by Angela Smith | Jun 4, 2016 | Writing
My boss recently told me how impressed he was with my fiction writing. It made me nervous. I write romance novels! I don’t need my boss reading that!
Then I remembered that, although I am writing these novels about these characters, they are not me. It’s like being an actor. Jim Carrey is not a pet detective, Christian Bale, as much as we might like to think so, is not Bruce Wayne, and Matt Damon is not Jason Bourne and capable of killing. They are playing characters, and doing a damn fine job, and that’s what being a writer is all about.
Being a writer is like your character speaking through you. Like they have a story to tell, and they are using you as the vessel. Okay, that might be strange heebie jeebie stuff, and it isn’t as strange as it sounds, but believe me when I say it is my characters who tell the story, not me. My characters do go silent on me. They stop talking to me, and then I’m lost in my story, trying to find my way through a really confusing path. It isn’t fun.
As a matter of fact, the ones I’m writing now have done so. I’m trying so hard to tell the story they want me to tell, but I got stuck because I was trying to write things the way I wanted to write them, and not the way the character wanted me to. I think I’ve finally figured it out, but it’s still a really long process trying to weed through those, well, weeds.
So todays writing tip is to listen to your characters! Don’t let other voices get in the way of your voice. You have your own voice, and it usually comes through when you listen to your characters, because they are the ones to ultimately tell the story! If your writing is based on plotting more than character, then listen to the plot, because your plot is your character! And don’t be afraid to go all out. If others don’t approve, well, that’s their tough luck!
by Angela Smith | Jan 28, 2014 | Introspective, Relationships, Writing
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Sex. It’s a part of love or at least it should be, in my opinion. So why is it so hard to write about?
My biggest concern when writing sex scenes is my thoughts on who is going to read it. I know it’s crazy, but once I do get out of my character’s head and back to reality, I think about my aunts, uncles, cousins, sister, and friends who will read what I wrote. To me, it’s my character’s POV but I know in reality, my family will realize I wrote that because they don’t understand how it to be inside a character’s head. Hopefully, they’ll be in the POV and won’t even think about me writing this, LOL. But it’s still a thought, a dread, a fear of writing that particular scene that keeps me doubting on how to (or even if I should) write it.
Sex, even creative sex, is a magical part of a relationship, which is why I like to include it in my stories. Some books have a lot of sex, some books have a little sex, and some are spicier than others. Most of the time, we don’t talk about it with others. But when you’re writing about it, it feels like others are going to think these terrible thoughts about what kind of person you must be. Writers, am I right?
In talking with several writers, I realize there are many different approaches to writing a sex scene, and many different opinions regarding the writing and reading of sex scenes. One writer even said she didn’t think they were as necessary today, and the popularity of sex scenes was fading.
I disagree. Personally, I like them when they aren’t long, arduous, or graphic. I like a little shock, but I prefer to read about the emotive part of the sexual experience. With the build-up of tension between two characters that are falling in love, closing the door on a sex scene doesn’t feel right to me. Of course, there are some novels where a sex scene wouldn’t move the story forward, and that’s perfectly okay.
I have written some sweet stories with absolutely no sex (none yet completed or published at this time but maybe hopefully in the future). However, my romantic suspense stories always have some sex scenes as long as it moves the story (and the relationship) forward. There’s no point in having a sex scene just to have a sex scene.
Also, I believe writers are afraid of writing sex scenes. Partly because of what I just admitted to you about family, and partly because they have no idea where to start. That’s when, as a writer, you have to get out of your head and get into your character’s head. Don’t overthink it. And remember, there’s always a rewrite and plenty more rewrites.
What about you? How do you feel about sex scenes in a romance novel?
by Angela Smith | Jan 24, 2014 | Writing
A writer’s worst nightmare: to be or not to be grammatically correct.
Yeah, those little green squiggly lines in Microsoft Word can be annoying. But how many bestselling books have you ever read are grammatically correct? Sometimes being the smartest person in the room is an annoyance to the average reader.
Will it make me look stupid if I’m not grammatically correct?
In my opinion, sometimes it’s worse, on the page, to be grammatically correct. Yet there are so many people, especially nowadays because they’re afraid grammar is falling by the wayside, who become the “grammar police” and fix every single grammatically wrong sentence structure in a story that it doesn’t even feel like a story anymore.
Now, is the above sentence grammatically correct?
A normal person doesn’t think, read, or write grammatically correct. Whether they should or shouldn’t is beyond the point. If we follow all the grammar rules, there are many things writers shouldn’t do. Obviously, there are rules that will MAKE US LOOK STUPID if we don’t follow them, but following certain rules make us appear stuffy.
For instance, commas vs. semicolons.
I cringe when I see a semicolon, even when I know it’s correct. When I’m in a person’s head, their POV, that person is going to think in clipped sentences and sometimes way too long in the eye of an erudite. Characters don’t think in terms of semicolons or what is right and wrong in grammar. Characters have their own way of speaking, of thinking, and a good author will follow that way despite what the grammar police say. Look at the bestselling authors of this century, even the last century. Semicolons are rarely, if ever, used.
I once had an editor who corrected my sentences to semicolons on almost every single page. I had to ignore them. Sometimes, I changed them, depending on the sentence or the way it was said. Sometimes it challenged me to think of a different way of saying the sentences altogether. And I finally had to write a “letter to the editor” and let them know why I chose to ignore the changes.
I read a lot. And I read a lot of bestsellers. Most authors are bestsellers for a reason, whether you like them or agree with the fad or not. So my suggestion to would-be authors is to read those best sellers, figure out what it is that makes them work, and don’t always listen to the rules! Sometimes that means disagreeing with your editor! After all, a good editor will know the grammar rules, and will try to follow them despite how you feel it makes or disrupts the story! But a good author will know when it’s time to ignore those rules.
That being said, I have to say that authors who chose to be grammatically correct, if you’re doing well, then by all means you should keep doing what you are doing! Maybe times are changing, but I haven’t seen it and I refuse to follow in those footsteps. The grammar rules of yesteryear don’t always apply to the way we read today, and neither does it mean we are stupid or disrespectful for not following them. And if I’m going to lose a reader because they don’t like my grammar, then I’ll probably gain five more because they weren’t annoyed with my grammar. And yes, I have been annoyed by reading too many semicolons. I would rather read the wrong word than too many semicolons.
If in doubt, do what the bestsellers do. Not what the grammar police tell you to do.
