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Blog Archive
About Staying Motivated as a Writer, and the Importance of Setting and Pacing in your novel
By Christie Craig and Faye Hughes
Thanks, guys, for having us at your blog, and for helping us to celebrate the launch of our new non-fiction, The Everything Guide to Writing a Romance Novel from Adams Media. We’re sharing a few snippets from the book today, on staying motivated as a writer and on the importance of setting and pacing in your novel.
We hope you enjoy!
Christie and Faye
Stay Motivated
Because the main entrée of writing automatically comes with a side dish of rejection, it’s important that you work at staying positive. Staying motivated.
This may mean ridding yourself of the negativity demon that lurks within most people. You know that demon, don’t you? It’s the one that whispers in your ear that you’re wasting your time writing. Well, it’s time to send that demon packing!
Start the exorcism of pessimistic thinking by changing all the negative thoughts that imply you can’t do something, to ones that say you can accomplish anything. Remove all the can’ts and shouldn’ts from your internal thoughts. To paraphrase and take creative licenses with the old adage: “If you think you can write and believe you’ll sell soon, you are right. If you think you can’t write and will never publish, you are probably also right.”
Start believing in yourself and you might be surprised how other people will believe in you as well.
Tips on Staying Motivated:
· Get Rid of Negative People
While generally, you will be your own worst enemy, there are some people who are just inherently negative—people who make you doubt yourself and question your sanity for even wanting to become a writer. If possible, eliminate these people from your life.
When eliminating a negative person isn’t an option—for example, when the person is a part of your immediate family—explain to them that you need to focus on the positive. Ask for their support.
· Surround Yourself with the Positive
Removing the negative influences from your life will leave you with some room—room for the optimistic influences. Positive people, people who believe in you, can be essential to your outlook and long-term success. This is why a lot of authors find attending writers’ meetings and visiting with other authors to be so helpful. Sometimes, only another writer will truly understand your woes about this career.
· Write It Down
Getting published involves a lot of small steps. Each step is another goal completed. Write down these goals. Make sure your goals include both the larger and the smaller steps. Large, as in finishing a book. Small, as in finishing a scene or polishing a chapter.
· Never Stop Learning
Feed the brain, nourish the soul.
Something amazing happens to your spirit when you are learning. Knowledge offers a sense of empowerment. Feeling empowered, you are able to overcome hurdles, make wiser decisions, and persevere. With the numerous online writing classes and the amazing amount of how-to books available for purchase, you don’t even have to leave the comfort of your own home to learn.
· Dedicated Versus Obsessed
Every writer who made it to the bookshelves will tell you that it took serious dedication to get there—giving up some lunches with the work colleagues, staying home to write while the rest of the family goes to the latest blockbuster movie. Being dedicated to your career goals is a must in the writing business. However, sometimes there’s a fine line between dedication and obsession.
Importance of Setting
You’ve probably heard the old adage that in real estate, location is everything. It applies to romance novels also. From small towns to big cities, from barren, alien landscapes to lush tropical forests—the options for a setting for your book are endless. But it’s how you use the setting that is important in a romance novel.
Remember, it’s not paragraph after paragraph of dry information about your setting that the reader expects in a romance novel. It’s the integration of that setting into the novel. Is your novel set in the tropics? If so, describe the warmth of the sand on the beach beneath the heroine’s bare feet. Explain how the scent of the flowers growing in the garden outside her room reminds her of an event from her childhood—a good memory, perhaps, or a sad memory. Incorporate the setting into your novel and give the details an emotional impact, rather than simply provide a travelogue description.
Using the Five Senses
Evoking the power of the five senses can bring a scene to life in the reader’s mind. After all, romance readers, more so than the readers of any other genre, want to experience the novel as though it were happening to them. They want to pretend they are the characters you’ve written about on the pages of the book. They want to live your story.
To make this happen, always ask yourself the following five questions when writing a scene:
1. What can my POV character hear?
2. What can my POV character see?
3. What can my POV character smell?
4. What can my POV character taste?
5. What can my POV character touch?
While it’s important to know the answers to these questions when you write your scene, you don’t have to include an example from each of the five senses. Just choose the most vivid ones that best describe the scene you’re writing.
Writing a Book They Can’t Put Down
Do you remember the first time you got so swept up in a novel that you stayed up half the night reading it? As a reader, you hope you’ll find that with every book you read. As a writer, you hope yours is the book that readers can’t put down. There are many reasons why a reader finds a book a compelling read—great writing, wonderful characters, unique plot. But pacing, or the speed with which an author tells the story, is why they keep turning the pages.
Understanding Pacing
Pacing plays an important role in creating a saleable romance novel but it’s probably one of the least understood elements of the craft of writing. Basically, pacing is the author’s way of controlling how fast—or slow—a reader reads the book. The author does this by controlling the length of the sentences and paragraphs, the ratio of dialogue to narrative, and the amount of descriptive details offered in a particular scene.
Think of a scene as a song. Just as each song has its own rhythm and tempo, some fast, some slow, so will your scenes. Your choice of words, how short or long you make the sentences and paragraphs, the ratio of dialogue to narrative in your scene—all of these combine to form the pacing or tempo.
For a romance novel to succeed, it will need scenes that take away the reader’s breath (fast pacing) and scenes that make the reader sigh with pleasure (slower pacing). Like most aspects of writing, finding the right balance is critical.
Generally, when you want to speed up pacing, you will use the following techniques:
· Shorter sentences
· More dialogue
· Crisper, sharper nouns and verbs
Conversely, the following techniques result in a slowing pacing:
· Longer sentences
· More narrative
· More descriptive passages
So, how do you strike the right balance? The answer largely depends upon the type of subgenre you’re writing. After all, a lushly sensuous historical romance will usually have a much slower pace than a tightly plotted contemporary romantic suspense. Still, even within the same subgenres, certain scenes and situations call for a specific type of pacing.
Another way to balance your pacing is to vary the sentence structure you use. Instead of writing sentence after sentence that follows the same “subject-verb-object” format, mix it up by trying “predicate-subject” or other variation. This, combined with varying the length of your sentences and types of scenes, should ensure your pacing is well-balanced.
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THE EVERYTHING GUIDE TO WRITING A ROMANCE NOVEL is available wherever books are sold. For more information on Christie and Faye’s book, including how you can purchase a copy directly from them (with an addendum of 25 additional pages not included in the book), you can visit their website, www.writewithus.net.
As a special bonus, one lucky commenter will win their very own copy of THE EVERYTHING GUIDE TO WRITING A ROMANCE NOVEL. So join in the discussion and fire away with those questions!
Books by the Crew
31 comments:
Hi Christie and Fay, Welcome to the ship!
I'm in the UK where the time difference usually ensures that I'm first to dive in. *g*
As a theoretical physicist during the day and an armchair romance writer at odd times during the evenings, I am a sucker for theory. I can spend hours studying the theory of how to do this or that (especially gardening and DIY!). But before I try to put the theory into practise I always check on the credentials of the writer....they must be successful practitioners.
Please don't be offended as this is an instinctive reaction; but I checked you out on the web and my gosh, you really have made millions writing romance! *g*
I think this book may be for me. I used my new pendulum to dowse and got a very positive YES!
A couple of questions if I may:
1) I checked for electronic format and alas no joy....any plans to go electronic?
2) Out of genuine interest, may I ask why you took time out from writing romance to reveal all of your writing secrets? Was this therapy (for us!), commercial (even more money to be made), autopilot (can't stop writing) or philanthropic? I think we would all like to know the answer to this!
Great to have you aboard!
Wow! Thanks. I'm going to print this all out and commit it to memory...or at least refer to it regularly, since my mind is going. *g* I fear I've verged into the obsessed, although giving up TV was the best thing I've ever done. What did you cut out of your life to make writing time?
Christie and Faye - thanks for stopping by the ship today. This was incredibly informative.
I particularly liked the pacing part, something I really feel is important in books. I have a really short attention span (ie, I'm a mom) and books that slow down generally don't get finished these days.
Are there any other tricks (outside trusted readers feedback) to check pacing? I read my stuff outloud to myself and that works to some degree (though it also makes me sound crazy in the corner of the room talking to myself) but I was wondering if there was anything else, maybe help in plotting/the set up of the novel that might help?
As I said when I first saw this blog, this may be the best dang craft blog ever! Thank you so much, Christie & Faye, for joining us today. And thank you even more for writing this book. The Romance writing community has to be the most generous group of people I've ever encountered.
My favorite part is about pacing. I'd never thought of it in terms of the actual sentence and paragraph length.
What I'm wondering is do you keep the pacing in mind on the first draft or is this something you create in the revision stage?
Right now my WIP reads at a very fast pace but that's only because I'm vomiting out the story and there is almost no setting or narrative. I'm curious to see if my pace slows down in the second or third draft.
Very good info.
I think striking the balance in pacing is one of the hardest things for a writer to learn. because in one novel you have all kinds depending on the dynamic you are setting.
I'm totally with Maggie on the giving up TV. Something had to give in my life so I could find the time to write.
Awesome information. I especially liked the part about how to describe your setting or locale. I get caught up in the long narrative. Thanks for giving me a way to cut that out while still giving the reader what they need. The five senses is brilliant, too!!
How long have you been in the business?
Great blog!! (I love tying the setting with "emotional impact"--I know exactly what you're talking about. The most successful authors really do this and make it seem so effortless. It feels like the same concept as not having scenes in your book that don't "propell the book forward"--here, you're even using the setting to propell the book forward because it ties with the ultimate understanding of the character and what she/he needs to do to get her happily ever after.)
Do you guys have any tips on how to write "funny"?
I liked the advice on how to get more sensory data in, too!
In addition to shorter sentences, short paragraphs (sometimes even just a word or two) can also make the pacing go faster. Used judiciously, it can also add a good emotional punch in the middle of a scene, especially one with a bit slower pacing.
Marn - I think it's really hard to feel one's own pacing (which I why I love getting your feedback on mine!). Other than making a conscious effort at the elements Christie and Faye described, getting feedback is the best way I've been able to understand pacing.
Hi Christie and Faye,
Thanks so much for sharing excerpts with us - this is great information! I'm going to keep your comments on setting in mind as I revise my WIP. I have a bad habit of either forgetting setting all together (after all - I know what the scene looks like in my head!) or adding so much it gets bogged down. So your comments on tying together setting and emotion are perfect for me - thanks!
Hi, Tiffany,
I agree. Getting the pacing right is one of the hardest things to learn in writing.
Thanks for dropping by!
Faye
Hi, Irisheyes,
I think the technique you use for setting depends, in large part, on the type of novel you are writing. SciFi/fantasy and historical romances demand more than a romance suspense, for example. Always making sure your setting descriptions are told through the POV character is essential, I think.
I started writing seriously in the late 1980s. My first book was published in 1993. Christie started writing in 1984 and got serious about it several years later. Her first in 1994.
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
Hi Quantum,
Millions? Okay, I'm waiting for those checks to start filling my mailbox. LOL. You know, when I ask someone why they want to write romance and they say, "The money." I quickly suggest that instead of writing romance, they go into the business of asking people if they want fries with that burger instead. Seriously, it takes a while to build up a good income in writing.
Thanks for checking us out. We try not to hide behind closed doors. Of course, I'm really thin and a lot younger than I look.
Now, for your questions. Electronic format? I won't say it can't happen. But at this time, I don't see it happening any time soon.
Why did we choose to do the book? Did you give us an "all of above" to check?
Okay, here's the truth. I've always believed in giving back to the universe. So many helped me learn this writing craft and I've always enjoyed teaching and sharing my own passion for writing.
I've taught writing for years and have wanted to do a non-fiction book, but I had planned to do one on freelance writing. I did a non-fiction book on home buying back several years ago before I broke back into novel writing. When I sold my romance novels, the publisher of the home buying book contacted my agent wanting a book on how to write a romance novel.
Now, here's the truth. I asked my agent to give me 24 hours to think about it, but I was almost certain I was going to say no. Then I went to my critique group and they all just about beat me up. They said I was nuts not to do it. They pointed out how good of a marketing tool it would be. They pointed out that I seriously enjoyed teaching. And they were right.
But with as much as I had on my plate (books to write) I really didn't want to tackle it alone. So Faye, my published critique partner, got a call. She was a little surprised. A little shocked. Thought I was joking. I think she regreted saying yes. But we did it. And we're so proud of this book.
Thanks for dropping by.
CC
Maggie,
What did I give up? Hmm...I tried to give up sex and decided against it. (smile) Hubby didn't apprecatie it either. Seriously, I work really hard, I try to limit it to 8 -10 hours a day. But when under a deadline, I've been known to give it a lot more. If under close deadline, no TV, no solitaire. I do try to find the balance so that I can still take care of myself and my family. Hey, I kind like the family. Well, sometimes.
I meet my friends for lunch once a week. I meet another group of friends once a month. I try not to cancel those, because they help me stay sane. But when push comes to shove, I have canceled.
Thankfully Faye and I don't live in the same state. But that doesn't stop her from calling. Seriously, I'll bet we talk about an hour or two on the phone every day. It's all work related of course. Or at least, I deduct it on my taxes. I have told Faye not to call me when I'm really busy. She never listens, so I often just hang up on her. :-)
Thanks for stopping by.
CC
Hi, Hellion,
Isn't it amazing how the most successful authors make everything look easy? Setting, plotting, writing - they do it so well, which probably is why they are on the bestseller lists. :)
As for propelling the story forward, we believe that every aspect of the novel - setting, dialogue, etc. - has to work at that goal or it should be cut.
And as for tips on righting funny, Christie and I wrote a piece about this a while back, sort of dueling points of view. I'll make sure I post a copy of it on our website, www.WritewithUs.net.
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
Hi, Jordan,
Great advice. I also think using shorter chapters will increase pacing. Of course,, we're talking about the technical stuff here. You need to have a lot of conflict in your book to make the reader turn those pages.
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
Marnee Jo,
About talking to yourself in a corner, and looking crazy. This only means, you are a qualified writer. Try getting in front of the mirror and making faces of sadness, happiness, anger, so you can then describe them in your book. Tip: Don't do this while husband or children watch.
Now pacing can be hard at times. Sometimes we think our words are brilliant, and well, they aren't so brilliant. Which is why critique partners are needed. But here's a big tip. The more conflict you have in a scene, the better it will read. While you can work on pacing by changing words and sentence length, if a book has conflict and the reader is always worried about what will happen next, they read quicker and the internal pacing of the story will be faster.
Also make sure you have hooks at the end and beginning of every scene. A hooked reader, will eat up the pages.
I highly recommend you study the books that you can't put down. What did they do? Are the scenes short? Can you see the conflict on every page? Do they have hooks? How much dialogue is on the page? Readers love dialogue. When your characters speak, the readers generally listen.
Good luck. And thanks for stopping in.
CC
Wow, what an amazing blog!!
There is so much information, that I will be printing it out. And looking for your book on my next trip to the bookstore.
Thanks,
Di
Hi, Haleigh,
I'm glad you enjoyed the tips on setting. It's a balancing act, really, trying to get the mixture of setting, conflict, dialogue, etc. just right.
One of my favorite exercises when I do a writing class is the following:
You are standing at an overlook for the Grand Canyon. Now, write a descriptive paragraph from the following characters' POV:
a history professor
a geologist
a drug dealer
a frantic mother who is searching for her missing son
As you can imagine, a panicked mother looking for her son will see the setting differently than the geologist, or the drug dealer. The description of the setting should reflect the POV character - we should see the setting through that character's filter.
Faye
Hi, Di,
We're glad you enjoyed the blog.
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
Terrio,
Okay...hmmm...vomiting, huh? Hey, I'm no stranger to vomit. Just read Wedding Can Be Murder. ;-)
I'll try to be serious. Everyone writes differently. Some writer's get it all down in the first draft. I generally get a lot of it down, but when I reread the first draft I always look for things such as scenes with no setting, or a general lack of description. I'm a dialogue person, and I have a habit of not including enough setting and description/narrative. Funny thing is, when I read novels and find paragraphs of setting I'm tempted to skip over it. So I don't like reading or writing it. The best way ot assure that these things don't slow down the pacing is to make sure any descriptions/narrative does double work. That they show characterization, mood, build suspense, or further the plot along. For example. If a hero walks into the heroine's appartment for the first time what does he see? Don't just give me descriptions, use what he sees to build the mood of the scene, to build characterization, or to advance the plot. In other words, if the mood of the scene is sexy, have him see something sexy: a sexy night gown, a pack of condoms, or maybe a magazine opened up to an article, on "How to Please a Man in Bed." If your plot includes a bit of jealously, have him spot a vase holding a dozen red roses and wonder who sent them. If your scene is about the hero getting to know the heroine, have him check out the books on her book shelves. Then ask yourself what kind of books would your heroine read, or what kind of books would reveal some secret in her life. Does she read literary books, does she have books on how to control PMS, or does she have a book on how to commit murder? Or maybe one on getting pregnant. If he spots her desk drawer open what can see inside? If the scene has a bit of suspense, what about hiding a gun in that drawer. What about a knife? Does the heroine have a baseball bat beside the door? The reader will be curious as will the hero to know why she keeps a bat beside her door? Now don't use something like this just to use it, you have to make sure it plays out in the story. But can you see how the descriptions and narrative can add layers of interest to the scene instead of just being filler. Nothing should be "just" filler in a book. It should all work double time.
CC
Tiffany,
Yes, pacing is a hurdle for many writers. Look at the comment I made for Terrio to get some pointers that might help.
As for giving up TV? I think we all need to figure out how to find time to write and how to manage our time to keep a healthy balance.
I do find some shows inspire me, as do movies. Television is also a way to keep your eye on the market. What is generally popular on television is popular with other entertainment venues, such as books. Look at all the paranormal shows popping up this season. But as I said, when under tight deadlines, the TV is one of the first things to go in my life.
Thanks so much for posting.
CC
Hi Di R,
Thanks so much.
Make sure you check out our website as well. You'll find other articles, and material offered with the purchase of the book from us.
Have a great day.
CC
Okay, as promised, I've uploaded the Great Humor Debate blog at our website. http://WritewithUs.net/blog
We hope you enjoy!!
Faye
This is when I get excited. When I've actually done something right without knowing it. I actually do that exact thing you describe with letting the hero take in the heroine's apartment. Even down to him checking out her books. I do my best to make sure the items observed not only tell the hero about her, but the heroine. And vice versa.
Thanks for all the great info and making me feel like I might have a clue what I'm doing! LOL!
Terrio,
Yup, nothing feels as good as discovering you might be doing something right.
Good for you.
CC
I am SOOO happy I stopped by today. This is exactly what the doctor ordered. I've never seen so much information put in such clear and succinct form. THANK YOU from the bottom of my writer's heart. If this is any indication of how your book reads, then even if I don't win it here, I am most certainly going to go out and buy it.
Off to printing this baby out!
Santa,
Thanks so much for stopping in.
We're thrilled to give you some good info to help you accomplish your dream.
Both Faye and I are teachers at heart. Maybe with a little stand-up, Southern-style comedy thrown in. But we both love to teach.
Thanks...
CC
Hi Christie and Faye! Thank you for posting this handy-dandy checklist for filling in the details in setting.
1. What can my POV character hear?
2. What can my POV character see?
3. What can my POV character smell?
4. What can my POV character taste?
5. What can my POV character touch?
Excellent advice! I am going to tack this list up next to my monitor.
Hi, Maria,
We're so glad you enjoyed our blog.
Thanks for dropping by.
Faye
Terrio,
Thanks so much for inviting Christie and I to visit your blog. We had a blast.
Happy Writing!
Faye
Christie Craig and Faye Hughes
After reading this excerpt I can see why Hellion was so excited about your book.
Very Interesting.
I had never thought about changing the length of the sentences & paragraghs to control the pacing!
You guys explain Writing techniques in such a way that Even I can figure out what the heck you are talking about.
And thanks for not talking about hanging particles and objective adverbs and other objectionable things
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