A long career, a successful one, will shift and change as we grow as writers, but knowing how to navigate those changes isn’t easy. Whether it’s a shift in subgenre, a change in pen name, a switch from indie to traditional to hybid and back – the best way to learn it is to hear from other romance writers who’ve done it.
Come discuss with us how you’ve done it or bring questions to learn how. See you Sunday 4pm PST/ 7pm EST on #RWChat!
~Robin Lovett
Graphic by Alexis Daria
Image by Alexis Daria
A novel isn’t a page turner without conflict. Conflict is what keeps us on the edge of seats worried about what will happen next. But managing conflict as a writer–planning it, producing it, keeping it–is an exercise in stamina. Beginning a novel with enough conflict to last until the end isn’t easy. Add in the struggle to keep the conflict ball in the air chapter after chapter, it takes a lot of practice.
Conflict stems from two main sources:
Balancing external and internal conflict is like walking a tight rope. There has to be enough external conflict to keep the over arching plot moving without stalling. But there has to be enough internal struggle to keep the reader emotionally engaged in the stakes till the end.
We love our characters and the temptation to make things easier for them, to help them fall in love sooner, reach that happily ever-after faster, is possibly the worst enemy of our story. If it’s too easy for them, who wants to read that? There’s no reason to keep turning pages. But if we torture them and employ my favorite technique from James Scott Bell, “What’s the worst that can happen?”, then we come up with the kind of books we can never get enough of–even after the HEA.
Join us for our chat on conflict Sunday at 4:00 pm PST / 7:00 pm EST.
~Robin Lovett
Image by Alexis Daria
It’s NaNoWriMo season which means lots of us are slogging away at putting thousands of words on a blank page every day. Creating something out of nothing can be exhausting. Do you prepare with an outline or fly by the seat of your pants? If you plot, how do you cope when things go off track from the plan? If you’re a pantser, how do you deal with the inevitable scary moment of “I have no idea what happens next?”
Come share with everyone how you cope with the challenges of writing from scratch. And hear how others manage it too.
See you 4pm PST / 7pm EST!
~Robin Lovett
Four Ways Blogging Can Boost Your Author Brand
by Eliza David
Writing romance is time consuming. The drafts, the revisions, the writer blocks, the plot bunnies – it can take over your life. So why should you invest more time writing in a blog?
Although writing diverse romantic fiction is my first priority, my blog is a crucial component of my platform. I consider it my space beyond my novels. It supports my brand and boosts my profile. Here are four ways to make blogging an integral part of your author arsenal as well: Continue reading
It may sound like a bit of an exaggeration, but I don’t think it is. Writing 50,000 words in the month of November for the last three years, with the help and support of the NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) community has made me the writer I am, and it’s not just because my 2014 NaNo book became my debut published novel this summer.
My NaNoWriMo stickers on the back of my old laptop from the three years I won.
The discipline to commit and write a novel in 30 days is a daunting but very professional task. The respect it shows one’s work with a specific goal and a hard fast deadline along with the accountability of the whole NaNo community is the mark of a budding professional writer.
The number one thing NaNoWriMo did for me was teach me to turn off my overcritical, often debilitating inner editor. I have a tendency to over analyze everything, often making it hard to achieve a goal because perfection gives me writer’s block. But the NaNo philosophy of Don’t-Edit-Just-Write helped me learn to write for the pure enjoyment and pleasure of it.
In the midst of achieving deadlines this year, I’ve been losing sight of that – the joy of writing. I can’t wait until November 1st. NaNoWriMo is fast becoming my yearly commitment to myself to remember I LOVE TO WRITE!
We’re two weeks out from the start of NaNo. The perfect time to start planning your novel for the month. Alexis Daria, NaNo veteran and municipal liaison for over ten years, will have lots of provoking questions and info for us on what NaNo is all about – this Sunday 4pm PST / 7pm EST.
Until then, think about what it is you would love to write next.
~Robin Lovett
We all want to succeed, right? Of course. We think. Most days. Sort of.
Battling through our insecurities and self-sabotage on the road to success isn’t easy. But the good news is – we’re not alone. Everyone does it. Join us to talk about how your Fears of Success manifest and learn how others do battle with it. We all fight the fight toward the goals we deserve to achieve. Let’s compare notes! Sunday 4pm PST / 7pm EST
~Robin Lovett
It took us till Friday to come up with this Sunday’s topic cuz, yeah, we were procraaaastinating. Every writer does it. It gets in our way. We all lose large amounts of writing time to it. How do you cope with procrastination? What effect does it have on your process and how do you overcome it?
Come with ideas, come with questions. See you Sunday on #rwchat at 4pm PST/ 7pm EST.
~Robin Lovett
Graphic courtesy of Alexis Daria.
#RWChat is just that – a conversation, a vehicle for sharing the many points of view of the many amazing writers in our romance community. So we want to know, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO CHAT ABOUT NEXT? We’ve talked about a lot of stuff, but there’s lots more we haven’t talked about. Leave us comments with your ideas or tweet them at us. We’ll use them in the coming weeks, months, year…
We wouldn’t be #RWChat without you!
~Robin Lovett
What goals do you have for the autumn season? According to my bullet journal, mine are simple:
This is pretty much in order. It also focuses exclusively on stuff I can control. For example, I wrote “query more agents to a goal of 50” because I can do that myself. “Find an agent to represent me” depends on other people.
I also have a lot of freedom with my plan. I have set deadlines, but they’re just for me, as I’m not under contract for anything. I am super comfortable with my deadlines, and if nothing happens to disrupt my plan, I’m going to have a contemporary romance ready to query when publishing re-opens in January.
The only problem is if something happens to wreck my beautiful plan, like say getting a response on WITCHMARK that means I have to hold off on Project Arcade. Then I’ll have to do it over, but honestly, that would be a nice problem to have.
How do you plan ahead for writing?
Graphic by Alexis Daria
The summer’s gone… The years have passed… I mean, well, not years, but it’s been since July when we talked about our mid-year goals. How are they going? Are you where you thought you’d be at the end of September? Are those goals you planned for “By the end of 2016” still looking possible?
Whether you need a totally new goal plan or you’re running right on track, come join us Sunday evening 4pm PST / 7pm PST on #RWChat to tell us how your writing is going this fall.
~Robin Lovett
Romance Writers Chat 