Writing Stuff

[lls_mutant]

Writing. ::sigh::

So, I've got one or two (knowing me, two) chapters left in A Lot to Live Up To. As much as I've enjoyed writing it, I'm ready to be done that fic. Do you realize it is already over 100K words? ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND. And I started it back in May, I think.

Part of the reason I'm excited to get it done is my Big Bang, which is a minimum of 20K words. (I've already cleared 6K.) But part of it too is I want to get some of these big bunnies (monster rabbits) done so I can go back to original fic again. I fully intend to do NaNoWriMo again this year, and continue work on my fantasy novel. I've gotten held up on a plot thread.



See, the book opens with an attack on the city of Pakane. The attack is perpetrated by the slaves of the city, people without magic, and is very unexpected. Most of the non-slaves flee the city.

I originally started this project with my 10 year old neighbor. She's now 13 and doesn't have much interest in it, but I've been continuing. When we started, it was a fairly typical quest story- we had a group fleeing the city and trying to get to a safehaven further south. I've since decided that the quest plotline isn't nearly enough to hold up the novel, and decided to do a co-plot with the people trying to regain the city.

The problem is, I don't know who I want to win.

On the one side, we have people who basically perpetuated a 9/11 style attack. However, they are slaves, and many of them were born into slavery. There has been no recourse for these people, and the treatment some of them suffer is horrible. On the other side, the victims of this attack are the ones keeping these people slaves.

Furthermore, this attack isn't really just about slavery. There are three continents on this planet, and two are at war. This continent is a colony of one of the warring continents, and a supplier of some vital supplies. The opposing continent is trying to cripple its opponent by cutting off the trade relations. The slave revolts are being engineered by operatives. I mean, it's working because the injustices are there, but it's not all about slavery=bad, freedom=good.

The problem with not knowing who I want to win is that it becomes harder to write some of the battles and strategies. Of course, the tide of battle can turn one way or the other as many times as I want- this is a war that's been waged for a long, long time, off and on. And I've very carefully constructed it that neither side is good or evil.

I may just flip a coin :) At least to get me moving.



But anyway, yeah. So I've been thinking about that. But I have to admit, it would be nice to earn money with my writing. Not even a lot- just something. To feel like I'm making a contribution, even if it doesn't feel like I'm doing something important. So I was working on a fic today, and one of the characters is reading a bodice-ripper novel. I don't often read bodice-rippers, so I went over to Harlequin's home page to get ideas for a title. And I found their writing guidelines.

I've never seriously considered writing romance novels before. But when I saw 55-60K words, I was like, "dude, I can do that in my sleep." (Well, not in my sleep, but you know what I mean.)

Of course, that would actually mean picking up some romance novels and reading them, just to get ideas of what they're looking for. But it seems like publishing romance novels is a little more accessible, and while it might not be what I REALLY want to write and publish, getting anything out in print would be good for the resume, right? (Although if I want to teach, I suspect I'd better write romances under a pen name ;) )

Anyone ever gone this route, or considered it? I think I've heard that it's easier to get published if you do your time with a joint like this, but I can't remember.

If nothing else, it would be something I could write that my mother would actually read.

Comments

[falafel-musings.livejournal.com]

I've had a few people say to me why not just write a trashy romance novel or a porny erotica novel, cos it is an easy way to get published. They don't demand a high word count or even a high quality of writing, so...

NO is my feeling. I don't want to do that. I don't want to get published just for the sake of being published. I don't like the conventional romance/erotica story so I'd feel like a fake writing one. I agree it could be a good way to get your foot in the door, but you would basically be doing what Paul Sheldon does in 'Misery' which means that one day a crazy fan is going to cut your foot off. You don't want to be Paul Sheldon. He's a dirty bird. Stick to what you're passionate about.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

You're probably right. ::sigh::

On reflection, I think about the fact that my smut is nowhere near as good as the rest of my writing. When I write smut, I fare best when I'm being silly. My favorite piece of smut was actually a foursome I wrote with Felix/Hoshi/Dee/Narcho, and I think I enjoyed it more because of the silliness of it, and trying to make such a ridiculous situation seem real. And the other piece of het smut I wrote that I liked was Dee/Hoshi, and it was NOT all that erotic. (Oh, and Cally/Galen, but that was more poking fun at trying to have sex when the woman is hugely pregnant. Again, NOT SEXY.)

The money aspect (aka ANY money) is appealing, but on a night's sleep and more sober reflection, I wonder how well I'd really do at it.

Yeah, actually

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

The thing is, writing romance novels is good in the sense that you don't need an agent. Once you get a few novels under your belt (and editing and the rest of it), you have an in so to speak. I know someone who's a mid level romance writer, but she wants to break out into Romantic Suspense. But she needs an agent for that one, but in the meanwhile, she's writing romance fic and doing online stories for loose Id and the rest of it.

Good luck in whatever you chose.

Re: Yeah, actually

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! I'm not sure what I'd do- a lot depends on inspiration- but it's something I've never even considered. Of course, I'm not sure how seriously I'm considering it (not looking down my nose at all at anyone- just saying that smut is not my strongest part of my writing), but it's an interesting train of thought to entertain.

Thanks!

Well... it all depends

[jazzypom.livejournal.com]

Not all romance novels are all skin and smut (LOL), because there are ways of writing sex scenes and referring to genitalia. I do know this acquaintance (actually, now that I think of it I know two) who left the 'standard' romance novel and started going the e-writing route because she felt constrained by their rules. You couldn't say penis, you couldn't say cock. You had to make the stuff flowery, so the sex had to glow but not sweat. LOL.

But yeah, e-publishing in romance has taken off, and they even demand stuff like 6000 words because they charge amounts like $1.99 for short stories.

Re: Well... it all depends

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Now this is an excellent point :) I'm not sure I can use phrases like "the dewy flower of her love" or "his throbbing manhood" without bursting into laughter.

Actually, as I think of it, my best smut comes when I'm totally mocking sex. It's not that I don't like sex, it's that when you think about it, it really does look kind of silly from the outside.

[kappamaki33.livejournal.com]

First, I had a *really* good laugh reading the submission descriptions at eHarlequin.com. I can't believe how specific some of them are. The "Steeple Hill Inspired" one was especially entertaining.

Second, I changed my mind about what I was going to say about your idea. My first instinct was, why would somebody who writes wonderfully nuanced, plotty epics which, when they do involve sex, tend to involve gay men having sex, want to write, and I quote, "highly charged conflicts that are underpinned by blistering sexual anticipation and released as passionate lovemaking" [is it horrible that seeing the words "blistering" and "sexual" in the same sentence make me think more along the lines of Hotdog's rash than romance?] by characters described as:

"When the hero strides into the story he’s a powerful, ruthless man who knows exactly what—and who—he wants, and he isn’t used to taking no for an answer! Yet he has depth and integrity, and he will do anything to make the heroine his. Though she may be shy and vulnerable, she’s also plucky and determined to challenge his arrogant pursuit."

But then I changed my mind, because of one thing:

Narcho.

I belong to a fairly sizable contingent of your readership that unabashedly drools over your Narcho. And, Narcho probably is an "alpha male." (Another favorite line from the website: "Modern Heat hero: he must be very alpha and absolutely to die for! There’ll be sparks flying when these two meet—and nothing short of fireworks once they get to the bedroom!" Can I get a job writing purple prose for their submissions guidelines? ;).) I don't read romance novels in part because I don't usually like "alpha males," and yet I've mentioned how much I'd like a Narcho delivered to my home. I like that he's masculine without being a caveman or a flat-out jerk--and I think you achieve a balance with him that a lot of authors just don't go for. I would read a book with a Narcho-like character as the hero.

I don't know. How would you feel about writing something with less nuance than you're used to, since I take it they're looking for something pretty simple and straightforward? How about something with an unambiguously happy ending?

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

The unambiguously happy ending doesn't bother me at all :) Just look at my big bang ending. :) Sure, I kill off a few people, but notice that a lot of my favorites survive just fine ;)

Narcho is a good point :) And he's preening because you mentioned it ;) But yeah. I could handle writing more Narcho.

Of course, I couldn't pair him with a guy named Louis, unless he wanted to be the plucky gay best friend. :P Which brings me to your first point- the fact I tend to write gay romances. Which is totally true, and totally not. When I write smut, it's generally slash. I don't think a lot of my het smut has been very erotic. I mean, I loved the Hoshi/Dee scene in Pain and Heaven, but it is NOT Harlequin material, y'know? And same with the Cally/Galen ficlet where they're trying to have sex when she's heavily pregnant. That's the stuff I do better with. Writing hot stuff? Doesn't seem to work for me :P

But most of my original romances are het. But then, they're usually secondary plots and the sex isn't described, and I'd consider "she realizes that the guy she thought she was in love with wasn't right for her, she ditched him, went into politics to change the world, got a cat, and ended up living her life single with many friends and a few lovers" to be a happy ending.

Maybe Harlequin won't be a good fit for me after all :P

[rian219.livejournal.com]

I don't think previous writing credits actually impact things all that much. For a start, everyone has to start somewhere, and for another, if it's a good story it's a good story, regardless of how many writing credits the author has. I had no writing credits when I submitted my short story to Torquere, and they still bought it.

What I do think has an impact is whether your heart's in it or not. You shouldn't write something just because you can, but because you want to. If your heart's not in the story, it will show, and that story won't sell anyway.

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Good to know on the writing credits, because really- credits and money would be the two reasons I'd really consider doing it. (And talking through this with people- and realizing I might have to seriously talk about throbbing manhoods and womanflowers or whatver- really makes me reconsider. FAST.)

Thanks for the advice! :)

[prophetkristy.livejournal.com]

If nothing else, it would be something I could write that my mother would actually read.

I don't want to think about my mom (and grandma!) reading trashy romance novels. I know that they do, I just try to block it out. It's like thinking about your parents having sex.

agh! need bleach for brain.

Also, your writing is too *good* for them!

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Sorry :)

My mom is a HUGE Nora Roberts/Nicholas Sparks fan. Loves em. Danielle Steele, too. She definitely does not read A Song of Ice and Fire or Terry Pratchett.

And I don't even want to know what she'd say about the Don Strachey mysteries :P

[prophetkristy.livejournal.com]

Oh no, it's fine. I just...I don't want my family finding anything adult that I wrote. *blush* ;-) YMMV!

(the kitty is being very cuddly right now, so I shall share via icon!)

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

I think you should do it! Yes, writing is ~art,~ but it's also a job, and to really do it professionally you have to look at it like a job. If you look at the resumes of professional writers, 99.99% of them started out pretty unglamorously. Plus, while a lot of romance is crap - just like a lot of sci-fi and a LOT of fanfic - not all of it is. And it would be good experience, if nothing else.

If you really want to get published, I think you should set that as your goal and work towards it, same as you would with any other. /.02

[lls-mutant.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I definitely don't have illusions about what publishing life is like. I'm starting to reconsider- more because I'm not sure I'm made to write some of this stuff (my best smut comes when I'm mocking sex. I write geeksex much better than I write anything else.) But hey- I'm not gonna judge what people read. Hell, I read A Song of Ice and Fire, and if that doesn't hit just about every squick that people have, I don't know what does :)

I'll probably just keep my mind open to it, and if inspiration strikes, I'll write it. :)

Thanks! :)

[frolicndetour.livejournal.com]

Hell, I read A Song of Ice and Fire, and if that doesn't hit just about every squick that people have, I don't know what does :)

Have you read any Neil Gamon? I'm reading American Gods right now, and it's great, but... cannibalistic vagina. Seriously. o_O