Making A Writing Calendar (Or, Writing A Novel In A Month)

November 14, 2017November 15, 20171 Comment

This Sunday’s #rwchat topic is about Stealing Time To Write and how difficult it can be to find writing time amidst our busy schedules. Here’s Robin Lovett’s strategy for planning her writing when real life threatens to steal it away.

I’m pretty lucky. For the most part, writing is my addiction of choice. When I run out of things to write, that’s when I have a problem. I also love deadlines. When someone is waiting for my work and likes it so much and believes in it so much they’ve contracted me to write it, I get even more excited.

But that doesn’t mean that life never gets in the way. Or edits come back with a half-rewrite (!) and eat a month out of my deadline to write the next book. So I make plans, honest plans, because if they’re not honest, they won’t work. Continue reading →

Coming Nov. 19th…Stealing Time to Write

November 13, 2017November 5, 20171 Comment

romance writers chat topic stealing time to write All year round, but especially with the holidays coming up, finding time to write can be difficult. How do you keep putting words on the page when you can’t block out big chunks of time to sit down and work? Whether you struggle with stealing time to write, or you’re an expert with all the answers, come share your knowledge and your struggles with us on Sunday, November 19th @ 4pm PT | 7pm ET.

Writing A Book Proposal

November 12, 2017Leave a comment

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This week’s chat topic is writing series proposals! #RWchat co-host Robin Lovett talks here about the skills needed for writing proposals, and why they’re necessary for authors to learn.

Before writing the book, starting with the blurb and synopsis is my new favorite way to do things.

Now that I know how, that is.

Most of us, when we write our first book (or two) haven’t yet learned how to write a blurb or synopsis. But once you’ve learned how, once you’ve figured out how to concisely communicate your book’s contents in condensed format, it makes writing the book inevitably easier.

Continue reading →

Coming Nov. 12th…Series Proposals

November 6, 2017November 5, 2017Leave a comment

romance writer chat topic series proposals Writing a whole book, or even a whole series, and having no publisher sign it, can be very discouraging. If you’re pursuing traditional publishing, writing a proposal (a series blurb, synopsis and first three chapters or so, depending on the publisher), can be a great way to see if an editor is interested in your idea before you put in the blood sweat and tears to write the whole book. Join us to discuss how you write proposals or learn from others how they’ve done it. Sunday, November 12th, 4pm PT / 7pm ET.

Coming Nov. 5th…Romance Subgenres

October 29, 2017October 29, 2017Leave a comment

romance writer chat topic romance subgenres

RWA has a list of subgenres on their site, but the last time we asked for topic suggestions, this one came up a few times. Do these sub-categories still represent the breakdown of Romance as a genre? Should there be more? Fewer? What happens if you’re writing genre hybrid–how do you decide how to pitch, market, and sell your books? We’ll talk about all of that and more on Sunday, November 5th, 7pmET/4pmPT.

Using Research to Deepen Characterization

October 22, 2017October 22, 2017Leave a comment

The October 22nd chat is about research! #RWchat co-host Alexis Daria weighs in on doing research for her debut contemporary romance, Take the Lead.

I thought writing a contemporary would be easy.

Wait. Let me backtrack: I hate doing research. So I thought writing a contemporary romance would be easier than, say, a historical. No research, right?

Little did I know.

When I set out to write Take the Lead, I thought I had obtained enough dance knowledge from years of watching Dancing with the Stars to write a book that was kind of about dancing and mostly about people getting out of their own way to find love. And then I hit the first dance scene…and I was stuck. I didn’t know enough about dance to write a character who was a professional dancer.

Sure, I suppose I could have just skimmed the details and said, “They danced across the porch,” and left it at that. I knew which dance they were doing—a sensible waltz—but I wanted to use more dance vocabulary and detail. So I opened a browser and did a quick bit of research.

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Continue reading →

Coming Oct. 22nd…Research!

October 15, 2017October 15, 2017Leave a comment

romance writer chat graphic research topic

Last month we asked for topic suggestions at the end of one of the chats, and we got quite a few! One topic that many chatters mentioned was research. Research isn’t just for historical writers! Even if you’re writing fantasy or paranormal, you might still find yourself falling into Wikipedia rabbit holes. Let’s talk about it next Sunday at 7pm Eastern, 4pm Pacific. See you then.

Coming Oct. 8th…Failure & Rejection

October 1, 2017Leave a comment

romance writer chat topic failure rejection

Writing is a craft, a calling, a creative endeavor, but it’s also a business. The writing process is intensely personal, but once your words are out in the world, it’s a whole other story. (Pun intended.) Rejection letters, canceled contracts, agent breakups, even unfinished manuscripts that never make it out from under the bed—writing careers have ups and downs, but it’s how we deal with the setbacks that make all the difference.

Let’s talk about it at the next #RWchat, Sunday, October 8th.

Coming Oct. 1st…Autumn Goals

October 1, 2017Leave a comment

RWchat 10-1-17

Whether you’re in the northern or southern hemispheres, it’s a new season, which means it’s time to talk about goals! Let’s look back over the last nine months of the year and see how far we’ve come, as well as reassessing what we want and where we’re going.

See you at 7pmE/4pmP on Sunday, October 1st!