When Your Characters Scare the Pants Off You

Screamy is scared

I really love my sheikh but honestly, in the process of rewriting Mr Sheikhypants, he and the wretched heroine decided to go to a place I was NOT comfortable with. And no, it wasn't Huntly (though they do go into the desert, which is also not comfortable). It skated close to a line that pushes all sorts of hot buttons and to be honest, I REALLY didn't want to write it.

Which meant, of course, that I HAD to.

I'm always of the opinion that if it's scary to write and you don't want to go there, then you have to write it.  Believe me, the times I haven't gone there and pulled the characters back, have been the times when the story gets derailed. It becomes mediocre and flat. Because you can't trick your characters. They want what they want and if they don't get it, they get pissy with you and just lay there like cardboard cutouts.

So, I anyway, I wrote the scene they wanted. And it was intense. And I'm scared to death of keeping it in because it could be a rejectionable offence. But it could also be the scene that sells the book. Oh and also, if I take it out, their whole relationship falls apart since they needed that scene to happen in order to fall in love.

This is why pushing those boundaries they're always talking about is hard. Because you don't know which side of the boundary you're standing on and it could be the wrong one. But it's also why you have to write those kinds of scenes and not pull back. Those scenes are the ones that can be the most emotional, the most wrenching, the ones that take your book from being 'okay' to 'unputdownable'. They're not easy scenes to write and they shouldn't be. The best ones never are.

Of course, I don't know what side of the boundary I'm on but I do know that the scene was intensely emotional and I cried  while writing it so at least that's one person who likes it. :-)

So I'm going to advise you to write the uncomfortable scene. If your characters want to go where you're afraid to take them, take them anyway and don't pull back. Ignore the voices that are telling you the hero/heroine can't do that, that it's not PC, that it's not sympathetic. Just write it, push it as far as you can. Then see what you have. Pulling back is easier than ramping up and if you don't go as far as you can, then you don't know how far it actually needs to go.

It's scary but it's worth it.

So have you ever had characters do something that scares you? Did you let them do it?

Marriages of Convenience - Hot or Not?

I've kind of been slack at blogging lately. And slack at Twitter. About the only social media thing I haven't been slack at is Pinterest. Sigh. I've never been one for collages for my mss but there's something about Pinterest that's just so...Hmmmm.....

Anyway, my excuse for this slackness is due to finishing Mr Sheikhypants. Which I now have. Yay. Of course it does mean that now I have to write the synopsis. Not yay. Synopses and I do not get on. I'd far rather immerse myself in my new idea. Because yeah, now the sheikh is done, I have to put him away and think about the next story, and in the interests of staying ahead of rejections, I'm going ahead with a new Presents/Modern.

This new idea has come together rather different to anything I've done before and I think it's a good thing. Instead of coming up with a set up and charging straight into it, I've actually taken the time to think about it before I start writing. Isane, right? ;-) I've decided to do a marriage of convenience story since I haven't done one before and they're always popular, with an enemies to lovers slant on it. But it isn't really the trope that's the important bit. It's the characters that matter most. And this time I've actually tried to think about who they are as people first, before I decided on their conflict.

What I find interesting about this process for me now is that it feels like the characters come together in a much more organic way rather than merely being a collection of traits and conflicts stuck together. And now I know what type of people they are, I can look back over their pasts and see what their conflict might be and how it has shaped them. All of this without writing a word of the story.

However, this is going to be a tricky story. My hero has a very dark conflict, though actually, that's not the tricky part. The tricky part is thinking of a good reason for a marriage of convenience! Anyone read any good MOC stories lately? Was the reason for the MOC plausible?? Any hints gratefully recieved...

That Ole Emotional Connection Type Thing Again

When I was a baby author, I really liked my characters to fight ALL THE TIME. Why? Because I liked the angst and conflict and the torment and the anguish. It was awesome, plus I got to write hot, angsty love scenes which is always a bonus. Unfortunately there was also a problem with this approach. Like, where is the freaking romance here???

Angry, fighty scenes are all yummy and angsty and delicious but if there's too many of them, you start to wonder why these two people are together if they hate each other so much and/or you just know their HEA is going to last all of five seconds. That, people, is not a romance. That is a soap opera.

Now, I'm not dissing soap operas here but if you want to write a good romance, you can't have fights and angst all the time. You have to have some moments where the characters love being together. When they make that all important emotional connection that tells the reader that these two are made for each other and when they sort out their issues, they will be together forever. And not in a 'eat every meal in total silence cos they can't think of anything to say to each other' kind of way, but a 'still having lots of nookie way into their 80s' kind of way. :-)

Anyway, the reason I've been thinking about this is because I've hauled out my chess ms with the idea of submitting in a contest and am wrestling with the beginning of it. I've rewritten the first three chapters of this wretched thing 50 million times already and it still isn't right. Why? Because it's a one night stand story and I just have NOT been able to nail down the emotional connection. When you find yourself writing paragraphs of justification and reasons for the heroine to sleep with the hero, you know something isn't going right. In fact, I figured that if couldn't write down her motivation in one sentence then I needed to stop writing until I could!

Now, I reckon emotional ONS stories are very difficult to get right. It's easy to get them to have the sex but to get two complete strangers to connect on an emotional level? Nup. Because what has to happen, in order to get that emotional connection going, is that both your characters have to drop - at least momentarily - their armour and be who they truly are with each other. You know that Michael Hauge thing about essence and identity? That essentially characters hide who they truly are behind a mask? What I mean is that in order for them to connect, each of them has to drop that mask. But because a ONS happens usually at the beginning of the book, it's actually very difficult for them to do that because as far they're concerned, they don't wear a mask. Their identity IS their true self (and I'm not talking dropping it all the way, I'm talking glimpses here. Flashes that intrigue and fascinate the other character enough that their emotions are engaged). Grrrr!

The other thing you have to get right in order to get that emotional connection is motivation. There is debate about whether guys need less motivation - it probably depends on the hero - but like it or not, the heroine has to have it (I know, I know, double standards). And it has to stem from something emotional, something to do with her conflict, because otherwise it'll end up being 'woohoo, sex!' which isn't bad if you're writing for Blaze. But it is if you're writing for some of the other categories (and hey, I know, I've got the Rs to prove it).

The reason this particular story has been difficult is partly because of the type of people my hero and heroine are, and partly because earlier, I didn't actually know them well enough. I knew their identities, but not the people they were inside. And without knowing that, I couldn't get them to connect on a deeper level. It was a bit like I'd taken two random strangers, put them in a room together and told them that they were hot for each other and could they make love now please. So not happening in other words.
It didn't help that my hero is not wanting sex at this particular time in his life and he's also EXTREMELY guarded so getting him to drop his mask for a bit (not to mention his trousers) was very, very difficult. Weird, I know. I eventually had to change the setup so he met the heroine at a moment in his life where those guards were perhaps lower than they would be normally. And then, because he wasn't into casual sex at that particular moment, I had to figure out what it was about the heroine in particular that affected him because mere sexual attraction was not enough for him (yes, he's a pain in the butt). But in order to know those things, I had to know him.

All in all, it was a very tricky business and no wonder I had difficulties at the start. Because what I was trying to do was make two people who would walk through boiling lava rather than admit to an emotional connection, have a bloody emotional connection!

But then isn't that what makes writing fun? Making our characters worst nightmares come true in the nicest possible way. :-)

So, what's the hardest thing you've ever made your characters do? And when I mean, 'you made' I mean that they did it themselves because of course you would never, ever, make your characters do anything... :-)

Essence and Identity

Okay, this is last blog post before Melbourne and the RWAus conference. Really looking forward to it - especially spending actual face-time with some of my awesome online buddies. Plus I get the extra special treat of meeting one of my Sisters! *waves at Robyn just in case she sees this*

But before all that, I need to start contemplating the essence of my hero in the story I am going to pitch Lucy Gilmour. Why? Well, at our most recent chapter group meeting, the very wonderful Sandra Hyatt gave us a talk about the Micheal Hague workshop she did and part of it really resonated with me.

Our characters wear two faces - the face they show to the world, and the face they keep to themselves. The face they show to the world is their identity, the face they keep to themselves is their essence (the people they truly are). Now in the story, the characters should conflict at the level of identity, but they should connect at the level of essence.

I thought that was a very simple way of making sure there is conflict in a story, but also some real romance. Because it's the moments where the two characters connect that show the reader that these two are meant for each other. Of course what it means is that I need to figure out who my characters actually are, as opposed to the face they show to the real world. Tricky. I know the faces they show to the world but working backwards to find their essence is another thing.

Anyone have some handy tips??

BTW, a big shout-out to my chapter-mate Louise George who has recently sold to Medicals!! Awesome, Louise!! Her first book is out in March!

Character Lightbulbs!

Yeah, I'm finding I'm having lots of lightbulb moments with my chess ms. In fact, I'm beginning to think that my chess story is becoming a bit of a watershed ms. I am learning so much with this one. I knew at the beginning of the year that it was proving to be quite a learning experience but it's becoming even more of one now. Maybe it's because I'm taking my time with it and really thinking about it. Or maybe it's because my weaknesses are so much clearer now and I am working to fix them. I'm not sure. What I do know is that this story WILL be much stronger than anything I have written to date and that can be put down to the fact that I know my characters. This time round I have thought about their pasts in great detail and if there's something I don't know about them that I need to know, I can actually tell when that moment is and can stop and think about it.

What do I mean? Well, for example, whenever I am introducing a bit of conflict and find myself writing the same thing over and over again without really capturing what it is I want to get across, it's usually because I don't know what it is I'm trying to say! A specific example may be: 'He reminded her of her parents. Their lies, their judgements, the way they made her feel small'.
This does tell you something about her conflict. She had issues with her parents, they lied and judged her and made her feel small. But there are some questions unanswered: what did he do to make her think of her parents? What lies did her parents tell and did they tell them to her or to each other? What about their judgements? Did they judge her or each other? And what made her feel small? The lies or the judgements or both? And why did that make her feel small?
Obviously you don't answer all those questions immediately, they are revealed as the book goes along, but what you have to do as a writer is know the answers to the questions. And what I think really builds the characters, and what I have NOT been doing, is having an example to illustrate the answer.

So if her parents had lied to her, thinking about a specific lie at a specific time by a specific person, can tell you so much more about a character and their conflict that some vague generalisations. Example: When she was ten, her beloved cat went missing and her mother told her that the animal ran away from home. However that night, when she was supposed to be a asleep, she got up to get a glass of water and spotted her father in the backgarden digging a hole, her cat lying dead on the grass next to it.
Doesn't that tell us so much more about her and her parents and their relationship? And also gives us insight into the motivations of her parents too. It tells us she had a pet she loved. That her mother lied (to protect her maybe?) to her about what happened to it. That her father was in on it. And that by burying it at night when they knew she was alseep, they were trying to hide the cat's death from her. Perhaps this is a terrible moment for the heroine. Perhaps finding out that her parents are not always truthful causes her to subconsciously be suspicious of anything they might say. What is certain is that it gives us more information than 'her reminded her of her parents. Their lies, their judgements....etc'.

It's those little snapshots of pivotal moments in the characters lives that really - for me at least - build up a great picture of who that person is and what in their past might had led them to think the way they do. Of course, what I'm missing from that example and what it is just as important as the situation itself, is how the heroine acts in response to it. Did she not say anything to her parents about her cat or did she confront them?

So what helps you build character? Anyone got any useful examples?

It's Not A Rolls Royce

Just got back from an Easter trip to a place called Pauanui, where all the nobs in Auckland go to spend their holidays by the beach. Strangest place. You might get a vast mansion with a helicopter out the back and a huge boat in the garage and then right next to it will be an empty section with only a rusty caravan parked on it and tents with people sitting in deckchairs. Presents possiblities perhaps? :-)

Anyway, got some great thinking time in. Have come to the conclusion that I need to change my process. Yep, the way I write has been great for twenty years but if I want to write something for publication, I need to do things differently. Not radically so, I hasten to add. I'm still a pantser at heart and probably always will be. But the thing I need to do is concentrate on my characters before I begin to write. Normally I have a scene in mind and I dive right in, only to come up against the 'what would he/she/it do now?'. And I stop right there because I don't know my characters well enough to know what they would do. For months I've been thinking that it's the conflict I haven't sorted but it's not, it's the characters. I know who they are in the present - when the story starts - but I don't know their pasts, what made them the people that they are. And when you're writing character driven stories, you kind of need to know those details.

The ways you can get to know your characters are many and varied - character sheets and interviews and writing out scenes from their lives - but I've tried them before and they've never actually worked for me. Thinking does though. When I'm in the shower or folding the washing or just tidying up, I've found that thinking about my characters, their childhoods, their relationships with others, the kind of people they are, really works. For example, I'm rewriting a story I wrote two years ago but the conflict never gelled and neither did the characters. But I spent a lot of Easter thinking about the hero and heroine, trying to figure out what their conflict was and whether it fitted with who they were at the beginning of the book. Normally once I'd got one aspect right, I'd quickly whip onto the pc and start writing. But I couldn't this time round and it's a good thing, because I thought I had it all sorted and then realised I hadn't considered another aspect of their backstory which then didn't fit with the actual premise of the book. Sigh.

I don't find this easy. I'm a very impatient sort. I want to get to the good stuff, the real, emotionally wrenching stuff. I love the torture and the black moments. The joy and despair. I don't want to write the set-up and introduce the characters and their conflict. But of course that part is almost the most important part of it because if you don't do it properly, how are your readers ever going to be invested in these characters? How are they ever going to care about what happens to them and their story if they're not fully realised people?

Dr Jax has a great saying that he is fond of when he's building or preparing something:
"It's not a Rolls Royce." This basically means not to sweat the details, it doesn't have to be perfect.

I've always really liked this saying - it suits my impatient personality. But I think that if I want my stories to be good ones, I'm going to have to change my thinking around them because when it comes to writing, the details do matter. And when it comes down to it, I want to write Rolls Royces not Daihatsu Miras.

Anyone else ever changed their process? Did it work for you?

My Heroine Hell

So there I was, whipping along with the Chessman, 15k in three days and thinking "I SO rock at this writing thing" etc, etc, when suddenly, at 39k, everything came to a crashing halt. And the problem? My heroine. As you who read this blog know, heroines make me want to tear my hair out. They have to be sympathetic yet flawed. Not so different that the reader can't identify with them, but different enough to stand out from all the other heroines in this world. They have to be aspirational. They have to be someone the reader can imagine being. They have to be strong. They have to be simple (for category, their motivations etc must be simple) and yet more complex than a stereotype. Oh and yes, they have to be original.

Easiest thing in the world. Not.

So, the problem of my heroine was this - I kind of knew bits of her, but there was an element that I was missing that would have solidified her on the page and in my head. Do you know what I mean? It's hard to describe. But the essence was that I realised that all she was doing was reacting to the hero. He'd do something, she'd react. And the problem with that is she wasn't actually taking charge of the plot. It was all being driven by him. Why by him? It's not just because he's an alpha. It's because I knew him. I know what he'd do in a situation, I know his conflict, I know his feelings about things. And so because I didn't really know her, he was taking over, the dear, sweet, darling man (yeah, baby, it's all about the hero).

Now, normally when this happens, I push through and finish the thing and then go back and fix the problem, but this time I figured I really had to stop and do something about my heroine. My black moment wasn't going to work, let alone the HEA, if I didn't know who the hell she was. So I had to figure her out which - as you all know - is not easy.

After much hair pulling, I think the reason why I couldn't get a handle on her is that my initial idea of her was actually too difficult pull off. She was a drifter, someone without any idea of what she wanted to do. She was goalless. The problem with a heroine like that is if she doesn't know what she's doing with her life or what she wants, then neither does the reader. And that's not particularly aspirational or sympathetic. It also plays merry hell with the pace. I'm not saying you can't have a character like this, it's just hard work. And God knows, getting this stuff right is hard enough without giving yourself a difficult character to pull off. Keep it simple stupid. :-)

So, figuring out characters... For me, I have write the whole first draft before I know them. Character interviews, all that kind of stuff doesn't work. It's not until I'm writing that I figure it out. Oh and discussing ideas with the CPs helps a treat too. And all it'll take for me is one suggestion and then suddenly it'll come right (like it did in this instance).

What about you guys? How do you figure out yours? Do you have to write the whole thing first and get to know them as you go along? Or do you know everything before you write?

Oh and my heroine? Yep, figured her out finally. She's a passionate artist who draws graphic novels. And no, they are NOT cartoons...

Jackie's Character Defining Epiphany

Never let it be said that I am one to dwell (actually I do dwell but I am trying not to do so today). The R has happened, I am now officially over it. Moving right along.

And I am moving right along to a little epiphany I had while having coffee with an awesome writing friend last week. There I was, moaning about my R and generally having a good vent, and the conversation moved on - as it does with writers - to our latest WIPs. Well, I don't know about you but I could bore for New Zealand on the subject of my WIP. My poor friend probably couldn't get a word in edgeways about hers, I was too busy hogging the conversation with mine. Anyway, I digress...

This is my chess player WIP I'm talking about and it's a holiday fling/unexpected baby story. Now, the problem with these is that in order for the baby to happen you have to get the h&h together early (duh). And I could not get my h&h together. Lots of sexual tension but they just weren't feeling it - she wasn't feeling it actually. So my friend asked me a very sensible question. "Why would she sleep with him?" Simple huh? And you know what? All I could think of was 'because he's hot'. Can anyone see the dreaded 'sex without emotion' trap opening up to swallow me??

So, what I had to do was to think of a reason she would sleep with him. Why him, out of all the other hot guys in the world? Why is he the one who really floats her boat? What is it about him? And in thinking about this guy, I suddenly realised a problem that I have got into in the past year or so. I couldn't think of why the heroine would sleep with this guy because I hadn't defined him enough. He was hot, he was cerebral, he liked playing chess but that was about it. And that wasn't enough to make him special to the heroine.

And this is my problem. I've learned a lot of craft in the past year and to be honest, sometimes it paralyzes me. I've got my conflict simmering away in the back of my mind because I'm now deciding this before I write, and when I'm writing that vital first chapter I'm thinking 'now, here's this character's conflict, how does that make him the person he is today? How does he act? What does he think?'. So off I go, writing away, and then I write something down like 'He always hated people who were late'. Nice and definitive and - more importantly - character defining. But then, Jackie thinks 'hmmm, would his conflict make him hate people who are late? Or wouldn't he mind? I don't know'. And so I delete it so I can keep my options open, just in case it turns out that in fact, he doesn't mind people who are late. Can you see my problem here? Every one of these little sentences that define character and I am deleting them because I don't know whether that's how they would act or not. Which is why, when I'm halfway through, I run into the heinous problem of not knowing how my characters would act in a certain situation because I haven't defined them enough! Nightmare.

I like to keep my options open, that's why I've been doing it. What if I need the character to not mind someone being late? If I don't define it, then I can adjust it later. But you know what I'm doing? Dr Jax pointed it out to me - I am tweaking the character to suit the conflict. Making them be who I want them to be and not who they are. And in what are supposed to be character driven stories this is not a particularly good thing to do.

Another part of my worry is that perhaps the reader/editor won't accept a character's beliefs given their particular conflict. Thing is, at this point, I know everything about the character but the reader doesn't. All they know is what you choose to tell them. Hey, if your hero hates people being late then as far as they're concerned he does. They're not thinking 'hmmmm, not sure about that given his conflict.' As long as you give him a good enough reason for hating people who are late, then that's all good as far as the reader goes.

Which brings me to the part that I am hoping will go much better for me. If I define who my characters are - or at least signpost - in that first chapter, authoritatively and with confidence (not 'sometimes he didn't like people being late' or 'he kind of got annoyed with people being late'. Try 'he hated it when people were late') then I will know how they act in certain situations later on. I don't need to go 'wow, what would he do here?' and get stressed about the hundred different ways he could act because I left my options open. There is only one way he would act. The heroine is late and so the hero, because I told people in that first chapter that he hates people who are late, is annoyed with her. I don't need to think 'now, will he be annoyed? Or wouldn't he mind?'. Nope, he's annoyed.

Now, I do think about the mss that did well a lot. What did I do right that time and not in all the others? For the Hammer Pants that won that contest, I'm pretty sure part of it was because I defined the hero and heroine very strongly in those first five pages. Now I wrote that not caring about conflict, not worrying about keeping my options open. And clearly that worked. Of course, I ran into huge problems in chapter two because I hadn't got the conflict right but hey, I had two great characters in those first five pages!

So, what I need to do is find the happy medium. Have an idea of the conflict, but start with the characters. And when conflict and character meet up, tweak the conflict not fiddle with the character!

Dr Jax gave me this little thing piece of advice that probably many of you know already from school/university etc but I think it's great for writing. It serves as a good reminder to me that my job is to tell the reader about my characters right from the get go, so they will then want to read on, and do it in as clear and obvious a way as possible:

Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell them. Then tell them what you've told them. :-)

Three Little Problems

Yep, have sent a chapter and synopsis to the ed. No, not the NV entry as yet. This is my soldier story (though I'm thinking of losing the soldier part since it only adds to his character and doesn't directly relate to the story). I feel paranoid and sick about it naturally. The previous two ideas haven't gone down well so I have no idea whether this will fare any better. I have tried really hard to take what the ed's been saying to me on board so whether I've managed it will be anyone's guess.

You see, here are my problems:

1. I have been writing romances since I was 12. Now these were only for myself, not for publication. So I have had over 20 years of writing stories where I could do whatever the hell I wanted and that seemed to mostly be concerned with piling as much angst as I could into it. Hey, I didn't have to please anyone but myself so why not? Flashforward 28 years and I'm still trying to stop myself from piling on the angst. Fear of failure? Sure. Why not add fear of being vulnerable too? Oh yes, and also fear of not being wanted, hating to be protected and stick an unplanned pregnancy in there too. Enough conflict for ya?

2. I HATE being hit over the head with the obvious as a reader. QED, as a writer I am not obvious enough. This combined with a fear of my characters being too self aware, means sometimes the conflict isn't obvious in the first chapter. And neither is their motivation.

3. I came late to reading romance. I only started reading a lot of it 3 years ago. Up till then, the only romance I read was an M&B binge every 6 months or so. I've been trying to catch up on the genre but up until 3 years ago, I didn't even know a romance had to have an HEA, let alone heroic, aspirational, sympathetic characters.

So these three little problems of mine have all conspired against me. Not only do I over complicate my conflicts so it's not clear, I am also not obvious about them so readers (and editors!) don't know what motivates them. Ergo this makes them unsympathetic because if you don't know what motivates them, you can't relate to them. Add to that a tendency to want to break the 'romance' mould with my characters because I want to do something different (and not knowing what's 'acceptable' and what's not), and you have a recipe for disaster. And rejection.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, it's taking me a VERY long time to both be aware of these problems and to overcome them. My latest sub I have tried hard to stick to one conflict for both my characters, made sure it's clear and have tried to follow it to its conclusion in the synop. I have also tried to make it more obvious in the first chapter. The thing I'm most worried about is my heroine. I've - again! - tried to make her different. I hope I haven't overstepped the mark. She's spiky and prickly, and kind of rude. There is a reason for this and I'd really like to think I got it across in that first chapter but...

Who knows? Only time will tell I guess. Anyway, it's back to NTAI for me! Where's everyone else at?

I Am Not a Number - Or Collection of Character Traits!

Another slow news day in Jackie land. To NTAI, I'm concentrating on thinking about the iPad which is finally being released in NZ on Friday. And yes, I'm going to get one. I'm such a gadget girl, I can't help myself. iPad wins over shoes any day in my book.

Anyway, on the writing front, after a great virtual coversation with the talented Lacey, I got to thinking about characters and character sheets. Now, the ed I'm working with sent me quite a good one that provided me with a great starting point. And not just favourite foods and things but questions like; Why is the hero the best person for the heroine? Why is he the worst? What's good about him? What's bad? What does the heroine like about him? What doesn't she like? etc etc. All good material. But there can be a problem with character sheets in that if you're not careful, you'll end up with a character who is just a bunch of traits, not an actual person.

For example, you might have given your heroine a shy trait but decided she's also going to be an actor. Now this may be what you'd plotted out for your story, but would a shy person really choose acting as a profession? And here's where you have to think deeper - perhaps they would, perhaps she's very shy and by choosing acting, she's trying to prove something to herself. What is she trying to prove? Who is she trying to prove it to? How does her shyness impact on the story? In other words, is it part of her character or have you given her that trait because it makes a scene work better?

In essence, every trait you give them is a building block constructing the kind of person they are. And all the building blocks work together, you can't treat them in isolation. I've done the old 'quick, my heroine needs to be stroppy in this scene' trick where I suddenly give my previously quiet, shy heroine a 'take no crap' trait. And then find that to get her to act like this, I have to add a whole lot of things in order to get the desired response from her. Can you say 'making my characters move to fit the plot'? :-) This is where consistency comes into it because you can't just add a character trait for one scene and then never have it appear again. For the shy heroine, you have to ask yourself is shyness part of who she is? Is it central to the story? Is it part of what she needs to change about herself? Is it really necessary for her to be shy?

I think that while character sheets are a good place to start, there comes a time when you need to look at all the traits, likes/dislikes, family background etc, and figure how they all work together in order to make this person come alive. Have you added things just for the sake of it? How will an impatient heroine act? Does this affect your story? How has her impatience affected her life? Is her impatience a flaw that may cost her the hero? Does she overcome it or learn to deal with it? Or have you just added it so she catches the bus an hour earlier and so meets the hero?

Anyway, the character sheets have been great in that they get me thinking about the character before I start writing and now I'm much better at constructing an actual person with a background instead of the cardboard cutouts I used write. But now I don't use them so much as writing a brief bio that I add to as I get to know the character better. Anyone else find them useful?

BTW: If you're wanting more insight into conflict, Kate Walker is doing a great Q&A on her blog.

Oops I Did It Again

If you're here wanting a dose of Brittney, then pop back to Google again - ain't no Brittney on this blog. However, if you're here with romance writing in mind and feeling like you keep making the same mistakes over and over again then join the club 'cause that's exactly where I am now.

My soldier story, for which I have abandoned the other WIPs, is giving me gip. The first inkling I had that perhaps things were not all quiet on the Western Front was when I was brainstorming a couple of ideas to throw my hero and heroine together, one of the crit group wondered what was wrong with the lead characters thinking each other was hot and hooking up. And I thought, 'yeah, what's wrong with that?', at the same time as thinking about complex reasons for my heroine to contact the hero again. Groan.

I guess I should be glad my instincts were right - something wasn't working but I couldn't figure out what the problem was. And then after a chat with Dr Jax who is the canary in the coal mine when it comes to me overcomplicating stuff, I figured out that - yep, you guessed it - I was overcomplicating stuff. Making them too self aware. AGAIN!! Argh!!!

Fact is they don't need complicated reasons to hook up with each other. Okay, so they don't want a relationship, they don't want to fall in love, but falling in love and relationships are not the first thing they think of when they meet. All they're thinking is 'hey, you're hot, I want to see you again'. It doesn't matter if there aren't concrete reasons for them to do so, as long as the characters can justify it to themselves. The reader knows the real reason - they're attracted to each other. So my heroine Niamh doesn't need heaps of external conflict in order to get her to ask the hero to be her date, all she needs is to be able to justify it to herself. She may not want to acknowledge the real reason, that she's attracted to him and wants to spend time with him, but she can tell herself she's asking him because she hates going alone to these things. Or that his presence will stop someone hitting on her or whatever. As long as her justifications are within keeping of her character, then that's all you need.

Sigh. I don't know why I keep doing this. I guess my problem is that subconsciously I'm thinking that being attracted to someone is waaaay too simple a reason and so I have to add all these other reasons in there. In the same way I overcomplicate my conflict because I think that falling in love is too simplistic a way to solve all their problems. Thing is, it doesn't solve everything. But this is category and for the characters, in that moment in time, it does solve the the conflict that you've given them. There simply isn't the word space to explore other tangents or strands to the conflict.

Ah well, at least I've sorted it out now before I've written more than two chapters. Anyone else have mistakes they keep making? I hope I'm not the only one!

Missing Something Vital - The Romance!

I've been doing major edits on the wip and after a while I got to thinking that I was missing something. And you know what it was? I forgot the romance. So tied up with making sure there's conflict and tension and whatnot, that I forgot I was writing a romance and these two people have to fall in love! Argh!! Lots of argument. Lots of love scenes. But where was the swoony falling in love bit??
Doh.

Maisey's just done a lovely post about the small moments between the hero and heroine, about those moments of connection. And you need them because otherwise how will we ever get emotionally involved? Why will the black moment be so terrible? Because we can see these two people falling for each other and we know they're made for each other and yet they can't see it yet. But first we have to show the reader these two are made for each other. And that they are falling in love even if they don't realise it themselves.

I reckon that's sometimes what I have problems with. I think that if I create these moments between my characters, they will somehow know what the reader and I know, that it means luuuurve. And then that upsets all my plans because they will run a mile. But you know, just because you have a nice moment with someone doesn't mean you're instantly in love. No, you just think 'wow, what a cool guy'. It's really the build up of all these moments that leads to the realisation - unless you're writing a love at first sight story of course.

Anyway, have given them their moment of connection. And hopefully kept the significance of it from them. Actually, don't know why I'm worried about them finding out. They're both experts at lying to themselves and they continue to do so right up until the end.

So has this happened to anyone else? Got so caught up in conflict and tension on every page that you forget you're writing a romance??

The Dance of the Seven Veils

Aren't you guys fabulous? I got some great comments about the whole digging deep deal last post - really set off lots of lightbulbs for me, especially with the WIP I'm going to be subbing next. So big cheers and thanks to you all for commenting!

Anyway, that digging deep post really set me thinking about the problems I'm having with this current WIP. I know these characters so well now that I am forgetting the reader doesn't. Remember the hero burning his toast? And the digging deep we did below the surface? We found out his real fear is that he's inherently unlovable. Now the thing is, he doesn't know that in chapter 1. In fact, in chapter 1, he's fine. His life is great. It takes the whole book for him to realise that he's not fine and it's not until right at the very end that he understands why he isn't.
Make sense?

Well, imagine my burnt toast hero thinking he's not lovable in chapter 1 and that's pretty much sums up my problem with my wip. I'm revealing my characters too early. I don't have much in the way of external conflict - okay ANY external conflict - so I really wanted to get to the heart of their problems, get that conflict down on the page. I had my heroine - who doesn't want a relationship - freaking out in day two of them seeing each other. But come on, really? She's having a nice time with him sure but would she really be feeling worried? Just because you're having a nice time with a guy doesn't mean love, marriage and babies is on the cards. Especially if that's not what you want. Besides, as far as she's concerned she's having a holiday romance, there's no way she'd want anymore so freaking out about enjoying herself the second time she sees him is a bit odd wouldn't you say?

Bascially what I did was dig too deep, too early (made her too self aware if you like). Sure, you need to let the reader know she's enjoying herself, and maybe hint a little that she hasn't had so much fun with a guy for a long time (cos this is special yes?) but save the freaking out for when she really needs it.

Which brings me to my blog title. Without mentioning stripper poles and pasties, I went for the tasteful option and thought about it in terms of veils. You need to reveal your characters conflict slowly. Like the dance of the seven veils, you drop one veil at a time. Mine didn't want to do that, they wanted to drop three. Hey, my heroine went for broke and threw them ALL off, the silly girl! Anyway, slow is what you want so that by the end of the book, all the veils are down and we can see what's at the heart of the problem for these characters.

Other people have other ways of saying this. Kate Walker I think calls it the layers of the onion. I quite like the veil analogy because it's also how the characters reveal themselves to each other as well as the reader. Slowly, as trust grows between them, they allow another veil to drop, letting the other person see a deeper part of them. Not having conversations about how they hated their parents in chapter two after they've only just met (Jackie, take a bow!).

Anyway, that's just my take on it. The speed at which your dance progresses really depends on the story though. Sometimes it'll be fast, sometimes it won't. But what you don't want to is have naked characters half-way through the story because then there won't be enough conflict to get you to the end and you'll be forced to throw in a car chase or something.

So, anyone have problems with their characters throwing off veils willy nilly or is it just me?

More About the Non-Sassiness of My Heroine

Have had a little writing hiatus over the past week or two. Actually, when I say writing hiatus I actually mean writing sulk. I went on strike in other words. Not that anyone except me was affected and certainly no one noticed. So yeah, my strike was very effective. Not. Still, it did do me good because now I'm feeling more philosophical about the NTAI, I am ready to get back into writing and I always feel much more enthused after a break.

Anyway, I have been thinking more about my non-sassy heroine and still debating about whether her non-sassiness is a good thing. She really has issues with herself and not much confidence, despite the fact that she is rich and successful. But I'm getting cold feet about her. Is she Modern Heat enough? Is she sympathetic? Or is she too unconfident for a reader to identify with? I keep wanting to pull back on her, which I hate doing because then I slip into having my characters act in ways they actually wouldn't - at least not without a personality change. It's a problem. I mean, the eds liked her well enough last year, even though they rejected it, but lots can change in a year. Will they still like her now?

It doens't help that I am also working on her polar opposite, my eco-warrior heroine. She has sass enough for both of them and I have to say, her terrier-like inability to let things go is proving to be a problem for my conflict. I hope it's strong enough to explain her actions. Then again, that could be due to my hero and his ability to get under her skin - they've got a such a strong love/hate dynamic going on that it's not bringing out the best in either of them!

Anyone else ever have doubts about their characters personalities? Did you give them their head? Or did you pull back on them?

Building a Hero

I've decided I really like my new hero. Not that I didn't before, I just like him even more now I know where he's coming from. In my last post I mentioned I was going to try sorting out the conflicts first for a change, then build the characters around that, and then - lastly - figure out a plot. This is a big thing for me. Normally I get an idea for a opening scene and start writing immediately, finding out about my characters as I go along. Now this may work for some people, but it appears this method does not work for me. And I have the Rs to prove it!

Anyway, to avoid the horrible 60 million jigsaw piece scenario, I figured out the hero first, starting with his internal conflict. The way I like to think about good old IC is to think about a person's most basic fear. And then what the character does in order to fight that fear. My hero is afraid of being abandoned because it makes him feel unloved. So what does he do in order to fight that fear? He makes sure that no one leaves him. How does he do that? By being in control in his relationships. Remaining in control is his main motivation throughout the story and it's this need that will lie at the heart of all the actions and decisions he makes. It will also be part of the lesson he needs to learn - in order to have a healthy relationship with the heroine, he needs to learn to give up that control and get over his fear of abandonment.

Now I've figured out his fear and his motivation, I can build up the backstory. Such as why he has a fear of abandonment. How the need for control has worked throughout his life. How it has affected his previous relationships. Working out this conflict and how it has shaped my hero can also give me clues as to what qualities he admires in other people (heroine alert!). Qualities like loyalty (people who are loyal don't leave), dependability (people who are dependable are less likely to leave), tenaciousness (again, makes people less likely to give up or leave!). And also qualities that he may not like in other people (again, heroine alert!).

Of course, I'd like to say that his IC was all worked out first and then I got the idea for making him a French aristocrat but I can't kick my old habits and the whole French thing kind of developed alongside the rest of it. I think the important thing though is that the fact that he is descended from French aristocrats and is the head of a huge luxury goods company adds colour and maybe a few traits but it doesn't really have any bearing on his most basic conflict. So why did I make him French and head of a huge company? Well, I've never written a non-English character so I thought I'd make him French since I like the accent. :-) Plus if he's wealthy then I can add French Chateaus etc for the fantasy factor. The aristocracy bit and the head of the company will add to his alphaness naturally. Of course now he's sounding less Modern Heat and more Modern! Argh!

Anyway, I now have one piece of the jigsaw sorted. The next thing I have to do is build my old arch-nemesis: the heroine. I can hear her evil laugh already...

Oh, that's right, I was going to ask about nationalities. What's your favourite when it comes to heroes?

The iPhone Cometh

Yes indeed, Dr Jax came through. There was a large box waiting under the tree for me on Christmas Day and Dr Jax told me to be careful with it as it was heavy and fragile. I was a bit suspicious because he sometimes tricks me by putting small boxes in large ones and I was hoping that the large box was a trick. But then it was very heavy. So I was putting on my determined 'so it's not an iPhone but I will like whatever it is if it kills me' face while I opened the box. And inside was a heavy, rusty piece of iron grille. And underneath that was the iPhone.
My hero. Sigh. :-)

And I had another piece of happy news on Christmas Day too. I had emailed my completed character bios to the editor the night before and was not expecting a reply until next week at the very earliest. But in my inbox on Christmas Day (yes, I turned my PC on, on Christmas Day. Yes I am sad) was a reply saying she'd read them and thought they were good! And that my conflict looked fine and I was to send through my revised synopsis and partial!

So big relief for me. Finally I have some characters that will work and a conflict that looks good from the editors point of view. There were a few issues that she told me to keep an eye out for but I'm hopeful I can avoid them. Now all I have to do is to write a partial that she likes! Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

Yeah, right. :-)

Hope everyone's Christmas was a happy one and here's to a New Year filled with what you love to do best.

Dr Jax Stages An Intervention

There I was, throwing myself dramatically on the floor, crying that I couldn't do it, sounding remarkably like my four year old daughter, when Dr Jax at last arrived home from work. Honestly, I don't think he knew what to make of it. No, that's a lie, he knew exactly. I am the biggest drama queen in the world when it comes to my writing. When it's not going right, NOTHING is right. I can't concentrate on anything, I can't do anything, I am a grumpy, horrible, whiny person. Dr Jax knew immediately what the problem was though and, luckily for myself, and for my CPs, he decided to stage an intervention before I bored them all senseless with endless emails of whiny, moany drivel.

Yup, you guessed it, heroine problems. I had changed her conflict so many times it was just one big mess and I couldn't think my way out of it. It's at times like this when I need a cool head to talk me through it and my husband is just amazing with stuff like that. Ten minutes later, a strong martini in hand, I was finally getting to the root of my problem - at least according to Dr Jax.

My heroines, he said, are too perfect. They have no dark sides. Which is very, very true. Not to mention the fact that they are defined by their conflict - like their personalities and their lives are totally formed by that one event. Argh!

However, it's not all bad. After a long talk, aided by more martini and the wonderful ideas and suggestions from my fabulous (not to mention very patient) CPs, I have finally got an idea for a conflict for my heroine. It's not exaggerated (I hope) and she has a personality outside of this
one conflict. I even managed to give her some weaknesses. Woohoo! She's becoming a person! Now all I need to hope is that the editor agrees with this new idea.

So three cheers for Dr Jax. I told him that he could do a guest spot on my blog and everyone could write in with character questions that he could answer. He told me that finally he knew the real reason he went into psychiatry: to help me write my romance novels. :-)

Anyone else had any breakthroughs this week? Or has it been full-on, kicking and screaming on the floor frustration?

Presents Competition - Congrats!

Hey, big huge congrats to the winners of the Presents Writing Competion! To get so far out of so many entries is a huge acheivement. Chocolate martinis and champagne cocktails all round.
Especially to fellow aspirant MH author and MH winner, Gill (AKA Jilly). I've only just met you but your talent is truly inspiring. Can't wait to read the book!

In other positive news, I have heard back from the ed. She wants me to send her detailed character back-stories for Cat and Sean before a partial and a synopsis. So I'm still in the game here! Now this is something I should have done way back when and just didn't because I'm so damn impatient to get to writing the story. No longer!

So this weekend is my time to sort out just who my characters are. I'm going to write detailed backstories for them, why they are the people they are when the story opens. Very excited as this feels like I'm finally getting to the root of my problems with conflict...

More next week!

Husbands Are Useful or What Would Luke Do?

I knew there was a reason for husbands. I mean apart from changing fuses, cleaning drains, getting rid of spiders and entertaining children. Yes, mine has yet again proven his worth when it comes to sorting out my complicated plot dilemma.

I was telling him about my great new idea that involved a pretend relationship instead of the fake engagement (see previous post) and he was silent for a little minute. And then he said 'that sounds quite complicated' . So I explained that they had to have a reason for continuing their relationship after their one-nighter - which was the whole point of the fake engagement thing, as well as enforcing an intimacy that would deepen the tension. All very good reasons I thought.
But you know what he said? He told me that it sounded very much like I was inventing reasons to make my characters do what I told them. No, he had not read my previous blog post. No, I had not applied my own very good advice to myself. Doh.

So I whined, 'But they need a reason to see each other again.'
And husband says, 'Really? So hot sex isn't enough of a reason?'
'But...but...' I protested weakly.
'Come on,' says husband. 'Ask yourself - what would Luke do? Would he really need a reason other than that to see her again?'
Of course he wouldn't. He's an alpha male. If he wanted to keep seeing her then, by crickey, he'd just jolly well go ahead and do it! And would Anna say no? No, of course not! Would you say no to another hot weekend with a fabulously hot guy?

Okay, so after having pointed out my blatant manipulation of my characters, dear hubby then suggested a way that I could still deepen the tension and enforce the intimacy that wasn't so complicated and contrived. I've got a party in the plot that was supposed to put the fake engagement to the test and hubby suggested making this weekend party occur somewhere away so that my hero and heroine (she'll ask him to the party and he'll say yes) will be together where the chance to get away is minimal. So now I have them in enforced intimacy (to deepen the tension), no fake engagements, no pretend relationships. And the action stems directly from choices they both make. Of course once they get to the party, that's where the fun starts conflict-wise. It was just the getting them there that was the hassle!

This is not to say it all won't turn to custard again. But at least my niggles about contriving my plot have been put to rest. And it may all for nought anyway if I don't get asked for the full. But what this has taught me is that I am STILL a class A manipulator of characters to suit my own evil ends and this needs to stop right now. Think I shall have to print out a little sign that says 'What would Luke do?' and stick it to my monitor just to remind me.

Anyway, here's to hubby, upholder of characters rights, saviour of plots, and stern keeper-in-liner of wayward romance authors!!

Plots - Are Your Characters Driving or Are You?

Plots are the work of the devil. Yes, I'm sorry, but they are. They join internal conflict in their very own special circle of hell. At least, in my own personal writing hell. Why is this you say? Well, because in Modern Heat land (and no doubt in Modern/Presents land too), the plot needs to be driven by the characters. But surely every plot is driven by the characters? After all, without any characters, you wouldn't have a plot right?

It's true that of course without any characters you wouldn't have a plot, but it does not mean that every plot is character driven. This is something that I have slowly been coming to learn over the past few months, especially after Michelle pointed out the flaws in my synopses. In fact, it was something I already knew, but just didn't understand until now.

So what's the difference? Well, I'm still learning and naturally enough I am no expert but here's what I see as the difference. In your suspense/mystery/SF/fantasy/paranormal etc the action is usually plot driven. This is when external circumstances force the characters to act. But character driven plots are where the action is driven by decisions and actions the character makes themselves and not due to external circumstances (which is why internal conflict is so important because this affects how they act). Now, feel free to tell me this is a load of old bollocks and I've got it wrong, but that's what I think is the difference.

Anyway, like I said, for Modern Heat, the action/plot must be driven by the hero and heroine. Which means that if you have an overly complicated set up, you end up forcing your h&h to act in response to your plot, and not because of decisions or actions that they make themselves. Which in turn can make them act in a contrived way. Does that make sense?

A prime example of this is my rejected ms - which was rejected partly because of the setup and because I was trying to force my heroine into acting in a way that she wouldn't. My setup was that my heroine had to use an internet dating site to set up a blind date for research she was doing into the internet dating scene. This was not the problem. The problem was that I had made my heroine a socially inept geek for whom blind dates and dating full stop was anaethma. Good in terms of setting up tension, but not so good for a character driven plot. Why not? Well, why would a socially inept geek want this assignment in the first place? And so I had to make her go through with it by setting up a pushy friend, a broken relationship she wanted to get over, a boss that would fire her if she didn't, etc, etc. You see how I complicated everything? Just so I could force my poor heroine to go on her date.

Now making this setup character driven would have been easy if only I had made my heroine make the decision to go through with the date herself. So she takes charge of the action rather than her responding to the actions of the plot. Maybe she took the blind date assignment because she wanted to do something different, maybe she took it because she wanted to change her life. But in order to make her take charge, she would have to have been a different sort heroine, with a different sort of conflict, and that would mean rewriting the whole book - hence the rejection.

Which brings me to the current wip. I have a fake engagement in the middle of it and although this does stem from an action the character takes, I fear I have manipulated things in order to make the character take that action rather than letting things take their natural course. Since this is in the synopsis I have submitted, I'm slightly reluctant to take it out but my instinct is to do so. Should I trust my instinct I wonder? But that's a whole other post so I'll stop there!

What does everyone else think about character driven plots? Does this make sense or am I barking up the wrong tree? Maybe I'm simply barking full stop!