Typical...

I'm going on holiday to Prague on Tuesday, so of course my body decides that now would be a good time to catch a stinker of a cold :( On the upside, it's a good excuse for eating ice cream (to soothe my sore throat) and watch dvds.

 A couple of years ago I bought the complete series of a BBC adaptation of Dorothy L Sayers' Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries and I've been working my way through those again. As a writer and reader of romance, I suppose it comes as no surprise that what I love best about Dorothy L Sayers' books is the relationship between Lord Peter and Harriet Vane. And what's struck me, watching the dvds this time, is how much she has to teach a budding romance novelist on the importance of internal conflict. Of course, being crime stories, there's plenty of external conflict in her books to keep the lovers apart - the little matter of Harriet Vane being in gaol on a murder charge for starters - but what really keeps them from each other's arms is the multi-layered internal conflict. Right from the start you can see they are perfect for each other, but Harriet pushes Peter away owing to a crippling inferiority complex: the fact that he's cleared her name and saved her from the gallows means that she'll always feel beholden to him, and that is not a sound foundation for an equal partnership. The fact that Sayers manages to sustain the tension for three books (Strong Poison, Have His Carcase and Gaudy Night) shows just what a master she is at her craft. It just goes to show you don't have to stick with reading romances to learn how to write one :)

Learning by my mistakes

It's funny how things that jump out at me as obvious flaws in someone else's writing, I completely fail to see in my own. Today, as I finished yet another revision of my first chapter, it finally dawned on me that I wasn't allowing the reader into my heroine's head; there were far to many 'she thought that...'s or she wondered if...'s, rather than communicating her thoughts directly. Using too many phrases such as 'she thought that...' puts a barrier between the reader and the character, distancing the reader from the story.

Now, I've known about that for some time - I've read How To books and articles that have explained it in great detail. So why couldn't I get it right first time?

I think the answer lies in me being someone who learns by doing. Knowledge only really sinks in when I make a mistake, puzzle out what I've done wrong and then correct it. Unfortunately it means that I'm having to spend far longer on editing than it took me to write the first draft! I had a moment this afternoon when I was tempted to chuck this story in and just start on another one, but thankfully that didn't last long. I'm determined to get this ms to the stage where I can send a partial off to M&B just to see if I've reached the standard that at least merits some feedback along with a rejection! So I'm carrying on.

I'm going to have to revise my submission date, though. I'd wanted to submit by Easter, but as I'm off on holiday for a fortnight next Tuesday, there's no way I'm going to achieve that. April's an incredibly busy month for me, so I'm going to move my deadline to the end of May. Wish me luck!

Kindle as editing aid

I've just found something else I can do with my kindle - I saved the first three chapters of my ms as a pdf and sent it to my kindle. It was fun reading it as though it was a published book! But wasn't just an aid to fantasising about being a published author - it also gave me a way of reading an over-familiar text through fresh eyes. I picked up things that grated and pulled me out of the story that I hadn't noticed before, even though I've read it through loads of times. Definitely a useful exercise.

Confession time

Okay - I'll admit I haven't done much writing this week. The trouble with having a long weekend away is that it's so hard to get back into a routine afterwards. Also I got a kindle as a belated birthday present and I've been busy downloading all the free books that I can find, including several Mills and Boons. I suppose I can put it down to research...

I'm still mulling over what to do with my opening chapter. I think my task for tomorrow is to read through the first three chapters again and see if I get any fresh inspiration.