Secrets to Synopsis Writing, Upcoming Interviews and more!

I'm back from RWA Nationals in San Antonio and I have to say that I had a fabulous time. Stay tuned for a post on Nationals complete with pics in the next few days! In the meantime, I have two new writing related posts up:

Secrets to Synopsis Writing - over at Kelly Steel's Chasing Happy Ever After blog and...

Muse-Jogging Tips & Alternatives - over at Romance Book Paradise

Also, I'll be interviewing some fabulous authors over at USA Today's Happy Ever After blog in the next few months, starting with the incredible and lovely Catherine Lanigan, the real author behind the character, 'Joan Wilder', who wrote the famous Romancing the Stone and The Jewel of the Nile. Look for the interview on August 1st (I'll post the link here or check out the right column when it goes live). Check out my 'upcoming interviews' in the right column to see who'll be in the spotlight in September and October!

EDITED TO ADD: READ CATHERINE LANIGAN'S USATODAY HEA INTERVIEW HERE!

And if you can't wait to see at least a few of the upcoming pics, check out the one's I tweeted from Nationals @RulaSinara but I'll post even more here soon :).

I hope everyone is having a fab summer! I'll see you soon :).

Senior Editor Victoria Curran is at Romance University!

We're closing in on Halloween and do I have a sweet treat for you! Victoria Curran, Senior Editor for Harlequin Heartwarming, is over at Romance University talking about conflict and raising stakes in clean romance. Check out her post titled Fifty Shades of Sweet. She makes excellent points, explains in a way that clicks and gives examples of critique comments she has given in the past.  It's truly a must read for any writer, regardless of genre.

Also, a heads up, I'm working on a website and plan to make this blog match...so if you pop by here in the near future and things look different, don't worry, you're in the right place :).

Monday is Columbus Day in the US and Thanksgiving Day for my Canadian friends, so Happy Friday, Happy Thanksgiving and have a great long-weekend!

Have you heard?

You know that handy dandy 'replace all' feature in Word? Well, here's a story that'll take replace all to a whole new level...and put a grin on your face. I found the link at The Passive Voice, a blog that keeps everyone up to date on what's going on in the publishing world. Check the story out here. Let's just say it involves a little Nook-y. LOL. What'll they do next?

Also, if you're interested in reading through pitches, then seeing which ones ended up catching the interest of editors (and getting full requests), check out this link to the Entangled Publishing pitch fest that was held a few days ago at Romance University. The pitch is over, but being able to compare pitches and see which ones stand out is a worthwhile exercise.

Lastly, I turned off my word verification today (thanks to a post at Seeing Creative). I had no idea it was on, but I think my settings defaulted to it when Blogger's format changed. If it's still popping up, please let me know! And if you'd prefer not to have yours on, check out your settings. Word verification could be on without you realizing it.

It's the last week of school for my kids, so I have to run a pick up class party snack substitutes (the whole food allergy thing). I'll be sure to make time for blog visits though! See you around :)

My latest craft book must have!

Cliches have met their match!

The Virgin Widow's Heart Stopped When She Saw the Book That Would Change Her Life Forever by Ellen Hartman and Sophie Gunn just released on Amazon (Kindle) last week, and I promise it really will change your life. Well, okay, your writing life, although it could inspire people everywhere to discover their individuality and revamp their social skills :). I mean, who likes a cliched pick-up line. Right? Seriously though, I rank this book up there with Debra Dixon's famous Goal, Motivation, and Conflict as a staple for all writers.

The book is based on Ellen and Sophie's popular workshop, which I attended at last year's RWA Nationals meeting. The room was packed with not only published and unpublished writers, but editors as well. You know the workshop where everyone laughs, takes notes like crazy, then they push and shove to get to the speakers and ask more questions at the end? Alright. Romance writers are more civilized than that, but yes, it's that great and this is your chance to find out their anti-cliche secrets, as well as their fail-proof way on how to find your voice. Whew, that was a long sentence! It's because my heart's racing with excitement! (Okay, that was bad ;)

This isn't just about killing cliched phrases. It's about fixing cliched characters, plots, situations, and even promo. I hate it when people point out problems but don't provide solutions. This book tells you how to un-cliche a cliche. It's full of examples and step by step approaches to making your writing unique. It's a fast-paced, funny read loaded with a phenomenal amount of information. Definitely a craft reference must have.

Buy it or find out more on Amazon.

Note: I'm aware that the word cliche has an accent, but I couldn't figure out how to make it happen. Let's just pretend that I'm wildly clever, and I left it off to symbolize ripping apart cliches :)

Happy New Year!

May 2012 bring all of you the best in books, publishing, writing and reading.

I'm a 'list' person, but if I make vague resolution lists I'll end up jinxing my goals. It's like saying you're going to start a diet. It never lasts. I make 'To Do' lists throughout the year...both for writing and household/family activities...but they're very specific, concrete things that need to be accomplished. Each task is a step towards fulfilling a larger goal...kind of like word counts.

One of the smaller steps I take towards becoming a better writer (and eventually a published one ;) is to read craft books. I know not everyone likes to read craft books, but I'm a huge fan. I agree that simply reading a craft book doesn't make a person a great writer, but I do think that the information eventually embeds itself deep enough in one's mind that the benefits and changes will come through in their writing. It's a solid step towards a larger goal.

My favorite craft books are listed in the left margin, and I believe I once pointed out how much I loved James Scott Bell's Plot and Structure. Well, the first craft book I'll be reading in 2012 is his latest called Elements of Fiction Writing - Conflict and Suspense. I want lots of great conflict in 2012, but only in stories LOL!

I've also heard tons of good things about Scrivener (for PC in my case). I'm as much of a note card girl as I am a list girl. Sticky notes count too, but I can't live (or write effectively) without my 4X6 lined note cards. I use them for everything, including one for each beat on Blake Snyder's 'Beat Sheet' from Save the Cat. I don't know how I ever wrote without you, Blake. Back on track....check out the link for Scrivener. The pictures are amazing and it looks like any note card/OCD girl's dream to organizing, plotting, and revising a manuscript. I'm not a natural at computer programs, but I do love efficiency. I'm dying to dabble with this and see if I can use it for my next manuscript.

So have any of you used Scrivener? Are there any new craft books you're planning to read in 2012? What concrete steps are you taking towards larger goals (writing or otherwise)?

Craft Quotes

I was looking over my calendar yesterday and it hit me...2011 is in the home stretch. That realization always puts a little fire under me. It ups the pressure on making sure I've accomplished my writing (and other) goals for the year. One of the things I did this year was read through recommended books on writing. Books that spanned revision to plot to conflict and more. I believe all people are perpetual students of something. We're in a constant state of learning through study or through experience. For me, this year was about pushing my writing skills.

I have most of the writing/craft books on my shelf listed in the side bar. I read them with a highlighter in hand and recently went back through to see what I'd marked. I thought I'd share a few quotes I found to be important.

"Make sure the GMC's of multiple characters collide. The collision creates conflict." Debra Dixon - GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict

"Pressure is essential. Choices made when nothing is at risk mean little." Robert McKee - Story

"...if the inciting incident presents a problem that compels the protagonist to defend herself, rather than propels her toward achieving a goal, the story produces a reactive hero, not a proactive hero." Elizabeth Lyons - Manuscript Makeover

"Complex and too complicated are two different things. Complex is interesting; if shows writer finesse and control. Complicated is a chore." Elizabeth Lyons - Manuscript Makeover

"Motive is what gives moral value to a character's acts. What a character does, no matter how awful or how good, is never morally absolute... A character is what he does, yes - but even more, a character is what he means to do." Orson Scott Card - Characters & Viewpoints

There are so many more fabulous quotes from the books I've read, but too little time. One can read, and read, but at some point they have to go off and apply what they've learned ;). Hence, I need to go tackle more revisions. I highly recommend the books in the side bar for anyone in need of some craft inspiration and direction.

I hope you all have a productive week and get all your yearly goals accomplished in the next 2 1/2 months! Feel free to share any favorite craft quotes or books :)

Interview with Harlequin Superromance Author Ellen Hartman

I promised you a super Monday, and it's here! Summer officially starts next week, so I'm throwing a beach party to welcome Harlequin Superromance author Ellen Hartman to our midst. As both a technical and romance writer with a degree in creative writing from Carnegie Mellon University, Ellen lives and breathes writing (and probably ponders the technicalities of romance in her spare time ;)). I know. She's thinking what spare time? Well, she has some now because I have her buried in sand up to her neck, and I'm not digging her out until she spills her romance writing secrets. Don't worry, she has a great sense of humor (much better than mine), and she's a sport (unless you're rooting for the wrong hockey team). Seriously though, Ellen knows first hand that a blind date can start with love-at-first-sight, and end with happily-ever-after, so if you have any questions about writing or romance... Oh, but I get to go first! Ellen's doing a giveaway, so make sure you join the fun .

1. No conflict. No story. In 2008, you gave an online workshop on conflict called Making a Minefield. For those of you who haven't read it, click on the link. It's an absolute must-read, and it contains really great examples. Any new gems or brainstorming techniques on how to keep conflict fresh?

I had such a good time on that workshop. One of the techniques I used successfully in both of my most recent books (Calling the Shots and Married by June) is to swap the gender of characters.

In Calling the Shots, my original plan was for the hero's son (a hockey star) to bully the heroine's daughter (a not-so-good hockey player). It seemed trite for the jock stud to be a bully, and it was hard to make the hero or his son likable. Then I swapped the bully's gender. In the final book, the hero's daughter (a star hockey player) bullies (sort of) the heroine's son (a not-so-good hockey player). This kept the conflict fresh--a girl bullying a boy is less common. It set up some delicious conflict for the heroine and her son. She wants to protect him and shelter him and he wants her to back off! I found it much easier to write the hero as a sympathetic character when he was struggling to understand his daughter (who was stressed out, but not malicious), than when he was defending a jerk of a son.

I had similar success when I changed the gender of a character in Married by June, but if I explain it will spoil part of the plot!

I think in general, a great way to increase conflict is to write solid characters. Conflict works best when it's specific and memorable. Any time you move your characters away from the norm or the trite and find the "real" you're going to have a better story.

2. In 2009, you and fellow Superromance author, Jeannie Watt, did an incredible eharlequin discussion called Shopping for the Alpha and Beta Hero. Gamma guys make an 'appearance' too, and authors from several different Harlequin lines chimed in. It's another must read, and I just have to ask...any chance you'll ever write (or co-author) a craft book on writing?

Thank you so much. I'm thrilled those workshops are useful! I love Jeannie's writing so I was pumped to get to work with her. I don't think a craft book is in my immediate future, but I love doing workshops.

If anyone is attending the RWA conference in NYC, my critique partner, Diana Holquist (she also writes as Sophie Gunn), and I are giving our workshop, "The Virgin Widow's Heart Stopped When She Saw the Workshop that Would Change Her Life Forever: Working with and against Cliches to Make Your Work Shine...And Sell!" (How about that title?) We do some overview and then jump right into examples from our work to show how we edit to get the absolute best stuff we can. We also do live critiquing with work from audience members. I'd love to see folks there. (It's Thursday afternoon from 2-3.)

I also offer a workshop on Beta heroes and one that's drawn from my day job as a technical writer on how to usability test your author web site or social media portfolio. I'm hoping to have the chance to do workshops more often.

3. Getting The Call is up there with marriage proposals as one of life's sweetest moments. We'd love hear about when your editor proposed to you...okay, okay...you know what I mean. Your latest release, Married By June, has marriage on my mind ;). Tell us your Call story!

When my son was in kindergarten he was obsessed with guns. He met a kid named Hunter and assumed the boy must have access to weaponry. (Duh, why else would someone be named Hunter?) My son demanded that I invite his new found best friend for a play date. It turned out that Hunter did not have guns, what he did have, is an amazing mother. Leslie Daniels was a literary agent and is my most precious friend here in Ithaca.

A few years later, I won the Great Expectations contest, sponsored by the North Texas RWA, and the prize was a partial read by Laura Shin, from Superromance. She requested my full manuscript. I sent it in and then there was quite a lag before I eventually got a 5-page revise and resubmit letter. So I took my book apart and put it back together and sent it off again. At that point, I was pretty sure I was going to get an offer. I knew NOTHING about publishing or I'd have known how often things get to that stage and still don't go to contract, but I was uneducated. I knew you didn't need an agent to sell to Harlequin, but I'm painfully shy and 100% incapable of negotiating around money so I really wanted an agent. Leslie kindly wrote letters of introduction to several famous literary agents and I sent them my book. They turned me down flat, every one. Leslie didn't represent any romance clients, but she took pity on me and said she'd be my agent. Thank goodness.

So I was all set with my agent and all I needed was the Call. I was at work in my cubicle in the Cornell vet school one day when Leslie called. She said, "Laura Shin left a message while I was out. She said she's going to call back this afternoon."

I said, "I hope she's not calling to reject it." (Honest to God, this is what's inside my brain!)

Leslie: "They don't call to reject things."

Me: "It could be a new policy."

At that point Leslie asked me to try not to let on that I'm crazy when I was talking to Laura. The actual call from Laura is a blur. I remember where I was...sitting on a bench in the atrium of the vet school building, but not what we said. I only remember that conversation with Leslie, because that's when it all started to seem real!

4. What's the one thing you did that you feel played a critical role in landing you a book contract?

Two things: I finished a book and I submitted it. I had this conversation with my critique partner, Diana, shortly after she got her first contract.

Me: "I'm never going to sell a book. I think I should quit."

Diana: "Have you submitted your book, yet?"

Me: "..."

You can't sell it if you don't finish it and send it in.

5. You have a degree in creative writing and create wonderful romances by night. However, you're a technical writer by day and a self-professed lover of logic. Are you more left-brained, right-brained or is it a tie? When you come home from work and get ready to write romance, is the transition in writing style easy or difficult? In what way does your love of logic and your technical writing mindset influence/affect how you tackle a character's emotional arc?

The writing style thing is easy. Practically the only thing I'm confident of in my writing is my voice so I can settle into fiction no problem.

The left brain/right brain thing is complicated. I'm a combination, but my right-brain tendencies scare me so I subdue them with left-brain stuff. For example, left-brain people like to make lists. I don't like lists, but not having one feels dangerous. So I make very high-level lists. Or I make them in the middle of the night when I'm nervous and then never look at them again. Left-brain people read magazines in sequential order while right-brain folks dip into the interesting stuff and skip around. When I read The New Yorker, I read the movie review (the last page) first. Then to punish myself for skipping to the good stuff, I force myself to read sequentially backward.

The logical issue is the hardest one. I am logical. I like logical, sensible people. But I'm writing books about people who make decisions that go against their best interests. The key thing for a romance conflict is that if one person gets their heart's desire, the other person loses theirs. This always bogs me down when I'm writing. I can't move forward unless I know why a character will chose a particular path. In Married by June, the heroine, Jorie, gets engaged even though she knows she's not in love. I didn't intend to show the engagement in the book, partly because I couldn't figure out what she was thinking when she made that decision. Then my editor and all of my critique partners asked to see the engagement. I wrote it mostly as a character exercise, but I loved the way it came out. It convinced me that Jorie's decision made sense, so that scene is now the prologue for the book.

6. You have quite a few 'famous' scenes to your name. One would be the 'sexiest, fully-clothed dance scene ever' in His Secret Past. Those may not be your editor's exact words, but they're close, and they had me running off to buy the book from your backlist. I had to see for myself...and she was right of course ;) Another would be the famous 'drunken breakdown scene' from Plan B: Boyfriend. That was so much fun. Which scene in Married By June do you think will get initiated to the Scene Hall of Fame?

This question made me blush. Thank you so much. One of the reasons I love being edited by Victoria is that she has a great eye. She encourages me to develop scenes when she knows they're working and I owe her big time for that.

The engagement scene prologue for Married by June doesn't rise quite to the level of the drunken breakdown scene, but I love it. It's a very romantic, tension-filled moment. The last scene of the book has some nice callbacks to the prologue and I'm happy with the way the two parts bookend the story. Those two scenes together are the ones I like best.

7. Prologues are tricky little buggers, but in Married By June you rocked it. As in 4 carat diamond solitaire rocked it :). Chapter one had me all wound up and dying to know what happened where the prologue left off. Oh yes, a page turner...you sly Ellen. When did you know your story would need a prologue? Was it part of your proposal, or did it come around in revisions?

This is a mind meld moment, for us, Rula, where I answer your questions before you ask them. ;-) I'm so glad the scene worked for you! Good thing Victoria made me add it in.

The proposal for that book looked nothing like the published version. In the original concept, Cooper was an insurance agent, not a political speech writer. He and Jorie were married (not engaged) and he asked for a divorce. They went away for a month to a cabin with his three teenage nephews. When it came time to write the book I'd just finished Calling the Shots and I was eager to write a book without teenagers. ;-) My critique group said insurance wasn't high stakes enough. Etc. Then the whole thing got revised again after I turned it in. You can read a deleted scene featuring Jorie's sister, Mindy, on my website. Mindy and her whole storyline got cut.

8. In Married By June, your heroine, Jorie, puts together a wedding proposal inspired by the fact that the bride and groom went to the movies on their first date. Which of the following wedding movies would be on Jorie's top three list of muse joggers?

The Wedding Planner (Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey)
Made of Honor (Patrick Dempsey and Michelle Monaghan)
Sweet Home Alabama (Josh Lucas and Reese Witherspoon)
My Best Friend's Wedding (Julia Roberts and Dermot Mulroney)
The Wedding Date (Debra Messing and Dermot Mulroney)
The Wedding Singer (Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore)

Definitely The Wedding Singer. Who doesn't love Adam Sandler in that one? At a certain point in the book, I think Jorie would be quite fond of Wedding Crashers. But the one I watched several times (like 15 times) when I was writing the book is The Proposal. (And yes, I watched the whole thing, not just the scene where Ryan Reynolds is naked.) That movie had a hero in conflict over his romance and his familial obligations which had similarities to Cooper's story.

9. Movies make me think of snacking. Actually, waaay too many things make me think of snacking, LOL. Do you have a quirky writing ritual and a favorite deadline crunch-time snack?

Way too much Diet-Coke and big bags of M&M's. For some reason, the jittery feeling I get from that combo helps me tune out my family and life obligations and get into the story. I don't understand it and my waistline hates it, but that's my deadline diet.

10. Apart from not quitting, what's the one piece of advice you'd give writers striving to be Published By June? Well, fine. Too specific a time frame? Published Period works too ;).

I wouldn't be anywhere without my critique partners. Find someone who's a good reader, it doesn't matter if they write the same stuff you do, or even if they write at all. Share your work with them and listen to the feedback.

Excellent advice, Ellen. As always. I'm picturing a poster in your office that reads, 'I'll share my work, but don't touch my M&Ms!' LOL. Thanks so much for being here today! I'll start digging you out ;)

Ellen's giving away a free copy of her book! See details below. Do you know anyone getting married this month? I just had an idea. I'm thinking a copy of Married By June would make a cute bridal shower gift topper...or add it to a bridal gift basket ;). More daring? How about crashing a wedding and passing out...okay, okay. I'm getting carried away. Just kidding. Don't do anything illegal. Ellen had nothing to do with this, and I've honestly never crashed anything but my car. I'm setting aside the jumbo size diet coke and bag of M&Ms now...

BLURB: MARRIED BY JUNE

Wedding planner Jorie Burke—aka "the wedding whisperer"—knows all about staging the perfect event. So when it comes to her own wedding, she has every detail worked out: the perfect venue, the perfect flowers, even the most brilliant gift registry idea. Not to mention a perfect fiancé…the brilliant, gorgeous senator's son, Cooper Murphy. It's going to be the Washington wedding of the century.

All that's missing is the perfect love.

But halfway through their cake-tasting is a terrible time for Cooper to point that out to her! Can it get any more humiliating for a wedding planner than having her groom call it off? Well, yes, it can. Because it turns out her ex has yet another proposition….

BUY IT HERE:

Amazon
Barnes and Noble
eharlequin

FIND ELLEN HERE:

www.ellenhartman.com
www.romancenovelsblog.blogspot.com
www.superauthors.com
Twitter
Facebook

GIVEAWAY: Leave a comment or question and you'll be entered into a drawing for a free copy of Married By June or a book from Ellen's backlist (Note: Wanted Man is unavailable, and His Secret Past is available in e-format only). The winner will be posted here this Thursday, June 16th. Comment away!

Happy Memorial Day!

I hope everyone has a beautiful day. I'm off to prepare food for guests, so I'll keep it short and sweet. I think that I may have mentioned this once before, but just in case...

If you're a serious writer, you really, really should get a subscription to Writer's Digest Magazine. Just my humble opinion, but they have great articles on writing, as well as one called 'Ask The Agent'. The edition that just arrived in the mail (July/August 2011) is titled 'Your Ultimate Revision Guide' and it has wonderful articles on different aspects of revision (character depth, voice, tone etc...).  One article is by James Scott Bell, author of Plot and Structure (excellent craft book btw). It would be selfish of me not to point this edition of Writer's Digest out to all of you. Check it out.

Anyway, I hope you all have a great day and an awesome week as we skid into June!

Monogamous Heroes: Prove it

Prove what? We all know romance heroes are monogamous. They have to be. It comes with the job description. Right?

Well, recent news of Arnold Schwartzenegger's infidelity brought back memories of Hugh Grant, Ryan Phillipe, Tiger Woods and Jesse James' wandering wands (to name just a few). Depressing. And look at their wives! We're talking attractive, accomplished women...better looking than the guys, if you ask me. Now, I don't want to open a can of worms here. I don't want to get into the evolutionary psychology of men and how 'spreading their seed' is genetically ingrained in them. Give me a break. Are we forgetting the key word 'evolved' here? Are men really going to reach back to their neanderthal ancestors to grasp for excuses? I can argue right back that expenditure of energy plays a vital role in survival (evolutionarily and ecologically speaking)...and we don't spend energy in the same way these days. It's called technology. Oh, and there's that higher education thing too, but I digress. I'll get off my soapbox.

What I really want to talk about is how a writer can prove that their hero won't ever cheat on their heroine. Okay. Prove is a strong word, and it may be hard to wipe out all doubt, but how do we leave a reader believing that the hero won't sway years after they close the book? Specifically, what actions or words on the hero's part show that he's one of an elite group of one-woman men? Simply saying that he declared his undying love, or he proposed marriage, or he saved her life isn't enough. What are the little actions throughout the story that make the hero trustworthy? Is it that he is a loner, so he's unlikely to go 'looking' in the future? Is it that he visits his parents a lot and is very family oriented? Or maybe it's the way he's loyal to his dog. Does that translate to his woman? Perhaps it's in the dialogue that takes place when the heroine is off the page. It could be that one sentence in the book where he declines a female advance, or confides something to a guy friend. Or does profession have anything to do with it? We've all heard about how men with high power or fame seem to think they are entitled to more than one bed. Seriously here. It could be something as little as his evening routine or how he was raised.

What do you think? I'd love to open the floor up here. Can you think of specific examples (action or dialogue) in romances where you just knew that hero would be faithful long after the babies are born, the wife gains weight, money gets tight, and the teenagers bring on even more stress? BTW, this is why I love a series where I can get a glimpse of previous H/H and see how they're still strong.

Revision Reads

Can you believe it's the last day of February? Time flies when you're writing!

I'm up for a hectic week so I'm leaving you with a short but valuable post. I recently came across a couple of  must-read links for anyone polishing a manuscript or dealing with revisions. Actually, they're great reads at any stage of writing.

Check out Kristen Lamb's blog post on novel diagnostics: The Doctor Is In The House.
Also visit Harlequin author Wendy Marcus's post on revisions at Romance University.

And for anyone interested in strengthening their plotting and character development skills, pick up a copy of Plot & Structure by James Scott Bell. I just finished reading it a few days ago and it's fantastic. In fact, I'm adding it to my list of favorite craft books. Not only does he write with a sense of humor, his style is also very straightforward and he makes concepts click. You close the book feeling ready to apply what he has explained. I rank it up there with Debra Dixon's GMC as a writing staple.

Happy writing!

Muse vs Music

I love music. I'll listen to it in the car, on the treadmill, or while cleaning the house, but I absolutely can't listen to music while I'm writing. My manuscripts are playlist deprived. That's not to say that I don't have a particular song that I associate with a manuscript. In fact, I do use music as inspiration in between manuscripts...very early on, when I'm brainstorming premise ideas. Once I'm hooked on an idea, the music has to go or my muse gets distracted.

I'm a daydreamer. A typical Pisces. Music gets me dreaming up scenarios, but it also takes me off on wild tangents. I'm one of those people who can't get a song out of their head for the life of them. When I'm working on the first draft of a manuscript (or even revisions, depending on how involved they are), I don't listen to music at all. I would completely lose my focus. When I'm writing, silence helps me hear the conversations in my head. It helps me to concentrate on my internal noise, or what some may call their muse.

If I need a break from working on a manuscript or a way to refresh my muse, I opt for a good book or a romantic movie. I'm very visual, so having an inspirational photo of my hero or heroine is much more effective than listening to music. As for books and movies, they're more concrete for me. Once I reach the end, I can put them aside and refocus on my own story. I may watch or read them again, but I have more mental control over when that will be. Songs, on the other hand, seem to get lost in the labyrinth of my ear and can't find their way out.

That's just the way I work. Different methods work for different people. Are you a playlist writer?

When blurting bites

As a little girl, my mom used to warn me about saying too much. I know I embarrassed her on several occasions. Not on purpose, mind you. I believe that honesty is innate and lying is learned. I may be wrong, but think about how children don't hold back information. Whatever's on their mind flows readily from their mouth. When you have a child in tow, the grocery store clerk (and everyone in line) knows that you colored your gray hair that morning, the postman hears about how you don't want your morning donut getting stuck on your buns, and...well...you try not to think about what their teacher learns.

When I got older, my mom explained that if you divulge too much personal information, people can lose interest in you. Hold back and keep them intrigued. Let them earn your trust before opening up too much. These are fundamental rules of dating and making friends. Rules that, if followed, would solve a few facebook issues. It's not about being dishonest. It's about thinking before you blurt. Little did she know that she was teaching me a ground rule for story telling. No backstory dump. Let the hero and heroine (and reader) get to know each other like they would in real life...a little bit at a time.

My first manuscript began with backstory. I was essentially a child when it came to writing a novel. A novice anxious to pour everything in my head onto paper. I cringe when I think back to my first contest submission. Three chapters of backstory. Ouch. But I learned my lesson (and there's always more to learn). I read craft books, novels in my genre, and I attended as many workshops as I could at my first RWA meeting in D.C. One enormous, painful rewrite of my first manuscript, and I was determined never to make that mistake again. I'm glad I did though.

I think that if I'd immersed myself in learning the craft before ever getting my first story out of my head, my creativity would have been stifled. The fear of doing it all wrong would have taken over. All those mind-boggling writing rules would have triggered self-doubt. I'd have suffered from the 'teacher looking over your shoulder' syndrome and I would never have gotten my first 60,000 words down. It wasn't until I read Stephen King's On Writing, that I understood this. He gave me 'permission' to write without stopping to edit. The King had given me permission to blurt!

Yes, Mom. I can blurt...but like you said, in private. Only on that first draft. After that, I'll edit what I say.