|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Hello all.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Welcome to our Friday After
Hours Forum.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I hope you all had a fun
Fourth of July and Canada Day, for those of you northern folk.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And if you didn't see the
newsletter yet this week, I do have another prompt up -- this one involves
fireworks. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You'll find the specifics and
submission link in the July 2 issue of the Newsletter.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
(Writing Craft: Newsletter)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I'm getting some fun
submissions.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I wanted to talk about Romance
writing tonight.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Romance is the 1000 pound
gorilla in the literary world.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It is the biggest seller and
Nora Roberts makes more money than anyone else out there.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Harlequin Sillhouette is the
top publisher and if you suit them, they want two or more books a year from
you
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
and are a steady buyer.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
All the big NY publishers have
at least one romance line and most have several.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You will need an agent for the
NY publishers. You do not need an agent to submit to Har-Sil.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Their contract is pretty much
non-negotiable and they'll look at unagented submissions.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Essentially, the key to
writing romance is...romance.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
They are not mysteries with a
romance or adventure stories with a romance.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The romance is the main plot.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Everything else is secondary.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That is the weakness that gets
in the way of a lot of novice romance writers. The romance HAS to be the
central focus.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If you read romance and love
romances, you are ideally suited to write them. :-)
|
|
reece
|
What kind of romance novel draws
more readers-historical or modern?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That's a flavor of the month
issue, Reece. By that I mean that what is popular now may not be popular
next year or vice versa.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
To know which way the
publishing trends are going you need to subscribe to Romantic Times or
attend the romance conferences put on by Romance Writers of America
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
and listen to the publishing
gossip.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Chick lit was red hot for a
few years and I hear is cooling off now.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Paranormal has been hot, but
it also may be peaking.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
One way to keep a sort of
finger on the pulse of romance is to check the e-harlequin site regularly.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You can get a feel for 'what's
hot' in the marketplace by what they are looking for.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
http://www.eharlequin.com/
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You'll also find all their
lines listed as well as guidelines for them.
|
|
labtekki
|
Is there a maket for short story
romances?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
There really isn't much of
one, labetkki. Alas.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
YOu have Women's World. Last
time I paid attention, they were publishing short 'first meeting' stories
and they pay VERY well.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Wild Rose Press publishes a
few anthologies.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Some other small presses
publish anthologies as to the NY publishes, but the average romance reader,
as with mystery, is a novel reader.
|
|
charie'
|
What about True Romance
magazine?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That's another one. There are
a few around.
|
|
reece
|
Should you keep a romance novel
from getting too long like say under 500 pages or should you not worry
about length?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Romance lines tend to be
pretty specific about what they want, reece.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If you wnat to write for
Harlequin they are VERY specific.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Less so for other publishers.
But you do need to look at what publishers want in terms of length.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It can vary enormously from
line to line.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Romance novels tend to be highly
descriptive and of course, use the senses a lot. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Alternating POV between the
male and female MC is quite common, with female POV almost always the lead
character.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If you're serious about
writing romance you really do need to join Romance Writers of America.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You don't have to have
published to join, unlike other professional writers organizations.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And they have a lot of
programs designed to help the novice writer as well as a lot of conferences
across the country.
|
|
reece
|
To be able to really tug on a
readers heartstrings do you think a writer should have experianced to some
degree what they write about--or do you think imagination is enough?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Well, reece, let's hope that
direct experience is not required in order to write about something.
Otherwise I do not ever want to be in the same room
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
with any author who writes
murder mysteries!
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But you do need to do
characterization.
|
|
charie'
|
Romantic Times has Pros on Prose
writing tips.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
They have a LOT of helpful tips.
|
|
dim writer
|
Do they have a web site Mary?
Romance Writers?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
https://www.rwanational.org/eweb/StartPage.aspx
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
They're spendy to join. More than
100 last time I checked.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
But that's worth it if you're
serious about breaking in here.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If you're going to write for
the romance market you need to read in the romance market.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
This is true of any genre. If
you don't read it you don't know what readers expect.
|
|
writewoman13
|
So many Harlequin novels have
flat characters....are there actually romances that have "real"
characters?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Sigh. I have to say that
romance has had a bad reputation for a long time because so many of
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
the romances, especially the
'category romances' are simply bad writing.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
A lot of well established pros
in other genres write romance but do so under a well hidden pen name.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
As with any genre, you have
very good writing and you have poor writing. You'll have to depend on
reviews or word of mouth to tell you which is which.
|
|
writewoman13
|
So it pays to have a good pen
name? LOL
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Well, only if you don't want
people to know you write romance. :-)
|
|
grayalien
|
What if you've never read a
romance novel? What's a good one to start with?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Gosh, gray, if you want to
start writing it, I'd pick a particular line that appeals to you and read
ten books in it that were published in the last 18 - 24 months.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That will give you a good
grounding in what that line is looking for.
|
|
cbert
|
What do you mean by
"category romances?"
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Those are the named lines
where all the books have a very similar plot structure.
|
|
charie'
|
A lot of big name authors
started in the small romances - Sandra Brown, Jayne Ann Krentz
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It's a lucrative field in
publishing. There is a high reader demand for romances.
|
|
reece
|
Is there a market for romances
where the lead charactors dont have perfectly chiseled features and well
endowed assets?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Probably. You have a huge
range of lines now. The field has expanded to include a lot of
'genre-flavored' romance as well as romance with older heroines and the
like.
|
|
charie'
|
The background era is also
important - old west, old england, modern, futuristic,
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Yes. Western has been hot for
awhile, as has time travel.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I just got invited into a
romantic fantasy anthology -- Lace and Blade.
|
|
charie'
|
Vampire and werewolf are really
hot right now. But lots of mediocre "jump on the trend" authors
are diluting the quality stories.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
This always happens.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And, to be honest, you're
better off to try something that seems to be getting hot rather than to
write something
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
for a trend that has been hot
for awhile.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Remember -- you have to write
the book and then it'll be about year to two years before it's published.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Editors are trying to buy the
'next hot thing' now.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
What is it? Nobody knows yet,
so why not try to set it?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Of course in Romance you do
not see a lot of wild creativity. There, more than just about any other
genre, readers seem to want 'familiar' books.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The publishing world in
general tends to be conservative and romance is more conservative than
most.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If you want to write romance,
I suggest that you focus on a line that appeals to you.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Read those ten books.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Spend some time analyzing
them.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
When does that first kiss take
place? What happens at the climax?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Pay attention to similarities.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The more your book fits that
line the more likely you are to sell it.
|
|
charie'
|
Put lots of mental and emotional
exploration into the internal dialogue.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Yes, Romance is rich in
internal POV -- a little too rich at times. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And focus on lush description.
The key word is sensuous.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Remember, your readers want to
be transported into that bedroom, to feel the satin sheets, to gaze out at
the brooding moors right along with that heroine.
|
|
labtekki
|
If you don't sell to harl, and
don't have agent, then what?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You can work on acquiring an
agent. The RWA conferences often offer pitch sessions to agents or you can
hobnob with an editor
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
at a party there and get a
request to send your work directly to that person.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Or you can submit to small
presses like Wild Rose Press
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
or Cerridwen.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Or you can query agents who
handle romance.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
For information on how to
acquire a legitimate agent as well as contact information you can go to the
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Association of Authors
Representatives website: http://www.aar-online.org/index.html
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Romance Writers of America has
also published books on writing Romance.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Usually they are a collection
of essays on various aspects of the craft, written by well established RWA
members.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The main thing to do is write.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
A lot. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Write scenes.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It's amazing how many people
have trouble writing a good love scene.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It's harder than you think,
people!
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
When readers giggle, you have
blown it.
|
|
charie'
|
If it makes you "hot"
when you write it, you might be on the right track.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Exactly, charie. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And then give it to a few
readers.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You see the scene too clearly.
You need to know if it works for other people.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
So the most important part of
writing Romance is to read Romance.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The second most important is
to write a lot of it.
|
|
charie'
|
Be tough. It's difficult letting
others read a romantic scene. ; - )
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That's true. :-) And you
really need that input. If your love scenes are wooden, awkward, or just
laughable, your book is not going to fly.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
One editor used to read bits
of love scenes he had collected from the slush pile over the years.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
You had to wonder, when you
heard some of them, if the writer had ever looked at an unclothed human
body in his life.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Of course writing Romance does
not mean you have to write sex scenes.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Many lines are very chaste as
are most of the Christian romance lines if not all.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And you have some that are
walking the line on erotica. I believe the Ha-Sil Bombshell line was one of
those.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I think they discontinued that
one.
|
|
charie'
|
Finding euphemisms and innuendo
instead of graphic prose is a great skill to acquire.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Actually, it is not at all a
bad idea to write lovemaking scenes.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Not necessarily sex scenes, if
that's not something you ever plan to do, but physical intimacy...
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
kissing, touching. It can be
hard. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And if you think you'll ever
write a sex scene, then by all means practice with a few.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
They are hard to write well.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
The scene has to be smooth,
with flowing prose so that you create the sensuality you're implying.
|
|
charie'
|
Would it be good to write the
scene both ways - chaste and graphic?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
That would be a good exercise.
:-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I see a lot of choppy prose in
novice love scenes.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
If it reads like a laundry
list it is not going to work.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Hmmm. I probably can't get
away with handing out a love scene prompt for the Newsletter. :-) Too bad.
|
|
charie'
|
Romance still needs the
combination of action, dialogue and POV.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
All good fiction needs a
combination of action, dialogue, and POV.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
And characterization.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Romance is no different that
way. It simply has a stronger emphasis on the internal conflict
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
of love rather than an
external conflict.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
So the stories tend to be more
internal as the heroine contemplates the love conflict.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It's a big field and if you
love to read it, then you should try writing it. Why not?
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
I'll post the transcripts of
this Forum in the usual place: Writing Craft: Forum Transcripts.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Do join us Sunday for our
casual chat.
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
Our family reunion is over so
I'll be here this week. :-)
|
|
Mary Rosenblum
|
It's a lot of fun and a great
place to meet folk. See you there!
|
