The strength of a bald Samson #MFRWauthor
Once again, I’m joining a blog hop run by Marketing for Romance Writers (MFRW). For those new to my blog, yes, I’m a guy, and yes, I write romance. I’ve written for Silhouette, but these days I write science fiction with romance and humor.
This week’s writing prompt is:
My greatest strength
Several years ago, I heard Debbie Macomber speak. While I’ve forgotten most of what she said, one thing stuck with me, which is roughly “Some authors are natural wordsmiths and others are natural storytellers.”
There’s little doubt in my mind that being a storyteller like Ms Macomber is the way to go. For my next incarnation, I want to be a tale spinner who instinctively grasps the big picture (the story) but perhaps struggles with the small picture (the words used to tell the story).
After all, if the story’s great, who cares if the prose is a tiny bit clunky? (I’m thinking of you, James Patterson, Isaac Asimov, JRR Tolkien, Philip K Dick, Lindsay Buroker, Robert Heinlein, et al.)
Conversely, if the story is pedestrian, who cares how beautiful the description of the sunset is? (I’m thinking of a snore of literary novels.)
Unfortunately, I am by nature a wordsmith. Gorgeous prose and quirky, creative sentences? Not a problem! Thinking of the perfect little detail that brings a scene to life? Can do!
A story worth reading to the end?
Well, I’ve had to work at that. I like to think that after fifteen published books I finally understand how to plot a compelling book … but it’s taken work. My career would have gotten much further much faster if I’d learned the big picture trick sooner.
Hmm. I just realized that since next week’s prompt is My Greatest Weakness, I could recycle this post for next Friday. Think I should?
Click here to enter your link and check out the writing processes of other fine romance writers in this blog hop.
