Jan
In Good Company
Trying to settle down and write a Wednesday blog post is always a tough one for me. So many things are swirling around in a person’s head by Wednesday, don’t you think? But there’s one issue in particular that’s been near and dear to me lately, and my apologies to the loyal readers for droning on and on about it…again.
I did a terrible job explaining this on my blog last week, so I’m going to try again here where there might be more readers and thus, more opportunities for insight. Here’s the short of it:
I wrote a book. A terrible book. A confusing book. So I gutted it at the advice of multiple published authors, contest judges, and even an editor or two. After a long bid farewell, my critique partners extraordinaire agreed certain elements had to go. I got the story down to its basic parts and sent it out into the bad, bad, world, this time a little older and a little wiser and yes, a little less confusing.
And it came back. With comments. After the usual blinding haze of incredulity (What do you mean it’s not marvelous and you will give me gobs and gobs of money for the mere honor of listing it among your greats?!), I fired up a pot of coffee and set the rejection letters side by side. And I found a commonality. And I decided to do something about it.
But we’re talking 400 pages of editing I didn’t *really* want to do. I mean, if my voice is a tad contemporary and my diction a trifle American, who cares? It’s a great story, right? The readers will love and adore me regardless. Seriously. /Lacey scans her bookshelf. There aren’t that many authors who do a convincing Regency anyway.
Right?
Uh, well, maybe if I want to stay unpublished. It seems to me if editors are saying they like the story but can’t get immersed in it due to my voice, then I either need to figure out what’s wrong or start writing the Great American Humorous Women’s Fiction Novel. Which I can’t do because I’m not nearly funny enough.
So I had to do something. As my faithful fans know, I posted an ad on craigslist requesting a local British reader who could read my partial and then sit down with me and, in lovely UK tones, explain why I’m an idiot. Within a week she’d responded and read it and then came the day she sat down with me.
She doesn’t read romances. She doesn’t read Regency. And she didn’t do a very helpful job identifying my historical voice issues, as you might imagine.
BUT. But. Let’s not discredit my idea so soon. She did see something huge, even though I’d specifically asked her not to critique the content. I mean, the story was perfect, right? So I’d assumed when the editor said my manuscript had an American tone or a Contemporary tone (depending on the editor), she meant my diction. What the UK reader saw was, instead, my plot.
Now you’re probably thinking, Well, Lacey, you knew your plot was a little out there. What did you expect?
But see, I’d had so many compliments on my plot concept it never occurred to me that it could be the problem. The editor liked my story; end of story. Or not. When I got home I wrote a long, detailed email to my CPEs. They instantly saw what I had just become aware of and agreed (as is not often the case). One CPE was even able to apply it to a comment she’d received on a contest entry, where she’d assumed the same kind of thing I had: That diction is what drives your historical feel.
But that’s not the only driver. What my UK reader saw that we hadn’t was how many potential conflicts we had skipped by assuming the average romance reader would “accept” the plot and go a long with it. The UK reader didn’t think the plot itself was bad or unbelievable, she just thought I shouldn’t be so quick to dismiss the social mores of the time. Which she was really aware of, as I had sort of assumed she wouldn’t be. Because I’m a moron. Or because I’m lazy and I wanted things to work my way. Whatever.
The point is, she was right. I’m in Chapter 2 and it’s FANTASTIC. What she identified specifically opened my eyes to smaller details she hadn’t pointed out. Now, because there is more conflict, there is more emotion. And because there is more emotion there is a faster pace. What will happen next? How will she do what she wants when the entire world seems to be against her ambition? How will the hero come to terms with desiring a female every resident of Little Bingford disapproves of? And so on and so on. These are all concepts I meant to address in my novel; if you were to look at the back cover blurb on my website (which you can’t because I broke it last night) you’d see those elements are all part of the high concept. Sometimes, dear friend, what’s in your head stubbornly refuses to make itself seen on paper.
So in addition to revising the scenes to address social mores I have long been well-aware of but have only recently decided apply to *my* novel, I’ve been studying up on my historical voice. Pamela Aidan is a woman from Coeur d’Alene, ID who has done a fantastic job applying Austen to her Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman trilogy. I saw her in Seattle last week and was able to ask her about it. Between speaking with her and having my UK reader not notice an excessive number of Americanisms in my work, my confidence rose. I’ve now tackled 2 chapters in haughty English prose.
Watch out, New York. I’m coming back.
So. What do you think about all this? Is it more pleasant to believe the reader will be so swept away in your story she’ll ignore anachronistic details? Or do you simply not fear the Beau Monde? (They scare the *$%^ outta me, that’s for sure.) Do our published author friends want to weigh in on this? Do spill your experiences! I’d like to be in good company.
Lacey, I hope you are having fun! I realized too that I had to put in a lot more detail than I thought… and when I went back a read my favorite books, I realized all that detail was in those beautiful romances.. I think that’s why they were so easy to read. They had details enough to build the world around me, then to step back when the characters took over so that I was always in the time period or the world that the author created.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:19 amYou know, Lacey, this blog really hits home for me and something that happened in my writing past. I was at my local chapter meeting one night and we were doing a critique meeitng, which we’d never done before and the coordinator had done a great job of making sure there was a published author in every small group. Well, the published author in my group told me almost exactly what you started off with in this blog - that my Regency historical felt TOO american, too modern. I, too, thought it might be my language and I went back to the story and fretted and whined for months about it. And then it hit me. It wasn’t so much my language but rather the time period I’d chosen. This is how I neded up in Victorians because my writing fits better in the industrial era when it was more believable to have a woman who owned a school for wayward girls (a book that is unsold). It was in that moment that I realized that it was my characters and the story and the conflict and all of that stuff that felt out of place in the prim and oh-so-proper Regency era. Not to mention the fact that my heroes are often untitled.
It reminded me of something another published author had once said in a workshop - that voice isn’t just about the way you use words or how you construct sentences. That your characters were very much apart of your voice, espeically your heroine. This was like a lightbulb for me and it gave me permission to really push the boundaries and explore that aspect of my voice. That’s not to say that diction and language aren’t important, just that they aren’t everything. A reader will forgive an occasional modern colloquealism if the characters and story ring true for her.
All this to say (and I realize I’m rather wordy) that congrats to you for having a major breakthrough. Those are the best moments when you can see things clearly and you really grow as a writer! Sorry for my ruminations…:-)
January 24th, 2007 at 10:55 amLacey.. my blog from yesterday was a result from comparing all of my rejections, too. After that I was like. Ok, Time to learn the craft. It’s fun. I hope you are having fun, too. I feel like instead of just flying blindly @ my goal… I am on solid ground with a plan and a way to get there.
Robyn,
January 24th, 2007 at 11:23 amThat is a really wonderful response. Eventually I will stop printing out everything everyone says on this website and just archive it :O).
AHHH! Robyn! It means *so* much to me that you had this experience, too. As you have already been informed, you GMC goddess, you, you are one of The Heroes. This rocks! I felt soooo stupid on the drive back…It’s a really, really good feeling to know it isn’t just me. /end huge sigh of relief and minor squee moment
Laura…Like someone said yesterday, sign up for everything Robyn’s got going on this year
She’s great. I think there might even be an archive of the GMC workshop I’m referring to on the Romance Divas board. Ah, yes, here it is. Under AOTM Workshops/Page 2 is Creating Compelling Conflict. If you have a log in the workshop is here.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:14 pmLacey, I don’t have much to add except that I’m so amazed by your determination. I hope you make it, my dear. You certainly will have earned it.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:51 pmI’m just glad I made sense…I had a dentist appointment this morning and I’m still feeling a little off.
Glad it was helpful, Lacey (and Laura). And I gotta say…a hero? Really? Wow, I’m so touched…really, that’s just the coolest thing ever.
January 24th, 2007 at 12:55 pmKate…that’s part of the problem, too, right? At some point a gal has to call it quits. But I believe in this story! If I didn’t retype the whole thing every time I revised it I probably would have had to declare it a loss. (Does that sound positive? Retyping…hmmm…)
But if I when I ever get this baby published, the list of acknowledgements is going to be HUGE. Gi-norm-tastic. ::wink::
January 24th, 2007 at 1:37 pmLacey ~ I read your personal blog and today’s version. I’m thinking of my answer…it might be long so I’ll wait until I get home to post it.
January 24th, 2007 at 3:42 pmWell, best of luck to ya, baby. And *when* you do sell, you’ll deserve it!
January 24th, 2007 at 4:09 pmGood for you, Lacey!! I admire your determination. I wish you the very best and will be one of the first in line to get your book when it is released.
(((hugs)))
January 24th, 2007 at 5:12 pmAw, thanks, ladies! I’m getting good vibes over here! (Plus it’s 56 degrees in Seattle and we like to round up. 60! w00t w00t! Break out the margaritas and the beach blankets!)
January 24th, 2007 at 7:08 pmMargaritas you say, Lacey?
January 24th, 2007 at 7:14 pmLacey, just remember that Georgette Heyer is dead and that she created the “authentic Regency voice” long after the fact. Austen is dead too (although, like Elvis, there are frequent incarnations). I love them both, but you are you. And you’re writing for 21st century Americans, most of whom don’t know a barouche from a curricle. There is no single kind of romance reader just as there is no single kind of romance writer. There’s an audience for pretty much everything, and you’ll find yours. I’m glad you’re untangling your puzzle. As long as you’re excited and loving what you write, you’re bound to be successful!
January 24th, 2007 at 7:23 pmLacey, it’s one of those things that you have to please yourself, because you’ll NEVER be able to please everyone.
Plus, I once heard that if today’s writers wrote in complete historical correctness that we wouldn’t be able to understand it. All we can do is make sure that we are happy with it.
And Maggie, I know what the difference is between a barouche and a curricle hehe, but I, umm, have been to Candice Hern’s site. Is that considered cheating?
Margaritas? Where? After the week I’ve had, I’d totally go for some margaritas. Or straight tequila lol j/k.
January 24th, 2007 at 11:37 pmI think what I keep trying to say is that it *does* please me to have an historical feel. Win-win, right?
January 25th, 2007 at 12:32 amI guess I’m a bad girl, because I can READ a historical romance with a great plot and “voice” but when it comes to MY writing…I shudder at the comparison. there is none…I stink at prose, and historical feel. Character, I think is good for me, and I’m good at certain things in writing, but plot and Good Ideas aren’t among them. At least I am still trying though, right?
I find myself slipping, having them say modern terms like “Oh do shut up!” Did they even know what shut up was back in the 1800’s?
January 25th, 2007 at 1:07 amMichelle
Michelle ~ You have me ROFLMAO with that last line.
Haven ~ ((hugs)) how do you like your margaritas? Original on the rocks, salted? If so, I’m buying.
Lacey ~ Your verbalized my fears more eloquently that I could ever have. You’re actually doing something about it, while I just sit here petrified. I take it as a sign - a good one - that you addressed this particular topic here at RI in addition to your blog. I find myself watching and learning most of the time.
January 25th, 2007 at 9:50 amTo answer one of your questions I can do my best to ignore anachronistic details if the story sweeps me off my feet.
Not much help am I? But do know you’re not alone in this. Thanks for talking about it.
*Hands Lacey a Margarita*
*Lacey gratefully accepts* Cheers!
January 25th, 2007 at 10:55 amAwesome post Lacey. I can hardly wait to dive into DTD next week! (I’ll be sure to post here and tell everyone how divine it is. )
January 25th, 2007 at 7:08 pmDarcy