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!

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?

Get your permissions (copy) right

Ooh, managed to get all the copyright permissions for my non-fiction book on OCD at last. Even though it didn't take me long, it has been a painful process. The most difficult task was to find the copyright owner for the NICE publication. I've lost count of emails sent into the void, but luckily in a sudden enlightement I decided to ask a copyright holder of another publication for advice and lo and behold! they happened to be The Right One.
Big thank you to all helpful people and my intuition.


If you writing a non-fiction book or article and quoting directly material other than your own, don't rely on your intuition only.

1. Find out who holds the copyright. For unpublished materials it's usually the author, for published books, magazines, other periodicals - check the copyright or editorial pages. It may be a bit trickier with photography, but start with the publisher (and remember that even when you're using your own photographs you may still need a permission such as model or property release). The fact material found on the Net is anonymous does not mean it is not copyrighted. When in doubt - don't do without!

2. Get your permissions early. Some publishers take up to a couple of months to reply to your request. Copyright owners in foreigh countries may take even longer! And you have that book/article to finish on time. Although there is nothing wrong with carrying on writing your book or article while you're waiting, you can't afford it going into publication without all the permissions in place.

3. Get your permissions in writing, even from your friends or relatives (this can be a particularly risky move because you may potenitially lose not only money or reputation as an author but also a friend).
Society of Authors suggests this model permission licence letter for use.
My publisher is happy with emails, but check with your publisher if you need to have your permissions in hard copy (e.g. a 'proper' letter), or if an email would do.

4. Have your purse ready. You may need to pay. How much? It depends on many factors, such as the lenght of the excerpts you're using, the circulation of your publication, etc. Copyright permissions for many academic publications can be obtain through Rightslink and Copyright Clearance Center. Rightslink can give you estimated released fee - which is particularly important if you're about to use what may be a very expensive quotation (I decided to make a minor change in my book after I saw the quote for my quote. Sorry, guys, it wasn't worth the £360).
Before commiting yourself to any payments (and asking for the invoice!), check your contract - it will usually contain information on who is to pay release fee. There may be some room for negociation with your publisher.

5. Make sure you understand the key word - substantial.
'Substantial' is not defined in Copyright Act, but is 'a matter of fact and degree', and is more about quality of the used excerpt, how big a portion of the original work you're quoting, how it affects your book/article, etc rather than the quantity. If in doubt- always ask.
In case of reviewing or critique a rule of 'fair dealing' applies and you may not need to seek permissions to quote - see Society of Authors guidance on the matter for further details.

6. There is no copyrights on facts, titles or ideas.


More details on copyrights, moral rights and permissions on Society of Authors website. The history and international copyrigths agreements on Wiki, and Top Ten Questions about Copyrights and Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Permissions on Writing World.
 
Happy quoting!