On Writing Romance
Page 31
Read it onto tape. The act of reading a section aloud will tell you whether your dialogue is natural (if it isn't, you'll feel stiff or find yourself changing the words). Listening to the tape will help you discern whether the story pacing is good, the characters are likeable, and the POV is clear. If you were listening to this tale as you drove across the country, would it keep you on your toes or put you to sleep?
Get out your colored markers. The more the merrier. Highlight dialogue with one color, introspection with a second, narrative with a third, attributions with a fourth, description with a fifth. You'll quickly see whether you've overdone the storytelling, internalization, attribution, or description, and whether the proportions of each in the manuscript are right. If the book feels as if it's dragging, the highlighter test may show that you have lots of dialogue in the first half of the book but much less in the last half.
Set aside a block of time. Go through the manuscript page by page to actually make your changes. If you can do it in a few sittings, you'll be better able to remember the details than if you work over a period of a month.
GETTING HELP
Getting advice from other writers, romance readers, or contest judges can be very helpful, but sorting out the useful feedback may not be easy. Trying to apply all the suggestions is a sure recipe for mental breakdown; every critiquer will have a different opinion, and sometimes they will collide.
When you're weighing feedback, separate the suggestions about the story (comments such as “convoluted plot” or “inconsistent characters”) from suggestions about the presentation (“not enough dialogue,” “too much introspection”). Look at the big picture first — does your story work? — before considering feedback about the way you've told the story.
Consider each piece of advice and look for common themes in the feedback before deciding what to do. If one reader says she doesn't like your heroine, maybe the reader just has a hang-up with that sort of woman. But if several separate readers tell you they don't like your heroine, then it's wise to take a look at how you've presented her and whether you can show some additional positive attributes.
Writers' Groups
Nothing is more reassuring than a group of people who share a common interest in writing, people — published or not — who understand the frustrations of writing because they, too, have dealt with uncooperative characters and illogical plots.
But not all amateur writers' groups are equally good, supportive, or positive. Positive doesn't mean that a group should give only praise; real improvement comes from uncovering flaws as well as recognizing strong points to build on.
Some groups have a positive energy. Members are encouraged; they celebrate success; they cooperate to improve the work of all members; and they take the differing needs of each member into account when offering feedback. (For some writers, feel-good applause is very important. Others feel they're accomplishing far more than they really are if they receive praise for each baby step.)
Other groups have a negative energy. Members may feel suspicious of success, and they may compete. Some writers need exactly that challenge, but for others the negative spin is the kiss of death.
Take your time before joining a writers' group. Visit, listen, and, if the group shares work, begin by sharing a piece that you're not emotionally attached to in case the feedback is harsh rather than helpful.
Do you feel supported by the other members? Do you feel welcome and able to ask questions? Are the programs helpful to you and worth the time spent in meetings?
Make sure the writers' group you join is composed of writers. Many groups are composed, instead, of talkers — people who say they want to write, or people who may have written at one time but who aren't actually producing pages of manuscript at the moment. While those people can be insightful about writing, editing, and publishing, they aren't facing the same challenges as those who are actively writing.
It's helpful if the group is knowledgeable about your field. A romance writer joining a group of poets is unlikely to get useful feedback. But a group that is too specific (for example, romance writers specializing in Civil War — era stories) can get so caught up in checking detail that they miss the obvious (perhaps getting the size of the hoopskirt right to the millimeter but failing to notice that the heroine is acting illogically).
Critique Groups
Critique groups are often a subset of writers' groups; within the total membership, a smaller group of people with similar interests and goals meets for the sole purpose of sharing work and giving feedback.
Critique and criticism are not the same thing. Criticism tells you what's wrong. Critique addresses weak spots, but at the same time points out strengths that the writer can build on. Critique that focuses on the good without taking weaknesses into account, however, is hopeful rather than helpful.
Trust your gut feelings. Does the feedback you receive give you new insights? Does it leave you feeling that you now have ideas on how to improve your work? Are you confident that you're capable of applying what you've learned?
Critique groups vary in structure, size, goals, experience level, and frequency of meetings. Some meet weekly, some monthly. Some meet in members' homes, some in public rooms. Some allow a floating membership, others are small groups that do not easily excuse absence and only occasionally invite new members to join. Some require new members to listen for a few sessions before offering an opinion or putting forward their own work for critique.
Sometimes critique groups remain too static. If everyone gets to know the author's story just as well as the author does, the group may lose its objectivity and stop learning. While there is no magic number for the life span of a critique group, it's unlikely that any group will remain healthy and useful forever.
Whatever the structure of the group, make sure it fits with your goals. What are you seeking from a critique group, and how does this group fit into your life and writing style? Are others in the group writing in the same genre or category as you are? If not, do they have wide reading experience? If you're writing historicals, a group of people who read and write only contemporary romances will be of considerably less help to you than a group familiar with the special requirements of historical fiction.
Critique groups that include published members may be of more practical assistance than those that involve only prospective authors. But publication does not guarantee that a member's advice will be helpful. More important is whether the group works with the writer's own strengths. Critique groups have been known to ruin work by offering too many bits of conflicting advice or by trying to turn the story into what someone else would prefer; it can be difficult to sort the helpful feedback from suggestions that lead only to deeper confusion.
Professional Groups
Romance Writers of America (www.rwanational.org) is a professional organization open to published and unpublished writers of romance fiction, as well as to editors, agents, booksellers, and others interested in the field. It is one of the few organizations for professional writers that welcomes the unpublished into membership and is open to writers around the world.
The organization provides its members with a monthly magazine, offers annual contests for published and unpublished writers, and holds an annual conference where writers can meet with editors and agents, network with other writers, and attend workshops and seminars.
RWA chapters are local branches of the national organization. Most major American cities have chapters, and there are online chapters for special-interest groups or members who can't easily attend a local chapter meeting. Writers must belong to the national organization in order to join a local chapter. Each chapter has considerable autonomy, within RWA's requirements, to organize itself and run its meetings to best serve its own members. Many hold monthly meetings that include a speaker or demonstration or exercise. Many sponsor critique groups that meet separately from the chapter meetings. Some sponsor contests or hold local or regional conferences.
In the U
nited Kingdom, the Romantic Novelists' Association (www.rna-uk.org) is a group of more than seven hundred members promoting romantic fiction from category romance to women's fiction. RNA is open to published and unpublished writers, agents, editors, publishers, booksellers, etc., and offers contests and conferences.
Romance Writers of Australia (www.romanceaustralia.com) is open to published and unpublished writers from around the world, as well as others interested in romance fiction. It offers contests, conferences, and a program where writers who are isolated and unable to attend meetings are matched with mentors.
Your library will probably have a listing of other national and local professional organizations for writers. Each will have different requirements for membership and offer different benefits.
Contests
Writing contests provide encouragement; incentive to meet deadlines; practice in accepting feedback and failure; and great benefits to finalists and winners, including a credit that can be included in future letters to publishers and useful in getting an editor's attention.
But contests can also be expensive. Between entry fees, copying costs, and postage, you can easily rack up a hundred dollars in expenses for each contest you enter.
And contests can be dangerous. Because many of them require the submission of a first chapter only, some writers go no further — they write and polish the first twenty-five pages, then go on to the next contest entry without ever finishing a project. Writers who become contest-addicted may never write an entire book.
The contests that are most useful to a new writer are those that encourage judges to write comments directly on the manuscript. Most such contests promote this aspect in their advertising. Contests that provide only a score with no comments are much less helpful to the writer who doesn't happen to place in the finals.
Choose your contests carefully, and limit how many you enter. Be prepared to receive wildly varying scores; if five judges look at your manuscript, you may find that two love it, one hates it, and two are lukewarm. Judges' opinions are personal and subjective. If, however, several of them comment about the same things — either positive or negative — you'll have a good indication of the strengths and weaknesses of your manuscript, no matter what your final score.
Commercial publishers occasionally run contests, often when they're revamping a line (or opening a new one) and wish to attract attention and submissions. Usually these contests do not charge an entry fee.
The RWA's monthly magazine, Romance Writers Report, lists reputable contests, as does Writer's Digest magazine. Most romance-writing contests are sponsored by RWA chapters and therefore abide by RWA's rules and ethical code for contest practices.
Some authors offer contests, usually accepting entries by e-mail, as part of a promotional campaign for their own books and Web sites. Usually there is no fee, but there are often nice prizes in addition to attention from editors or agents as well as readers. Writers' e-mail loops, chat rooms, and discussion groups often pass the word about these contests.
A few writing contests are scams in which every contestant is named a winner and invited to buy an anthology of entries. Though these are more common in poetry and short story writing than in romance, it's wise to check that the contest sponsor is reputable.
Critiquing and Editing Services
Critiquing and editing services work with your manuscript-in-progress, advising you about strengths and weaknesses, sometimes brainstorming ideas, and helping you shape your work to fit the marketplace. The value of a critique depends on the experience of the person providing it.
The freelance editors offering their assistance through ads in writers' magazines are often experienced, insightful, and very helpful in making a book salable. Many have worked for the same publishers you're trying to submit your work to, either as authors or editors, and their advice can be invaluable.
Others are more interested in the numbers on your check than in anything else you compose.
Ask for — and check out — references. Ask who will actually critique your work, and what that person's credentials are. Ask how long the editor has been in the business. Ask which publishers she has worked with. Ask whether manuscripts she's edited have subsequently sold, and which publishers bought them. Check the going rates for editing before agreeing to a fee.
Make sure the terms of any agreement are clearly spelled out in writing. And don't ever pay out money that you can't afford to lose entirely.
Writing Classes
The best writing classes are usually taught by people who themselves are actively writing. Before choosing a class, consider the teacher's strengths and experience, and think about what you want to get from the class.
Which class is right for you depends on what sort of feedback you need at the time. A college class in creative writing may improve your characterization, but if the instructor is not familiar with the romance genre, the class isn't likely to be of great assistance in the finer points of polishing your romance novel.
Online classes have opened up the classroom to people around the world, no matter what their schedules or other obligations may be. Writer's Digest (www.writersonlineworkshops.com) and Gotham Writers' Workshop (www.writingclasses.com) offer classes on the Internet. Some RWA groups offer online classes, as well.
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Marketing Your Romance Novel
Finishing your book is actually only the beginning. The publisher isn't likely to show up on your doorstep asking to see it, so it's up to you to target a market and make a sale.
Legend has it that, when Margaret Mitchell contacted a publisher about Gone With the Wind, she hauled two stacks of manuscript pages as tall as she was into the publisher's hotel room and said, “Here it is.” Part of the manuscript was typed, part was handwritten, some pages were drenched in spilled coffee, and some chapters were included in multiple versions.
Today, she'd probably be politely asked to haul it all home, boil it down to a two-page query letter, and get an agent.
These days, almost no publisher will read the entire book right up front. They haven't time, so instead they ask to see summaries. If the summary intrigues them, they'll ask to see a section. If they like the section, they'll ask to see the whole manuscript. The likelihood is that, even if they like the manuscript, they'll ask for revisions — and only then will there be any discussion of actually buying the book. (Books are seldom sold until the publisher has seen the entire manuscript. If it's the author's first work of fiction, it almost certainly won't get a firm offer unless it's finished and ready to publish.)
The business aspects of writing and publishing are complex and can be scary. In this chapter, we'll hit the high spots of marketing — deciding on an agent, researching a publisher, writing a query, constructing a synopsis, submitting a proposal, interpreting an editor's letter, and making a deal.
ABOUT AGENTS
In some cases, having an agent to act for you in selling your work is absolutely necessary. In others cases, it's possible to act for yourself.
Do You Need an Agent?
If you want to write single-title or mainstream books, you must be represented by an agent in order to be considered by publishers. Most publishers of these kinds of books will only look at submissions that have already convinced an agent of their worth. A manuscript submitted by an author directly to these publishers will most often be returned unread.
If you want to write category romance, you do not need an agent. Publishers of category romance are among the few in the book business that still read unagented and unsolicited submissions.
Do You Want an Agent?
Even if you don't strictly need an agent to represent you, you may still want one.
If you want to concentrate on writing, an agent can help to steer you through the maze of financial and contract details.
If you aren't sure where your writing strengths lie, or if you want to write more than one type of book or work with more than one publisher, then having an agen
t who can help to guide your career can be an enormous advantage.
On the other hand, if you have an aptitude for reading legal fine print and educating yourself on the industry, and you can keep business (i.e., money) discussions separate from editorial considerations, you may be better off without an agent — especially if you're the sort who will be checking and second-guessing every decision the agent makes. You can be far more attentive to the details of your career than an agent who is simultaneously handling a number of writers.
Contracts for category romances are fairly standard, without much room for negotiation, so you can feasibly act for yourself. While an agent might negotiate a higher advance, it's unlikely that the long-term payout of a category book will be much improved by having an agent. (Keep in mind that if you negotiate the contract yourself, you won't have to pay the agent's fees.) Contracts can be complicated, however, so an agent's advice can be invaluable in preserving your rights and protecting you from unpleasant surprises down the road, especially if you want to move into other fields in the future.
Whether or not you have an agent, don't sign any agreement you haven't read or don't completely understand.
SPLITTING THE DIFFERENCE
Since finding an agent to act for you in selling your work is often just as difficult as selling a manuscript directly to a publisher, many writers of category romance submit to publishers and agents simultaneously. If a publisher shows interest in a manuscript, the author can then go to an agent and ask the agent to negotiate the details of the deal.
If you've submitted directly and an editor is interested, the call will of course come to you; if you plan to hire an agent, be careful not to agree to terms that might limit the agent's ability to negotiate for you.
Finding an Agent