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- 2007 is around the corner! I can't believe how fast 2006 went by. I thought I'd have my first WIP completed, but unfortunately I got stuck in the middle of the story and haven't made much progress in weeks. My critique pal, Denise "Chicki" Jones, has inspired me to really sit down and set goals for the coming year. With goals written down and in my face to inspire me on a daily, weekly and monthly basis, I hope to make some inroads with my writing and submissions this year.
Some of Denise's ideas that I think I'll adopt for myself are:
Completing one or two full manuscripts, - Find an agent,
Participate in writing contests, - Educate myself on marketing and promotional tactics,
- Renew my membership to RWA and Virginia Writing Group,
- Submit my finished manuscript to publishers, and
- Buy a laptop or Alphasmart (Dana).
Facing these goals in a list is daunting. But challenge is good! Thanks Denise!
Even though I didn't fulfill my goal to complete at least 50K words for NaNoWri this year, I was excited by what I had in my latest African American romance. So in my excitement I posted my first chapter to a three of my critique groups this week. Oh boy, what a rude awakening I got!A majority of the reviewers so far were bored by what I considered an exciting, emotion-fulled opening: an argument between a financially challenged, overwrought single mother and her spoiled, rebellious teenage daughter. Only later in the scene do I put my hero and heroine in the same room. The consensus was that I needed to skip the argument for now and get to the interaction between my hero and heroine sooner. Humph! I thought the tension between mother and daughter was a nifty way to exemplify the stresses in the heroine's life. I saw comments like "boring," "get to the point," "story should start later," and "who cares?" After reading all the comments - and I haven't absorbed them all - the lesson I learned this week is:Don't fall in love with your own work.Not that I have to nix the parent-child argument, typical in most household. I received many suggestions to use it later, particularly after letting the reader get connected with the heroine and care about what she is going through. All writers need to begin a story by putting their main characters in a situation that will let the reader understand them, how they think, and how they feel. Will the reader learn everything there is to know about the main characters? No. But the reader should be given enough insight to care about reading further.Plainly, I had too much backstory and exposition and not enough dialogue and emotional hook. Very few folks cared about the argument between Bri and a spoiled Jaime, at least at this point. I was told that I need to draw the readers in so that they can "root for her because of who she is [and] not just because of her circumstances."Granted, this was my NaNo effort, inflated with a lot of words to try to meet my goal, and in need of alot of work. But I was surprised by this flaw right off the bat.Bottom line: Get to the heart of the matter and create an opening that neither a reader nor an editior wants to put down.
Goodness, this week has been one for counting blessings. My car broke down and I had to plunk down my Christmas savings in order to get another one. For days, I was depressed because of the loss, lamenting about my new financial plight, how hard it is to live on disability as a single mother. But then I remembered the blessings within the situation: I am in a better situation financially than many other people in similar positions, that I was able to get financing for another car on my own and without a co-signer. Yeah, the next few months will be tight but I will be fine. Then, five days later someone rear-ended my new car! Unbelievable! I could have spit nails. Again I had to remember the blessings: Neither my daughter nor I were hurt, the accident wasn't my fault and the other driver's insurance will pay for the repairs, and compared to the other car, my damage was minor. The next day my apartment was flooded when a pipe burst. Carpet was damaged and the smell was atrocious. The blessings here? Well, let's see.... Since I live in an apartment I was able to call the maintenance crew, who called in plumbers. Even though I had to put up a big "stink" about how unsanitary the conditions were becoming while the problem was being investigated, the property manager finally saw the merits of putting us into a hotel for a few nights. When we returned the carpets had been replaced and the pipes repaired. Sure, my daughter and I have been displaced and inconvenienced, but we still have a home, heat on this cold night and food in the frig. I remember the Katrina victims who suffered so much worse and are still not home this holiday season. On a daily basis, I remember to count my blessings.
NaNoWriMo has started and I'm not off to a great start. Just an okay start! I was so enthusiastic when I signed up and even had a story in mind. But I became thoroughly discouraged when I saw how quickly other contestants started. Folks were logging in 2000 word or more in one day to my piddly 615 words. How did these people do it? Are they being honest and starting from scratch like I was or where they taking into account previous work?One of my critique partners encouraged me to not compare myself to the others but I just can't help it! Oh well!I am going to keep plugging away and try to stay motivated. Good luck to everyone else participating! See you on the other side - November 30, 2006.
I have been a romance bookaholic since I was nine-years-old when my mother gave a Harlequin Romance she was reading so that I could get out of her face for awhile. I am addicted. So addicted that I carry a romance every where I go. I read at least 3 single titles per week and resale them on Amazon.com. My family laughs at me - or gets seriously irritated - when I can't seem to function with my book. Every night I read myself to sleep and if I am standing in the grocery store line, car wash line, or waiting for my meal at a restaurant, I have my trusty book along. If I misplace a book that I am reading, I have a fit. (laughing) My daughter is NOT a reader and is quite sick of my book habit but my hobby (uh, addiction) has gone from being just a hobby to now research into the art of writing a selling romance novel. I'll be the first to admit that reading does distract me from writing. But I am working on that. I can't even begin to list my favorite authors. The first novel that touched my soul was Ashes in the Wind by Kathleen E. Woodiwiss (1979). Oh my God!I still remember the story and characters of the Civil War Era novel after all these years. Cole Latimer was the perfect hero. He was complex, conflicted, gentle, sensual, at times temperamental, but with a heart of gold. Alaina MacGaren was definitely a strong heroine, able to adapt and handle every situation that was thrown at her. Her strength and determination were admirable. I enjoyed the fact that she challenged Cole during various situations and was able to outsmart him to boot. Now that I'm thinking about the story, I'm going to have to read it again. I kept the book until I graduated from high school then lost it when I went to college. But the seed was planted for sure! I enjoy most genre of romance novels but I love the vampire and werewolf stories, single titles as a part of a series, and romantic suspense. I've picked up some erotica - and many of my male friends think I read romance simply for the sexual content - but the erotica can be disappointing because they tend to lack character development and a truly fleshed out plot. So, my love for books and romances started at a young age and I will always make time to read a book. Hopefully, when I'm published I can touch readers in the same way Kathleen Woodiwiss and the early writers of romance touched me and plant the seed for another book addict.Ta-ta for now!
I joined National Novel Writing Month and in effect accepted the challenge to writing a 50k word novel in a month. So from November 1st to November 30th, I have to churn out a draft novel from scratch. I want to jump-start my creativity and get motivated to finish my current WIP, Can't Help But Love You, which I've been working on from over a year now. That sucks! This month-long WIP will be called Can't Get Enough. I'm both anxious and excited to get started.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Hi!
Welcome to my first blog. I am a Richmond, Virginia native and avid fan of all genres of romance novels. I am such a fan that I decided two years ago to try my hand at putting on paper stories that have been floating around in my head for years.
So far I have one WIP and with my perfectionist ways, it's been slow going. I am determined to finish despite internal and external obstacles. Wish me luck and stay tuned.
