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

It's outta here!

The contest entry is out of my hands and into the hands of the capable (pretty, smart, witty -- is that enough butt kissing?) judges. Hopefully they like it as much as I do.

As I was re-reading the entry for the umpteenth time at 1 a.m. last night, I started to wonder--if I'm this neurotic about sending in 25 pages, what kind of a mess am I going to be when I mail my entire manuscript? After all, I've been working on it since the birth of my first child four years ago and am nearing completion after the birth of my second child. It has been part of my life during those lonely maternity leaves, my characters keeping me company when I was dying for some adult interaction. How hard is it going to be to say goodbye to those two close friends hoping that I'll see them again some day in the pages of a book? And what if it never gets published?

But I can't think like that right now. I need to focus on getting it completed so that Tess and Owen can come visit me again some day.

Chow for now,
Marcy

Back to Work!

Well, it's time to get back to work. My husband and I threw a surprise 40th birthday party for my sister last night (a lot of fun, BTW), and now that it's done I have no more excuses to procrastinate. I need to get back to writing.

Tonight, provided that I'm still awake (I'm still recovering from the party), I need to take one more look at my contest entry before sending it in. I have high hopes for this one. I hope I'm not disappointed. But even if it doesn't result in a win, I'm still aiming to have my ms completed (and submitted?) before I go back to work in January. I'm still hoping that I can go back to work part-time, but I won't know if that will happen until after I meet with my boss next week. Keep your fingers crossed. That would mean that I'd have more time to write. Yay! If not, I'll just have to use my lunch hours. I've become quite skilled at eating while typing. I'm eating a turkey dinner right now (just kidding).

Chow for now,
Marcy

Contest Deadline is Closing In

The deadline for the Where the Magic Begins contest is in 2 days and I think my entry is pretty well ready. I made a lot of changes to my first 25 pages for this contest, so I think it's in pretty good shape. Writing a 1 page synopsis was a bit of a challenge. At first I thought one page would be a breeze. After all, I'd written over 140 pages so far -- how hard could it be to write one more? But narrowing my story, my baby down to the bare bones was more difficult than I thought. I just hope that my voice still shines through.

The final judge for the contest is Kimberly Young, Harlequin UK. She's the editor that I'll be targetting once my ms is complete. The finalists will be announced by October and winners by December, so my plan is to have it completed by that time just in case I get a request (trying to keep positive thoughts).

Hope you have a great day.

Chow for now,
Marcy

My First Blog!!!

Well, I've been inspired. After reading Nicola Marsh's interview with Barbara Hannay I not only created a collage for my WIP but I also started a blog! This is a first for me, but I think I'll really enjoy having a place to exercise my writing wings.

Needless to say, my blog won't be near as exciting as Barbara's (staying in a tree house on a deserted island -- wow!), but I'll do my best to keep you entertained with life in my world. Such as how I find more than five consecutive minutes to write when I'm at home with two small kids.

It's getting a bit better now. I'm able to stay awake past 10 p.m. and have found that 9-11pm is the best time for me to write. It's not much, but it's better than nothing. And my WIP is coming along. I've got about 36,000 words so far. I'd like to add one of those progress counters to my blog, but that's a bit complicated for my first day out. Give me a week. LOL. I just hope I can get most of it complete before I have to return to my "real job" in January. How I wish I was independently wealthy (sigh).

Chow for now.
Marcy