Alissa Baxter's Blog, page 9
February 8, 2013
A Guide To Writing Romance - Part Eight
Authors often do a lot of research before putting pen to paper, and it is so very tempting to include all the fascinating details you’ve uncovered about a particular topic. However, it is important to restrain yourself! I once read a novel, set in Turkey, that was more of a travelogue than a romance. The author clearly couldn’t resist including loads of extra details about Turkey. However, when a reader feels the needs to skip past large swathes of descriptive text to get to the meat of the story, then you know there’s something amiss.
Here are some more tips about this theme from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:Eighth Secret: Every detail has a job to do
Detail is compelling. It’s exciting to research, and satisfying to include in your writing. It can tell us so much about your characters and your setting.
But too much, and you can choke on it, as James Wood says, in How Fiction Works. Significant detail must have a reason to be there. Every description and every subsidiary character must take the story forward or develop your main characters.
Don’t get carried away by your research and write reams just for the sake of showing it off. Research is like good make-up. It should make you look better, but you shouldn’t be aware of it.
Exercise:Think of your best friend. Which details, of her appearance and habits would you choose to include if she were your heroine? What will tell us more about what she looks like and what she’s like as a person? It could be as simple as a dimple, if people respond to it, or she uses it flirtatiously. Or it could be her habit of alphebetising her bookshelves.
Here are some more tips about this theme from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:Eighth Secret: Every detail has a job to do
Detail is compelling. It’s exciting to research, and satisfying to include in your writing. It can tell us so much about your characters and your setting.
But too much, and you can choke on it, as James Wood says, in How Fiction Works. Significant detail must have a reason to be there. Every description and every subsidiary character must take the story forward or develop your main characters.
Don’t get carried away by your research and write reams just for the sake of showing it off. Research is like good make-up. It should make you look better, but you shouldn’t be aware of it.
Exercise:Think of your best friend. Which details, of her appearance and habits would you choose to include if she were your heroine? What will tell us more about what she looks like and what she’s like as a person? It could be as simple as a dimple, if people respond to it, or she uses it flirtatiously. Or it could be her habit of alphebetising her bookshelves.
February 5, 2013
A Guide To Writing Romance - Part Seven
My first two novels were set in Regency England. In order to write about this period convincingly, I immersed myself in that world. I read all of Georgette Heyer’s Regency novels, bought books on Regency clothes, gardens, houses, and fashions and researched all manner of other details necessary to create a believable setting. One of the biggest challenges of writing an historical novel is the fact that no-one alive actually lived during the time you’re writing about, and so every detail of the setting you are creating has to be carefully researched.
Alternatively, it may seem that writing a book in a modern setting is therefore much easier. But this isn’t necessarily the case. My third novel, Send and Receive , was set in Durban, a city I had lived in for a number of years. This made it easier for me to write about it. However, if I hadn’t lived in Durban, I doubt I would have set my novel there as it is so easy to get the atmosphere of a city wrong. Often you need to live in a city to know the myriad small things that lend it atmosphere. It’s not something that can easily be researched online, although online research is, of course, an invaluable resource for any writer.
Read on to find out more about this topic from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:
Seventh Secret: Give your characters a believable setting.
We want to see your characters in their natural environment. It must be vivid and have just enough detail for us to believe in it. To do this, you have to know it very well yourself.
You need to know far more about their environment, and perhaps their occupation, than will ever appear in your book. Don’t set out to set your first love story in a hospital if you know nothing about how doctors and nurses work.
Knowing the details gives you the confidence to write with authority. And it allows you to include just enough telling details to create a credible and solid world.
If the world in which you’ve chosen to set your story is not familiar to you, then you’ve set yourself a considerable task: you’re going to have to research it.
The internet, naturally, makes research into places – towns, villages, countries even - a much easier proposition than it used to be. In your research, look for not just the broad vista, but the specific detail. Here, as in almost every other area of writing, it’s the telling detail that convinces more than the generalisation.
But if you’re setting your romance in the world of nuclear physics, medicine, astronomy, or even a legal practice or newsroom, you’re going to have to do your research on the ground. Visit the locations, take photographs, and talk to the people.
Exercise: A little thought experiment this time. What setting springs to mind when you think of romance? It could be as familiar as your own office or town. It could be the more exotic location of your favourite holiday. Perhaps it’s the office where you worked as a temp, or the volunteer work you did in your gap year. Consider how much additional research you may need to do to fill in the blanks. Do you know the details of other people’s jobs? Could you describe the walk to the beach? What trees grow beside the pond?
Alternatively, it may seem that writing a book in a modern setting is therefore much easier. But this isn’t necessarily the case. My third novel, Send and Receive , was set in Durban, a city I had lived in for a number of years. This made it easier for me to write about it. However, if I hadn’t lived in Durban, I doubt I would have set my novel there as it is so easy to get the atmosphere of a city wrong. Often you need to live in a city to know the myriad small things that lend it atmosphere. It’s not something that can easily be researched online, although online research is, of course, an invaluable resource for any writer.
Read on to find out more about this topic from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:
Seventh Secret: Give your characters a believable setting.
We want to see your characters in their natural environment. It must be vivid and have just enough detail for us to believe in it. To do this, you have to know it very well yourself.
You need to know far more about their environment, and perhaps their occupation, than will ever appear in your book. Don’t set out to set your first love story in a hospital if you know nothing about how doctors and nurses work.
Knowing the details gives you the confidence to write with authority. And it allows you to include just enough telling details to create a credible and solid world.
If the world in which you’ve chosen to set your story is not familiar to you, then you’ve set yourself a considerable task: you’re going to have to research it.
The internet, naturally, makes research into places – towns, villages, countries even - a much easier proposition than it used to be. In your research, look for not just the broad vista, but the specific detail. Here, as in almost every other area of writing, it’s the telling detail that convinces more than the generalisation.
But if you’re setting your romance in the world of nuclear physics, medicine, astronomy, or even a legal practice or newsroom, you’re going to have to do your research on the ground. Visit the locations, take photographs, and talk to the people.
Exercise: A little thought experiment this time. What setting springs to mind when you think of romance? It could be as familiar as your own office or town. It could be the more exotic location of your favourite holiday. Perhaps it’s the office where you worked as a temp, or the volunteer work you did in your gap year. Consider how much additional research you may need to do to fill in the blanks. Do you know the details of other people’s jobs? Could you describe the walk to the beach? What trees grow beside the pond?
February 4, 2013
A Guide To Writing Romance - Part Six
How do you show your characters’ traits and personality, without falling into the trap of telling your readers what you think they should know about them? The secret is to learn to reveal things to the reader without being prescriptive about it. It’s a subtle tool of the writing trade that can take a while to learn, but it’s very important to look at your writing critically to see whether you may be falling into the “telling” trap.
Read on to find out more from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:
Sixth Secret: Show, don’t tell.
Show us what your characters are like, don’t tell us. Don’t explain to us that she’s struggled out of poverty and that she’s wary of men. Show us in her overly scornful attitude to material wealth, and in her skittishness around the hero.
Don’t tell us he’s kind. Show us his kindness through what he says and does, and how other characters relate to him.
This is a powerful skill to develop, one of the most important ways to lift your manuscript above the slush pile. No-one wants to read reams and reams of exposition – in which you explain to your reader, at great length, what is going on and why.
Once you’ve developed this skill, you’ll be able to do all that, and more, without explaining it in tedious detail. You’ll quite naturally show your characters to us through the things they say (and choose not to say); through their actions and inactions and how other characters relate to them.
You can also tell a great deal about characters through the details that you choose to include. What are they wearing, for example, or what do they hang on their walls? Do they have a house full of animals, or is their kitchen obsessively neat?
Exercise:
Look around you right now, wherever you happen to be sitting. Which details of your environment would you, as writer, choose to highlight to show something about yourself or your setting?
Read on to find out more from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:
Sixth Secret: Show, don’t tell.
Show us what your characters are like, don’t tell us. Don’t explain to us that she’s struggled out of poverty and that she’s wary of men. Show us in her overly scornful attitude to material wealth, and in her skittishness around the hero.
Don’t tell us he’s kind. Show us his kindness through what he says and does, and how other characters relate to him.
This is a powerful skill to develop, one of the most important ways to lift your manuscript above the slush pile. No-one wants to read reams and reams of exposition – in which you explain to your reader, at great length, what is going on and why.
Once you’ve developed this skill, you’ll be able to do all that, and more, without explaining it in tedious detail. You’ll quite naturally show your characters to us through the things they say (and choose not to say); through their actions and inactions and how other characters relate to them.
You can also tell a great deal about characters through the details that you choose to include. What are they wearing, for example, or what do they hang on their walls? Do they have a house full of animals, or is their kitchen obsessively neat?
Exercise:
Look around you right now, wherever you happen to be sitting. Which details of your environment would you, as writer, choose to highlight to show something about yourself or your setting?
February 1, 2013
A Guide To Writing Romance - Part Five
A good writer plunges the reader into the story’s action, and doesn’t intrude on the story. But how can a writer intrude on a story, you might say? Surely the story belongs to its creator? It is very tempting, as a writer, to use your novel as a platform to elaborate on certain themes that are close to your heart, but unless something moves the story along, it shouldn’t be included.
Read on to find out more from the next extract from All About Writing's “The Guide To Writing Romance”:
Fifth Secret: Write in strong scenes.
Too many novices commit the cardinal sin of storytelling: Their narrative consists of just “one damned thing after another”, as Elbert Hubbard put it. It should never be a series of “and then…and then…and thens.” Neither do you want to tell us what happened, as though you were telling us quickly over the phone.
We want to feel we are there. We want to watch the action unfold and hear the lovers argue and make up. Plunge us into the action by telling us the story in a series of tangible scenes that show us what’s happening to them.
Each should have a dramatic point which drives the story forward or reveals an important aspect of your hero or heroine’s character. You may choose to write a scene to extol the beauties of the landscape – but only if this gives us insight into the heroine’s state of mind.
Exercise:If you like, try this to see how you get on with scenes. Write a short scene in which your heroine, who has just discovered that the hero has refused her leave application, marches into his office to find his personal assistant massaging his shoulders. Show us what happens from the time she enters the room. What do they say to each other (in direct speech, or dialogue) and how does the scene end? You may choose to include a scene where two people merely pour tea and exchange pleasantries – but only if this sheds light on your heroine, or someone says something shocking in this context of domestic banality.
Read on to find out more from the next extract from All About Writing's “The Guide To Writing Romance”:
Fifth Secret: Write in strong scenes.
Too many novices commit the cardinal sin of storytelling: Their narrative consists of just “one damned thing after another”, as Elbert Hubbard put it. It should never be a series of “and then…and then…and thens.” Neither do you want to tell us what happened, as though you were telling us quickly over the phone.
We want to feel we are there. We want to watch the action unfold and hear the lovers argue and make up. Plunge us into the action by telling us the story in a series of tangible scenes that show us what’s happening to them.
Each should have a dramatic point which drives the story forward or reveals an important aspect of your hero or heroine’s character. You may choose to write a scene to extol the beauties of the landscape – but only if this gives us insight into the heroine’s state of mind.
Exercise:If you like, try this to see how you get on with scenes. Write a short scene in which your heroine, who has just discovered that the hero has refused her leave application, marches into his office to find his personal assistant massaging his shoulders. Show us what happens from the time she enters the room. What do they say to each other (in direct speech, or dialogue) and how does the scene end? You may choose to include a scene where two people merely pour tea and exchange pleasantries – but only if this sheds light on your heroine, or someone says something shocking in this context of domestic banality.
January 29, 2013
A Guide To Writing Romance - Part Four
Create Conflict
If you fail to create conflict between your characters, you won’t have a story. However, when you’re planning your novel, it’s important to take into account the intensity of the conflict you intend to create, and whether it matches the kind of story you’re writing. If you’re writing a light-hearted romantic comedy, for instance, your level of emotional conflict would be far different to say a harrowing historical drama, where the intensity of the emotions are far heightened.Read on for some useful tips on creating conflict from “TheGuide To Writing Romance” online course:
Fourth Secret: Create conflict.Your characters may be irresistibly drawn to each other, but something must keep them apart.
You can’t construct a romance based on two people meeting, having a few happy times together – walks on the beach, going out with his friends (who all like her), meeting his mother (who approves) and finally tying the knot. What’s there to keep us reading?
The tension between the possibility of love and the threats to its success is what keeps us reading. Conflict doesn’t mean a few arguments and misunderstandings. If there’s a simple misunderstanding, your readers will wonder why the hell they don’t just speak to each other and clear it up.
And if they’re awful, cruel and far too arrogant with each other, we’ll hope they never do end up together.
The conflict must be considerable enough for us to fear they may never end up together. It could be that their emotional situations have set them at odds. Perhaps he finds it impossible to trust women or she has never been able to commit.
On the other hand, their goals and life plans may be in opposition and set them on a collision course. She’s the property developer, while he’s the biologist set on saving the habitat of a rare and endangered salamander.
Exercise:Think back to the last romance you’ve read or romantic comedy you’ve seen. These might be the ones we prompted you to see in the last exercise. Or use a fresh lot. Why not? It is homework, after all. Now, consider the tension that exists between hero and heroine. We know they ought to be together, but what holds them apart during the course of the story? Does it intensify? Is it darkest before the dawn? Just as you think it’s about to resolve, does another obstacle appear?
If you fail to create conflict between your characters, you won’t have a story. However, when you’re planning your novel, it’s important to take into account the intensity of the conflict you intend to create, and whether it matches the kind of story you’re writing. If you’re writing a light-hearted romantic comedy, for instance, your level of emotional conflict would be far different to say a harrowing historical drama, where the intensity of the emotions are far heightened.Read on for some useful tips on creating conflict from “TheGuide To Writing Romance” online course:
Fourth Secret: Create conflict.Your characters may be irresistibly drawn to each other, but something must keep them apart.
You can’t construct a romance based on two people meeting, having a few happy times together – walks on the beach, going out with his friends (who all like her), meeting his mother (who approves) and finally tying the knot. What’s there to keep us reading?
The tension between the possibility of love and the threats to its success is what keeps us reading. Conflict doesn’t mean a few arguments and misunderstandings. If there’s a simple misunderstanding, your readers will wonder why the hell they don’t just speak to each other and clear it up.
And if they’re awful, cruel and far too arrogant with each other, we’ll hope they never do end up together.
The conflict must be considerable enough for us to fear they may never end up together. It could be that their emotional situations have set them at odds. Perhaps he finds it impossible to trust women or she has never been able to commit.
On the other hand, their goals and life plans may be in opposition and set them on a collision course. She’s the property developer, while he’s the biologist set on saving the habitat of a rare and endangered salamander.
Exercise:Think back to the last romance you’ve read or romantic comedy you’ve seen. These might be the ones we prompted you to see in the last exercise. Or use a fresh lot. Why not? It is homework, after all. Now, consider the tension that exists between hero and heroine. We know they ought to be together, but what holds them apart during the course of the story? Does it intensify? Is it darkest before the dawn? Just as you think it’s about to resolve, does another obstacle appear?
January 27, 2013
A Guide To Writing Romance - Part Three
When I’m writing a novel, a character will often spring fully formed into my mind – and then onto the page. I will see this character in my mind’s eye, and know her voice, how she looks, her sense of humour, and all manner of other small details. My heroine, Alexandra, from my first novel, The Dashing Debutante, was just such a character. She showed up fully formed and I knew what she would say, how she would say it, and what made her laugh without having to learn these details before setting pen to paper.
However, at other times, I have to get to know a character before I can write about him or her, and this can take a lot more effort. Read on to find out how to create strong characters from the third extract from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:
Third Secret: Create strong characters.
Romantic stories are character-based. We need to identify with them if we are to care what happens to them.
Let them have depth, and some quirks and contradictions. People aren’t one-dimensional, nor are they stereotypes. Neither should your characters be.
Before you begin writing, you will need to understand your characters inside and out. You should never have to wonder idly how your heroine will react when her best friend tells her she’s pregnant, for instance. You should know instantly and almost instinctively how she’ll feel – and how much of this she will communicate.
Look at some of the things that could form a character in a novel, and the influences that have helped frame who they are.
Much of this detail might never make it into your story, or if it does, only as a mention or perhaps a memory, but it will help you understand your character and their responses to every situation.
Exercise:Think about your own life and identify five critical experiences that you feel helped make you who you are. Some of these will be negative, some positive. Draw a line across the middle of a page in your notebook. Imagine that this is the time-line that runs through your life. The start of the line is your birth, and the end is where you find yourself now. The line itself is perfect equilibrium. Now plot the five experiences you’ve identified, above the line if they’re positive experiences, below if they’re negative. How do you think these experiences have affected you? How do they influence your responses to certain situations and people?
However, at other times, I have to get to know a character before I can write about him or her, and this can take a lot more effort. Read on to find out how to create strong characters from the third extract from “The Guide To Writing Romance” online course:
Third Secret: Create strong characters.
Romantic stories are character-based. We need to identify with them if we are to care what happens to them.
Let them have depth, and some quirks and contradictions. People aren’t one-dimensional, nor are they stereotypes. Neither should your characters be.
Before you begin writing, you will need to understand your characters inside and out. You should never have to wonder idly how your heroine will react when her best friend tells her she’s pregnant, for instance. You should know instantly and almost instinctively how she’ll feel – and how much of this she will communicate.
Look at some of the things that could form a character in a novel, and the influences that have helped frame who they are.
Much of this detail might never make it into your story, or if it does, only as a mention or perhaps a memory, but it will help you understand your character and their responses to every situation.
Exercise:Think about your own life and identify five critical experiences that you feel helped make you who you are. Some of these will be negative, some positive. Draw a line across the middle of a page in your notebook. Imagine that this is the time-line that runs through your life. The start of the line is your birth, and the end is where you find yourself now. The line itself is perfect equilibrium. Now plot the five experiences you’ve identified, above the line if they’re positive experiences, below if they’re negative. How do you think these experiences have affected you? How do they influence your responses to certain situations and people?
January 25, 2013
A Guide to Writing Romance - Part Two
Believe In Your ReadersWhen you write a novel, it is important to visualise your readers. And often it’s not what you put in, but rather what you leave out, that is important. It is possible to over explain a point or “over tell” it. Nuances are important in writing - let your readers pick up certain facts about your characters and plot without bashing them over the head with unnecessary explanations. This is particularly relevant when it comes to dialogue. It’s not always necessary to say, for example: “Peter, you are such an idiot!” Sarah cried out angrily.The reader will get the gist of Sarah’s emotional state from what she is saying. If you have contextualised the dialogue (i.e. the reader is already aware that Sarah is speaking to Peter) you can let the piece of dialogue stand alone without the “Sarah cried out angrily” tag at the end. In other words, your readers don’t need to be spoon fed. This brings me to the second extract from All About Love’s “The Guide To Writing Romance”:
Second Secret: Believe in your readers.
They’re not stupid. Most romance readers have some college education and many are educated professionals. Most work outside the home part or full-time.
They read for escapism – and for the emotional intensity they find in romances. Don’t talk down to them.
This is important because you can’t set out to write without having some idea who you are writing for. Every genre has its reader expectations. Your readers will expect that certain things will happen. For example, the hero will be desirable, the heroine feisty. They may have any number of problems along the way but they will end up with the prospect of happiness before them.
Different publishers insist on different conventions. Some want their heroine to indulge in no more than a deep and loving kiss, while others are happy with, in fact insist on, a spicy love scene or two. But these are details. The major expectations remain the same.
And that’s fine. That’s what draws people to read romance. They want to identify with the characters and live their intensity and passion along with them. They want to imagine themselves living happily ever after with the man (or woman) whose crinkly smile reduces them to mush.
Exercise:Think about the last romantic comedy you watched on the small or big screen. Now, read a romance or go and see something fresh. What do they have in common? How do they differ?
This will show you that, however strict the conventions of romance appear to be, in fact they leave enormous room for creative energy.
Second Secret: Believe in your readers.
They’re not stupid. Most romance readers have some college education and many are educated professionals. Most work outside the home part or full-time.
They read for escapism – and for the emotional intensity they find in romances. Don’t talk down to them.
This is important because you can’t set out to write without having some idea who you are writing for. Every genre has its reader expectations. Your readers will expect that certain things will happen. For example, the hero will be desirable, the heroine feisty. They may have any number of problems along the way but they will end up with the prospect of happiness before them.
Different publishers insist on different conventions. Some want their heroine to indulge in no more than a deep and loving kiss, while others are happy with, in fact insist on, a spicy love scene or two. But these are details. The major expectations remain the same.
And that’s fine. That’s what draws people to read romance. They want to identify with the characters and live their intensity and passion along with them. They want to imagine themselves living happily ever after with the man (or woman) whose crinkly smile reduces them to mush.
Exercise:Think about the last romantic comedy you watched on the small or big screen. Now, read a romance or go and see something fresh. What do they have in common? How do they differ?
This will show you that, however strict the conventions of romance appear to be, in fact they leave enormous room for creative energy.
January 23, 2013
Free Online Romance Writing Course - Part One
Over the next few weeks, I will be outlining some great romance writing tips and exercises from All About Writing’s online romance writing course, “The Guide To Writing Romance”, written by Richard Benyon and Jo-Anne Richards.The following extract from the Introduction gives you a glimpse into the course material and the interesting romance writing nuggets that will be revealed:Are you a natural romance writer? Answer these questions to get a sense of whether you have a career as a successful romance writer waiting for you.
1. Do you really and truly believe in love?2. Are you interested in why people fall in love?3. Do you love reading about people and their lives – in books, magazines or newspapers?4. Do you notice the way people look, how they speak and the way they behave, in public and when they think no-one is watching them?5. Do you take a guilty pleasure in eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?6. Do you invent life histories for strangers you see in bus queues, restaurants or parks?7. Do you secretly feel cheated by stories that don’t end happily?8. Do you spend time thinking about the reasons people respond to each other in the way they do?9. Do you enjoy talking about relationships with your friends?10. Do you read romance novels, chick-lit or great love stories?
Yes, yes and again, yes
If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, you could be a born romance writer. You have the most important attributes. You’re interested in people and you know that great love is possible.
For this introductory module, we’ve chosen a handful of our favourite secrets that will whet your appetite and prepare you for a little romantic action. Each comes with a five-finger exercise that should get you in the mood. Each of the exercises will call on writing skills that we’ll deal with in much more detail over the weeks ahead.
If you’re anything like us, they’ll excite you – and demonstrate that you do have it in you to be a writer of romance.
First Secret: Believe in love
If you write romance, you need to believe in your story – and that true love is possible.
You can’t write romance with your tongue in your cheek. It’s too obvious that you don’t mean it.
Lovers of romance read with their hearts. They become emotionally involved, immersed in the story you’re telling them. If you don’t believe it yourself, neither will they.
Countless aspirant writers of romantic fiction, have been attracted by the stories they’ve heard of the fortunes to be made in this popular genre.
With the glitter of greed in their eyes, they have set out to write a commercially successful novel – and it should come as no surprise that they inevitably fail. This sort of cynicism does not belong in the world of love and romance.
More than believing in love, you must also take delight in telling stories of love – and thinking and dreaming them. You must develop the capacity to live the story along with your characters and know, in your heart, that The One does exist.
Exercise: Take half an hour to daydream yourself a dream lover. Imagine what he looks like. What does he do, and what are his interests? What does he say when you first meet and where does this meeting occur? Is it love at first sight, or do sparks fly?
If you are a man – and two out of ten readers of romantic fiction are – then of course, you know what to do!
The character that you bring to life here might not be new. This may be someone you have daydreamed and thought about for some time, and that’s fine. Jot these thoughts down and keep them. They may form the basis for a hero or heroine of your first romance.
If this extract has piqued your interest, be sure to check back over the following weeks or subscribe to this blog in order to receive some excellent advice on how to set about writing that romance novel you’ve been dreaming about.
1. Do you really and truly believe in love?2. Are you interested in why people fall in love?3. Do you love reading about people and their lives – in books, magazines or newspapers?4. Do you notice the way people look, how they speak and the way they behave, in public and when they think no-one is watching them?5. Do you take a guilty pleasure in eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?6. Do you invent life histories for strangers you see in bus queues, restaurants or parks?7. Do you secretly feel cheated by stories that don’t end happily?8. Do you spend time thinking about the reasons people respond to each other in the way they do?9. Do you enjoy talking about relationships with your friends?10. Do you read romance novels, chick-lit or great love stories?
Yes, yes and again, yes
If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, you could be a born romance writer. You have the most important attributes. You’re interested in people and you know that great love is possible.
For this introductory module, we’ve chosen a handful of our favourite secrets that will whet your appetite and prepare you for a little romantic action. Each comes with a five-finger exercise that should get you in the mood. Each of the exercises will call on writing skills that we’ll deal with in much more detail over the weeks ahead.
If you’re anything like us, they’ll excite you – and demonstrate that you do have it in you to be a writer of romance.
First Secret: Believe in love
If you write romance, you need to believe in your story – and that true love is possible.
You can’t write romance with your tongue in your cheek. It’s too obvious that you don’t mean it.
Lovers of romance read with their hearts. They become emotionally involved, immersed in the story you’re telling them. If you don’t believe it yourself, neither will they.
Countless aspirant writers of romantic fiction, have been attracted by the stories they’ve heard of the fortunes to be made in this popular genre.
With the glitter of greed in their eyes, they have set out to write a commercially successful novel – and it should come as no surprise that they inevitably fail. This sort of cynicism does not belong in the world of love and romance.
More than believing in love, you must also take delight in telling stories of love – and thinking and dreaming them. You must develop the capacity to live the story along with your characters and know, in your heart, that The One does exist.
Exercise: Take half an hour to daydream yourself a dream lover. Imagine what he looks like. What does he do, and what are his interests? What does he say when you first meet and where does this meeting occur? Is it love at first sight, or do sparks fly?
If you are a man – and two out of ten readers of romantic fiction are – then of course, you know what to do!
The character that you bring to life here might not be new. This may be someone you have daydreamed and thought about for some time, and that’s fine. Jot these thoughts down and keep them. They may form the basis for a hero or heroine of your first romance.
If this extract has piqued your interest, be sure to check back over the following weeks or subscribe to this blog in order to receive some excellent advice on how to set about writing that romance novel you’ve been dreaming about.
Free Online Romance Writing Course
Over the next few weeks, I will be outlining some great romance writing tips and exercises from All About Writing’s online romance writing course, “The Guide To Writing Romance”, written by Richard Benyon and Jo-Anne Richards.The following extract from the Introduction gives you a glimpse into the course material and the interesting romance writing nuggets that will be revealed:Are you a natural romance writer? Answer these questions to get a sense of whether you have a career as a successful romance writer waiting for you.
1. Do you really and truly believe in love?2. Are you interested in why people fall in love?3. Do you love reading about people and their lives – in books, magazines or newspapers?4. Do you notice the way people look, how they speak and the way they behave, in public and when they think no-one is watching them?5. Do you take a guilty pleasure in eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?6. Do you invent life histories for strangers you see in bus queues, restaurants or parks?7. Do you secretly feel cheated by stories that don’t end happily?8. Do you spend time thinking about the reasons people respond to each other in the way they do?9. Do you enjoy talking about relationships with your friends?10. Do you read romance novels, chick-lit or great love stories?
Yes, yes and again, yes
If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, you could be a born romance writer. You have the most important attributes. You’re interested in people and you know that great love is possible.
For this introductory module, we’ve chosen a handful of our favourite secrets that will whet your appetite and prepare you for a little romantic action. Each comes with a five-finger exercise that should get you in the mood. Each of the exercises will call on writing skills that we’ll deal with in much more detail over the weeks ahead.
If you’re anything like us, they’ll excite you – and demonstrate that you do have it in you to be a writer of romance.
First Secret: Believe in love
If you write romance, you need to believe in your story – and that true love is possible.
You can’t write romance with your tongue in your cheek. It’s too obvious that you don’t mean it.
Lovers of romance read with their hearts. They become emotionally involved, immersed in the story you’re telling them. If you don’t believe it yourself, neither will they.
Countless aspirant writers of romantic fiction, have been attracted by the stories they’ve heard of the fortunes to be made in this popular genre.
With the glitter of greed in their eyes, they have set out to write a commercially successful novel – and it should come as no surprise that they inevitably fail. This sort of cynicism does not belong in the world of love and romance.
More than believing in love, you must also take delight in telling stories of love – and thinking and dreaming them. You must develop the capacity to live the story along with your characters and know, in your heart, that The One does exist.
Exercise: Take half an hour to daydream yourself a dream lover. Imagine what he looks like. What does he do, and what are his interests? What does he say when you first meet and where does this meeting occur? Is it love at first sight, or do sparks fly?
If you are a man – and two out of ten readers of romantic fiction are – then of course, you know what to do!
The character that you bring to life here might not be new. This may be someone you have daydreamed and thought about for some time, and that’s fine. Jot these thoughts down and keep them. They may form the basis for a hero or heroine of your first romance.
If this extract has piqued your interest, be sure to check back over the following weeks or subscribe to this blog in order to receive some excellent advice on how to set about writing that romance novel you’ve been dreaming about.
1. Do you really and truly believe in love?2. Are you interested in why people fall in love?3. Do you love reading about people and their lives – in books, magazines or newspapers?4. Do you notice the way people look, how they speak and the way they behave, in public and when they think no-one is watching them?5. Do you take a guilty pleasure in eavesdropping on other people’s conversations?6. Do you invent life histories for strangers you see in bus queues, restaurants or parks?7. Do you secretly feel cheated by stories that don’t end happily?8. Do you spend time thinking about the reasons people respond to each other in the way they do?9. Do you enjoy talking about relationships with your friends?10. Do you read romance novels, chick-lit or great love stories?
Yes, yes and again, yes
If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, you could be a born romance writer. You have the most important attributes. You’re interested in people and you know that great love is possible.
For this introductory module, we’ve chosen a handful of our favourite secrets that will whet your appetite and prepare you for a little romantic action. Each comes with a five-finger exercise that should get you in the mood. Each of the exercises will call on writing skills that we’ll deal with in much more detail over the weeks ahead.
If you’re anything like us, they’ll excite you – and demonstrate that you do have it in you to be a writer of romance.
First Secret: Believe in love
If you write romance, you need to believe in your story – and that true love is possible.
You can’t write romance with your tongue in your cheek. It’s too obvious that you don’t mean it.
Lovers of romance read with their hearts. They become emotionally involved, immersed in the story you’re telling them. If you don’t believe it yourself, neither will they.
Countless aspirant writers of romantic fiction, have been attracted by the stories they’ve heard of the fortunes to be made in this popular genre.
With the glitter of greed in their eyes, they have set out to write a commercially successful novel – and it should come as no surprise that they inevitably fail. This sort of cynicism does not belong in the world of love and romance.
More than believing in love, you must also take delight in telling stories of love – and thinking and dreaming them. You must develop the capacity to live the story along with your characters and know, in your heart, that The One does exist.
Exercise: Take half an hour to daydream yourself a dream lover. Imagine what he looks like. What does he do, and what are his interests? What does he say when you first meet and where does this meeting occur? Is it love at first sight, or do sparks fly?
If you are a man – and two out of ten readers of romantic fiction are – then of course, you know what to do!
The character that you bring to life here might not be new. This may be someone you have daydreamed and thought about for some time, and that’s fine. Jot these thoughts down and keep them. They may form the basis for a hero or heroine of your first romance.
If this extract has piqued your interest, be sure to check back over the following weeks or subscribe to this blog in order to receive some excellent advice on how to set about writing that romance novel you’ve been dreaming about.
January 21, 2013
Romance Heroines Rarely Date
Have you noticed that some people have a dating personality and an everyday personality and that the two often don’t gel – or aren’t even similar? Often you’ll see a woman chatting to a group of her friends and she’ll appear strong and confident and happy. However, fast forward to when she’s on a date with a man, and you may find a quiet, withdrawn person, who seems nervous and ill at ease; or alternatively someone who is overexcited and on edge.
The problem with dating is that it is a highly pressured activity. It’s far nicer to get to know someone slowly, within your group of friends, before the relationship blossoms into romance. But this usually only happens at university, or when you’re very young and have a large crowd of single friends. As people get older, romantic relationships often begin with a formal date, which can be difficult, as there’s romantic pressure right from the beginning on both parties as well as a weight of unspoken expectations.
Dating isn’t a natural way to get to know someone. It basically places two people, who might have completely different perspectives on how a romantic relationship should develop, together, and hoping for the best.
In most romance novels, the heroine isn’t usually looking for love. Often she is going about her everyday activities, and being her true authentic self, when she is thrown into the path of the hero, and so begins the relationship dance that eventually leads to love. A much-used premise for a romance novel is the hero and heroine who can’t stand each other when they meet, but they end up falling in love as the story progresses.
This all seems far more romantic than dating, which actually starts off backwards! When love creeps up on a romance heroine unexpectedly as she is going about her daily life, it’s far more satisfying somehow, than if she was expressly looking for love through going on dates. Of course I’m not saying that dating cannot lead to authentic love, but I do think that dating sets up a situation that can be…well… unromantic!
The problem with dating is that it is a highly pressured activity. It’s far nicer to get to know someone slowly, within your group of friends, before the relationship blossoms into romance. But this usually only happens at university, or when you’re very young and have a large crowd of single friends. As people get older, romantic relationships often begin with a formal date, which can be difficult, as there’s romantic pressure right from the beginning on both parties as well as a weight of unspoken expectations.
Dating isn’t a natural way to get to know someone. It basically places two people, who might have completely different perspectives on how a romantic relationship should develop, together, and hoping for the best.
In most romance novels, the heroine isn’t usually looking for love. Often she is going about her everyday activities, and being her true authentic self, when she is thrown into the path of the hero, and so begins the relationship dance that eventually leads to love. A much-used premise for a romance novel is the hero and heroine who can’t stand each other when they meet, but they end up falling in love as the story progresses.
This all seems far more romantic than dating, which actually starts off backwards! When love creeps up on a romance heroine unexpectedly as she is going about her daily life, it’s far more satisfying somehow, than if she was expressly looking for love through going on dates. Of course I’m not saying that dating cannot lead to authentic love, but I do think that dating sets up a situation that can be…well… unromantic!
