Booklist
In our writing TBR pile:
How to write a Damn Good Thriller (Status: Reading)
Creating Characters (Status: TBR)
Creating Characters: How to Build Story People (Status: TBR)
Author Offerings
Three women haunted by horrors from their pasts. Four men who want to show them there's Nothing to Fear by Lacey Savage
Dragon Slayer now available at Noble Romance Publishing
About Us
Award winning author Lacey Savage (AKA Hunter Raines) pens erotic tales of true love and mythical destiny, peopled with strong alpha heroes and feisty heroines.
Fiona Jayde is an author of kickass, action packed romances and when not plotting murder and mayhem enjoys steamy romance novels, sexy spy thrillers, murky mysteries and movies where things blow up.
We love to talk about writing! Here, we share the "nuggets" we've culled from our huge collections of writing books, and chat about what makes us want to roll our eyes or raise our eyebrows.
Interested in guest blogging on Tips and WIPs? Contact us!
4 Things I learned from my editors this week.
I’ve had a couple of really great craft conversations this past week and I learned a few great tips I just had to share. I love anything that I can apply immediately to tighten my writing or enrich my characters.
- Filter words such as “felt, saw, heard, wondered” are the dreaded telling vs showing. So if I say “He heard the sound of a simi-automatic” – it has much less impact then “The sound of a simi-automatic ripped through the night”. (Why was this the first example I thought of?? Good thing I have a yoga class tonight). Since we’re in the hero’s POV, we know he is hearing the semi-automatic anyway, and without the filter words, we’re that much closer to the action.
- Black moment in a romance should be about the fear of the HH not getting together. It seems like a fairly simply concept, but I honestly had no idea. I’ve read a ton of writing books and what I knew about the black moment applied to the character specifically. It does make sense that in a Romance, where the relationship is the central plot, the black moment is about them being torn apart. More, the more emotionally “wrenching” the black moment, the more the reader will be satisfied with the book.
- A cute turn of phrase will jar the reader out of the story, unless the character consistently uses this as her internal or external dialogue. I thought this was really interesting. I tend to have my characters cuss a lot, but if I had my heroine do some inventive cussing in the middle of the book without setting up that she is inventive when pissed, it would be as if someone took over her mouth. (Likewise, if I my heroine said something along the lines of “heavens to Betsy!”. Or “Jeezo Peete!” (That one I heard from Beth Kery who is probably cracking up now)
- An elemental theme. I thought this was really cool – pick an element and then use in descriptions. So if your element is water, use water terms – tidal, wave, flowing, etc. Its very “literary” and lyrical and cool:)
Anyone got more great tips they want to share? A huge thank you to my editors (who will remain anonymous) for great tips!!
Wow, Fiona,
You are so right. It’s wonderful to pick up tips that you can apply immediately to improve the quality of your work.
I think you just snapped me out of a weeks long bout of writer’s block. It wasn’t a lack of ideas that was holding me back; it was a lack of enthusiasm. Suddenly, I’m anxious to be writing something, anything: just to see what my writing looks like now.
I’ve always had a problem with the show, don’t tell thing. I suppose all new writers do. Those filter words will certainly be a help in addressing that problem.
Aw, the black moment. It wasn’t a problem with my first novel, because Absinthe Eyes was one long black moment. I just finished my second novel and the black moment is alarmingly absent. I’m probably going to have to do a major re-write on that one.
The elements thing is just priceless. I can already see what a valuable tool that will be. The variations are astounding. If I assign different elements to different characters, it might make the POV shifts smoother and clearer to the reader.
The variations within each element are amazing. Each of the elements can elicit a wide range of emotions. Air can be a soft spring breeze that caresses your skin and smells like flowers. It can be a harsh, bitter wind that chills you to the bone and threatens to slam you to the ground.
Thanks for passing along those tips. I have to go now. I’ve got a novel to write.
Glenn
BTW I just read Elfin Blood. I took one look at the cover and I was hooked. Great work.