The Lightbulb Moment

Have you ever had one of those lightbulb moments when everything that is wrong with your wip suddenly becomes very clear...even too clear. I had one of those moments this week. I realized why I don't have enough conflict in my wip--my characters are too much alike. Both workaholics, neither of them wants to get married. I was finding it difficult to keep the conflict going. But since I've had this moment of clarity, I've determined the changes that I need to make to my characters to make it work. It's going to mean some rewriting (ugg), but better to fix it now than to have it rejected for the very same reason.

I have to credit this moment of insight to Trish Wylie's blog. Right now she's blogging about the process that she uses when starting a new wip. She mentioned that she wanted her heroine to have a job that would make her committment phobic hero uncomfortable -- a kindergym teacher. It makes a lot of sense. If the hero and heroine are very different it makes for good conflict. Seems simple enough...so why did it take me so long to figure out that my hero and heroine weren't fitting the bill?

Have you had one of those light bulb moments with your wip?

Marcy

Conflict


Last night I started reading Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance. I've had the book for over a year, but recently I've been struggling with the conflict in my WIP and was hoping the book could help me. As I was reading her discussion about small and large conflicts I realized why I'm struggling with the scene I'm currently writing -- there's not enough conflict. I was trying to wrap the scene up nice and neat but my characters weren't cooperating. It needs something more. I just have to determine where this new conflict will take me and how it will mesh with what I've written already. Come to think of it, whenever I'm having trouble with a scene it's usually because something isn't working. It's so nice when that lightbulb goes off over my head, and I get a momentary flash of insight. Why can't it happen more often? But now that I know there's an issue, I just need to figure out how to fix it. That's a whole different problem!

Marcy

Emotional Suicide

I was reading a fantastic article on Melissa James' website called Emotional Suicide. As I was reading about the depth that she goes to when writing her books, I started to wonder if my ms has enough emotional depth. As I'm writing, I always try to think about how I would react, what I would see, feel, hear etc, but I can't help but wonder if it is enough. Or, on the flipside, when is it too much? When will the reader think, "Oh, will you just get on with the story"?

I know that as a reader myself, if there is a lot of intense emotion and I want more of the story, I'm guilty of...skimming. Yes, I know. As a writer that's a dirty word. We put our blood, sweat, and tears into every word, and the thought of someone skimming over even one syllable is a blasphemous. But we can't control what our readers do. And ultimately we want to write a story that someone wants to read. Period.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. When is there enough emotional depth for you?

Marcy

Firsts

Today was my dd's first day of JK. I can't believe it! She was absolutely fine with the whole thing...but I cried like a baby! I keep telling myself that she is going to have more fun at school than she will at home, but funny enough that doesn't help. Her teacher seems very nice, and patient. I don't think I could ever do her job. I love my own kids but don't think I could be so patient with a room full of someone else's. Give me a nice cushy desk job any day.

Chow for now,
Marcy

I've Discovered eBay!

I made my first sucessful bid on eBay today. Now I'm hooked. Like I need another hobby to take my time away from writing. But I think it's so cool to be able to buy anything you want from the comfort of your home. So we'll see if I get the final bid, but either way it was a cool experience.

My oldest child is starting JK next week, so I keep telling myself that I'll have more time to write then. I'll have to ensure that I don't turn on the internet during my youngest child's nap time so that I can focus solely on writing.

Maybe chanting will help.
Must finish WIP. Must finish WIP.

Chow for now,
Marcy