Due to not checking the I Heart Presents blog for some months, I hadn't realised there was another writing competition, this time for "Modern Heat", till the evening of Saturday 13th, when I checked in at the blog, and discovered that the competition deadline for submission was Monday 15th.
I submitted something - a chapter of a book I had started a while ago. I guess not having time to ponder about whether I should enter or not gave me the impetus to just do it. On the other hand, not having time to polish was hell. I spent most of Sunday writing a synopsis, and poring over my chapter, wondering if it was any good.
The more I looked at it, the lamer it seemed. And then there was all the palavar of the formatting - double spaced, Times New Roman 14 point, indents to new paragraphs rather than spaces. Numbering pages on the top right corner. Putting name of story plus pseudonym on the bottom.
Putting my real name on the email and then pressing send. Only to realise that I'd made some typos in the email (though not thankfully on the manuscript). Aaah! This is what you get when you do things close to midnight after winding yourself up all day.
Still, having slept and woken again, I feel relieved. At least I've submitted something, which is more than can be said for last time, when I chickened out.
Writing the synopsis was instructive. I'm not much of a plotter, as you will have gathered from previous posts, but writing the synopsis did force me to outline some ideas I had in my head for the novel, gave me a few new ones and in truth gave some shape and clarity to the direction of the novel. So I learnt something in the process.
The results of the competition are out on 1st October, but I'm not holding my breath!
Monday, 15 September 2008
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Reading Books
In my bid to see what excites me about Mills&Boon books, and to find out what works and what doesn't, I've been on a marathon read. Most of the books I've been reading have been borrowed from the library, some have been bought new and others have been found at my local Oxfam shop.
I really recommend Oxfam to other writers - it's the only way to find books that may go back a few years, at a low cost (usually between 59p and 99p a book, though I managed to get some books recently published for just 39p). If you are going to read several hundred (or even thousand) books, it's the only way to keep down the cost.
Most of the Mills&Boon books in Oxfam tend to be recent novels - clearly some people simply buy them every month, read them and then donate to Oxfam. Occasionally you get books from years back - I recently came upon a whole stash of Charlotte Lamb books from the 80's and early 90's. My God she was a good writer! - economical, direct, a real gift for describing tension between men and women, and you never feel jarred or bored as sometimes happens with writers who arn't of her calibre. In my opinion her level of craft is better than that in some of current authors. I just wish Mills&Boon would republish some of her best work.
I also came across some early Helen Bianchin books. A confession - I first read Helen Bianchin as a teenager, when I happened on some romances my mother had borrowed from the library. At the time (early 80's) they didn't often have what were then termed "bedroom scenes" in romances - but Helen Bianchin's books were an exception, she practically invented what eventually became the Presents genre. And as a 13-year-old, of course I avidly read these books to read the sex scenes! On re-reading them, I was struck by how good her early books were. She's deteriorated over time, with her recent books becoming cliched and formulaic and the language a little over-done (she likes to use complex words, but doesn't always use them correctly, and of course this interupts the process of reading, as you stop to think, that's not right, did she really mean to say that?). However the early books have none of these problems. They are written with minimal cliche and showcases her best strength, describing sex with real sensuality.
It led me to wonder whether the pressure to churn out x amount of books year in year out starts to dull the writer's ability to see things from the readers point of view. Or maybe some years you are in the zone, but other years you are not. I defeinitely think that when you are in the zone, you should write as much as possible, so you have material ready for the lean times, as the creative energy always fades, and there is nothing worse than trying to write when you are off your game.
I really recommend Oxfam to other writers - it's the only way to find books that may go back a few years, at a low cost (usually between 59p and 99p a book, though I managed to get some books recently published for just 39p). If you are going to read several hundred (or even thousand) books, it's the only way to keep down the cost.
Most of the Mills&Boon books in Oxfam tend to be recent novels - clearly some people simply buy them every month, read them and then donate to Oxfam. Occasionally you get books from years back - I recently came upon a whole stash of Charlotte Lamb books from the 80's and early 90's. My God she was a good writer! - economical, direct, a real gift for describing tension between men and women, and you never feel jarred or bored as sometimes happens with writers who arn't of her calibre. In my opinion her level of craft is better than that in some of current authors. I just wish Mills&Boon would republish some of her best work.
I also came across some early Helen Bianchin books. A confession - I first read Helen Bianchin as a teenager, when I happened on some romances my mother had borrowed from the library. At the time (early 80's) they didn't often have what were then termed "bedroom scenes" in romances - but Helen Bianchin's books were an exception, she practically invented what eventually became the Presents genre. And as a 13-year-old, of course I avidly read these books to read the sex scenes! On re-reading them, I was struck by how good her early books were. She's deteriorated over time, with her recent books becoming cliched and formulaic and the language a little over-done (she likes to use complex words, but doesn't always use them correctly, and of course this interupts the process of reading, as you stop to think, that's not right, did she really mean to say that?). However the early books have none of these problems. They are written with minimal cliche and showcases her best strength, describing sex with real sensuality.
It led me to wonder whether the pressure to churn out x amount of books year in year out starts to dull the writer's ability to see things from the readers point of view. Or maybe some years you are in the zone, but other years you are not. I defeinitely think that when you are in the zone, you should write as much as possible, so you have material ready for the lean times, as the creative energy always fades, and there is nothing worse than trying to write when you are off your game.
Wednesday, 16 April 2008
Progress Update
In the end I didn't submit anything to the competition. The process of re-writing to inject more conflict into my story changed a whole bunch of other things. I feel the proper thing to do is to work through all the permutations and finish the book before I decide what to do next.
Thinking about the need for conflict in novels and my initial reluctance to put some in - I think it's because these books are Daydreams, not just for the reader, but the author too. And when daydreaming you tend to want to make the romance sweet and perfect - but of course in published romances they can only get perfect at the end, the start and middle must have conflict otherwise why would anyone bother to read through the twists and turns? I'm also wondering whether I'm suitable for the Presents/Modern line, or whether I should be writing the "sweet" traditional romances. The problem is that as a reader I find the sweet romances too tame, and I like the thrills and sensualitity of Presents. Hmm. Perhaps I need to go on another marathon read to see exactly what excites me about existing published work.
I've also been hampered by getting a whole bunch of other ideas for books. And when I'm seized by the muse like this, I can't help getting on the computer and letting the stuff just pour out of me... As a result I now have four books in progress. One is a fair way to being complete - I've written about 38,000 words (this is the book that I'm re-writing to inject a bit more conflict). The other books are in the initial stages - one with 10,000 words, the others with about 6,000 words each.
I don't know if this is normal or not, but I didn't want to lose the ideas or the excitement they generated, so I had to spend valuable time getting them out there, written. I am conscious however that if I continue like this I'll have a whole bunch of half-finished work and nothing completed. They say that no matter how much you write, you arn't really an author till you've actually completed your novel.
Thinking about the need for conflict in novels and my initial reluctance to put some in - I think it's because these books are Daydreams, not just for the reader, but the author too. And when daydreaming you tend to want to make the romance sweet and perfect - but of course in published romances they can only get perfect at the end, the start and middle must have conflict otherwise why would anyone bother to read through the twists and turns? I'm also wondering whether I'm suitable for the Presents/Modern line, or whether I should be writing the "sweet" traditional romances. The problem is that as a reader I find the sweet romances too tame, and I like the thrills and sensualitity of Presents. Hmm. Perhaps I need to go on another marathon read to see exactly what excites me about existing published work.
I've also been hampered by getting a whole bunch of other ideas for books. And when I'm seized by the muse like this, I can't help getting on the computer and letting the stuff just pour out of me... As a result I now have four books in progress. One is a fair way to being complete - I've written about 38,000 words (this is the book that I'm re-writing to inject a bit more conflict). The other books are in the initial stages - one with 10,000 words, the others with about 6,000 words each.
I don't know if this is normal or not, but I didn't want to lose the ideas or the excitement they generated, so I had to spend valuable time getting them out there, written. I am conscious however that if I continue like this I'll have a whole bunch of half-finished work and nothing completed. They say that no matter how much you write, you arn't really an author till you've actually completed your novel.
Monday, 28 January 2008
What Type of Writer are You - a "Plotter" or a "Sit at the Keyboard and let Inspiration Hit Me" type?
I envy J.K.Rowling and her ability to plot not just one book, but seven, and do it all in advance, with clues to the denouement laid out carefully in all the books.
My problem is that when I lay out a plot like this, and then try to write the book, the writing comes out stiff and wooden. I work best when I sit at the keyboard with just the idea for the first chapter, and as the characters flesh out, inspiration takes over and I start to day-dream about the characters and then simply write what I've dreamt. Everything that happens is a delicious surprise and discovery.
I also re-write as I go, endlessly polishing what I've written, and frequently going back to change something or foreshadow events, as the direction of the book changes.
Is this an inefficient way to write? I don't know, but it should give you an idea of the trouble I'm having with the synopsis for my competition submission. For how can I write a proper synopsis when my book is unfinished and there might be a development that I don't know anything about?
The re-writing too changes the book. I was suddenly struck with the realisation that my opening didn't have enough conflict in it. So I had to go back and change the first three chapters. Good job I hadn't already submitted the first chapter to the competition!
If the worst comes to the worst, I'll just skip the competition and submit the novel in the normal way. Better to submit something that is good, than to hurry and submit something not fully thought through. The value of the competition is that it is making me write and think my novel through, rather than the prize (though the prize would be nice).
My problem is that when I lay out a plot like this, and then try to write the book, the writing comes out stiff and wooden. I work best when I sit at the keyboard with just the idea for the first chapter, and as the characters flesh out, inspiration takes over and I start to day-dream about the characters and then simply write what I've dreamt. Everything that happens is a delicious surprise and discovery.
I also re-write as I go, endlessly polishing what I've written, and frequently going back to change something or foreshadow events, as the direction of the book changes.
Is this an inefficient way to write? I don't know, but it should give you an idea of the trouble I'm having with the synopsis for my competition submission. For how can I write a proper synopsis when my book is unfinished and there might be a development that I don't know anything about?
The re-writing too changes the book. I was suddenly struck with the realisation that my opening didn't have enough conflict in it. So I had to go back and change the first three chapters. Good job I hadn't already submitted the first chapter to the competition!
If the worst comes to the worst, I'll just skip the competition and submit the novel in the normal way. Better to submit something that is good, than to hurry and submit something not fully thought through. The value of the competition is that it is making me write and think my novel through, rather than the prize (though the prize would be nice).
Why I've set up this blog
My aim this year is to write a romance novel for the Mills and Boon "Modern" line. I actually started writing my novel in April last year, and have been picking it up and tinkering with it in short bursts.
When I saw that Mills and Bon were having a writing competition, I thought I'd better get my finger out and complete the book. They allow you to submit multiple entries as long as you have never been published and the deadline for the competition is Feb 14th 2008.
The competition requires you to send in your first chapter (which can be up to 5000 words) and a synopsis. My dilemma is this - should I post off my first chapter and synopsis based on what I've written so far? Or should I write a lot more of the novel in order to do justice to the synopsis? I've written some 37,000 words of the novel so far, and Mills and Boon novels have about 50-55,000 words. If I'm reasonably disciplined in the next few weeks, I should be able to finish the book, or as near as I can, but it's a big ask. Oh well, here goes!
When I saw that Mills and Bon were having a writing competition, I thought I'd better get my finger out and complete the book. They allow you to submit multiple entries as long as you have never been published and the deadline for the competition is Feb 14th 2008.
The competition requires you to send in your first chapter (which can be up to 5000 words) and a synopsis. My dilemma is this - should I post off my first chapter and synopsis based on what I've written so far? Or should I write a lot more of the novel in order to do justice to the synopsis? I've written some 37,000 words of the novel so far, and Mills and Boon novels have about 50-55,000 words. If I'm reasonably disciplined in the next few weeks, I should be able to finish the book, or as near as I can, but it's a big ask. Oh well, here goes!
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