Writer’s Serenity Prayer

One of my Virginia Romance Writers colleagues, Shara Lanel, posted this on the chapter loop and allowed me to share it here:

Writer’s Serenity Prayer

 

God grant me the serenity to accept the first draft as crap;

The courage to write the next chapter anyway;

and the wisdom to know it can all be fixed later.

Too true!!! 

This is the only way I ever move forward in a first draft.   I have to keep telling myself it’s okay if it all stinks like roadkill on a hot summer’s day, I can fix it later.  Since “fixing”, aka rewriting/revising, is my very favorite part of the writing process, that keeps me in my happy place long enough to actually get the $%#@*&!!!  first draft done.

Speaking of first drafts — mine is moving slower than I like, but end of school and a killer summer cold kept me away from the keyboard for over a week.  I’ve gotten back to it this week and I’m almost done drafting chapter two.  I’ve also sketched out my scene goals and disasters for chapter three, so I’ve got a roadmap for the next chapter, too.  Onward!!

Hope your writing is flowing!

Laurin

Where do you write?

Everyone has a preferred place to write.  Sometimes it’s a bit of the kitchen table, on the deck with the laptop, at the library, Starbucks, or in “A Room of Ones Own.”

I have a beautiful (if cluttered) office in my home.  It has an antique rosewood spinnet that has been converted into a computer desk, a 1920s library table as my everything-else desk, and a comfy but unremarkable desk chair.

There’s a cozy, sized-perfectly-for-me reading chair next to a sunny window.

With Robin Hood looking on!

I have inspirational pictures and posters, purposely chosen tchotchkes, and soothing forest green walls.

Perfect…

Maybe.

For the last several years I have found this perfect office to be darn near impossible to write in.  So where do I write?  It changes on a regular basis.

Sometimes I write on my living room couch or in my husband’s ugly but muy comfortable recliner, but that requires the family to be out of the house.  That doesn’t happen often this time of year, especially now that my daughter gets out of school the end of April.  Sometimes I write at the breakfast counter… again, only good when the fam isn’t home.

Lately, though, I’ve been writing here:

I’ve been meeting up once or twice a week with my friend Phyllis Haislip and enjoying the hubbub and hospitality of Tasha and her crew at the recently re-opened Coffee Beanery Cafe as we work on our books.  For some reason the quiet busyness of the place, accompanied by good coffee (iced, please!), a writing friend who is way better than I am at staying focused, and the fact that it is bad form to roam a restaurant when I should be writing, combines to make me very, very productive.  In an hour or an hour and a half there I can get written what would take me several hours at home in my perfect office.  Of course, the other plus about writing outside of the house is that all the chores and easy procrastination enablers (can you say TV?) aren’t available.

Focus is the rule of the day… or the hour, anyway.

So where do you prefer to write?

Happy writing!

Laurin

Romance Genre in the News

Just read an interesting article at The Huffington Post about the Romance fiction genre: Heaving Bosoms: A Tonic for the Recession? 

It always amazes me that romance fiction gets a bad rap so often.  My own mom (holder of a Master’s degree in English Literature) used to ask me when I was going to write a real book… until I pointed out to her that both Jane Austen and Shakespeare wrote romances.  Now when she tells people her daughter writes romances, she frequently follows up with: did you know Jane Austen wrote romances?  It’s an improvement.

It’s particularly gratifying to me that it’s Princeton University that hosted the symposium mentioned in the article.  There are more than a few of us in the Romance industry who are Ivy educated.

Write on!

Laurin

Missing in Action

I’ve been missing in action for a couple of weeks here at Between the Lines.  The good news is that I’ve been missing here because I’ve been crazy busy with writing and critiquing and tours at Jamestown, too, all things I adore doing. 

I did a full manuscript critique of Pamela Palmer’s second time travel,Amethyst Destiny, coming out from Berkely under her Pamela Montgomerie moniker.  It’s a full tilt ride through 17th century Scotland that will keep you turning the pages with its twisty plot and its to die for hero.   Thank goodness Pam writes fast so I have a good pre-release supply of her stories to read!  Look for the first in this series, Sapphire Dreams, to be released in July.

I’ve also been judging a contest (still got a couple of entries to finish up this weekend — eek) and I’ve been in contact with a couple of new-to-me authors who’ll I’ll be critiquing for soon.  

But even better than all these wonderful things, I’ve started writing a story I’ve been trying to write for the last four or five years.  I think (fingers crossed!) I’ve found my way into the story this time.  I’ve been actively plotting and excavating the characters for a couple of months, preparing to start writing. 

Last week I began. 

The euphoria of beginning is wonderful!  Sustaining that through the middle is the trick.

Stay tuned for updates on the process.

Laurin

P.S.  Oh yeah, and I had my picture taken with the gorgeous Anna — our resident pound puppy.

The Idea Fairy

Probably the number one question writers get is: Where do you get your ideas from?

Some writers have great quippy answers:  the idea fairy dropped it on my keyboard, 1-800-ideas4U, the idea store down at the mall, I call my mom, www.ideafactory.com.  You get the idea. 

But the number one answer is:  I dunno.

The truth is, ideas are everywhere.  Anything can inspire a story.  Anything can trigger a writer to ask: What if?  And sometimes a writer will be able to tell you exactly what inspired a story idea.  Mine frequently come from movies.  It’s not that I copy a movie, it’s the characters that get my muses rockin’ and rollin’. 

My first book, The Devil of Kilmartin, was inspired by the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast.  Yep, I wrote a dark brooding Scottish historical romance with a mystical healer because Beauty and the Beast inspired me.  Really.  That time it was the Beast that I loved, and Gaston.  A wounded hero who everyone fears and a bully for a villain.  It got my creative juices flowing.

My second book, Charming the Shrew, was inspired by the movie 10 Things I Hate About You.  The main character, Kat, charmed me.  She’s a difficult girl who isn’t afraid to tell it like it is, and yet, she has a good heart.  I always wish I had the guts to tell it like it is, but alas, I’m much too polite (my southern grandmother taught me well!).  Anyway, my heroine, Catriona, was my starting point.  I wanted a shrew who could be softened by love.  And since I hate the idea of “taming” a woman, I put a twist on it and had a Prince Charming hero, thus, Charming the Shrew.  

My latest idea came while I was sleeping.  Not a dream… at least I don’t think it was a dream.  I just woke up in the middle of the night with the word doppleganger clanging in my head.  I woke up this morning thinking about that word and ideas for a story have been crowding my head ever since.  Once I get a basic idea of the main character I’ll go in search of a movies that use a similar type of character.  Hopefully I’ll find one that resonates with the story forming in my head and I’ll be able to use it as inspiration when the going gets tough.  See, it works both ways — ispired by a movie, or inspiration supported by a movie – at least it works both ways for me. 

Now here’s the greatest thing about using movies for inspiration: when you are slogging through the middle of the first draft and you are asking yourself why in heck you ever thought this story was a good idea you can take a break and watch the movie again.  You can touch that inspiration again.  This is what my BFF Pamela Palmer calls a “touch stone”. 

So where do your ideas come from?  Have you ever had a touch stone to re-inspire you?

Laurin

Craft Challenge #4 Wrap Up

I’m woefully behind, so my apologies for not announcing the winner of CC#4, Story Round Robin, yesterday as advertised.

Since Lillie Robinson was the only one to suggest a title for our round robin story she is the automatic winner of the prize: a download of Sapphire Phelan’s book Being Familiar with a Witch. 

I want to thank everyone that participated and give a big shout out to my guest blogger, Sapphire Phelan,  for coming up with the story idea AND donating the prize.  We didn’t get the story finished but it’s up on the blog so if anyone wants to continue the tale, please have at it!

Stay tuned for the next Craft Challenge coming next week!

Laurin

Craft Challenge #5 – Give Me Twenty

I love lists. 

There, I said it.  Yes, I have the usual errand list, grocery list, to-do list for the house, to-do list for my writing projects, to-do lists for my critique service.  I love lists.  They get all that nuisance detail out of my head and onto paper where, mostly, they can’t be lost, freeing my brain up for more interesting work.

But there’s another way I use lists that applies to the topic at hand.

I’m not sure where I first got the idea for using lists to help me craft a story but I know Donald Maass advocates the use of lists in his book Writing the Breakout Novel and in his workshops of the same name.  I also know my long time critique partner Pamela Palmer reminds me on a regular basis to use a list of twenty when I get stuck with a character or a plot point or even when trying to get a handle on the big picture of a new project.

So what exactly do I mean when I say I use lists?  

First I frame the question that’s bugging me and I write it down at the top of a clean sheet of paper (or type it at the top of a new document).  That question might be:  Why does Nancy fear marshmallows?   Why is the world about to end?  What does Nick need to learn from his relationship with his sister?  Or any other thing that is keeping you from moving forward in writing your story.

Next, come up with twenty possible answers to your question.  DO NOT EDIT YOUR IDEAS!!!  Write fast.  Allow absurdity.  Allow cliche.  Do not stop to think about your answers.  Just write twenty possible answers to your question as fast as possible.

Usually when I get about ten items on my list I’m tempted to stop.  Don’t.  Keep going until you have twenty.  Why, you ask?  Because it takes at least seven or eight items to clear out the obvious answers.  It takes another two or more to get through the nonsense that comes when the easy stuff is exhausted.  And then you start to get to the new, the unique, the unexpected possibilities. 

So, this week’s exercise, if you choose to accept the assignment:

Frame your own question from your current work in progress or use this one: 

Why is a woman leaving a room? 

I know, I know, it’s incredibly generic, but imagine you’ve got a character that needs to make a hasty exit and you can’t figure out how to extricate her in a way that will further your plot and/or develop your character.  You want something surprising, something unexpected, something that not everyone would or could think of.

Okay.  Give me twenty.  Go!

Post your list in the comments and tell me which item is the most interesting/surprising to you and why.

Craft Challenge #4 Continues!

A new Craft Challenge will be posted later today (I’m still working on it!) but I wanted to remind everyone that last week’s challenge, the story round robin, continues through this week.  If you haven’t tried your hand at the story, please come and play!  Even if you don’t add to the story, you can offer up a title suggestion.  I’ll be choosing the best title at the end of the weekend and the winner gets a free e-book from Sapphire Phelan.

Stay tuned for Craft Challenge #5 coming this afternoon!

Laurin

Craft Challenge #4 – Story Round Robin

I’m happy to introduce this week’s craft challenge maven, guest blogger Sapphire Phelan. 

Sapphire Phelan is an author of erotic and sweet paranormal, fantasy, and science fiction romance. She also writes as Pamela K. Kinney, for horror, fantasy, science fiction, and a nonfiction ghost book, Haunted Richmond, Virginia. She lives in Virginia with her husband and two cats, Ripley and Bast.  She admits she can always be found at her desk and on her computer, writing. And yes, the house and husband sometimes suffers for it! 

There are links to all her on-line hang-outs at the end of the post and don’t forget to take a look at the Books by Guest Bloggers page (look up just under the blog title … see the tab? Of course you do.) to learn more about her latest paranormal romance, Being Familiar with a Witch.

She’s got a fun writing exercise planned!  Welcome, Sapphire!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi everyone! I am Sapphire Phelan and it is my turn to blog. I write erotic and sweet paranormal, fantasy and science fiction romance (okay, I am not crazy about the term, futuristic).

What I am going to do here is something a bit different than the normal blog. I want to start a paranormal romance (yes, it must be a paranormal and kept in that vein, remember that) round robin sort of writing exercise.  I will start this story off by writing the first words. Then each person who leaves a comment here, must continue this story by writing the next big paragraph, or no more than six short ones. I like to have this done for the next couple weeks, until Sunday, April 19^thwhen the commenter for that day writes the last paragraph and ends it by 3:00PM Eastern. You must edit your piece; make sure it looks as good as you can make it. And you must leave enough of an ending to help the next author. The hero must get together with the heroine and both must defeat the villain together. There must be a HEA, too. This is a romance, you know. But it will be difficult, with both characters’ issues getting in the way.

Since I can’t think of a good title at this time, leave a title suggestion too when you leave your part of the story. The best title will be picked by the owner of this blog and she will post it on her blog on April 20^th, so you must come back to see if you’re the winner. When the winner contacts her with their email, she will contact me and I will send the winner a download of Being Familiar With a Witch. So, you have a chance to win my latest release and have the fun of adding to this tale.

Details on the hero, heroine, and villain (rest of the characters they run into are up to the future writers):

Martin Lobotas is a werewolf. He is also a vegetarian, a reason no self-respecting pack will have him, forcing him to be a loner. A handsome man with red hair and amber-yellow eyes (werewolf trait), he works a 9 to 5 job Monday through Friday at an ad agency in Roanoke, Virginia.  And there is no woman in his life, obviously due to the werewolf problem.  Same as there is no werewolf female in his life, due to the vegetarian problem. But when he meets the monster hunter, Lisa Lander, he will feel an instant attraction to her. Unfortunately, she hates monsters.

Lisa Lander is a pretty young human woman, with shoulder-length blonde hair and gray eyes. She is a monster hunter, been so since her teenage years when vampires killed her family and turned them. She was the one who killed her own family. After that, she has set herself to learn about all kinds of monsters and how to defeat them. Sometimes, she has learned that not all monsters could be killed like the myths say so. But knowing they exist, she feels it is her duty to stop them form harming another human being. So she has no real life, no man in her life and works odd jobs as she is always on the go, looking for monsters to kill. She has traced a horrible monster, a chupacabra - a creature from popular folklore in southern Texas, Mexico and South America that is believed to actually exist.  It is said to drink the blood of livestock by piercing the animals’ necks with its two front fangs.  Except this one is in Virginia and has left a trail of dead humans, not goats, like the myths say. Remember, she has no fondness for monsters of any kind, so the attraction between her and Martin will have her fighting it.

Samuel Chavez is the villain. He’s a chupacabra. A very nasty creature, instead of sticking to goats and other livestock like other chupacabras do, he found human blood more to his taste. He is like a vampire, but not dead. He is also able to shapeshift and most times looks like a very handsome man of Mexican origins. He has hair black as sin and dark eyes.  But as a chupacabra, he is terrifying to behold, monstrous. Which is why he takes the handsome human form, to attract his victims to him easily.

And now the story begins:

Some days it was hard being a werewolf. There was that whole full moon thing going on that a man just couldn’t avoid. Werewolves were supposed to hunt prey, eat meat for goodness sakes! That made it extra hard for him as he was a vegetarian, too. People grew vegetables, not hunted them. That’s why he didn’t have a pack. Who wanted a werewolf in their group that was a vegetarian? Not any that he had ever run into.

Martin Lobotas sighed. Tonight was the full moon and of course, he worked pass five o’clock, getting in overtime. It was now 6:30 and lucky for him, the moon hadn’t risen yet. He hurried, hoping to get home and chained in the cage he kept in the basement of his house before the moon showed its face. Thank goodness there was no one was on the streets or much traffic to deter him. Breaking into a lope, he could just see his house.

He just might make it.

A scream rent the early evening air, hurting his sensitive lupo garou ears. It came from the dark alley to his right and he stopped, sniffing. He caught the odor of two people. One was a female, a human one. The other, something terrible that held her in its grasp. It had a foul smell that he had never breathed in before.

What the hell is it? he thought as he used his werewolf sight to pierce the darkness.

“Oh hell!” snarled Martin as the full moon rose and washed its silver light over him, causing pain to explode in his body.

Great time for the Change to happen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sapphire Phelan

http://FantasticDreams.50megs.com
www.myspace.com/SapphirePhelan
http://SapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter 

Go beyond the usual, instead take the unusual that stretches the boundaries and find romance with Sapphire Phelan’s aliens, werewolves, vampires, fairies, and other supernatural/otherworldly heroes and heroines.

Craft Challenge Preview

Sapphire Phelan

I wanted to give a heads up that next week’s Craft Challenge(Monday) features guest blogger Sapphire Phelan with a great chance to exercise your story telling chops.  I’m not going to give this cool writing challenge away, but there will be a prize awarded to a random participant — that means you have to post a response to the challenge.  Tune in Monday for all the details!

Want to know more about Sapphire Phelan?  She’s got lots of links:

FantasticDreams.50megs.com
www.myspace.com/SapphirePhelan
SapphirePhelansPassionCorner.blogspot.com
groups.yahoo.com/group/SapphirePhelansParanormalNewsletter

If you aren’t familiar with Ms. Phelan’s work, she writes hot paranormal romances so don’t be taken by surprise when you visit her sites. 

The writing challenge, just in case you were wondering, will be kept to a PG-13 level.

Have a great weekend!

Laurin