My cat Scooter is not happy with me. He’s had a bad stomach for days so this morning I took his food away from him. He’s sure that it he meows and prances ahead of me to the food place in the kitchen, I’ll feed him because, after all, that’s what I’m for. That’s what I do—whatever Mr. Scooter wants.
Have you ever TRIED to explain to a pet WHY you’re doing something? Cause and effect and reason aren’t their strong points.
As a writer, I know about cause and effect. A writer has to use very careful motivation. If a cat is sick and wants food but the owner gives him none, there is conflict. If a man is sick and the heroine gives him ice chips instead of the steak he wants, there is conflict.
In the very first book I attempted, I loved my characters so much that I didn’t give them any conflict. The book was short and dull. A writer lives on cause and effect which leads to conflict. We may not like it in our “real” lives, but we love to put our characters through the wringer. We torture our characters to make the book interesting, to draw the reader in.
Excuse me. Scooter wants my attention again. He's hungry (cause). He meows and I leap to my feet (effect).
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Other Genres Elisabeth Rose
The thing I enjoy most about writing romances is the psychology of the relationships between characters. Not just the main couple but the secondaries as well. I like the push pull element and the way, as I write, new angles I’ve never thought of arise from the way someone reacts to a situation. I’m sure this is so in all genres by the way, but this is what I like to explore in the character driven romances I write for Avalon.
It’s obvious from this comment that I’m not a plotter. I start with a situation and go into the fog from there feeling my way and delighting myself when I stumble across a clear sunny patch to show the way for the next stretch.
On the other hand I have a couple of non romances on the go. I write them in between my romances for Avalon. One is a thriller which started out with just the germ of an idea. I had no idea where it would lead but with a lot of ‘What if’s?’ it’s slowly taking shape. This is a longterm project—very longterm LOL. I’ve had to do a bit of plotting with this one, certainly establish a time line for what I’ve written so far because I have several points of view and it’s so easy to lose track of who knows what when. It’s international too, LA to Sydney with a Chinese gangland component and corrupt politicians. I keep getting out of my depth and having to stop for research.
My other non romance is a mystery featuring a retired Sydney detective whose neighbour is involved in a home invasion. I’ve brainstormed this one with my husband on our regular walks round the suburb. Last weekend I’d written to a halt in my typical ‘into the mist’ fashion but relating the story to him gave me an overview and suddenly I knew what was going to happen. I decided on murdering a character I wasn’t sure about and I knew who and why, and I also knew why the police investigation would go in the wrong direction leaving my old bloke to sort it all out.
Writing in a different genre is great fun. I know some of our Avalon authors already do and there are many other highly successful writers who work in different genres under different names.
I’d love to hear about any favourites you may have.
It’s obvious from this comment that I’m not a plotter. I start with a situation and go into the fog from there feeling my way and delighting myself when I stumble across a clear sunny patch to show the way for the next stretch.
On the other hand I have a couple of non romances on the go. I write them in between my romances for Avalon. One is a thriller which started out with just the germ of an idea. I had no idea where it would lead but with a lot of ‘What if’s?’ it’s slowly taking shape. This is a longterm project—very longterm LOL. I’ve had to do a bit of plotting with this one, certainly establish a time line for what I’ve written so far because I have several points of view and it’s so easy to lose track of who knows what when. It’s international too, LA to Sydney with a Chinese gangland component and corrupt politicians. I keep getting out of my depth and having to stop for research.
My other non romance is a mystery featuring a retired Sydney detective whose neighbour is involved in a home invasion. I’ve brainstormed this one with my husband on our regular walks round the suburb. Last weekend I’d written to a halt in my typical ‘into the mist’ fashion but relating the story to him gave me an overview and suddenly I knew what was going to happen. I decided on murdering a character I wasn’t sure about and I knew who and why, and I also knew why the police investigation would go in the wrong direction leaving my old bloke to sort it all out.
Writing in a different genre is great fun. I know some of our Avalon authors already do and there are many other highly successful writers who work in different genres under different names.
I’d love to hear about any favourites you may have.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Rejection and Not Giving Up
"Thank you I enjoyed this, but I'm not excited enough about it to take it on at this time."
"Thanks, but this isn't right for me."
Every writer has a stack of these letters hidden away somewhere. Why we keep them stuffed in our desks or filed away, I don't know. Letters from agents or editors rejecting the manuscript that we toiled for months and even years to create.
Some of the letters are photocopied form letters, copied so often they are fuzzy with our name and book title scrawled across the top. Some are our original query letter with 'no, thanks' scrawled across the bottom. One was a business card that had the agent's name and 'not interested' on it. The stack of paper as it grows makes us wonder why we are working so hard to produce these stories that no one wants to read. Why pound away at the keyboard when we could be cleaning our house or learning to cook or actually making money?
When I get discouraged, I start to think about how much less stress I would have if I wasn't trying to cram writing books into my day with everything else. My house wouldn't have six months of dust lurking in the corners. I might actually learn to cook decent meals instead of macaroni and cheese or frozen pizza. I wouldn't be nearly as frustrated when the kids only napped for five minutes instead of forty-five.
So I tell myself, "I'm done." I'm not going to obsess about getting words on paper or adding to my page count. I'll forget about those half-finished manuscripts and worry about something else. I'll start sewing again. I'm just going to relax during naptime and read a book for once.
The problem is once I start reading. If the book is really good, I wish I could create a story as enchanting and I want to try. Then I'm looking for my computer or my notebook, itching to get the ideas down on paper or pixels.
Now that I've started, I don't think I can give it up, no matter how disappointing those rejections are. Those stories are going to keep churning and trying to get out.
Aren't there support groups for things like that?
"Thanks, but this isn't right for me."
Every writer has a stack of these letters hidden away somewhere. Why we keep them stuffed in our desks or filed away, I don't know. Letters from agents or editors rejecting the manuscript that we toiled for months and even years to create.
Some of the letters are photocopied form letters, copied so often they are fuzzy with our name and book title scrawled across the top. Some are our original query letter with 'no, thanks' scrawled across the bottom. One was a business card that had the agent's name and 'not interested' on it. The stack of paper as it grows makes us wonder why we are working so hard to produce these stories that no one wants to read. Why pound away at the keyboard when we could be cleaning our house or learning to cook or actually making money?
When I get discouraged, I start to think about how much less stress I would have if I wasn't trying to cram writing books into my day with everything else. My house wouldn't have six months of dust lurking in the corners. I might actually learn to cook decent meals instead of macaroni and cheese or frozen pizza. I wouldn't be nearly as frustrated when the kids only napped for five minutes instead of forty-five.
So I tell myself, "I'm done." I'm not going to obsess about getting words on paper or adding to my page count. I'll forget about those half-finished manuscripts and worry about something else. I'll start sewing again. I'm just going to relax during naptime and read a book for once.
The problem is once I start reading. If the book is really good, I wish I could create a story as enchanting and I want to try. Then I'm looking for my computer or my notebook, itching to get the ideas down on paper or pixels.
Now that I've started, I don't think I can give it up, no matter how disappointing those rejections are. Those stories are going to keep churning and trying to get out.
Aren't there support groups for things like that?
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