♪♫ Let's Get Together, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah ♫♪

Yes, I'm old enough to remember the original Parent Trap movie.  I loved anything with Hayley Mills in it.  But this blog post isn't about Hayley or her movies or the cute song, Let's Get Together, that Hayley and, uh, Hayley sang in the movie, although it keeps running through my brain.  I decided to share about this past Saturday, when my writers group got together for our Fall Mini-Retreat.

Nothing can be beat a group of females talking about writing and stories and characters and cake--  Oops!  We ate the cake, baked and decorated by one of our members.  (Thanks T!)

Ten of us gathered in the large, comfy and peaceful clubhouse of a large apartment complex at ten in the morning, ready to kick back, relax, and talk writing.  And, boy, did we talk!  We shared information about our current WIPs (Works In Progress), then really got down to the best part:  Brainstorming.

I. Love. Brainstorming.  When I'm stuck or not sure of something in my WIP, I have a couple of friends who I can turn to, and they put me on the right track.  But I love brainstorming other writers "stuff" just as much.  Maybe even more!  It gets the brain working and puts it in creative mode.  After a brainstorming session, I often have lightbulb moments about my own story and characters.

If you've never had the chance to brainstorm with other writers, you've missed one of the best things about writing.  Each of us at the retreat took a turn presenting what our story is about, while everyone else asked questions and gave suggestions, especially if the author had hit a bump in the road of her story.  When that bump happens, there are ways to smooth out the road.  It takes asking questions, whether asked by you or by a fellow writer.  What kind of questions? Why questions.

Why

One of the biggest things that writers need to learn along the way is understanding and using character motivation.  If a character isn't motivated by something or someone, that character will fall flat, leading readers to close the book and toss it aside.  Motivation is what drives a character to think what he thinks and do what she does.  When first deciding on a character, ask yourself a few questions.  What does your character fear and why?  What happened in the character's past made him/her way?  What kind of family did your character come from?  What was the character's childhood like?  Without knowing these things, it's difficult to motivate a character's reason for doing whatever it is she or he is doing throughout the story.  Without motivation, there's no strong goal, and the stronger, the better.  Why does the hero want to be a police officer?  Why is the heroine so negative about marriage and relationships?  Why can't these two people, who are obviously made for each other, get together for a happily-ever-after?  (Aha!  Conflict!)

If you can't answer the why questions, dig a little deeper. Motivation is in the character's backstory.  It's the character's life history.  What would make someone do or not do something?  Want or not want something?  Was the hero's father a police officer?  Had the hero, as a child, run away, faced danger, and was rescued by a police officer?  Did the heroine grow up in a broken home, never getting the chance to get to know her father?  What about her mother?  What kind of person raised this girl?  Or maybe it's something more recent.  Was the heroine dumped at the altar at her wedding?  What was it that makes your character who he or she is at the beginning of the book?

Creating a character that will tug at the hearts of readers or make them laugh, isn't easy.  Knowing your characters is the key to writing a great book.  Do whatever it takes to make your characters come alive.  Getting to know them is the first step.

People don't suddenly appear at the age of twenty-four or thirty-two or whatever age in real life.  Neither should your character, even in the beginning of a book.  A character, just like each of us, is the sum of his life.  You need to know that character and what's happened to him, up to the point of where you begin to tell the story.  That motivation or backstory will help drive your character and your plot.

There are as many ways to "flesh out" a character--get to know them--as there are writers.  Some writers choose to create a character profile of each of the main characters, right down to what books they read and the color of their socks.  Some writers start by writing some dialogue between characters.  Or they might let the characters, one at a time, tell the writer about themselves.  (Yes, we're a crazy bunch, who hear voices in our heads.)  Some writers do a character interview, asking the character simple questions that can become more complex as the interview goes on.  This can often lead to surprises for the writer!  He had a sister who disappeared?!

I've used each of those methods at one time or another, but usually by the time I'm ready to start plotting or writing, those characters have spent enough time in my head that I know them pretty well.  There are lots of times when I wish they'd be quiet!  Practicing some of the techniques above will eventually lead you to what works best for you...and your characters.  But whatever method you use, it never hurts to try something new, when your usual way doesn't work.

That's where brainstorming with a group or even one writer friend can help.  Be sure to keep an open mind, while brainstorm.  Others don't see your characters as you do.  They haven't experienced the same things that you have--or your characters have.  Sometimes we might think the ideas of others don't "fit" our idea of our character, but if we listen, something suggested might turn us down another road in the life of a character and lead to the perfect answer to why.  And that's what makes brainstorming so great.

GMC.  Goal.  Motivation.  Conflict.  (Thanks, Deb Dixon!)  There's no required order to think of it at the beginning of an idea.  Maybe you know your character's conflict first.  Maybe it will be the character's goal.  And maybe you'll have an idea of the character's motivation.  Just keep in mind that it takes all three to make well-rounded, interesting, and believable character that readers will love.  Or hate, because, yes, even the villain should have all three.

Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life. ~ Mark Twain

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

My apologies for the missed blog last week and this week's being late.  My daughter's bridal shower was held last Saturday, and the days prior to it were filled with chaos.  Such is life. :)

Yes, it's goal-setting time again!

Fall is quickly sneaking up on us, although a high of 92 yesterday made that hard to believe.  But we're cooler today, and fall is in the air.  Fall is my favorite season for just about anything. :)

I've never been a "scheduled" person.  Most schedules have been given to me.  With four daughters, there were schedules set by others (school, Girl Scouts, sports, drama, etc.) that I had to follow to keep life within the bounds of sanity.  Add in the fact that we were a farm family, and nature dictated our schedules.  I am, by nature, a fairly laid back person.  There are those who might say I tend toward laziness, but I chalk that up to my being a more cerebral personality.  (Hey!  It sounds good, right?)  But over the years, I realized that, although I could get things done without a schedule and long-term goals, life often became chaotic.  And sometimes those goals were pushed aside.

I've had to re-evaluate, over the years.  I've learned to do things in different ways.  I've learned that setting goals, especially with writing, keeps me going.  I really like proving to my inner critic that I can do what I set out to do.

That re-evaluation took time.  My current manuscript will be my fifteenth published book.  While that isn't a large number for some, when I look back, I see how much I've grown, not only as a writer, but as a person.  And I expect to continue growing.  I continue to learn.  School is always in session!

One of the keys to setting goals is making adjustments.  This particular book has been filled with those.  But this time I didn't sit on my hands, waiting for news of a contract or rejection.  I put my butt in my chair and my hands on the keyboard (aka BIC-HOC) and worked on other manuscripts.  In just over two months, I wrote two books.  Luckily, the first three chapters of both books had been written and only needed some small changes.  No deadlines, no parameters with the plots or stories, I wrote for myself.  This did two things for me.

1. For the first time in several years, I wrote with the freedom to tell stories that didn't fit the parameters of what's currently selling.  My only goal was to finish them and discover how long it might take me.
2. When I finally received the contract for the current book, I was able to jump right into writing it, without the usual warm-up time. (HINT:  If you don't keep the writing muscles toned, getting back into writing after a long spell of non-writing, it takes a while get "in the writing groove.")

You don't have to be published to set goals!

I learned to set goals early on when I decided (actually was coerced by my writing friend) to enter writing contests.  The deadline was then set for me, and I had to set smaller goals to reach that big one.  I entered many.  Results varied.  And knowing in advance that if, by some crazy chance, my entry might lead to a request for a partial or full, I made sure the entire manuscript was finished.  You know, just in case. ;)  That paid off for me.  I'd been making the final rounds in some contests, earning second and third, but had never won a contest.  For the first time, I entered a contest without having finished the manuscript.  While it was being sent out to judges, I finished it.  That entry one first place in the Georgia Romance Writers Maggie Contest and the full manuscript was requested by the senior editor of the publishing line I'd targeted.  All I had to do was a quick polish, and off it went.  Eventually, it became my first Silhouette Romance, Rachel's Rescuer.  The door had opened.

With that open door came deadlines...and revisions and edits, oh my!  I felt like Dorothy in the Land of Oz.  Fitting, considering I'm a Kansas girl.  I learned to write on a fairly daily basis.  Those revisions had to be made and had to be done by deadline.

The road to publication has twists and turns.  Sometimes, along the way to that first contract offer, I wanted to give up the fight, become a "normal" person and stop writing.  But determination and some pushy friends kept me going.  So did one thought.

If I quit now, I'll never know if I might have made it.

 I landed on the Yellow Brick Road.  That road contains twists and turns.  Silhouette Romance closed, and I had to find a different line where my writing fit.  It took a while.

Sometimes the Wicked Witch of the West came along to try to stop me. That Wicked Witch being the Demon of Self-Doubt.  I still haven't found the bucket of water to throw on her and probably never will, but there will always be times when I laugh in her face and tell her that she won't get the Ruby Slippers.  I will write.  I will set goals.  I will reach those goals.

Now is the time for all good writers to set goals.  If you're not a goal-setter, start small.  Start slow.  Use your brain, as the Tin Man did.  Keep writing--on a fairly regular schedule--so you don't have time to rust, as the Tin Man did.  Be courageous, as the Cowardly Lion did, and submit your work, whether to a critique group, contests, or editors.  You'll find many Wizards to help you along the way!

It really was no miracle. What happened was just this... ~ Dorothy Gale in The Wizard of Oz

School is in Session

When we think of learning, we think of school.  But that's really narrow-minded.  School is only one part of learning and not even the first part.  We begin to learn the moment we're born.  We shouldn't stop until we breathe our last breath.

We learn by instruction, doing, and keeping our eyes, ears, and minds open.  That last--keeping ourselves open, is probably the most important, because without it, instruction and doing will often fail.

I'll be the first in the line that's formed for those who have learned by mistake.  That doesn't mean I give up.  I keep trying.  I keep learning.

Knowledge is like the tip of an iceberg.  What we know is above the water, and it may seem abundant, but below the water is the real stuff.  That's what we don't know, but should learn.  Add the ocean water surrounding it, and it seems endless.  Learning is endless.

One of the ways I learn, other than by all those mistakes, is sharing with others.  Yesterday evening, I attended my critique group meeting.  There are four of us, all writers.  Two of us are published, and the other two are on their way to being published.  None of us would ever say we know everything.  All of us share and continue to learn.

How do we learn?  For me, it's three things.  Seeing, doing, and sharing.

Seeing

As I'm sure I've stated before, I'm visual.  Seeing things helps.  That's why I always took copious notes in school.  Hearing it just didn't do the trick.  Writing it and seeing the words or drawings or whatever was needed, helped embed it in my brain aka learn.  I find that a bit strange, because I loved being read to as a child.  Of course, once I learned to ready on my own, it changed and became better.

I've critiqued with others for over fifteen years in both written and verbal form.  Written works better for me, whether on the giving or getting end.  In our group, we each read our work to be critiqued.  Sure, I can do it, but give me a paper with print on it, and I'll do a much better job.  Still, something is better than nothing, and sometimes hearing something will make a good thing or a not so good thing jump out.  Yes, we writers are storytellers, but we tell our stories with the written word.  I am eternally grateful to writers.  I might miss the good stuff, otherwise.

Doing

When I came home from critique group last night, my daughter was watching a spin-off of Dance Moms on TV.  I don't watch a lot of TV, myself.  I have a few favorites that are must-sees, but I don't watch every night.  Not that I've always been that way, but to have the time to write and read, I gave up a lot of TV.  One of the judges--if you've ever watched Dance Moms, you'll know who this is--never sugar coats anything.  She's blunt, sometimes to the point of rude.  But the point I see and that she made on the show last night was that the young people who are dancing at competitions are professional dancers.  It isn't easy, it often isn't fun, and it takes a lot of hard work, learning routines, steps, and all the other things that go along with being professional.

After the program was over, I turned to my daughter and said,  "If they can't take the judge's criticism, they need to find a new dream."  Harsh?  Yes.  True.  Yes.  Those young people will have to learn that there will always be criticism.  "It's like getting rejections," I said.  "It hurts.  It can really hurt.  And often we (writers) will quit or at least want to.  Many of us don't.  We simply try harder, keep learning and working toward our dream, whatever it may be."

That's "doing."  Those revisions, those critique groups, those contests we enter, and those rejection letters we collect on the way are all a part of learning.  We learn and grow and make changes.

Sharing

After joining RWA and my local writers' group, I discovered that the people involved in writing, especially romance writers, are over-the-top generous.  The sharing and helping goes on wherever you look.  Conferences and conference workshops, writers' groups, critique groups and writing friends are always there to lend an ear, a suggestion, a hand to pull us up when we're down.

I've already stated that I'm a pantster turned plotter.  Over almost twenty years of writing, I've created and learned how to plot in a way I can understand.  Like me, it isn't perfect.  It didn't come instantly.  Everyone has his/her own way to do it.  I'm always looking for ways to tweak "my way," especially when I hit a bump in the writing or plotting.  I ask others how they go about planning their story.  Often, there's a small grain of something I can use to help make my plotting and writing better.  And I'll share the way I do it, too.  Isn't that what sharing is all about?

Never, never, never be afraid to ask questions.  That's one of the best ways to gain knowledge.  And when the table is turned and a question is asked, offer your own experiences, good and bad.

We'll never know everything, and that's okay, because it's nice to keep learning.  An "aha" moment is worth it's weight in gold.  Happy learning!

The world is a university and everyone in it is a teacher.  Make sure when you wake up in the morning you to go school. ~ Bishop T.D. Jakes

Summer's End

What?!  It's Friday again?

Yes, we're days away from one of the biggies:  Labor Day, the "official" end of summer.  Come Monday, you can put away your white shoes and start thinking of the new fall fashions.  We can all sit back and enjoy the next three days, free from toil and trouble.

Right?  Uh, no.

Have you happened to notice all the Labor Day sales in the newspaper, online ads and email?  Somebody has to be in those stores to take your money or answer questions as to which kitchen faucet is best.  Police and firefighters are still on the job, around the clock.  And writers just might be spending the 3-day weekend pounding their keyboards.  Okay, we don't rank up there with police and firefighters.  We don't save lives, but we do enhance them by offering take-me-away stories to readers.  Or something like that. ;)

My plans include working on edits of the first draft of CMHM (The Cowboy Meets His Match), which is nothing more than a working title, so don't read too much into that.  The day will be (I hope!) quiet and uninterrupted.  Or maybe I'll do some mowing.  Or wishing it was Saturday again.  A seven-day weekend would be heaven...until boredom set in.

I do know where I won't be.  Shopping.  Too many crowds, too many children climbing on shelves and racing through the mall.  It's not that I don't like children.  I like them when they're relatively well-behaved.  And, no, my own daughters were not perfect.  I remember how they would race down the grocery store aisle with the basket, much to my displeasure.  They would also plead for candy and fight with each other.  Typical kids.

I won't be at one of the area lakes.

• The ex got the boat in the divorce.  
• We've just managed to get out of a 2-year drought, and every person, young and old, who believes going to the lake is the ultimate summer adventure, will be there.  Again, crowds, not to mention those who have decided to imbibe in too many spirits.  And I'm not talking ghosts. ;)  Case in point:  While water-skiing at one of the lakes, years ago, we encountered a large group of nude young people in the cove next to ours.  Enlightening.
• Every time we've camped at the lake--and there have been several--there's been a storm.  Except for one time, and the wind nearly blew us away.
• After rain, rain, and more rain--to fill those lakes, of course--we've had two weeks of unbearable heat and humidity.  Being anywhere without air conditioning would be insane.  Obviously there will be lots of insane people at the lake. ;)

Still, I support a holiday for the working people.  After all, most of us work at something.

So back to editing, which is not my favorite thing to do, but a must.  I've mentioned that I do a fast first draft of the book.  That's obvious when reading through the manuscript again.  Sometimes I wonder if gremlins have had some fun, while I've left the story to "simmer."  Even the first three chapters, which my editor has read, had some side-splitting aka groan-able goofs.  This is why I put it away for a week or two, before attacking it with edits.  And there will be a third edit.  Who knows what I might have missed or messed up even more?

Sometimes we're not sure what needs editing...other than everything.  What should we be looking for when we edit?  Kristen Lamb had a great blog post a week ago.  Six Easy Tips for Self-Editing Your Fiction.  If you're not sure what to look for, take a look at Kristen's list.  If you do have a clue, use it as a refresher.  Sometimes we become so bogged down in our story and fixing sentences that have been changed by gremlins that we miss the basics.

Whatever you have planned for this weekend, enjoy it!  If you happen to be on Facebook, extolling the holiday or just goofing off, stop by the Harlequin American Romance Authors page and say hi.  Or "Like" it.  That would be even better!

If all the cars in the United States were placed end to end, it would probably be Labor Day Weekend. ~ Doug Larson

Life's Little Adjustments & Changes

Roll With the Changes.  Or so says REO Speedwagon.

Changes are hard, and the older we get, the harder it is to make changes.  But let's face it.  Trying to fight change is an effort in futility.  It's much better to roll with the changes and make the adjustments needed.

That's where I am.  Rolling.  Making adjustments.

We're finishing up our second week of school today, so life is getting a little smoother.  I have four trips each day to two different schools, so I'm on the road for short periods of time.  When I head out on the two afternoon trips, I leave early and take something with me to read, edit, or sometimes I even play games on my Kindle, if I feel I need a real break.  It's quiet time for me, something that's in short supply in the summer.  I like quiet time. ☺

We're even having to adjust to weather changes.  We started the summer with hot and dry.  In July, we finally had rain to ease the drought of the last few years.  That rain picked up and ran into August.  At the halfway mark of this month, we'd had two days when it didn't rain.  It got a bit soggy.  Now that we're nearly done with August, it's hot and dry again.  I have no doubt that will change.

While we don't always like changes, we'd get bored without them.  Beginning something new, finishing something old, and looking forward to more new things keep us going.  And isn't that what we want?  To keep on going?

Have a blessed end-of-summer, and roll with the changes it brings.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance. - Alan Watts 

In My Little World

It's official.  Yesterday was the first day of school in my little corner of the world.  Okay, in my little corner of the prairie.  With it comes changes.  No longer will I be chasing children up and down the street or climbing on the trunk of my car with a tree limb in my hand to knock down a pair of tied-together tennis shoes, stuck high up in a tree.  Yes, sad as it is, the tennis shoe incident may have been the highlight of the summer.

Last week's blog went unwritten.  It wasn't the best week of my life.  The deadline to write book #9 in the Desperation series continues to move forward each day, even when I don't get to write.  The insanity of the approaching first day of school had g-kids acting out, as if it were the last week before life in prison.  Pushing the limits, until limits lay shattered on the ground, seemed to be their goal.

Mothers, whether stay-at-home workers--because there's always work at home--and those who go to a job away from home are celebrating.

But with school in session, adjustments must be made.  There's more time, but it's interrupted time.  Not as interrupted as summer days with nothing for kids to do except find trouble, but interruptions, nonetheless.  While last previous academic year included dropping off and picking up g-kids at one school, this year is up to four trips.  Taking the Pre-K'er to half-day morning school, picking up Pre-K'er from school, picking up elementary kids from school, and picking up one at the middle school now, along with the neighbor girl across the street.  It's a circus, all this juggling and running.  I've become the driver of the clown car. ;)

One of our writing group members asked how the published authors among us make time to write.  The answer?  We give up things others might normally do.  We get up early or stay up late.  We forego large chunks of television time.  We don't have the world's neatest and cleanest homes.  Laundry piles up, dishes pile up, but eventually are cleaned and put away.  We set goals and we work on achieving them, because as one published author put it, this is our job.  This pays the bills, puts food on the table, clothes on our bodies.  What?  You're not published yet?  Okay, start making writing a habit, so that when you do get that first contract offer, the transition won't totally blow your mind and freeze your body, keeping you from doing the job.

Writers write.  We either write or become monsters.

I wrote 67 pages during our most recent BIAW that ended this past weekend, in spite of the shattered limits and insanity around me.  After that, from Sunday through yesterday, I haven't written.  Not a blog post, not a manuscript page.  I did not write.  Today I blog and will begin the last chapter of Erin and Jake's story.  By the end of the upcoming weekend, I hope my goal is to be finished...ahead of schedule.  That's the rough draft.  Editing, smoothing, changing, are on the horizon.

Life happens.  Adjustments in life are necessary.  The unexpected comes along and ruins our plans and goals.  Yet we continue.  There will always be a way to adjust, to conquer.  Find it.

Never. Give.  Up.

  Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. - Harriet Beecher Stowe 

Romance is for Everyone

It's National Read-A-Romance Month.  Yes, an entire month dedicated to reading romance novels.  Who wudda thunk it?  The answer is simple.  Romance writers and readers.

Romance Industry Statistics
(From Romance Writers of America-RWA.org)
POPULARITY OF ROMANCE FICTION

(source: Business of Consumer Book Publishing 2013)

• Romance fiction generated $1.438 billion in sales in 2012.
• Romance was the top-performing category on the best-seller lists in 2012 (across the NYT, USA Today, and PW best-seller lists).
• Romance fiction sales are estimated at $1.350 billion for 2013.
• 74.8 million people read at least one romance novel in 2008. (source: RWA Reader Survey)

Not yet convinced?  Compare the numbers.  Romance generated more revenue in 2012 than the other fiction genres.  Romance outsold Religion/Inspirational Fiction ($1.438 billion to $707.9 million), Mystery (at $728.2 million), Science Fiction/Fantasy (at 590.8 million) and Classic Literary Fiction (at 470.5 million).  (source: Simba Information) estimates

It's true that the majority of romance readers are women.  In fact, it's 91%.  But 9% of men read it, too.  Then there are the men who read it in the more male-type novels.  Stephen King, Dan Brown, and many others often have a thread of romance in their novels.  For the women?  No.  It's there because it's a part of the human experience.  We fall in love, both men and women.

Why do people read romance?  In my very humble opinion, because,  A) It is part of the human experience.  At one time in our lives, we'll fall in love.  We want to love and be loved.   B) We like happily ever afters.  We like to see a character not only win, but grow in the process of winning and become a better person.  C)  It gives us something to wish for, hope for, and experience ourselves.

Not only to other genres contain romance, but romance has its own sub-genres.  Like Mystery?  Try a Romantic Suspense.  Do you enjoy Fantasy or Paranormal stories?  There's Inspirational Romance for those who enjoy a religious slant.  Are you a history buff?  Historical Romance encompasses many periods of history.  There are even stories for the younger set--Young Adult Romance.  Anything you like, any type of characters, you can find them in Romance.

So what are you waiting for?  Find your Happily-Ever-After and read a romance (or a dozen) this month!  August is Read-A-Romance Month.

(Statics from RWA Romance Writers of America)

“Romance novels are birthday cake and life is often peanut butter and jelly. I think everyone should have lots of delicious romance novels lying around for those times when the peanut butter of life gets stuck to the roof of your mouth.” ― Janet Evanovich