How to make the most of e-writing courses

E-writing courses are getting more and more popular these days. They are easy accessible for anyone with a computer and Internet access. They are cheap, can be run irrespective of geographical location, time zone, and day schedules. You don't have to take a day off to attend one - you can just do it in the comfort of your own home at any time that suits you. They also much cheaper - a typical e-course would cost around 10-30 USD, and you don't have to travel to the place, there is no hotel to book, no snacks to buy etc.
Perfect?
Not quite.
Having tried a number of e-courses recently (4 to be precise) I must admit I struggle with this format. I don't really want to say that I haven't learnt much form the ones I've 'attended', but I can't say I've learnt much either.
With this reflection in mind I hesitated over enrolling to yet another one recently, but I know I really need to learn how to pitch like a pro, since I've decided to attend a pitching session at RWNZ conference in August. So I've enrolled but then sat down to brainstorm ideas how to make the best of e-learning writing courses.

photo by photostock
Free Digital Photos

1. Familiarise yourself with the format. If you're joining an online group/loop or forum, have a look around the forum - how the posts are displayed; are they grouped or displayed chronologically? Can you change the setting to have it displayed the way that suits you? The courses I've done were all based on Yahoo Groups - a format I'm familiar, but not necessarily happy with. For a reason unknown to me, even when I have 'group by topic' on, I keep getting messages all over the place.
The main upside of reading the posts on the forum is that you can group messages by topic and see how a topic progresses
If you prefer to read the messages in a digest - I'd suggest you opt for a daily one (see point 2). On one hand digests are good because they remind you about the course and prompt to read every day. But on the other hand there is no way you can group messages, and since it brings only what's new today, you may not remember what was written/discussed before. Often the replies would have the original post at the bottom, which is good for refreshing your memory, but I find it the most annoying aspect of e-learning courses: scrolling down the kilometers of old messages, displayed in the most annoying format with all these "<"  and   ">", which make it much harder to scan.
If you find this as frustrating as I do, see point 3 for some suggestions.

2. Make a commitment to read posts every day. This will not only allow you to stay up to date with what's on the group and keep up to speed with new information provided, but also take part in exercises, try out new skills or put the newly acquired knowledge into practice, which reinforces the learning process!

3. Make your own notes. I have tried to copy&paste relevant bits and pieces of posts into a Word document, but realised I've been missing the possibility of scribbling all over pages. I am a rather non-linear thinker and learner, so tools focused on linear approaches don't work for me. I suspect many writers are non-linear, so I would suggest you make your own written notes - not only this will reinforce the learning process but also allow you to make notes in whatever way you find beneficial, and go back to add stuff as you go along.

4. Participate in tasks/homework. Get your stuff out there, don't be scared or shy to get feedback on your writing. Practice the skills taught and get feedback on your progress. Also read what other participants have done and the feedback they've got - learn from other people's experience. The whole point of taking the course is to learn.

5. Don't undermine the power of community that builds around the course. On these rare instances I took part in homework tasks I got great feedback and helpful tips not only from the tutor but also from other participants. One of the most amazing things was that many writes were happy to chip in and brainstorm ideas for my (your, hers, his) book or story - completely free! Great bunch of people!

6. Enjoy :)


You can find interesting writing and publishing related e-courses here and here or here or here and in many other places.



Have you taken any e-courses? What is you experience? Did you enjoy this way of learning, or did you find it challenging? How do you make sure you make the most of this experience?

Damsel in distress - believable characters and emotional balance

My writing drought unfortunately hasn't finished yet but I'm fighting it. I was going to write about learning on e-courses and online conferences but I was braindead for a several days and even looking at my keyboard made my eyelids go heavy and droop. I hoped someone would come and wave their magic wand and dispel the horrible thing, but I waited and waited and...nothing happened.

Then I read a very interesting post on Too Stupid To Live heroine on Heroes and Heartbreakers blog and thought Why don't I write about another post in Believable Characters series? It shouldn't be hard. I like writing about people I know. And who would I know better than a Damsel in Distress, since (clears her throat, embarrassed) I am a bit of one.

Key characteristic: Damsel in Distress usually lives a charmed, playful life, where there is no place for mundane problems. She has a strong sense of being special, and above and beyond rules and laws. She dances on meadows, picking flowers and chasing butterflies. She doesn't worry about paying bills, or what's for dinner. Whatever her age, she is always a little girl, who loves fun and have no sense of danger. She gets herself into trouble because she looks at the world through rose-tinted glasses or because she doesn't feel vulnerable, just like Sleeping Beauty who goes to a tower she's never known existed, speaks to an old woman she's never met before and tries something she doesn't even knows the name of (spindle).
DiD always looks young and her clothes usually emphasise this. Long, floating, flowery dresses, hats, long hair, a bunch of flowers in her hand - yes, you've got it right! DiD loves her freedom and being special. She's proud of being different.

On the other hand her youth, energy, enthusiasm for what's new, genuine curiosity for people and the world make her an attractive person. She makes friends easily and has many of them. She is a great listener, can 'read people' and is gentle. Since she needs people to support her, she avoids conflicts, keeps her opinions to herself and is a great peace keeper.
She doesn't care about the future, often she would not have a concept of future beyond the next week. She doesn't plan her life beyond the weekend. Forget marriage, children, commitments. Some Damsels in Distress forever remain damsels fading into spinsterhood with a wilted daisy chain on their head.

The black side of a DiD is a Troubled Teen (again: whatever her age) - out-of-control, ignorant, angry young woman who would get into trouble with the police, gangs, or unwanted pregnancy and expect her parents to turn up and rescue her. This type is even more selfish and manipulative than her more innocent sister. With her lack of sense of danger, feeling of being special, invincible and entitled she wastes her life away on proving (or rather not proving) her point.


Relationships: The key word is dependence. Damsel in Distress can't make decisions for herself and needs other people to lean on, feed her, entertain her, organise the life for her. She has trouble committing to one relationship and will happily jump from one to another. And since she can't live by herself, she goes from one relationship to the next straightaway, without reflecting on what went wrong with the previous one. She comes across as being innocent and vulnerable, and attracts men who want to take care of her, or who feel she's easy to domineer.

Typical backstory: Damsels I've met in real life were of two types. First one- with overprotective (or even controlling) parents, never had to grow up and take responsibility for her life - there was always someone to rescue them (usually Daddy, hence Damsels are often Daddy's Princesses). They grew up being special, for whatever reasons - be it being the only child (daughter), the youngest one, or maybe the sick one? Although they may (intellectually) know the world is a scary place, they never had a sense of it since they have always been protected.
Be mindful, there may be a serious child abuse lurking behind these lovely pictures of caring parents. The worse the abuse, the stronger the connection between the abuser and the child, and 'coming to her rescue' may be part of the game.

The other type is a child who experienced abandonment at an early stage (usually in the first 2 years); the abandonment didn't have to be of the scale of abuse or even purposeful. A typical scenario is a single full time working mother, a mother who became sick for a longer period (e.g. had to go to hospital, or was depressed) and couldn't take care of the child. The girl then had to 'fend for herself' - she's mastered how to make people look after her, but hasn't learnt the sense of real danger, or worse - since she knew how to make people do things for her she's gained a (absolutely false) sense of omnipotence, just like toddlers have.

Typical jobs: DiD loves their freedom and would hate mundane 'nine to five' jobs. She has short attention span and needs constant stimulation. DiD loves variety and hates making decisions. She is often an Eternal Student, moving from one course to another and collecting certificates, diplomas and other academic trophies. If you want to add external conflict, give your DiD a boring, repetitive office job, leaving which would require far too many decisions to make and a few people to upset.

Motivations: safety and security, but also freedom to be herself and lead whatever lifestyle she likes. She enjoys being different and would go to great lengths to emphasise it.

Biggest fears: being abandoned (yet again), left to fend and make decisions for herself ; loosing her freedom; not being special; boredom

Potential for growth: Although Damsel in Distress seems to be a little passe these days, I believe that she can be an interesting character to have in your romance novel. Not only she can be likable (unless it's the Troubled Teen you have) but there is great potential for growth!  Just imagine this sweet, helpless, spineless flower girl meeting a man who hates damsels in distress. Imagine that journey she embarks on to become a strong, assertive, independent woman and win her man's heart. All you need to do is to help her realise the world isn't as safe place as she thinks, get off her backside and start taking responsibility for her own life and future. So much room to grow.

More about Damsel in Distress in media here.


Examples from film and literature: Persefone, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, Jane Austen's Emma, Jane in Tarzan, many of Bond girls or my favourite DiD - Abby Harper from My Family comedy series.




Do you think there is still place for Damsels in Distress in contemporary romantic fiction? Do you like them? Or rather feel like teaching them a lesson on danger and independence?

Characters and emotional baggage - your characters' motivations

Once again, there is an interesting theme to things I'm doing in different areas of my life at the moment.
I've just done a 'business skills for beginners' course (for my day job), where we talked a lot about what motivates people. I'm also doing an online writing workshop on GMC - Goal Motivation and Conflict (with RWNZ). Interestingly enough, I'm also trying to come up with enough conflict for my new novel and got stuck trying to think about my main character's motivation.

Motivation is the reason(s) WHY people do things; it's what makes us move or act. In fiction, motivation ties in with characters' goals. Characters have goals BECAUSE of their motivation.

So what is what motivates people, and how to develop your characters' motivation so it last throughout the book and make the reader turn the page?

People can be motivated in 3 major ways

1. Fear or The Stick.

photo by www.sunpix.com 

Unfortunately, although a good one, fear is a temporary motivator and works only as long as the threat. It's also an external motivator -remove it from the picture and motivation disappears.

* My heroine returns to the ward the hero works on to finish her run. If she doesn't make up for the time off sick she won't be able to complete the training and become a consultant, which is her dream. But once her log book is filled in she has no longer interest in staying on the ward.

2. Incentive or The Carrot.

Photo by
 http://www.sunipix.com

Unfortunately incentives also provide only temporary and external motivation, so won't last long. 

* if my heroine wanted to work on the unit longer than absolutely necessary to complete the run because she wanted to become a consultant and because of the prestige of the unit - this would only last as long as her training requirements and the need for that prestige. Once she had enough to put on her CV, she would go.

Unless, of course she had another reason for staying there.

Well, she has. She wants the Hero.

Why?

This is the bit I need to work out, but it must be something to do with her attitude.

3. Attitude is the best motivator: more permanent (as we don't change our attitudes too often) and what's more important, internal or internalised - coming from within the person.

Attitude is an established way of thinking or feeling, which is shaped by our past, by
a/ upbringing, family values
b/ education
c/ personal experience
d/ mistakes and failures
In my experience, the deeper the attitude is rooted, the stronger the motivation, e.g. an attitude developed as a result of upbringing is more likely to last and motivate us than what we have learned from mistakes. The best motivation is through attitudes which developed on several levels - from upbringing, through education, personal experience and learning from mistakes.

At the moment I am reading a novel, where the heroine broke up with the hero, because she couldn't cope with his need to have a dangerous job. She wanted him safe, at her side when she needed him. Thanks to her education, she knew what potentially could go wrong with his job and that he ultimately can loose his life. Throughout her relationship with this guy she'd learnt that she couldn't rely on his promises of being back soon or making up for this time with another time tomorrow, or indeed being there for her when she needed -because he couldn't guarantee he would be back on time etc.
But the problem doesn't stop at the level of personal experience and failure to make this relationship work. It reaches deeper levels. She knew he could die while on duty, not only because she was a doctor and could figure it out, but also because her father, who had a similar profession died while on duty. She didn't want her beloved man to die prematurely. She also knew well what it's like to live with a man, who might die while on duty - she had seen her mother not coping with that every day her father went to work. And she didn't want to spent her life worrying sick about her man, like her mother did.

These are all WHYS she had to end this relationship and why there was no point in trying to make it work. No way.
Fantastic motivations and a good source of conflict (because hse obviously loved the man and wanted to be with him for the rest of her life, because (here goes a list of usual physical, intellectual and emotional qualities that usually romance heroes are supplied with - all good motivation though!)

Easy?
So now, since my heroine has a bunch of good reasons why she wants to work and be with the hero, I have to come up with a few good reasons why my heroine would want to avoid the hero like a plague.
I've got some thinking to do.

How do you find motivations for your characters?

Femme Fatale - believable characters and emotional baggage

I have been thinking how to organise my series on developing believable characters and have come up with an idea as old as the world
Archetypes!.

And as I am a women's fiction and romance writer I am going to start with characters who are likely to populate these genres, or with a romance/female twist. However, if you don't write in any of these genres, don't worry. The truth is that these characters populate not only fiction, but also films, theater plays and most of all - myths and real life.

Let's start with Femme Fatale.

photo by jscreationzs
www.freedigitalphotos.net

Femme Fatal - Aphrodite
a.k.a The Seductive Muse (45 Master Characters by Victoria Lynn Schmidt), Black Widow, Siren, etc.

Key characteristics:beautiful, sexy, creative, lively, fun-loving and fully aware of her attractiveness. She has great taste for clothes, food, wine and expensive jewellery - in general a lust for life. She lives intensely, if not dramatically. If emotions are not intense they don't matter; if emotions are not intense enough - she would make them look, feel, hear, smell and touch like a nuclear exposure, but only if she has enough audience. She is the master of emotions - own and of others, always tuned in to what other may need.
She needs constant admiration and has to be the centre of attention. She seduces powerful men with her looks, sex, creativity and manipulation. And then, she dumps them because she can't give up the thrill of the chase. It's the chase that counts.

Relationships: she cares about men and not so much about women; rarely has female friends mainly because of jealousy and FF inability to relate in ways other than through sensuality and sex. She has had several lovers, sometimes more than one at a time, tends to be 'the other woman'. Her relationships are short and intense, she prefers older, 'father-figure men, with money and power. She is usually the one who ends the relationship first.

Typical backstory:
These types usually have unusually close relationships with their fathers, often coloured with over or covert seduction (including child abuse) and expectations that Daddy's Little Girl needs to be an attractive woman. Their father are often womanisers, or those who perceive woman's attractiveness though their external beauty only. More often than not these girls need to fight for their parents attention and they quickly learn that the more dramatic they become, the better the outcome.

FF's childhood is often full of changes and instability - their families move from one place to another (e.g. military families), their mothers have new lovers every month, their fathers sometimes bring home a lot of money and sometimes only debts.

Typical jobs: actress, singer, dancer, fashion and beauty, sales persons; anything where beauty and charm is necessary, but nothing requiring focus, attention to detail and structured, long-term commitment (a typical FF would not become a scientist or a CEO).

Motivation: FF usually strives for love, approval and social acceptance

Biggest fears: losing her attractiveness (ageing) and creativity; also: being in one, lasting relationship.

Potential for growth: often she would want to be recognised for her brain not only for her looks and needs to learn how to let people see beyond that (melo)dramatic facade; good at sensing emotions and needs of others FF can develop deeper empathy

Trap! Don't assume that love can heal her, even if she finally finds that Mr Right FF will struggle to settle. She needs to mature first - learn to rely on herself, not on men; become independent and most of all - give herself that approval and acceptance she longs for.

Examples from literature and film: Sally Bowles from Cabaret, Vivian in Pretty Women, Emma Bovary in Madame Bovary


You can read a little more on Femme Fatale in media here.


I can't remember reading about any FF main characters in romantic fiction recently. Does FF still have place in romance as Heroine? What do you think? Have you ever made a FF your main character?

How to build believeble characters- part 1. Emotional baggage

photo by africa
http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

This is my second post on building characters, whose past, persent and future fit together and make sense.

Emotional baggage, when handled well, can be a great source of internal and external conflict. It's what has formed your characters' motivations and will provide fertile ground for them to grow.
However, it is important not to overdo it, as you may end up with someone who has more than your novel can handle.

If you want to use emotional baggage as a tool to build your character you need to remember these simple, general rules:

1. Age
Personality needs time to mature. It's different for different people, but as a rule of thumb people are rarely mature by the age of 20, most people would achieve maturity in their mid- late twenties. Does it mean you can't have an 18 y.o. mature, responsible young man? Well, you can, but make sure you give him enough life experience to back up your claims.

What are the characteristics of mature personality?
Mature people have sense of self, ability to evaluate themselve without bias and are realistic in judging other people and situations. They are emotionally secure, are capable of forming loving, reciprocal relationships and have a philosophy, which gives their life a purpose and allow to decide about their long term goals and behaviour. More on earmarks of  mature personality here. And here you can check how mature is your character.

2. Family
There is a good reason why probably all languages have their own versions of 'Like father, like son'. We learn how to live, interact with other people, think about the world, react to it, etc  from our parents, and other close family memebrs. Even if you do everything to not to be like your father, it's your father's personality that is shaping you.
If you want to have a heroine who has problems in relationships with men, you have to think why she has a problem with men. The most likely reason would be not good relationship with her father.
If you give someone a family where no one is normal and make your character completely normal, you have to give this guy a chance to learn how it is to be normal. Send him to a boarding school or foster family perhaps?
It's the same the other way round - I haven't yet seen a person with serious emotional problems and a normal family.

3. Previous relationships.
In romance it is important that the relationship between your heroine and hero is unique and special, like never before. While they may have (and in typical modern adult romance they even should have) been in previous longterm relationships, this one is unique. If you decide to give them previous relationships, you need to think about the reasons why they have failed.
The trouble is, when you come to a certain age, a string of unsuccesful relationships becomes a pattern and hence a traits of character. A typical example is a woman who gets trapped in a series of abusive relationships (tip: look at her relationship with her father!), or a man who always ends up 'under the thumb' (tip: look at the relationship between his parents)
Generally speaking, if someone hasn't been able to form succesful, longterm (over a year) relationships by the age of 30, there is a good deal of chance that this person have a deep rooted problems with forming loving relationships.
If your character's longterm relationship ended, you have to think about a reason why. In relationships things don't happen without a reason, and 'it takes two to tango'. If one of the partners had an affair, it means something in this relationship was missing, so they needed to look outside.

4. Childhood trauma
If you decide to give your character an experience of childhood abuse, be very, very careful. Not only it's a sensitive issue you need to address within what your genre allows you, but also you may create potential pitfalls for your character development and your ending.
It's probably easier if you write literary fiction or women's fiction, but if you're writing in romance genre, bevery careful. Childhood abuse particularly repeated, whether physical, emotional or sexual, leave effects impossible to erase. 80% of young adults who were abused as children meet the criteria for at least one psychiatric disorder.
Love heals - that's right, but an adult survivor of childhood abuse who has never been able to form a loving, trusting and nurturing relationship will not be able to from one without long term therapy (or a therapeutic relationship, not necessarily in professional sense).
Here you can read more about lasting impressions of childhood trauma and causes and effects of child abuse.

5. Outlook on life
Your character's outlook on life hasn't been born in vacuum either. Whether you believe that your outlook has been shaped by your experience, or that your outlook shapes your experience, you need to make sure these elements are consistent and logical.
Of course, there is the evergreen debate nature versus nurture, but even if you don't want to go that deep, make sure that the way your character perceives life, people and themselve is consistent with their past experience.


These are general rules, as as usual there may be exceptions to them. Remember the more emotional baggage you give your character, the more difficult her/his change will be. When writing romance, make sure that your charatcer has time and opportunity to grow first before jumping into relationship. If there is no change within the person, new relationship itself is not likely to bring about the change. The change has to come from within.


Have you encounter any of these problems while creating your characters? Is there anything else important I haven't talked about? Do you have any more questions?
Please, ask. if not under the post, feel free to email me and I will do my best to answer your question.

Tone up those saggy middles

Editing and rewriting your novel part 2.

SoYouThinkYouCanWrite contest by Harlequin is nearly resolved. It seems that the organisers replied to the majority of participants. Although we all expected there would be rejections, the fact that there will be A WINNER came as a bit of surprise. I guess, the winner (and runners-up?) will be announced on Monday on Harlequin blog.

photo by Idea goat FreeDigitalPhotos.net

One of my eHarlequin and blogging friends, Serenity Woods, has already got her reply (you can read her well-balanced and thoughtful, if not serene reflections on her experience here).

I'm still waiting and trying to carry on editing my NaNo and SYTYCW novel, in case I've got a request for a partial (miracles happen :)). I've rewritten my opening chapter and the following two and now I'm entering the shaky ground of the middle.

Roz Morris have recently posted on her her 3 fixes to give a story a good middle, and here are mine.
How to write (and rewrite) a well-paced middle?

1. Think of your character arc. Where is where she/he needs to get by the end of the book? Where is she/he now? What are their motivations? What changes does she/he need to undergo to get there? What challenges do you throw at her/him to give her/him a chance to change? How do you show the change happen?
Repeat for any main character you have. Make sure their stories intertwine.

2. Think in scenes. Which scenes are crucial to your character and the story? Which scenes show the journey? Write these ones first, then the less important but still necessary ones. Link them. In genre fiction links can (or even should) be limited to a couple of sentences (e.g. When she got off the bus, he was already waiting with a bunch of flowers).

3. Plan for your climax. Is there anyway you can foreshadow your climax? Which of the middle scences could be used to hint the reader at what is to come? Make sure that you have shown all the skills, abilities etc your character needs for the final challenge and the climax (miracles happens but not in fiction, so no last minute secret weapons digged out of the pocket, unless you've hinted at the existence of this pocket and your character's tendency to hind things in pockets, and their mastery at using the secret weapon, and... )

4. Keep track of what you're doing and stay focused on the story end. Have a map of your hero journey or a plot line and tick the milestones along the way. Keep record of the number of pages you write every day. Get one of those word count/ writing progress meters widgets (you can get them e.g. from Writertopia)- I love them! - it helps me see the end.


Enjoy it!

How to revise your manuscript

Finally I've sent that nonfiction project off to the Publisher and here came time for revision and self-editing of my NaNoWriMo novel.


So I've read all the posts on revising and self-editing I've bookmarked over the last couple of months, read and made notes from a book by James Scott Bell 'Revision & self-editing' and, as advised, sat to print my manuscript off.
But my printer ran out of ink and I had to wait for a new cartrige.

In the meantime I've decided to collate advice on how to revise a manuscript / a novel.

Here's the summary of what I've found out:


Revising your manuscript in 6 steps:
1. Print your entire manuscript off.
Make sure the font is legible, with 1,5-2 spaces between the lines, margins ample enough to make notes on them; one sided preferably. Many revision experts advice to print your MS the way you would to send it to your publisher.


2. Get mentally prepared for revisions - this is going to make your book better, stronger, punchier. Janice Hardy has more advice on how to put yourself in the right mood before revisions on her blog The Other side of the Story.


3. Get ready to read: get a pen (why not a red one?), a comfy chair, a table, good lighting, a bit of peace and quiet.
Holy Lisle also suggests a notebook and nerves of steel.

3a. At this stage is also good to remind yourself- what is the theme of your book- who are your main characters and what are their emotional journey- what is the conflict about


4. Read your manuscript.
JS Bell advises to read MS in a couple of settings, as a reader would; don't make any changes at this point, just make comments on the MS (red pen comes handy).

You may want to use shorthand markings to make comments about the changes you may want to make.
The best way of going about it is to have your own system.
I'm going to use:
-  V to mark places where story is dragging on (the more VVV, the worse)
- [?...] around passages that feel unnecessary/ in the wrong place
- [ more!] where I feel I need to add something
- underlining and a circle for potential plot holes (green or amber eyes??)
- circle around the name of a character / an event that I've decided to change or may not otherwise suit the plot, emotional arch or the story theme


5. Analize your
- story (does it make sense? is the plot compelling? does it flow nicely? Are the stakes high enough?)
- pace/flow ( is the pace right? does every scene is a story in itself and does it end with a mini-climax?)
- characters (do they jump off the page? are they tri-dimensional? do they grow? what are their motivations and does it make sense?
- setting (does it add another layer to your story? does it change? do you use all 5 senses?)
- dialogue (does it sound natural? does it move the story forward or help building your characters? is it rambling?)
- voice/style (show vs tell? active verbs or passive voice? does the opening paragraph introduces the main threads of the story?)
- technicalities (lenght of the manuscript and chapters, ponctuation, grammar, formatting etc)

More advice on specific aspects of this stage: Fiction Editing Checklist by Sherry on Dark Angel's Blog and A self-editing checklist by The Book Doctor


6. Implement the changes in your manuscript.


The process can be repeated until you are happy with the final product.


What are your revising and editing tips?

I'm off to find a comfy chair.

How to get feedback on your manuscript

So you have finished your first draft (just like me) and now are getting ready to take it to the next level (a.k.a. second draft - I'm still letting my MS ripen)?
Have you thought of getting feedback on the quality, sellability, brilliantability  brilliantness of your manuscript?
I have, and I have also thought about how to get it done.

Here's 9 ways of getting feedback on your manuscript:

1. Join a writers' group, whether in real life or online. One of my favourite writing communities Chapter79 has a few sub-fora dedicated to novels.

2. Enrol onto a writing course; there are several writing courses available online and in the real life; I've done Fiction Writing with Writers' News; but there are many out there, including university courses (at some point I thought about enrolling on OU Creative Writing course.
Downside: they can be expensive and of variable quality; I would suggest checking the reputation within the writing community before investing any money.

3. Join in one of the feedback sites, like YouWriteOn, Critique Circle, Authonomy or have a look at NaNoWriMo Critique, Feedback and Novel Swaps forum.
The downside: you may discover that not all reviewrs are as thourough and honest as you would like them to be.

4. Pay for a professional manuscript assessment and editorial advice. Again, there are many agencies and individuals who offer this kind of service, use Google and recommendations by your writing friends. I have read a lot of positives about Cornerstones and The Literary Consultancy; Joanna Penn used The Novel Doctor)
Downside: expensive

5. Find a critique partner. I have found one thanks to RWNZ critique partner scheme. If you are a romance writer, have a look at eHarlequin Community site - there is a thread for writers seeking a critique partner.
Read an interesting post on What makes a good crit buddy.
Downside: can't think of any, once you've found a good match!

6. Use Beta readers (like Joanna Penn).
Downsides: Anyone knows of any?

7. Join a reputable writing organisation, like Romantic Novelist Association, Romance Writers of Australia, or any other, preferably in your favourite genre; many of them have contests (e.g. Golden Heart by RWA, or The Clendon Award for members of RWNZ), schemes (e.g. fantastic New Writers' Scheme by RNA) or critique groups, which offer the members opportunity to receive feedback on their manuscript.
Downsides: it can be expensive, but my RWNZ membership is my best invested money in 2010.

8. Send your manuscript to a contest.
Keep your eyes open - there are many of them. Choose those which will send back the feedback sheets to you, so even if you don't win the contast, you win the feedback.
I have sent my work in progress to Strictly Single and Get your Stiletto in the Door and although I didn't win, or even got to the second round, I have recieved lots of invaluable feedback (interestingly most judges agreed on what's good and what needs more work).
If you win/get shortlisted you may (or may not, as Scott Eagan points out on his blog) even get a request for a partial/full or The Call!
Downsides: can be expensive

9. If you feel your novel is perfect (or near perfect) submit your manuscript to the chosen agent or publisher.
The upside - if it's brilliant, you may get a publishing deal.
The downside - if it's crap not so brilliant, you are unlikely to receive any feedback at all.

Whichever way your choose, make a good use of the feedback. Read it (and reread as many times as you wish as I have done with mine), but let it rest for a while and then come back and think again. Here is a piece of advice on handling conflicting critiques..
If it feels right, follow the advice, it if doesn't - don't.


Good luck!

So you think you can write?

Have you written a novel? Or at least a first chapter and an outline? Or maybe, like me, you've done NaNo and have a first draft?
Can your novel by any chance be classified as romance?
Wondering what to do with that?

How about sending it to Harlequin - the global leader in series romance and one of the world's leading publishers of books for women?
It's the last challenge of their So You Think You Can Write project which featured a series of very informative and encouraging social media events in the first week of November.

All you need to have your submission considered is to sent a synopsis (5-7 pages) and first chapter (max 22 pages) of your novel (can be unfinished, but you'd better be prepared to have the rest handy in case you get a request for more in January!). Your novel can be targeted at any of Harlequin/Mills&Boon lines.

Here you will find some pointers regarding how to write your chapter and the dreaded synopsis. And if you need more info on Harlequin writing guidelines, have a look here.

Deadline: December 15, 6pm EDT. Results by 31 January 2011 (pretty fast, innit?)
I've just sent my submission - my NaNo medical romance.


Good luck to everyone :)

The importance of happy endings

Photo by graur razvan ionut
at freedigitalphotos.net

Happy ending is one of the ingredients that define a romance novel. Although the story doesn't have to end with the wedding bells, a satisfactory ending incorporates at least an assumption that Heroine and Hero will live happily ever after. You need to give them a good chance to stay together for the forseeable future. This is what your reader expects from your novel.




Kate Walker says (in her fabulous 12 Points Guide to Writing Romance) that
- your first page sells the book you're writing now, but
- the ending will sell your next one.

Enough to say why a satisfactory, believable, resulting naturally from your characters happy ending is vital to a romance novel.


I have a bit of a problem with endings, so I've been worrying that my characters will never make it to the end.
I can't believe I did it!
Not only I won NaNoWriMo (that is wrote 50,000 words) but also finished my novel.

I struggled through week 2 and 3 to the point there were days, when I spent 4- 5 hours in front of the computer and wrote only 500-800 words. That's pathetic, but at least I was moving on.
I have generally very low writing output - maximally 500 words/hour, which is much less than other people can.
But I wanted to get the Nano laurels, so uploaded the novel as soon as I reached 50,000 words, although I was still a few scenes away from the end.

What was really important for me was to finish the novel. It's my very first finished novel (my other novel has been work in progress for the last 5 or 6 years!).
I got my hero and heroine to their Happily-Ever-After yesterday morning. It's my very first happy ending.

Now I need to fix the plotholes, eyes changing colours, people changing names and the like - a.k.a. known as editing and revising process. I also need to write a synopsis.

I want to submit 1 chapter plus synopsis to The Final Challenge of SoYouThinkYouCanWrite at eHarlequin and the deadline is 15/12/10.
I also want to enter The Clendon Award 2011, which is a competition for members of Romance Writers of New Zealand.

Still a lot of work to do. But what a happy ending!


Congratulations to all NaNo Winners!

Living in 3 times zones

or NaNoWriMo and SYTYCW and my week long holidays day 4.

I've just finished Chapter 2 of my NaNo novel targeted at Mills&Boon Medical Romance, but in the meantime I decided to write a scene from the penultimate chapter for SoYouThinkYouCanWrite Challenge 3.
I must admit I'm knackered tonight - it's all that timing. Because of the time difference I really cut it fine with Challenge 2 (I only had 1 hour to patch a query letter together), so I decided to wait until well after midnight to at least read what the next challenge was going to be before I went to bed. But it didn't work - they didn't post it until must later. I must have got it all wrong again.
This is what happens when your body resides in IDLE (International Date Line East), your mind still  in GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) and trying to meet deadlines set in EST (Eastern Standard).

Luckily I had enough time this morning for Challenge 3. It was meant to be about drama, tension, and that x factor, 'which keeps a reader turning the pages until three in the morning', so I decided to go for one of the scenes of 'TheDark Night of the Soul', when Hero and Heroine think that everything is doomed and there won't be any Happily-Ever-After. I kept jumping between the scenes I'd had 'drafted' in my head only on Monday, and 10 minutes before the deadline had a moment of 'enlightement' that it was all wrong, because it wasn't emotional enough. But I just stuck with what I'd written and sent it off.

Now, fingers crossed that I get picked up for critique.

More on plotting your novel

NaNoWriMo starts in 2 days and the Web is teeming with advice on all aspects of writing a novel in a month, plotting included.

Dani Greer at The Blood-Red Pencil shows how to use a mind map to plot a novel.

In preparation for NaNo Paulo Campos at Yingle Yangle talks about outlining a novel worth reading, why outlining your novel is essential, and how to prepare for the moment when your outline will fail.

More on novel writing strategies at Burrowers, books and balderdash.

At Girlfriends Book Club Novelists Saralee Rosenberg and Ellen Meister discuss the neverending issue of what it takes to write a novel: Inspiration or perspiration?

My writing tends to be plot-driven, but classic romance is usually character-driven (more about it at editorrent), so I'd better read a little about plotting from character (Theresa at editorrent).

Ah, and then I need to think a little about my conflict.

Planning/plotting a novel

NaNoWriMo starts in a week. Time to start planning and plotting my novel.

There are several ways of planning/plotting a novel (e.g. The Snowflake Method, a four-steps one, and many, many others) and there is probably a book for every kind of writing and planning..Generally speaking, you should do whatever works for you.
For me it's James V. Smith's framework from his "You can write a novel" book (I own a You Can Write a Novel Kit - complete with Chapter Log, Major/Master and Minor Character charts, Scene Development and revision Tracker)

I am writing a category romance, so I have 50,000 words and 10 chapters to make a good use of.
I have used Daphne Clair and Robyn Donald's (Writing Romantic Fiction) tips to 'translate' James V. Smith's advice into the world of romance.


1. Opening scene, where my Reader is to be thrilled.
Well, apparently I have now only 300 words to get my Reader's attention, so I'd better get the opening scene right.
In romance this is Their First Meeting, that First Sparkle between Her (beautiful, smart AND caring) and Him (Alfa male, no doubts!). Best is to have it happen on the first page, and ever since none of them is allowed to leave the page (= if one of them is not physically present on the page, he/she must be present in the other's character's mind).
As far as I've noticed category romance have POV switching between hero and heroine.
This will be Chapter 1 of my NaNo novel

2. Pivotal setup complication, where the action can fall a little, but never below the point of interesting
This part is simple - I just need to come up with enough conflict (source of tension), internal (emotional) and external (life circumstances), to keep them apart for something like 180 pages. Easy-peasy, isn't it?
well, we shall see ;-)
This will be Chapter 2 and 3

3. Point-of-no-return complication, where the action rises to reach the thrilling level again
In romance this is usually the moment when they fall for each other and despite all these things in point 2 realise they can't help the attraction
In Chapter 4

Points 4, 5, 6 - pivotal complications with the action rises and falls swinging my Reader between Interested, Excited and Thrilled
The consequences of the conflict as laid out in point 2, plus some minor additions, usually of external type; a jealous ex jumping out of a box maybe?
Chapters 5, 6,and 7

7. Worst complications possible, where my Reader should be more than Thrilled
It's all about that conflict, really.
Chapter 8

8. Worse than even the worst complications possible - the climactic scene, where I should have my Reader blown away by the titanic, epic, final struggle of my hero/heroine facing their worst adversary; heroic conflict is resolved in the characters' favour, important lessons are learnt and no coincidence or divine intervention is allowed
Simply speaking: they both realise they can't live without each other, this is The Love Of Their Lives, so they have to do something about all them things laid out in point 2, plus the minor additions and get together
Chapter 9 and beginning of Chapter 10 (as I'm planning A Dark Night of the soul moment, when they realise there is no happy ending for them)

9. The End, where they live happily ever after and my Reader can wipe his/her forehead and sigh with relief
They get together; may sail off into the sunset, clutching their wedding invitations but no actual wedding is necessary on the scene.
The end of Chapter 10

10 rules for doing your research

picture by jscreationzs
via freedigitalphotos.net

"Thou shalt do you research"
As a Pattern Spotter and Theme Finder I decided that my recent struggle to get some facts right in the novel I'm currently writing, the setting I'm planning for my NaNoWriMo novel and three (Jody Hedlund, Helen Ginger for the BloodRedPencil and Mark Terry) blog posts enough to reflect a little on the importance of doing the research.
To be honest - I don't like doing research. I feel like I spend a lot of time browsing the Internet, composing fora posts, reading books, speaking to people  - and I can still get it wrong.




Here are my 10 rules for doing research (applies to fiction and non-fiction)

1. Write about what you know - you won't have to do much research, and you'll instantly know which sources are most reliable, be it books, magazines, places or experts.
Needles to say - it's my favourite rule.

2. Try to get information first-hand. If you can afford to go to a place where you want to set your novel - go, or write about places you have been too. Photographs can be helpful in getting geographical or seasonal info right. I know of authors who have enrolled on courses to have first hand experience and access to experts, or went on field trips (like Joanna Penn).
It doesn't have to be a big, serious course - a few weeks tester is sometimes enough to give you an idea, hands-on experience and some pointers. Check your local college, library or community centre for details of courses available.

3. If you have to get your information second-hand, try reliable and well tested sources first: books, libraries, librarians, experts.I have heard many positive and encouraging stories about helpful librarians all over the world (just email them; from what I've heard from other writers, librarians love being asked all these quirky details - it makes their job a little more exciting). When I was writing a short story set in a little town in northern Norway and needed some local info, I emailed the local council and got a very prompt and helpful reply.
Don't forget to mention particularly helpful people in your acknowledgements!

4. Ask your family, friends, work colleagues- people who, although not experts may have been to the places you want to write about (and have photos and little stories); attended those courses mentioned in Rule 2; or may know someone who has and put you in touch with them.
I prefer to 'innocently' steer the conversation towards the subject and weave my questions into the general conversation inconspicuously. It's happened to me that people refused to answer my questions once they knew it was for my novel or short story, often because they felt they weren't 'expert enough' to give me the information I needed (rubbish! If they weren't expert enough I wouldn't have asked them).
5. Use trusted web resourses: specialist websites, specialist fora, etc.
Writers are rarely only writers, they often have day jobs (like me), and from what I've found - they always more than happy to share their professional experience with you. And they live in different places on the planet, too. and you don;t have to pretend that this is for your cousin who's trying to adopt a disabled dog because her previous dog....

6. Use other brilliant tools available online, to mention only a few: Google Maps, photo libraries, webcameras placed in the place you're writing about

7. Use search engines wisely. Here's some advice on mastering the skill of asking the right question

8. Don't let the facts get into the way of a good story. Jody advises to "Go deep but stay narrow", Greg declared his duty to the Fiction. Ask yourself if you really need all those details in your book -can it be skipped or 'mumbled over' or happen in the background?
You can always consider getting someone to do your research, and pay for it.

9. If you're still not sure you got it right - get rid of it. Ever found any inaccuracies in a book? Have you put the book away? Well, you know what may happen if you get it wrong then.

10. Enjoy your research.
(I think I may skip this one though)



And what are your rules or trusted techniques?

NaNoWriMo

This year it's serious.
No more I'll_see_how_it_goes, I_may_join_in_later, or even I_think_I_could_do_it.
I'm doing it!

I've just joined in NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month. It starts on 1ts.November, ends on 30th; and I'm expected to write a 50,000 words novel. Thirty days and nights of literary abandon!

I don't have a title for my novel yet, but this is going to be a Mills&Boon medical romance (it's usually 50,-55,000 words so ideal for NaNoWriMo). I'm thinking of setting it somewhere between neurology/neuroscience and psychology. more details to follow.
I'm going to start planning the novel, draw the characters and think out the conflict later on this month (I'm taking a few days off for that).
Oh, yes - I am a Planner.

A NaNoWriMo widget will keep track of my word count.