Lovin' My Blog Sissies
Due to last week's blog posts, I've had an epiphany and might, just maybe, be able to fix my WIP.
I was feeling like my heroine was a little boring and the pace was a little off. I'd been thinking it was just the kind of book I was writing. It's more women's fiction than suspense. It's not supposed to be a heart-pounding thrill ride. Then I read Molly's post about copping out. Eesh. That was EXACTLY what I was doing. Just because it's not a suspense novel doesn't mean it should be dull.
I still wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, though. Then Maureen posted about embracing your inner villain. I started thinking about how much work I'd put into the villains of Vanished in the Night which comes out in August. I did, too. I knew all about them. I knew what motivated them. I knew their goals and their feelings. In a lot of ways, they drove the story and while I don't think anyone will root for them, they are pretty interesting.
I'm not feeling that way about the heroine in my WIP. She's reacting to what's happening. Other people are driving her. She's drifting. Eventually she gets a clear goal and goes for it, but she's not doing that at the beginning of the story. I'm sure if I met her, we'd be great buddies, but on the page . . . zzzzzzzzz.
I realized that was what I had to do. I had to figure out a way to make her more active. To make her drive the story, But that's going to mean a lot of rewriting. A lot of tossing of scenes I've already written. It's going to be hard. Then there was Steph, reminding me that as a romance writer I should revel in eating the hard.
Finally, Sinead reminded that it's important to really dig into the book. Don't get distracted by diddling around with a word here and a word there. Dig in. Do some work.
Well, I'm doing it. Thanks, my sweet drunk blog sissies. This one's for you!
I was feeling like my heroine was a little boring and the pace was a little off. I'd been thinking it was just the kind of book I was writing. It's more women's fiction than suspense. It's not supposed to be a heart-pounding thrill ride. Then I read Molly's post about copping out. Eesh. That was EXACTLY what I was doing. Just because it's not a suspense novel doesn't mean it should be dull.
I still wasn't sure exactly what was wrong, though. Then Maureen posted about embracing your inner villain. I started thinking about how much work I'd put into the villains of Vanished in the Night which comes out in August. I did, too. I knew all about them. I knew what motivated them. I knew their goals and their feelings. In a lot of ways, they drove the story and while I don't think anyone will root for them, they are pretty interesting.
I'm not feeling that way about the heroine in my WIP. She's reacting to what's happening. Other people are driving her. She's drifting. Eventually she gets a clear goal and goes for it, but she's not doing that at the beginning of the story. I'm sure if I met her, we'd be great buddies, but on the page . . . zzzzzzzzz.
I realized that was what I had to do. I had to figure out a way to make her more active. To make her drive the story, But that's going to mean a lot of rewriting. A lot of tossing of scenes I've already written. It's going to be hard. Then there was Steph, reminding me that as a romance writer I should revel in eating the hard.
Finally, Sinead reminded that it's important to really dig into the book. Don't get distracted by diddling around with a word here and a word there. Dig in. Do some work.
Well, I'm doing it. Thanks, my sweet drunk blog sissies. This one's for you!
Published on March 13, 2011 20:02
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