Theory on Thursday with Dianne Blacklock

Today on Theory on Thursday I have Aussie Women's Fiction author Dianne Blacklock. Dianne isn't talking about a specific book or writing tool but rather those elusive RULES we all hear from time to time...

Golden Rules

What writer doesn't love a good rule? Tips, mantras, affirmations, motivations … personally, I devour them. I have read many excellent books on the craft of writing, and will click a link to anything with even the vaguest suggestion of a writing tip.

Which is what I did early last year, when the Guardian published a lengthy 2-part article on the Rules for Writing Fiction. http://bit.ly/bUBF9l

Inspired by the publication of Elmore Leonard’s 10 Rules of Writing, they asked a host of amazing writers for their own top 10 tips. I was in heaven. But then a funny thing happened as I made my way through the list - I began to see an interesting pattern. I delved into my own stores of favourite writers’ tips and the pattern continued. Take a look for yourself.

‘Read Becoming a Writer, by Dorothea Brande. Then do what it says, including the tasks you think are impossible. You will particularly hate the advice to write first thing in the morning, but if you can manage it, it might well be the best thing you ever do for yourself.’ (Hilary Mantel)

Work in the morning, a short break for lunch, work in the afternoon and then watch the six o'clock news and then go back to work until bed-time. (Colm Toibin)

‘Find your best time of the day for writing and write. Don't let anything else interfere. Afterwards it won't matter to you that the kitchen is a mess.’ (Esther Freud)

I write very small so I don't have to turn the page and face the next empty one. (Michael Morpurgo)

Fill pages as quickly as possible; double space, or write on every second line. Regard every new page as a small triumph. (Roddy Doyle)

You most likely need a thesaurus. (Margaret Atwood)

Do keep a thesaurus, but in the shed at the back of the garden or behind the fridge. (Roddy Doyle)

The greater your vocabulary the more effective your writing. (PD James)

A deliberately limited vocabulary can produce an astonishing emotional punch. (Sarah Waters)

Know the market. (Ian Rankin)

Never worry about the commercial possibilities of a project. (Geoff Dyer)

Don’t look back until you’ve written an entire draft, just begin each day from the last sentence you wrote the previous day. (Will Self)

Reread, rewrite, reread, rewrite. (Helen Dunmore)

In the planning stage of a book, don't plan the ending. It has to be earned by all that will go before it. (Rose Tremain)

To begin a novel without an ending fixed in your mind’s eye, you must be very clever, and so full of confidence in the voice that tells the story that the story itself hardly matters. (John Irving)

Never stop when you are stuck. You may not be able to solve the problem, but turn aside and write something else. Do not stop altogether. (Jeanette Winterson)

If you get stuck, get away from your desk. Take a walk, take a bath, go to sleep, make a pie, draw, listen to music, meditate, exercise. (Hilary Mantel)

Stop reading fiction. (Will Self)

Read like mad. (Sarah Waters)

Don't panic. (Sarah Waters)

Do feel anxiety – it’s the job. (Roddy Doyle)

Work hard. (Andrew Motion)

Have fun. (Anne Enright)

Are you getting the idea? It appears that for every golden rule there is an equal and opposite rebuttal of that rule.

So does that mean you can’t trust these pesky writers with their contradictory advice? It’s like when you have your first baby and everyone tells you something different and you nearly lose your mind, and certainly a fair whack of your confidence.

But you soon learn, don’t you? You learn to take on what works for you, what feels right for your situation. You learn who to listen to, and who to just nod at politely.

This is why I think Stephen King’s On Writing is really one of the best books around on writing, because he tells you how he does it, he doesn’t tell you how you should do it. He encourages you to find your own way.

So, write in the morning, or late at night, use a thesaurus, or don’t, whatever works for you. And good luck!

HUGE thanks to Dianne for sharing those contradictory rules with us :) Dianne has a new book, THE SECRET INGREDIENT, out this month (details below) and it looks fabulous. Dianne also runs writing workshops throughout the year. Her first workshop in 2012 will be on Saturday the 10th of March at the NSW Writers' Centre at Rozelle in Sydney. It will be a full-day workshop entitled "Where Is The Love?" How to put the romance into your writing. The phone number of the centre is 02 9555 9757.

Taste was such an evocative sense; Andie had closed her eyes, with the scone melting in her mouth, and been transported back to her grandmother's kitchen...

Nourishment is nurture. That's what Andie learned from her grandmother and what she's always believed about cooking. But somehow, since marrying Ross, she's allowed her love of food to take a back seat and given up her dream of becoming a chef.

Lately she's been craving more. And when her marriage falls apart, she's determined to find herself again and take back control of her destiny.

The first step is taking a job in the kitchen of renowned chef Dominic Gerou. The brooding Englishman is more than Andie bargains for, but the new Andie is ready for anything, even a bad-tempered chef who makes it clear he won't tolerate mistakes.

In this beautiful new novel, Dianne Blacklock takes us on a sumptuous journey of the heart as Andie uncovers the secret ingredient for her new life, and shows that no matter how many false starts you may have, if you hold on to your passion and your dreams, anything is possible.

Over-used words

I have just pressed send on Hollywood Heartbreak to my editor at Carina Press. Am really, really hoping it will be my second book with them. Have two more ideas for books to make a Hollywood series and have given them to my editor too. So now I guess the wait begins.

While editing, I got to thinking about words I use a lot that either could be replaced with stronger words or could be deleted altogether. Today in a final edit, I searched my manuscript for the following words:

• very
• absolute
• thought
• felt
• just (HUGE culprit for me)
• knew
• seemed (another surprising biggie)
• suddenly
• looked
• was

While I didn't change ALL of these instances - often in dialogue they worked - I did change a lot and delete a fair few as well. I'm putting together a list of words to look out for in a final list. Do you have any words that you over-use and look out for in the final edit?

Theory on Thursday with Joan Kilby

This week I have Superromance and Carina Press author Joan Kilby talking about something that has fascinated me for a while now. SCRIVENER!! I have heard so many people say they use this program to write their books and I always wanted to know HOW that worked. I admit to thinking it sounded like just another procrastination tool to prolong actually writing the book, but I also admit to not looking into it properly at all.

So I was thrilled when Joan said she used SCRIVENER and even more thrilled when she agreed to blog about it.

Here's Joan herself...

Scrivener has so many great features there isn’t enough space to list them all so I’ll mention a few of my favorites.

Corkboard: Plotting is a breeze using the index cards on the corkboard to keep track of scenes. The index cards are linked to the text of the scene as you write.

You can:

- create as many cards/scenes as you like;

- tag them with colors specific to your characters’ povs;

- write a brief synopsis of the scene on the card;

- add meta-data notes, for example, the date created, first draft or revised.

- hold the cursor over a card and a popup shows you the first line of that scene.

- flip the card over and insert a photo of the pov character (if you have one).

- see at a glance the balance between different characters’ povs.

- drag the index card to a different location, and the associated scene moves within your manuscript, allowing you to rearrange scenes quickly and easily.

Here’s a link to the corkboard of scenes for my wip.

The book isn’t complete and I haven’t separated the scenes into chapters but you get the idea. You can view the manuscript in individual scenes or by clicking on the ‘Chapter’ folder at the top, scroll through the entire manuscript.

Binder: Along the left-hand side is the Binder. This contains all your scenes plus folders for each character, research where you can store hyperlinks, photos, media, and copied text plus any other folder you care to create.

Along the top are a number of icons for managing your manuscript. One of my favorites is ‘Compose.’ Click on this and everything fades to black except the text. What I really love is that by going into Preferences on my Mac I can set the background color. I then set the font color in Scrivener and I can write in white text on a teal background. I find this color combination the most restful on my eyes. I can’t get it in Word anymore, at least not in Word for Mac.

Name generator: Ever have a problem thinking up names for your characters? The Scrivener name generator, located in Edit>Writing Tools, instantly generates up to 500 first and last names in different nationalities. Love it!

Drawbacks: The biggest one for me is that I can’t use the keyboard to perform many of the editing commands the way I was used to doing in Word.

Also, you have to convert to Word once you’re ready to submit it to an editor or agent. However, that’s probably a good thing since the text is easier to edit in Word.

However, I got into a sticky situation. I compiled my proposal chapters, converted to Word, edited the chapters and then submitted them to my editor. Since then I’ve also edited the Scrivener text. Now I have two different versions of the same three chapters. I’ll have to be very careful when creating the final version that I have the most up-to-date elements of both Scrivener and Word. Of course, if you’re writing the whole manuscript before editing and submitting, you won’t have this problem.

Conclusion: I highly recommend Scrivener. The interactive tutorial that comes with it is easy to understand. You don’t need to know much to dive in and you quickly learn more simply by doing. The program was created for Mac so anyone familiar with Macs will have no problem. I understand there’s now a Scrivener for Windows.

I’m still learning about Scrivener but if anyone has questions I’d be happy to try to answer them.

Comment to go in the draw for winner’s choice of one book from my recent trilogy. For titles, excerpts and reviews, go to http://www.joankilby.com

Thanks, Rachael, for the opportunity to blog on Scrivener!

Joan Kilby

GENTLEMEN PREFER NERDS March 2012 Carina Press

PROTECTING HER SON April 2012 Harlequin Superromance

Thanks so much for sharing all that fabulous information with us Joan. I didn't know you could actually write the WHOLE MS in Scrivener. Am going to have to investigate Scrivener for Windows.

Another course and Sassy Sisters!

I'm happy to report I finally finished Hollywood Heartbreak over the weekend (or Friday night or something) and so now I'm into Chillaxing November. Well, as chillaxing as I can get.

I've got a massive list of books to read and lots of blog promos to write for my book, which debuts NEXT MONTH. It happened to appear on Amazon today and it was such a thrill to see it there. Also this month I'm doing a course with writer and Carina Press editor Rhonda Helms about plotting. I'm hoping this month (while chillaxing) to plot my next single title romance.

And in MORE news, I'm over at Sassy Sisters today. Please check out my announcement :)

Hope you are all well and happy and writing up a storm in November or reading lots like me.

x

Rach!

The truth about second-hand bookshops

I've always been a book lover. Not just the fabulous stories inside, but for as long as I can remember, I've simply loved books. I love the smell, I love holding them in my hand, seeing them on my shelf, simply buying them.

But I must confess, that I've never been much of a fan of second hand books. My hubby collects all these old, tattered hardback books. He doesn't really care what the story is, he just likes having old books. Me? I like my books NEW! Call me a snob, but that's just the way it is. So because of this, I've never seen a great appeal in second hand bookshops. I can understand that maybe you might find an old, out of print gem in one if you hunt hard enough, but aside from that... meh.

However, until I started writing seriously and getting to know other authors through writing organisations, blogs, etc, I never thought about something that now REALLY bugs me.

If you buy a book from a second hand shop, the author won't get royalties for it.

Writing is a career like teaching, baking, medicine is for other people, yet we expect to pay for these things. I understand that everyone likes a bargain but I actively tell people now that if they are a BIG FAN of a particular author, please buy that book new - print or e-book, doesn't matter but buy it new. Because with each sale, you are making it easier for an author to continue writing fabulous books.

If you can't afford new, there's always the library. In Australia at least, authors who register for PLR make some money each time someone borrows their book.

Am curious... what are your thoughts on second hand bookshops?

Theory on Thursday with Coleen Kwan

This week on Theory on Thursday I'm excited to bring you debut author, fellow Aussie and Carina Press buddy, Coleen Kwan. I downloaded Coleen's book on Monday and as soon as I recharge my e-reader, I'm reading it. Can't wait. The book sounds awesome and the cover is fab. So here's hoping Coleen shares with us some secrets to her success :)

Take it away, Coleen:

When Rach invited me to do a blog on my favourite craft book I couldn’t narrow it down to just one, so I cheated and picked two.

When I’m in the midst of writing, my favourite craft book is Jessica Page Morrell’s ‘Between The Lines.’ The subtitle of this book is ‘Master the subtle elements of fiction writing’, and I think this sums up the book very well. It’s not a how-to book but rather it highlights areas where our writing could be improved. The author’s writing style is engaging, and she uses many examples from popular fiction to illustrate her points. In her chapter on Suspense, she uses excerpts from The Lovely Bones to show how the author builds up a truly horrifying scene without going into gratuitous detail.

‘Often this sort of understatement is more potent than a blow-by-blow depiction of violence because the reader’s imagination, fuelled by suspense, fills in the details.’

A good lesson for me as I sometimes find myself slipping into melodrama. When I’ve finished my first draft and into revisions, I like James Scott Bell’s ‘Revision & Self-Editing’ by my side. Bell says ‘Writing a novel is like falling in love. You jump in and write. At some point you pop the question and your novel says Yes. You’re married to it now. The commitment has begun. Then some problems surface. Bad breath in the morning. Crankiness. A shouting match. What happened to the bloom? You begin to doubt. But you’ve made the commitment, so you are determined to work things out. When you do, your marriage comes back stronger. Revision is like the counselling process that renders a better relationship.’

I keep reminding myself of this while I slog through revisions. Bell’s book is divided into two parts. The first part is a sort of checklist of all the usual areas: character, plot, dialogue, etc. The second part gives some practical advice on how to tackle the editing part. I like his suggestion of ‘ping-ponging’ if you’re feeling overwhelmed by a big fat mess of a story. He says when he’s revising a manuscript he’s also writing the first draft of another or planning another.

‘This gives the mind a rest but keeps it active as a writer. So the boys in the basement will be on call, sweaty, warmed up, ready to work.’ Don’t know if that image works for everyone, but you get the picture!

WOW - those two books sound AWESOME Coleen! I might have to stop this series soon, before all my money is spent on craft books. Thanks again for coming and can't wait to hear about more books from you.

Coleen's debut book, WHEN HARRIET CAME HOME, is now available at www.carinapress.com

After ten years of exile, Harriet Brown is back in town. Things have definitely changed, but so has she. Now the confident owner of a catering business, she's no longer the shy, overweight girl everyone—including her hot teenage crush—used to ignore. In fact, she's determined to make peace with Adam Blackstone for her part in exposing his father's secret affairs and corrupt behavior as mayor.

But Adam has changed as well. No longer a pampered, rich pinup boy, he just wants to reestablish his family's good name. He reluctantly agrees to a truce with Harriet, and is surprised by how changed she is. He doesn't want to be drawn to her, but he can't seem to resist her allure.

As Harriet struggles to come to terms with her past, her adolescent infatuation with Adam morphs into something more serious… Will she ever be accepted again? Or will ancient history ruin the chance of a future full of possibilities?

Shhh.. Your Character Has a Secret!

I have lots happening in the writing part of my world at the moment and I'm hoping to have some good news to share but at the moment, it's a secret.

And as it happens, I'm also starting a Savvy Authors writing course today, entitled ''Shhh... Your Character Has a Secret.''

I love books about secrets - they give that touch of mystery that I love to read in a romance - and I have sketchy ideas for my next two books about characters with secrets, so can't wait to get started in this course.

I haven't done a Savvy Authors course before but have heard only good.

Here's the spiel for the one I'm about to start:

Sshhh… Your Character Has A Secret
Instructor: Sue Viders and Becky Martinez. Secrets are a staple in fiction. Just about any great leading character has some sort of secret he/she does not want the world to know. How can you come up with a secret for your hero or heroine and how can you use that secret to build conflict? Join two published authors and teachers for a week-long class who will introduce you to the power of secrets—from big to small—from old to new—and who will show you how using secrets can build tension, provide conflict and make your character much more believable.

So what about you? Have you done a fabulous writing course lately that you'd recommend to other writers?