Rule Busters: Romance Genre

Ever read a book about the craft of fiction writing? I've read (and own) many! I'm grateful for talented authors who share their hard-earned knowledge with the rest of us. Advice about the writing craft tends to focus on the same concepts, such as plot, structure, dialogue, action, and narrative, but some of the "rules" need to be tamed for the genre you write.

Romance novels have been my favorite genre to read since I was a teenager. Naturally, I write romance novels, too! But I went overboard on the advice when I started writing, and my books suffered for it. Here are three "rules" to be cautious about when writing romance.

1. Conflict

Have you ever started reading a romance novel and been turned off at the hostility between the hero and heroine? I know. It's confusing. You've bought the book with the hopes of reading a love story only to be flung into a war--one you don't want to continue reading. What's romantic about that?

Romance novels need a compelling romantic conflict--a reason the hero and heroine can't fall in love and live happily-ever-after. The book would be B.O.R.I.N.G without it. But writers can go overboard on the conflict, creating unlikable characters whom the reader can't root for or extreme circumstances no couple can realistically recover from.

If you have a hero and heroine at war with each other, show us the backstory. Let us in on why they are at each other's throats. Don't make them mean just to make a point. And give them downtime where they call a truce and begin to understand each other. Whatever your romantic conflict, make sure neither character is coming across as petty, immature, or spiteful. I can't fall in love with those traits, and most other romance readers can't either.

 

2. Character Growth

Another rule romance writers can take to the extreme is character growth. Character growth doesn't mean giving characters terrible personality traits to overcome. Readers will toss the book or Kindle across the room rather than continue reading about a spoiled, jerky, or mean main character. Character growth should be about making a character stronger in some way.

3. Action/Introspection

Romance is character-based. We want to feel what the heroine is feeling. We need to understand why the hero reacts the way he does. And more than anything, we want to experience the rush of falling in love.

Mainstream fiction rules talk about action, pacing, and dialogue, and they typically say to minimize introspection. Obviously, all writers need to strike a balance. But romance writers shouldn't skimp on introspection or deep point-of-view. Remember, romance readers crave an emotional read. If your characters are running from one crisis to another without any time to reflect, the romance gets lost.

What is your favorite genre to read? Any pet-peeves when reading it?

Happy Monday!

Tweet

Share

Did Your Project Stall?

It happens to most of us at some point. The book (quilt/scrapbook/you-fill-in-the-blank) we were so excited about stalls. It doesn't happen gradually--it feels as if it does, but it doesn't. No, one day you're working on it, and the next...you're not.

You might love the project. You can imagine the end product. You know it will be wonderful.

But...

You have no desire to work on it. You may even dread it.


Why does this happen?

1. We hit a point in the project where we're uncertain what to do next.

2. We look at the unfinished project through disdainful eyes, only seeing the flaws, forgetting it's the finishing touches that bring it together.

3. The busy-ness of life crowds out the time we reserved to work on it.

4. We get discouraged.

5. We wonder if continuing the project is worth it, and we fail to continue working on it.

6. Someone else completes a similar project with huge success and we compare our project to theirs. Insecurity ensues.

7. It hits us how much work is left. We become overwhelmed.

8. We wait for the mood to strike, but that's like waiting until we "feel" like exercising--it never happens!

What can we do about it?

1. We can take ten minutes to jot down possible next steps.

2. We train ourselves to ignore the flaws and press forward.

3. Do not allow anything to crowd out our project time.

4. When discouraged, give ourselves a pep talk.

5. The project IS worth it.  Finishing a project is its own reward.

6. Never compare!

7. Stop looking at the big picture and focus on what we can do today.

8. There is no muse. Commit. Persevere. Just. Do. It.

What project lurks unfinished in your life? What can you do to get it back on track?

 Have a wonderful weekend!!

Tweet

Share

WSG 4: Fire Your Muse

Writer's Survival Guide 4: Fire Your Muse

Last week, to prepare for major revisions, I began reading through the draft I finished in January. Can I say it stunk? It did. It was like rotten garbage with flies and maggots. Okay, maybe not that bad, but at least moldy oranges bad. By the end of chapter three I wanted to set the project aside indefinitely and move on to my next book.


Instead of shutting my laptop down and wallowing in self-pity for an afternoon, I forged through and continued reading, all the while leaving comment balloons and remarks to myself with track changes. By the end of the first day, I was discouraged, but I wouldn't allow myself to plunge into "I'm the worst writer ever; this book can't be fixed!" mode.

Every time a negative thought entered, I replaced it with a positive one. Not a false positive. I simply assured myself I would find a way to make the book better.

Writers talk about our muse (which I consider the inspiration for a fabulous idea). Usually we're referring to the writing stage. But we can blame our muse for every level of a project.

Revising is hard? We'll put it aside until we "feel" better about it. The new idea we haven't fleshed out? We'll wait until "inspiration" strikes before we pursue it further. The platform we know we need to get started on? We'll wait until it's easier/we're less busy/a publisher offers us a contract.

Guess what? The muse is a myth. It's a convenient scapegoat to avoid whatever we are too afraid to tackle.

So I say fire your muse.

Yeah. Fire it. You don't need it.

Writing doesn't always bring the warm fuzzies. Revising can be incredibly painful. Platform building? Not for the faint of heart.

The real magic happens, not when we wait for inspiration or when we're in the mood for whatever task we're avoiding, but when we sit down and live in the discomfort.

We move beyond fear. That's where strength is built. That's where writers are made.

After that first painful session of my read-through last week, I picked up the blanket I'm crocheting and, as I added several rows, idea after idea came to me on how to fix the opening chapters.

I quickly jotted them all in my "revision notes" section of my book's OneNote folder.

If you decide to fire your muse, you'll need three tools:

1. Belief in yourself as a writer.
2. Willingness to sit in discomfort.
3. A system to capture your ideas and track your progress.

You must believe you are capable of writing a good book. It doesn't have to be great in the first draft stage or even the fifth draft. Just trust in your ability to make it good.

If you aren't willing to sit in discomfort, it will take a long, long time to finish a project--if it ever gets finished. Writing, revising, submitting--each brings joy and challenges, and you're NOT going to be equally excited and upbeat about every book or every stage of writing. It doesn't matter. What matters is that you finish. You do your best.

Finally, without a system to track your ideas and progress, you'll lose steam, or worse, you'll lose those fabulous ideas that assault you at inconvenient times.

The system I use is OneNote for all of my writing projects. I have a virtual folder for each of my projects. In it are a myriad of tabs for different aspects of the manuscript. It does me no good to jot notes on a random piece of paper only to lose it the next week. I must have all of the information for a book in one spot.

So when you're having a fabulous writing day, rejoice! When you're having a rotten writing day, push through. You don't have to feel good to write well. Fire that muse!

A quick thank you to all of the new followers. My Google Friend Connect hasn't allowed me to e-mail contacts in quite some time so I wanted to thank you here. Your support means so much to me. Thank you!

Does fear ever hold you back? How do you man-handle your muse?

Enjoy your Monday!

Tweet

Share