T is for Tweaks

Ana muses about the tweaks she making to her unfinished story while writing the synopsis

My plan after winning a request for a full + synopsis from a big name (to me) agent is to submit the synopsis and beg for time to finish the story. I have six chapters written out of what's sure to be twenty or twenty-five.

So I've been revising the plot outline I wrote two years ago, when I took a Deep Story plotting class and wanted a fresh story line for the homework exercises. The backdrop I chose was familiar, since I wrestle with it in my daily life: choosing between alternative medicine and codified medicine.

Since I believe there's value in both approaches to healing (and look forward to a day when the best aspects of both systems merge), I made my heroine an herbalist and my hero a newly certified Physician's Assistant. Through their mutual attraction, they learn to appreciate the value in each others' views on healing.

But a successful story is not made by grand themes or personal social agenda. Stories are made by rigorous attention to characters and plot. I'm converting my plot outline into a synopsis with my eye on the basics:

1. Scenes start with a goal. Then the POV character collides with an unexpected mini-disaster and has to regroup. This sets up the next scene.

2. Both main characters have diametrically opposing opening goals. He intends to hop from this first job into a job in pro baseball by adhering strictly to the requirements of his job as a prison medic. She believes if her convicted father is let off his mandated anti-psychotic drugs protocol, he'll remember what happened to her mother the night she disappeared forever.

3. Both main characters think they need to resist their attraction to each other, that if they indulge in the attraction, they will sabotage their original goals.

4. Once H&H come together, the forces opposing them become even more powerful.

5. H&H can prevail only if they are willing to sacrifice their original goals.

6. The plot twists are not readily predictable. The Black Moment is very dark, so the ultimate reunion is satisfying.

I've had to make tweaks in details. The hero is now not committed to four year service stint to repay student loans. He's free to go as soon as he gets job offer from the MN Twins.
I'm deleting paragraphs in the opening chapters that won the request because the agent pointed out I'd hinted too overtly who the villain is and what he wants.

When I finish the synopsis, I should have a good road map to write the rest of the story. I'm sure I'll find more details to tweak, but the plot arc should be one I can stick to. Fingers crossed.

S is for Series

Debra likes to read and write books that are part of a series.

I am a big fan of series. Both reading them and writing them. When I sat down to actually write my very first romance, I always envisioned it as the first of a three book series. It still thrills me to no end to have had that particular dream come true. My Corral series even spawned a sub-series (so to say) because I loved the setting so much I wasn't ready to let it go after three novels.

Floating around in the back of my brain are ideas for two more series. One about a trio of brothers from a small town and another based on my cruise travels around the Caribbean. My problem these days is that there is plenty going on in the 'big idea' arena, but not enough time to get down to the nitty-gritty details and get any writing done.

I have what I thought was going to be a stand-alone book in my to-be-worked-on file, but now it's nudging me to create more books set in this particular town and do a series.

When I read for pleasure, my go to books are nearly always series ones. Sometimes it's one hero and heroine that continue throughout all of the books (This is especially true of cozy mysteries), but sometimes it different main characters in the same setting or place that make a series.

Why do I like series so much? Because I love that when I get to know a particular characters (or a group of characters) I don't have to say good-bye to them at the end of a book. I know I'll meet up with them again in the next installment.

Series are also great for building a following. If a reader enjoys one of your books, having more to offer within the same series can lead to more sales. They might even look forward to the next installment. (I know I'm the nerd who writes release dates for books in my favorite series down in my planner so I can grab them the day they hit the shelves.)

I do read (and write) stand-alones from time to time, but my go-to books of choice are definitely those that are part of a series.

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

S Is For Sprinkles

Jennifer talks about leaving clues...

When you think of your writing, think of it like ice cream. Any flavor will do—of course, I prefer chocolate, but you’re free to be wrong ;)—because for this lesson, the ice cream is less important than the topping. Specifically, sprinkles.

If your ice cream represents your plot, the sprinkles represent the clues you want to give the reader throughout your story. Those clues could be backstory, hints at motivation, actual clues to a mystery or even evidence of your character arc.

The point is, you want them distributed throughout your story—like sprinkles on ice cream—rather than clumped or bunched in one place.

In my current WIP, my hero was formerly addicted to painkillers. He solved his problem on his own, which means he doesn’t really understand what addiction is. Now, he confuses addiction to drugs with his desire to be with the heroine. Because he never wants to be addicted to anything again, he breaks up with the heroine and it isn’t until he gets help for his former addiction that he learns the difference. In order to show all of this believably, I have to sprinkle in throughout the story examples of how he cuts himself off from anything he becomes too attached to—whether it’s a favorite food, an activity or ultimately, the heroine. If I don’t, the reader won’t understand and won’t see the pattern.

So what about you? Do you just sprinkle backstory or are there other things you sprinkle throughout your book?

S is for Swoon

Ana swoons over two contest wins.

To my surprise and delight, my western historical moved another rung up the "is my story good enough to be published" ladder. It just took second place in the historical category of a contest. The judge, a big-name (to me) publishing house editor, requested a full with the following:

General Feelings/comments: While I do feel minor revisions are needed, the characters, setting, and plot appear to be well developed, and layered with enough intrigue and conflict to make this a page turner.  Score 25 out of 25. My other entry was my WIP, a romantic suspense. It won first place with a score of 24 out of 25. The agent judge requested a full + synopsis. It took several days for me to move past stunned-mode.  Now I am scrambling. I'm only on chapter 5 in writing the story, and I am still incorporating contest feedback to up the H/H attraction in the first chapters. (The contest rules did not specify the entry had to be from a completed manuscript.) I've started writing the synopsis and will send it along with a request for time to finish writing the story. I hope the agent approves my request. If not, I still have been given the gift of encouragement.  I'll keep writing.

R is for Rafe Alexander

Rafe is the hero in Debra's The Vampire and the Vixen.

Kelsey and Rafe first meet at a library fundraiser on Halloween. It goes like this:

“Kelsey, this is Rafe Alexander.”

Rafe. A sexy name for a sexy man.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Kelsey.”

Oh my. A sexy man with a voice as smooth and rich as chocolate covered caramel.

The line about his name makes me chuckle. When I first started writing I had the concept for this book in my head. I had a heroine's name, and I had a good idea of who/what I wanted my hero to be. But he didn't have a name. When the muse took over and demanded I write this story, I had to come up with something. So I appropriated Rafe's name from another story. (Originally I was going to say 'borrowed', but that implies giving it back, and there was no intention of that. Then I tried out 'stole', but since it was 'my' name in the first place, it wasn't really theft. So 'appropriated' it is...)

Anyway...Rafe Alexander became a combination of two names from this other story. The hero in that particular story was named Rock Alexander. He was an actor, and the name of one of his roles was Rafe. I combined the two. And while it definitely worked for the hero in The Vampire and the Vixen, I am now left with somewhat of a dilemma. The hero in the other work in progress is now short a surname. I still like the name Rock, so that will stay, but I really did kind of like the three syllable last name that went with it. If I ever get back to this particular story, I'm going to have to come up with something good. (Or maybe I can use Alexander again and make him a distant cousin of Rafe. Ha!) I'm not worried about changing the name of the character he plays...that's somewhat of a throwaway.

This isn't the first time I've appropriated things from other stories. In fact, recently I grabbed an entire scene (from the aforementioned movie star book) to use in other book. That poor story. By the time I get back to it, it's going to have more holes than Swiss cheese. In my defense, it wasn't really a scene written for that particular book. The idea for it came to me one day, and since I happened to be working on the movie star book at the time I slid it in there. It actually works much better in its new story.

The love scene in Valentine's Day at The Corral is actually a scene my editor and I cut from Family Secrets. This one took quite a bit of tweaking to make sure the characters stayed 'true' to themselves, but all in all, it worked really well. (It was a good scene to start with, we just decided to shorten the other story. I hated to see it go to waste!)

Do you ever appropriate (borrow, steal) things (character names, scenes, plot ideas) from one story to use in another?

Until next time,

Happy Reading!

Debra
www.debrastjohnromance.com

R is for Readers and Reviews

Paula’s ‘Irish Secrets’ has won an award! 

Last month I was thrilled to win a Chill with a Book Award.

The book is submitted to a panel of readers who have to review it based on 5 criteria:

1. Were the characters strong and engaging?

2. Was the book well written?

3. Did the plot have you turning the page to find out what happened next?

4. Was the ending satisfying?

5. Have you told your friends about it?

A book has to ‘pass’ all 5 to receive the Award, and I was delighted with the comments which Pauline Barclay (the instigator of the award) sent to me:

- A really good book, I couldn’t put it down

- Extremely well written

- A page turner

- The ending was fantastic

- I can’t recommend it enough

- A Big yes from me for the Award

Here’s my question for you! Are there any other criteria ‘questions’ that you would add to the five above?

R Is For Rewriting

Jennifer never stops rewriting…

You know how in life, you often wish for a do-over (please nod here and say yes—I don’t want to be the only one!)? Only a few of us are lucky enough to get that. For the rest of us, we have to just move on and keep going.

But writing isn’t like that. Writing allows us not only to create worlds, but to recreate them until we are satisfied. Don’t like a character? Kill her. Wish your character responded in a different way? Change the conversation. Realize that a situation is unbelievable? Redo it. It’s awesome and cathartic and just generally useful.

As for editing, ha! We can always write better, fix commas, choose better words. That never ends. No matter how many times I might submit something to a critique partner or an editor or a contest judge, I’m constantly playing around and fine-tuning my work. At some point, though, I have to let it go. But that doesn’t mean I won’t find a mistake I missed the first five thousand times I looked at it.

Writers, like parents, can always do better. It’s a never-ending battle to learn to let go. The good thing, though, is that we get to choose when we do so.