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Advice & Tips for the Beginning
Romance Writer
Congratulations on your decision to
join the ranks of romance authors. Hopefully,
you're a long time reader of romance. If so, you're already
ahead on one point: you should have an instinctive understanding
for what makes romance work as a fiction genre.
Your task now is to read everything
you can find on the craft of writing. Romance novels are constructed
exactly like any other type of popular fiction. That is to
say, they require fully developed characters, an interesting
plot, meaningful dialogue, suitable pacing, and, preferably,
a theme illustrated by the events you set in motion.
The more you learn about how great
fiction is created, the more likely you are to be able to
create great romances. I also strongly advise that you join
a romance writers group such as Romance Writers of America.
RWA has been around since 1981 and is the premier organization
for writers of romance. If you attend the local and national
conferences, you will be put in touch with the arcane world
of romance writing. You'll be exposed to speeches and seminars
on all aspects of the genre, be able to join critique groups,
enter contests, and have the chance to pitch your work to
agents and editors. RWA has been both school and proving ground
for countless authors. It's impossible to stress how much
time and effort it can save. For information on joining, check
the web site at: www.rwanational.com,
or write to:
Romance Writers of America
3707 F. M. 1960 West
Suite 555
Houston, TX 77068
Ph: (281) 440-6885 - Fax: (281)
440-7510.
Other advice?
1. Don't get hung up on trying to
write in the vein of Big Name Best Selling Author, or on subjects
suggested by the editor-of-the-month. Write the story that
fascinates you. That's the one that will have power and magic.
2. Never write down, or "dumb down,*
to your supposed audience. Romance readers are a lot more
intelligent and diversified in their occupations and reading
habits than many seem to think.
3. Develop your own style and "voice."
Write naturally, just as you speak, without attempting to
be especially dramatic or "literate."
4. Write according to your personality.
If you're naturally funny with a penchant for snappy dialogue,
don't try to write dark, moody stories full of lyric descriptions.
If you prefer the salty and maddening world of today, then
don't opt for mysterious tales with complicated problems based
on ancient social customs. And vice versa.
5. Be original. The thing that's going
to catch the interest of agents and editors is that spark
of "something different" that will lift your work above the
ordinary. This can be a special incident you've discovered,
a new slant on an old time period, a unique character, a combination
of any of these elements - or a thousand other things. You'll
know it when it comes to you.
6. Don't go against the recognized
parameters of the genre in order to set yourself apart. Some
writers seem to feel that being different means pushing the
envelope in ways that destroy the aura of romance. Examples
are using the F word and other profanity or vulgarism that
may be offensive to "Bible Belt" readers; using clinical terms
for the human anatomy rather than acceptable euphemisms; skimping
on the development of the emotional relationship in favor
of other plot elements, eliminating intimacy between the hero
and heroine, or introducing handicaps for hero and heroine
so horrific that any possibility for the requisite "happily
ever after" is unlikely.
7. Keep in mind that romance as a
genre is not a new phenomenon. The current phase of sexually
explicit tales has lasted nearly 30 years. However, the forerunners
of today's stories were the gothic romances of the '50s and
'60 which were, in turn, derived from romantic adventures
published from the 1860s through the 1950s. These tales themselves
owed much to earlier male-dominated romances that had their
roots in the chansons of heroic derring-do spread by the troubadours
of the Medieval period. You're in good company, and need apologize
to no one for your chosen field of writing.
8. Uses the fact that you're writing
in the heroic tradition. Anything you can read or discover
otherwise about this ancient art form will be beneficial.
9. Don't talk about your work in progress.
Discussing it can dissipate the mental energy behind it and
make it less likely that you'll complete the work.
10. Write for yourself, to put the
stories that threaten your peace of mind on paper, and to
bring to life the characters that populate your dreams. Write
for the joy of the words, for their satisfying ebb and flow
in the brain and the poetry that they make in your imagination.
Write for the fun of it, because if it's not fun then the
sheer labor of the job makes no sense. Write for the satisfaction
-- whether anyone else ever reads what you write or pays you
a cent for it - because when the writing is going well, no
other job on earth can touch it.
Webmaster's Note: Jennifer is unable
to answer individual questions about romance writing due to
deadline pressure. She needs to be writing!
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