The hashtag #amwriting is one you see a lot on Twitter. It likely means a thousand different things — am writing poetry, a new blog post, a historical novel, a doctoral dissertation. In my case, it means i’m writing a new erotic romance. Right now, i’m working on two, and i thought i’d share a little of the writing process involved in their creation.
Today, i’ve been working on one of the most interesting and challenging writing processes — rewriting. Some of you know that i’m working on my first-ever romantic suspense novel. It’s called, tentatively, Golden Dancer, and, because it’s me, it’s also a M/M/M menage! I finished the first draft two weeks ago and sent it out to my beta readers for comments. My principal reader is a renowned writer herself and a real master of romantic suspense, so i’m a lucky duck. Today, i got the notes back and, since i want to get this to my publisher in a couple weeks, i plunged in.
Weak opening. Always a tough note but a vital one because if you don’t grab your reader in those first few lines you may lose them forever. Funny, i had changed the opening to make it more “suspenseful” before i sent it to beta and my reader came back and said to start right where i had originally begun before the change. Sometimes those first instincts are best! Beef up the inner conflict. LOL Conflict, inner and outer, is tough for me. Once i go back in and work on it, however, i can usually make it pretty compelling. Reinforce your clues. Ah yes, you can’t make it hard for your readers to follow your plot, even if it is called a mystery. But bottom line, she loved the story and said i had great instincts for suspense. Wow, music to my ears.
In order to plunge back into the rewriting process today, i had to give up (for a short time) the most fun writing process on another book, at least for me — writing the rough draft. Drafting a story is a magical process of discovery, where everything you planned shifts and grows and colors itself in amazing ways. I’m a “plotser”, a writer who prepares a very basic synopsis and then pantses the rest letting it happen as it will. This gives me the best of two worlds for my personality. I get enough structure to be sure i have a story, which is important in light of my conflict avoidance. I have to decide at least some in advance what the conflict points are going to be. But, most of all, i get enough wonder and surprise to make the unfolding of the story a constant delight. I adore drafting. Plus, i’m working on my first ever paranormal romance which is a blast. The idea for this story was inspired by a submission call that got me thinking about –well, i’ll wait a little while before i tell you too much more. Don’t want to spoil the surprise.
There’s lot’s more parts of the writing process. Some authors rewrite a dozen times, some only once or twice. I know writers who love working with their editor after the book has been submitted, others hate that part. Some writers even love line edits!! LOL What about you? If you are one of those #amwriting people, what is your favorite part of the process? And if you’re a reader, which part sounds the most fun?