the prince and his princess, whether the prince is a vampire and the princess is a firefighter. The story remains the same. Sometimes I forget I'm not writing about reality. Oh, it has the trappings of the real world, but the man and woman I am focusing on are on another plane, at least I hope so.

I worry about the market. I worry about the buttons and bows of my novel when I think if I quit worrying about that stuff and focused on the love story, I'd be a happier writer.

Is finding the love in your book the key to writing happiness?

Finding Time to Write

2005-06-09T21:19:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Mel and Rene I have picked back up my historical and I will finish it. I need to set some goals, like one scene/chapter a week.

Finding time to write has always been a challenge for me. I have a husband, kids, and a fulltime job.

I need to get creative. I need to MAKE time to write. I need to push aside or delegate less important tasks and make time for me to write. I used to be able to get some writing done at work, but my job changed, people were downsized and the worked has piled up. There is no more free time at work.

My wonderful, understanding husband has bought me a dana computer/screen so I now can write/type/compose just about anywhere. I can sit at my kitchen table and write. I can sit in the living room and write. I am no longer chained to the main computer in our house. I can compose without my two boys breathing down my neck asking if I'm done yet.

So what's stopping me? Dishes, laundry, preparing dinner, grocery shopping, cleaning the house, are all tasks that still need to get done. Dh (dear husband) helps a lot, but he's no maid. I don't expect him to do it all. After doing housework, I still have some free time and that gets eaten up spending time with my kids and reading. (I don't have hobbies, I have children)

Just like I need to set goals to complete scenes or chapters, I need to set goals to have free time to write. I probably spend too much time on the internet. I can cut out time surfing and playing computer games.

So, right here, today, I am going to set a goal of writing at least an hour and a half everyday., and three hours a day on the weekend. I will keep a log to check my progress. I need to know if I am setting realistic goals. Wish me luck!

Who Creates the Market?

2005-06-07T20:56:00.000-07:00

There's an interesting article in this month's issue of Romantic Times Bookclub (RTB) by agent Denise Marcil entitled Secrets of Long-Term Success. She had some great advice, but one section in particular jumped at me.

Keep Up with the Marketplace: This doesn't mean you should write whatever is popular just because it's in vogue. However, readers' tastes change and publishing houses follow trends. They don't set them. Authors set the trends.

Authors set the trends. That's an important statement.

We have to think about the recent trends we've seen in the romance genre. Paranormal is spicy hot right now - so is erotica (and I won't get into RWA's "graphic guidelines" here) and Regency historicals. Chick-lit keeps getting bigger and better.

But ten years ago, what was the trend? To be honest, I didn't read a lot of romance back then - I was still in undergrad school and I didn't have much time for reading, other than textbooks. But when I was in high school, the bestsellers were the big, juicy historicals. Johanna Lindsey. Rebecca Brandewyne. Ellen Tanner Marsh. Penelope Neri. Locales encompassed a variety of locations - Colonial America, the American Civil War, Medieval England and Scotland - the list was endless.

So what happened? Why did the market shift? I'm pretty sure a lot of the readers out there didn't stop reading - or did they?

In my opinion, and I could be wrong, someone wrote something new, exciting, and fresh. And people gobbled it up. The first person to write a vampire paranormal romance started something.

But here is my point. Do you think the authors who sat at home and wrote these break-out books knew they would be break-out books? Of course not. They wrote what they wanted to write.

In so doing, they created a market.

Denise Marcil's observation couldn't be more correct. Authors set the trend.

So go ahead. Write the book you want to write - and maybe, just maybe, the market might come to you.

Maybe There's a Reason the Historical Market is Down

2005-06-05T10:08:00.000-07:00

I just started a novel by an author I've never read before, and I never will again. She isn't a new author, she has a string of bestsellers. Maybe she thinks this gives her the right to be sloppy and careless with her research. Maybe she just doesn't care, I'm not sure, but I find her historical inaccuracies so abhorrent, I can't read the story.

I'm not a historical-accuracy fascist, really, I'm not. An anachronism here and there is okay. Misnaming an article of clothing doesn't bother me neither does a slight error in title-usage. But this author has shown complete ignorance about the era in which she is writing about. She assumes the era she is writing about fits the rest of the century when it doesn't.

It bothers me on so many levels. I find it insulting as a reader. It is apparent she underestimates her readers. However, I haven't found a review that has pointed out the errors, so maybe I'm just crabby.

As a writer, it bothers me because the reason I write historicals is because I love history. I like to research an era, learn as much as I can and try to pass my enjoyment on to my readers. I almost had a nervous breakdown when I realized I used the word "hello" in my Regency-era novel. Would anyone really have picked that up? Probably not, but I knew better, so I knew it had to be fixed.

I work hard to make sure my historicals are as accurate as possible and I can't help but hold other authors accountable as well. I'm not expecting an author to have insight into the deep political philosophies of a time period, but to have a good understanding of the basics. While a fashion faux pas seems nit-picky, quite often clothing reflects the attitudes of an era and thus changes the story.

Researching is not that hard, particularly if you are using a historical setting more as a back drop than an actual plot point. I don't think I'm asking too much, am I?

Something In the Wind

2005-06-04T20:47:00.000-07:00

Olivia needs joy. Rene is stuck.

And I feel like giving up.

Oh, I know it's a passing phase. I could never truly give up writing. I love it too much.

But today I had to give myself permission not to write. I just plain didn't want to. This is contrary to all the advice I've read that says, "You need to write even when you don't feel like it."

Well, I didn't feel like it today. The thought popped into my mind of just giving up on this writing gig. I stopped to think and realized that I've been writing for twenty years now (and I turn 30 this month).

And what do I have to show for it?

A few published short stories, a few published articles, gobs of unfinished manuscripts, scraps of character sketches and story ideas scattered around my office and my house...

But not what I've always wanted: the published novel. My ultimate goal. Yet to be realized.

Yet how can it be realized when I can't sit down and write? I feel so much better when I write - emotionally and spiritually.

For some reason, I'm resisting. The muse or maybe the "should committee" keeps bugging me. You need to sit down and write. Do it. Now. It truly never leaves me alone. It's always pushing me to write.

Maybe I'm rebelling right now. Maybe I just don't want to write today.

I completely screwed up on my "four hours of writing a week" project, which wasn't helped by the killer headaches (which still come and go).

What's wrong with me? Why can't I keep my goals? Why do I have such a problem sitting down at the keyboard and working? Have I lost the joy? When? Why? And more importantly, will I ever be able to capture it again?

I wrote the article on "Rediscovering Your Joy" last summer. I had my head on straight at that time, apparently, because I felt compelled to write that article. I felt the joy.

What happened? And why do I keep getting in this cycle?

And am I over analyzing this whole thing?

Probably. :-)

I Need Joy

2005-06-02T20:01:00.000-07:00

The joy of writing.

I need some right now.

I’m not sure what’s going on in my head, but I seem to be having a difficult time putting pen to paper (okay, fingers to keyboard). I have writer’s block. There I said it. Does it make anything easier? No. I still can’t write anything but crap.

This past weekend I set a goal for myself to write anything…. Anything to fill five single spaced pages. I wrote and wrote and wrote…. It was all crap. I wrote three openings for my next story, a gothic. I wrote character outlines and bits of scenes. I tried writing the end (it sucked).

Sigh….

I need inspiration… I need motivation…. I need…. something.

Maybe I need to set my self attainable goals. Like, I so many pages in a week. Maybe if I make myself write, I will. It’s not like I don’t have anything to write. The gothic I am working on sounds awesome! I have the plot, the killer, the bodies, the hero, everything all plotted out. I just need to WRITE IT DOWN!!!

Geez… can it be any easier?

I stopped writing on my historical because I couldn't get past the last scene. I was stuck. Now, I think the scene is wrong for the book and should be tossed. So... I need to get moving and write. Here again is a story that is all plotted out. I just need to write it down.

So... I will quit bitchin' and start writing.

Stuck!

2005-06-02T10:04:00.000-07:00

I'm nearing the end of my historical. Right now, the heroine is running through the moors in the dark of night wearing only her shift, trying to escape the bad guys. The hero has his hands chained behind his back and has done some damage to his captor with a well-aimed knee to the groin. This should be fun, right?

Then why am I struggling? Because I have no idea what I'm going to do with this book. I can feel myself waver, tempted to put it aside and work on something more "marketable." But I like this book, it's well-written and a little different. I'm afraid dealing with the submission process with my last ms has jaded me towards this book. Why bother finishing it if it's never going to see the light of day?

Which is why I asked Melissa to post her "Villa in Tuscany" article. I can't remember when she wrote it, but I did remember it helped me realize why I write and why I need to finish this book. I need to write this book for myself because I like it and I need to see my characters with their happy ending. It may never see the light of day, but it's my creation and not completing it would be selling my book and myself short.

Find Your Villa in Tuscany: Rediscovering the Joy of Writing

2005-06-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

Italy and writing. What better combination?

From the moment I saw the preview for Under the Tuscan Sun, I wanted to see it. Okay, okay, so what really caught my attention was the hunkyRaoul Bova. Who can blame me? But I've watched it three times now and have to wonder why it spoke so loudly to me.

A quick synop: Frances, a newly divorced American writer, impulsively buys a run-down villa in Tuscany. We follow her struggles to come to terms with her new life through her interaction with Polish carpenters, the locals, Italian men, the zany and wonderful Catherine, and finally, to her fulfillment as a writer once again.

A scene in particular caught my attention. Frances sits in the marketplace with a fellow tourist. He wonders how to describe the scene around him with a mere postcard. She offers to write it for him. He asks, "Are you a good writer?" Her reply: "I used to be."

I think that scene changed the way I write.

Let me explain.

As Frances put pen to paper, she forgot, for a moment, that she is in Italy by herself; that her husband is a lying cheat; that she is lost in life. She just wrote. And she didn't do it to be published, to receive praise or criticism. She wrote just to write.

Despite the fact that one day I will be hooking up with my Italian relatives and asking them if they have an unused villa lying around, I made a discovery within myself.

I had lost the joy of writing just to write.

The other day I took my journal and pen and sat on my front porch. It was a lazy, spring Sunday afternoon, perfect for reflection. And reflect I did. I wrote pages and pages in my journal that day, something I rarely do. And I just wrote what I saw, what I felt, what I heard. Anything and everything was fair game. I loved stringing the words together descriptions, feelings, thoughts, observations.

When I finished, I felt at peace. I didn't write any of it for an editor's eyes to see, or anyone else's, for that matter. I wrote because I wanted to write. And that's all.

When was the last time you sat down and wrote, just to write? Just for the simple joy of playing with words and phrases, of listening to everything around you, of listening to your heart?

A friend of mine, a published author, quit RWA. It wasn't the people or RWA itself, but she had made a realization. Her writing had become too focused on publishing instead of on the joy of writing. And she needed to change that.

I'm hoping to keep the balance before it gets to that point because I love being an RWA member and a member of my local chapter. But I found my own footsteps walking down the same path. I was becoming fixated with writing for publication instead of writing because I love to.

Here is my conclusion and it might help you. The first draft should come from the heart. The second should come from the head.

Of course, I don't want my joy of writing to diminish any when I'm working on my second draft, but of necessity, I must allow my inner critic to lend its thoughts to me upon occasion. If we want to become published, then we must take a look at our work through publishing eyes.

But to keep you balanced and to keep yourself from burning out, take time to write - daily, weekly, monthly, whatever - something just for you. A journal entry. A poem. A short story. A personal essay. Sit and relish the words you put on paper - let them flow over you like a fountain of spring water, refreshing and cool, nurturing your writer's soul.

Remember why you started this writing gig in the first place. Remember why you want to do this for the rest of your life.

For me, I've told my husband that I want that villa in Tuscany someday (minus the cheating husband and divorce) because I want to write looking out at the rolling green hills and valleys of my ancestors. And I want to sit and write about those olive trees and vineyards, the rapid Italian language, the pulse of life from another culture, the Italian sunset - just for me.

Just for the joy.

COPYRIGHT 2004 by Melissa Marsh