An update and points to remember

Easter decorations in Prague Old Town Square

I got back from a fortnight in the Czech Republic on Thursday and after a whole weekend of what feels like solid sleep, I’m ready to get back to work. 

I was quiet on my blog in the weeks running up to my holiday because I heard back from HMB with another set of revisions. So after much hair-tearing I buried myself in those and cut back the amount of time I spent on social media. I finished and sent back the revised manuscript a couple of days before my holiday so now I’m back to the jumpy, nail-biting wait!

Of course, the best way to keep my mind off the wait is to get on with the next story, so starting tomorrow it’s back to the WIP. It’s been on hold for nearly two months now, so the first thing to do is read it through. I’ve come up with things to look out for, gleaned from the points that have come out in the revision process for TWKS. They are (in no particular order):

•  Does the progression of the romance take centre-stage at all times, or are there places where it gets buried under the action?
•  In each scene, is it clear how the hero and heroine feel about each other and is their behaviour consistent with these feelings/conflicts?
•  Do the hero and heroine each have a clear and consistent emotional arc throughout the story?
• Are there places where introspection could be replaced by the hero and heroine interacting?

Hopefully now I’m more aware of my areas of weakness I won’t repeat the same mistakes again. I also hope I won’t make any new ones!

My writing process (or lack of)

Whilst I'm waiting to hear back from HMB about the revised ms I sent back in December, I’m doing the  only thing I can do, which is get on with my next story. Reading about other people’s writing process has got me thinking about my own and I’ve decided that I’m in awe of writers who are able to plan their novel down to the last detail before they begin their first draft.

Whenever I start a new project I decide that this time I’ll have the plot and emotional arc of my hero and heroine straight before I even begin to think about beginning the first chapter. So I do all the things recommended by all the workshops I’ve attended and writing guides I’ve read. I fill in character questionnaires; I work out my hero and heroine’s goals, motivations and conflicts; I try to imagine how they would react in certain situations. However, the moment I start writing, most of that flies out of the window. My problem is that I only really ‘get’ my hero and heroine when I throw them together and get them talking to each other, interacting.

Not even bright stationery can improve my planning

At first I thought I just wasn’t taking enough time to plan, and maybe that’s true—I accept that I’m impatient and when I get an idea I just can’t wait to get started. However, I also think there comes a time that I just have to accept this is how I work.

However, I do have a system, although any plotter worth their salt would sneer to hear it termed that. What I do is this. I always start out with a scenario—usually the moment when the hero and heroine meet. For example, the first image that came to me when I wrote The Welsh King’s Spy was the moment my heroine pulled back a beggar’s hood and found it was the hero in disguise. Everything else started from that point. From there I fill in the character sheets and the most important thing I get from these is each character’s internal conflicts. From the conflicts I work out what the Black Moment is going to be. I do try to do a story outline but I’ve never yet stuck to one!

Then I start writing. However, the most helpful trick I’ve found is to draft out each scene before I write it. I do this longhand and for some strange reason I find handwriting it rather than typing it straight onto my computer frees up my imagination. It’s no more than rough notes, but all of my best ideas have formed at this stage. Then when I write that scene onto the computer I find the words flow and I get through the scene much faster than if I’d tried to type it out from scratch.

That’s what works for me. What about you? Where do you stand on the plotter/pantser spectrum?

Historical Heroes and The Fear

The subtitle of this blog is writing and facing the fear. Yet although I’ve talked about the writing side of my life, I haven’t mentioned the fear part so much, if at all. This is probably because when I’m suffering from a monster dose of The Fear, I’m so convinced that everything I write is laughable that the last thing I want to do is post something that anyone in the world with an internet connection can read. (Even though my hit count shows me I’m well short of that number.)

 

It’s time to put that right and make a confession.

I nearly talked myself out of entering the Historical Heroes contest. Here’s how it went…

Part of my prize was all these books!

When the contest was first announced, I thought: ‘Great – an opportunity to get feedback from an editor. I have to do this.’ I had a MS that I’d put aside while I did other things so what better way to find out if it was worth polishing it up for submission? However, as the deadline for the Medieval heroes part of the contest approached, I kept putting off submitting it because I just wanted to get this line or that bit of dialogue right. I’m sure I’m not the only one like this. (Please tell me I’m not!) 

By Saturday (the deadline was Sunday) I’d convinced myself that a two-year-old with a crayon could write a better romance than I could. I turned off my laptop and decided there was no way the M&B editors would ever be able to hear my name without cracking up ever again if I submitted my first chapter. I was deluded if I thought anything good could come of entering…etc, etc. 

It was only on Sunday that I gave myself a slap round the face and had a conversation with myself that went something like this:

Tough me:       You do realise that if you’re ever going to get a publishing deal, someone, at some point is going to have to read your work. Do you want to be published?

Scaredy me:    [Squeaks] Yes.

Tough me:       And if you do ever find a publisher then a lot of people could read your work.

Scaredy me:     I know.

Tough me:       Including your mother.

Scaredy me:     Eep!

Tough me:       So are you sure you want to be published?

Scaredy me:     [Squares shoulders] Yes.

Tough me:       Then get your arse in gear and email that first chapter off now. Because if you’re ever going to be brave enough to let your mother read your work, you’d better get used to strangers reading it ASAP. Move it! Now!

So I put together my pitch and emailed the whole lot off before my fear could get the better of me again. And guess what? I WON!!! Woohoo! You can read all about it on the M&B socialise blog.

Of course, The Fear hasn’t gone away. It’s gnawing away at my confidence as I rewrite the whole story, telling me that maybe I could manage a single chapter, but the rest of it stinks. I’m trying not to listen to it. And now I’ve had that one success, my armour is that bit stronger. Another thing I’ve done is to save all the emails and messages of congratulation I got (and I got loads – my friends, both online and RL have been amazing) and whenever I start to feel my self-doubt get the better of me, I reread some. That’s really helped to keep me going.

So what’s next? Well, as I’m a NWS member, I’m submitting my MS there first and I’ll show it to my lovely critique partner. Then once I’ve polished it to the best of my ability, I’ll send it to M&B for the full appraisal I won. And that’s such an amazing opportunity – I still can’t get over how lucky I am. And none of this would have happened if I hadn’t overcome my fear and entered the competition in the first place. In future I’m going to try much harder not to let my fear get the better of me.