Passion

I've been trying to work with the paranormal romance genre for awhile. A personal project, if you will. I've chatted with a number of romance writers, some are even published and doing well in their sales. And I had never been so frustrated in my life.

Romance, even paranormal romance, is more formulated than other genres in some ways. Mainstream romance isn't as formulated, as in, must have a perfect happy ending. But a lot of sub-genres of romance do tend to be formulated. I knew that going into this and I was more than willing to learn.

There are rules, you see. Rules I never would have guessed, but I have learned. There are ways of organizing these rules and needed elements, in a very technical way.

I don't do technical. Ever.

I tried. I really did. But my frustration got to the point that I was inadvertently lashing out at others. With all these technical details, I honestly felt like a bad writer. I began questioning everything I've written and also myself. I was in a very bad place.

Then I woke up. Creative writing of any kind, is called a Craft for a very good reason. It doesn't matter if it's a formulated sub-genre, or free association horror story. With any genre, it's still a craft.

It's good to bear in mind the technical, to understand the rules that need to be followed, but only as an influence. Something to be kept in the back of my mind, while I write the story.

I'm sure you've heard authors say, in any genre, there isn't a secret. Just a lot of hard work. This stands true and always will until the end of time. The same goes for formulated romance sub-genres. It's still a craft.

There are many romance writers who argue endlessly, and insist the formula must be followed and that's the only way to start a story. I don't agree. If I spent all my time and energy following the rules in such a technical, almost obsessive way, I'd never finish a story. Ever.

I have no problems following rules, as long as they make sense. Grammar, spelling, that's all common sense stuff. But I was having the hardest time making sense of all these technical details I was bombarded with. It made me lose sight of the story, and then, I was hopelessly blocked. I gave up. I just couldn't do it anymore.

But not all is lost. Like I said, I woke up. I sat down, and started a rewrite... my way. Using my author's voice, my style. I did keep in mind certain mandatory elements, but only on a subconscious level. The rest I threw into the proverbial wastebasket.

Guess what? It works. Perfectly.

My conclusion is, with all those writers who are determined to start stories based on the technical, we'll just have to agree to disagree. It just doesn't work for me. *shrugs*

I'm creative. I'm an artist. I'm passionate. And the technical will never replace passion.

Filler Chapters

My writing marathon the other day worked out well. I finished two chapters and I'm almost finished the next. After I finished chapter 5, I realized why it was a drag for me. It's a filler chapter, haha!

I normally plan filler chapters in advance, or at least know when a filler chapter is needed before it's written. But chapter 5 snuck up on me. As far as fillers go, it's the most interesting filler I've ever written. I'm seriously laughing about this. I was so eager to get to the fun stuff in chapter 6, I almost didn't write chapter 5. And I still didn't realize 5 is filler. Go figure.

Filler chapters are often a necessary evil. They can seem like a chore, but very much needed to maintain a consistent thread through the story. A brige between two points, if you will. I've read books where it seems the author couldn't tell the difference between filler and just making crap up. Unfortunate, because there's a huge difference.

Fillers still have a plot, or at least a reminder of the plot. It would be downright silly for me to write a chapter about something completely unrelated. Something like, a choreographed disco dance around a bonfire in the middle of a post-apocalypse story, where disco doesn't exist. Humorous, but silly and unnecessary. Might be appropriate if I was writing a parody, but I'm not.

So it is important to maintain related content in filler chapters for a novel. Graphic novels and comic books (though they're the same thing, really) can have cute fillers with a subplot. But they're still related! It might be easier in comics, because of the visual similarities, but the same principle applies to novel writing. The fillers should have a purpose - further the plot, introduce a new character, provide a moment of comedy relief, etc. This is all a part of the craft of creative writing. Every chapter, pargraph, every single word, should be there for a conscious reason.

In essence, filler chapters should read like they're not fillers at all. How an author organizes elements, and how the reader perceives these elements, two different things. In novel writing, filler is a term for the author, but never seen by the readers.

The Cup Spills Over

I've finished chapter 4. (Yay!) Apparently I had planned too much for this chapter, so it spilled over into chapter 5. Maybe someday I'll gain enough writing experience to tell in advance when I have too much for one chapter, who knows. For the meantime, I usually can't tell until I reach a naturally conclusion or end, that's the only time I'll realize, oh, that's it for this chapter, time to move on to the next.

The good news is I have a lot of material for chapter 5, so I'm hoping that means it won't take me long at all. Also, although I discovered a lot of new things while writing chapter 4, only 2 minor tweaks were needed for chapter 1 and 2. Apparently chapter 3 is fine as is. I'm definitely rolling now with this story.

When authors give the advice of 'keep writing,' what they're talking about is this creative process I've been describing since the prologue. I know a lot of aspiring authors find that statement frustrating because it's like, how do I keep writing? Where do I get started? What do I write about? What are the guidelines?

And this is why I often remind people that creative writing is not a job, it's craft. Same as taking a ball of yarn and keep knitting until you have a finished scarf. Some people like to knit while watching TV. Some like to knit in the living room during family time. Some people prefer to knit alone. It's up to the individual. And here's the best news of all. Because writing is a craft, it's up to the individual to answer all questions for themselves. You are in control. It's your writing. Do what you want.

Other than spelling and grammar, there really aren't any rules. It's creative writing. The sky's the limit. And just keep writing ;)

As a Canadian I never thought I'd say this, but I long for winter...

I realize the heatwaves are an international problem that's happening worldwide. But for pity's sake, I live in Canada, it shouldn't be this bad!

I had a bad night yesterday, too hot and I couldn't concentrate on anything. So I decided to move my laptop elsewhere and see if I could get some writing done. Results: Cooler conditions = 1000 words typed. I need to move to the arctic...

Chapter 2 is now 2/3 done at least, and I'm working on wrapping up the chapter while it's still the cooler morning weather.

I keep discovering new things as I write this story. This brings me back to an earlier post about outlines. Stories change and evolve, so outlines can't be written in stone, otherwise there would be no natural evolution of the story. It's important to me to always look at the bigger picture and always be willing to learn new things. I'm very grateful to have an open mind, I doubt I would be able to create such a highly fictional world otherwise.

There's a line I often have to draw, of course. When using my imagination, the possibilities are endless. I always allow a story to evolve, but I won't let my imagination run away with me. Well, most of the time anyway. This is the difference between possible and plausible. In fiction, it doesn't have to be possible, just plausible. It has to be sensible at least. Random example, if I killed off all the main characters in the second chapter, while death happens and it is possible, it's anything but plausible. In fact, that would be just silly. Sure, I can imagine anything, but that doesn't mean I should write everything. I have to draw that line.

Another aspect to this story that I'm finding very interesting, is making sure the metaphors or analogies are appropriate for the character within the context of this story, especially since I'm writing in the first person. Though I have found this could apply to writing in the third person. It's such a little thing most people don't notice, but I've seen improper use of metaphors that I know the characters wouldn't be able to think of. Again, not plausible. Not to mention, completely out of context.

For example, I once read in a novel, written in the first person, thought by a teenage girl, "It's like typing the words 'The End' on a manuscript." Er, she's a teenager, unless she miraculously wrote and published novels (which she didn't in this story), she wouldn't have that experience. It was the wrong comparison to make. The only way that could have worked, is if it was written in the third person.... maybe. I felt the author didn't even know their own character.

So I'm having fun trying to find the right comparisons that are within the realm of the character's experience. I'll come up with an analogy and think to myself, would the character even know what beet-red looks like in this post-apocalyptic world? Are there any beets? See, this is the biggest difference between mapping out all aspects of a story (outlines, character development, etc) and writing by the seat of my pants. Thought is needed before and during in order to truly craft a story.

Okay, a couple more hours of nice morning weather. Back to writing...

I hear voices in my head and they tell me to do things...

I've always found it interesting how the process of creating and building a story is similar to a mental disorder if you go by strict textbook definitions. The saying does go, "There's a fine line between genius and insanity." And you know what? It's true!

(I don't consider myself to be a genius by the way, but I'm intelligent enough and no, I'm not insane, thank you very much).

I often find I need to keep myself in check and not allow my imagination to run away with me. Just because an idea or image pops into my head, doesn't mean it should be used within the story. I'll throw out ideas, sift them and decide which would work. There's definitely a lot of self-management involved with being an author, and I can well imagine it's the same with any kind of art form. It certainly was for me when I was working as a graphic designer.

So yesterday, after spending weeks on research and character development, my main character spoke to me for the first time. I love it when that happens, it's the coolest feeling when a character comes to life and gives me the opportunity to fall in love with them. He's real now, alive and kicking in my head.

Now, I'm sorry to say this, but because he wasn't completely real to me yet, the prologue has to be rewritten. I'm fine with that, like I said in another post, I often go back and tweak things here and there as I go along. It's important to me to literally weave a story together rather than making it all up. See, that's the difference between an author and a writer. Authors understand creative writing is a craft.