Don’t ever let anyone fool you into thinking that writing a book is easy. Sadly, this is a common misconception among the general public and perhaps many readers (not our readers of course *smile*).

The other day I was working on a scene in my book and came across something I was unsure of. I didn’t know how the heroine would address her dead husband’s family members. It is a historical, which means most often people were addressed formally no matter what. But the scene I was writing was a reflective scene on the recent accounts of her life. She wouldn’t address them as casual as to use their given names but not as formal as to use their title either.

So what do I do…

I sent off an email to my fabulous RWA Chapter, The Beau Monde. I swear the collective members of this chapter are nothing short of amazing! Within minutes I had my answer. Truly thankful of this group, I’m not certain I would would be brave enough to write.

Sure I wrote for a long time before I joined the RWA or The Beau Monde chapter, but if I’m true with myself and all of you, then I must admit that my writing has improved because of the people I’m in touch with. Which puts me back to my starting point: Writing is indeed HARD! And something that shouldn’t be anyone enters without a person or group to help support them.

So I ask you now, who is your support system? Who do you call upon if you get stuck? Do you have a critique group or a chapter? Are you brave enough to go it alone, not requiring any help from others?

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

That’s pretty much how they come to me. I throw them at the wall, like the proverbial pasta and see what sticks.

Most of the time I get a good one, kindly offered when the characters tromp through on their way to introductions. You know, age, sex *g*, location, general prop info. I’d say this happens about 80% of the time. Out of that 80%, I might tinker with one to two, so that leaves me a solid 60% of titles that unless the publisher changes them, I’m happy with them.

That other 20%? Yeah, those are the ones that drive me batty. I have begun to just number those stories. Seriously. I did them by heroine’s names for several years and still do that, but just to be contrary (because I’m good at that too) I decided I’d number them. 100, 101, 102. I have no idea why is started with a 100 either.

I have a fantasy that has changed titles by me, three times already. Each one resonates, but it’s not the ONE. I hope it appears by the time I finish it. Then I have my current wip, a challenge manuscript that I had roughly 72 hours to prepare for to write. My challengers were kind. Ha!

The story is going along okay, but the title eludes me at this point and I’m about 50% done with it. That bugs me! Really. I like to have the title when I start. It gives me a vision of what I’m working on, like the character name inspires that person in the story.

There are methods to contriving titles for stories. One is to list the attributes of the story and combine them. (Sort of how Restless Heart garnered their name - They drew slips of paper out of a hat. Imagine if they’d gotten Forgotten Stomach??) Or you use the strongest/weakest denominator of the book and use a play on words. There’s also action titles, character names as titles… The list is absolutely wide open as to how you can produce a convincing title for a book.

My problem is this particular book isn’t giving it to me! Gah! It’s a witchy paranormal with a very HOT theme. Did I mention my challengers also challenged me to write out of comfort zone? Yeah, they did. But I love them anyway. So I’ve been sitting here thinking about what I could name this book.

So far, it’s not pretty. Maybe it’ll come when I get to the end. I am usually the last to know around here.

Do you think titles make a big impact on choice? Is it a combination?

I’m really excited because I’ve registered for the Romance Writers of America conference. Only three months to go… Writing is such a solitary occupation, and attending a conference is a way of meeting and talking with like-minded people. It’s a place to catch up on market news and actually speak face-to-face with both editors and agents.

I’m looking forward to meeting my online friends in person - I don’t usually get to meet many writers since I live in New Zealand. I also really enjoy the free books. (books are expensive in NZ so this is a real plus!) Another thing I enjoy are all the workshops featuring career advice, market tips and lots of hints to perfect my writing craft.

Are you going to any conferences this year? What do you enjoy most about attending a writing conference?

Well it’s time.  You’ve spent an enormous amount of time working on your baby, your story.  You’ve developed the most amazing plot, your characters jump off the page, you’ve polished it to perfection, and even you feel elated with you read it. 

So now what? 

Now it’s time to start the research you MUST do  in order to find the right publishing house for your work.  What kind of research?  Well what genre is your book? Figure out which houses publish your genre.  Read the books they publish, to make sure you fit in.  If you write steamy historical romance, you wouldn’t submit to a historical Christian romance house.  Make sure the houses you choose are still aquiring.  Find out who the editor is.  Read their writing guidelines and follow them to a “T.”

You need to know the publishers inside and out before you submit your work there.  You want to make sure your baby will be taken care of, and that so will you.  I’ve heard a lot of horror stories lately, and you don’t want any of those things to happen to you.

Where can you find a list of publishers?  Writers Market, Passionate Pen, Preditors and Editors, Romance Writers of America

Do you want a big house, small house, e-pub, the list goes on and on, and doing your research is the most important piece.  It shows you are dedicated.  Don’t start at the bottom, give yourself credit and go for what you want.  With perseverance and dedication you’ll get there. 

Some publishers will let you submit or query to them without an agent, and some won’t.  So make sure you know which before you start submitting.  Do they accept simultaneous submissions?  Meaning can you submit to multiple publishers at one time.  A lot of publishers are leaning towards no.

So now you’ve checked out the links above, you’ve written a list of every publisher that is aquiring your genre and that you want to submit to.  Now you need to make another list.  This list is numbered 1 - however many publishers you like, I generally do about 5-10 for each manuscript.

This is the list you will go off of when submitting.  You write on the list who the publisher is, who the editor is, the address, the response time, what you need to send, when you sent it, and the response.  While you’re waiting for that publishers response, you should prepare your next query letter, because if you get rejected you want to be able to send it out to the next publisher on your list.

Now if your top house is one that only accepts agented submissions, than you do the same research above except for agents, make the same list and send out your queries.

Anybody else have any suggestions?

Good luck with your submissions!

Eliza

The old adage is that it is better to be seen than heard, or something like that.  I think my children believe that. Don’t get me wrong. They are great kids, but they have gotten immune to the sound of my voice. So this raises my ire. I’m a convenient person available  for making meals and wiping noses or behinds. But for them to be told to do or not do something? Fuhgeddaboudit. Then I thought about how voice applies in writing as well. Oh, as a parent, I’ll figure a way to have my babies listen to me, or they’ll grow out of this, hopefully before their teens. (I wear rose-colored glasses, m’kay?)

But back to voice in writing. Do you ever read a book and then get lost in what you’ve read, but not in a good way. You kinda tune out but realize you’ve looked at the words? I feel immune to writing, at times. Not my writing, but other’s, and no one in particular. Is it that I might not be in the mood to read? Not necessarily. Am I bored? Probably. So what can we do to not bore our readers? Any suggestions? I think too much or too little is a big culprit. And I’ve expressed my feelings before, I believe, on description. What do y’all think?

With apologies to Little People everywhere…  

I posit to you that we aspiring writers are Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. And it is ‘dwarfs,’ not ‘dwarves.’ I looked it up. 

   We are not bipolar; we are octoplolar.  

We are sweet, naïve, innocent, virtuous as the pure white page. We believe someday our princes and publishers will come. We whistle while we work. So maybe we’re not that careful of what we eat. Woman cannot live by poisoned apples alone. Chocolate and diet soda only kill mice in excessive quantities anyway.  

At first we are Happy and carefree. Struck by the Muse and manic obsession to write the greatest story ever told.   

Then along comes Grumpy, who is never satisfied with the prose/plot/position chosen. And even if Doc comes along to revise, equipped with a thesaurus and help from his critique group, Grumpy is not satisfied. That’s if Bashful has even allowed the critique group to look things over, because Bashful feels pretty Dopey most of the time. Pitch 400 pages in a paragraph? Like that’s ever going to happen. And he’s allergic to true criticism; nothing makes him Sneezy faster than point of view problems being pointed out. It’s enough to depress him so entirely he becomes Sleepy, naps for twenty years to avoid failure and turns into another tale altogether, Rip van Winkle.  

Which dwarf do you want to toss the farthest? 

There’s no use in grumbling
When the raindrops come tumbling
Remember, you’re the one
Who can fill the world with sunshine~ With a Smile and a Song  

Breath… Inhale… Exhale… Repeat…

Ok, better now! At least for the moment. I’m going to rant for a moment, so if you don’t want to read about it, avert your eyes now.

I’m all snug in my chair, honeymelon candle burning, music in the background, white tea on the mousepad and my latest WIP open. I’ve given it a once over to get my mind into the groove of the story and begin to type. Engrossed by my efforts I begin to sink into my story, deeper and deeper with each word. I’ve found my writing niche. Yay! And then…

The phone rings!

Because I don’t talk with my family very often, I will forgive them if they call while I’m writing. No problem there. What gets me all fired up are the telemarketing 800 numbers that call you. How many times have I heard: “Our representatives are busy, please hold”? My thoughts, if they are busy, don’t FRIGGIN’ call me! Or, even worse, they call and hang up. Why bother wasting the effort to call someone and then hang up? Is there a point to this?

This is what happened this morning. The house was quiet, the cats all sleeping, the husband still snoozing and I had found my writing groove. Then the phone begins to ring. And perhaps I wouldn’t have been pulled completely out of my writing thoughts if it had only been one phone call, but sadly, it wasn’t. Nope! In the matter of ten minutes I had FOUR phone calls.

So then I thought it best to do my blogging for the day before it got too late. Sadly, as you can see, I’m still rather peeved over the morning interference.

Now I ask you… What disrupts you when you’re in the mindset on something? What do you do to prevent such disruptions? Ever thought of hunting down these 800 number people and giving them a what-for?

The secret of writing a great book is to take a classic plot and twist it to make the plot unique. Here is a list of the classic plot types:

1. Secret Baby - a pregnancy results from a romance and the father doesn’t know about it.

2. Cinderella - a rags to riches story.

3. Beauty and the Beast - one of the main characters is physically marred in some way.

4. Good Girl/Bad Boy - opposites attract. This can also be reversed with a bad girl/good boy.

5. Stranded - a couple is stranded together and the enforced intimacy leads to more.

6. Marriage of convenience - an arranged or forced marriage leads to love.

7. Family feud - think Romeo and Juliet.

8. Mistaken Identity - one of a couple isn’t who he or she appears to be on the surface.

9. Lady and the Cowboy - a class difference sets a couple apart.

10. Secret - a secret stands between romance.

11. Twins - lots of possibilities here.

12. Kidnapping - an abduction.

13. Business competitors - two people fighting for the same prize and only one can win.

14. Friends to Lovers - a friendship leads to more.

15. Masquerade - pretending to be someone else.

16. Amnesia - where one of the characters has lost their memory.

Some of these plot ideas work better for historicals than contemporary stories. I really enjoy writing the Friends to Lovers style of plot since the characters already know a lot about each other and have a history together. Another favorite is the good girl/bad boy plot. I’m a sucker for a bad boy. Which plot type is your favorite? Have I missed one of your favorites?

Are you thinking about entering a contest, but you’re just not sure what to do?  How will you win?

As a judge myself for numerous writing contests, as well as a category coordinator for two different RWA chapters, I thought I could offer some advice to those writers who are not quite sure what judges look for in an entry.

First and foremost you have to love writing and love your story.  The love you have for your story will shine through in your entry.   Secondly, you have to edit your entry, if possible show it to a critique partner or group, it always helps to have a second pair of eyes to catch the little things we can’t seem to see on our own.

Why do people enter contests? It’s a good way to get your manuscript ready for submission.  You will get some feedback on your work, and if you’ve done well enough to final, your entry will land before an editor or agent.  Does finaling or winning a contest matter to an editor or agent?  It really depends on who you submit to.  Some say it’s great and shows you’re serious and that your writing is good.   Others say they are afraid the manuscript may be good for the first three chapters and then decline from there.  Just make sure you edit your entire manuscript as well as you did the first few chapters.  Having a crit partner or partners should help with this.

I have taken some of the most common scoring guidelines and explained them below.  Most will have a score from 1 – 5, with 1 meaning it needs major revisions, and 5 meaning it is ready for submission.

Format

The judge is looking to see that your manuscript is written in an acceptable format.  For example, you have 12 pt. font, Times New Roman or Courier font, double spaced, black ink, 1 inch margins, page breaks between chapters, *** between scenes or at least something indicating a scene or POV change.  (POV= Point of View, no head hopping!)

Opening

The opening of your story is generally thought of as the first line of your story to the second page.  You’ve really got to grab your reader from the start, make that first sentence and first paragraph really jump off the page, and compel the reader to keep reading.  You’re opening hook could make or break the entire story.  It could be action, dialogue or narrative, just as long as it pops.  As an exercise check out a few of your favorite books, how did they draw you in?

Storyline

Is your story fresh and unique?  You may have heard there are something like five storylines in the world, well what makes yours different?  Are we introduced to the main characters and shown their internal and external conflicts?  Is there enough conflict to sustain the story?  Now understandably you only have 20 – 30 pages to show the judge all this stuff and you may not be able to put it all in there.  Judges know that, and just want to see hints conflict will continue. 

 Setting

Judges want to be able to sense the place and time.   They want to see how your setting adds to the mood of the book.  Believe it or not, but setting and how you portray it, is very important to a story.  Setting sets the mood and allows the reader to become the characters.  I’ve always tried to describe the way I read as seeing a movie in my head.  If the setting is written clearly I can’t see the movie… Research your setting well, judges will check to see if the setting is believable.

 Characterization

Make sure your characters are well developed.  You should know them as well if not better than you know yourself.  Know what they would do in each and every situation, because if you don’t know your characters well, neither will a reader.  Your character’s goals should be portrayed or at least hinted at in an entry, and be realistic.  Actions, dialogue, thoughts, goals, motivation should all be relevant to the time period or at least give the reader an idea why they aren’t. 

Romance/Relationship

Your hero and heroine should be introduced to the reader somewhere near the beginning of the novel.  Upon their first meeting of each other, sparks should fly.  That doesn’t mean they have to want to jump immediately into bed together (although it doesn’t hurt!), they may hate each other at first, which could make it all the more fun.  Bring on the sensual tension!  Make us feel those sparks, or at least make us feel like we would if we could read more than 30 pages… Judges will look to see that your characters have enough depth to make it in a relationship.  They need to like each other for certain reasons, not just because she’s pretty and he’s hot.  Although physical attraction is important, judges are looking for emotional attachment too. 

 Dialogue

Your dialogue should move the story along.  It should be meaningful and reveal things about the characters, the setting and the story.  Read your dialogue aloud, if it sounds odd to you, it will sound odd to a reader.  Don’t use too many, “he said” “she said” tag lines.  Intersperse your dialogue with action.  Make it flow.  Also don’t give your southern belle a New York accent, or your noblewoman a peasant’s tongue.

Narrative

To me narrative may be one of the hardest parts.  You want to make sure you’re showing and not telling.  You want to make sure you get all your details and descriptions in but not too much that you bore the reader.  You want it to be well balanced with dialogue and action.  Show us what’s going on through the character’s point of view.  Your narrative should move the story along just like your dialogue does.

 Style

Judges look for your unique voice.  They want to see that your writing is vivid, emotional, and interesting.  They want to be hooked.  Did you use all five senses?  Can the reader hear, see, feel, taste and smell what the character does?  Again…Show don’t tell!  It is so important.  Make sure points of view are clear, and don’t hop from one person’s thoughts to another.  If you want to switch points of view make sure your transitions are smooth and not confusing.

 Categories: Historical, Contemporary/Series, Mystery/Suspense, Paranormal, Fantasy, Erotic, Time Travel, etc…

Most likely you will enter under a certain category or into a certain contest.  Make sure your story fits that category.  You wouldn’t enter your contemporary into a historical category.  Make sure you know your genre and you’ve researched it enough your eyes are now crossed.

When in doubt contact the contest coordinator they will be able to answer your questions, and get you on the right track.

Good luck!

I’m hearing that oldies song in my head, where they’re singing and spelling the word vacation. I think it’s about summer vacation, but I’ll have to be satisfied with spring break. I work in a high school library and we’re off until April 28th. Usually we travel somewhere warm, but I’m basking indoors in the glow of my computer screen and aiming for a high word count this week.

But my hero is travelling—to Egypt, in fact, and I’ve got  folders of research to send him on his way. Most of the story, though, is set in a village in Dorset, based on one I visited a few years ago. I was canny enough to come back with a fistful of brochures and maps, so getting the setting right has been easy. Egypt will be a whole lot trickier—maybe I’ll just have my hero toss around a few artifacts and reminisce to the heroine!

Every time I travel, I wonder how I can use the locations and experiences in my writing. How about you? Are you an armchair traveler with great Internet connections, or do you explore as much as you can firsthand? What’s the setting for your WIP? Where do you want to go on v-a-c-a-t-i-o-n?