Dear Rose

I've been writing for a few years and have always enjoyed working my way through the love scenes. Lately, however, they've become pretty stale. Start with kissing, go to oral, tab A into slot B... repeat. How can I ramp up the love scenes in my stories?

Signed,

In a rut in Colorado Springs

Dear Colorado,

Ahh, yes. The step by step love scene. While it's true the fundamentals of lovemaking are pretty concrete, the atmosphere, emotions, and occasional toy help to break the monotony and make each scene different and special. Here are some tips I use to shake things up.

Love scenes, for the most part, are rarely in the male's POV. If they are, it's usually the foreplay. Challenge yourself to write an entire love scene from the hero's perspective.
If the scene is in the female's POV, the reactions are often about what he's doing to her. Try to make it about what she's doing to him and how his reactions affect her.

Try an off-the-wall location OR have one partner be completely nude while the other is mostly clothed. The dichotomy will add to the emotions making the sex more open for one and more closed off for the other. Conflict!

Write the love scene as though it were one of your fantasies in first person, present tense. When you're done, rewrite changing ONLY the tense and person. You'll be surprised at how active and raw the scene will be.
Love scenes, like people, come in all shapes and sizes. Remember not all love scenes have to end in blazing orgasms, but they must be essential to the plot and move the story and conflict forward.

Good luck and keep writing!

Rose

Dear Rose

I've been writing for several years now, and am still unpublished. I am determined to be published, but every time I pick up a book by a published author I start doubting my own abilities as this person is pubbed and I'm not. Should I stop reading novels for entertainment? Accept the fact I'll never be as good as other writers? Or is there something I can do to enjoy books and keep my writing ego intact?

Sincerely,

Wistful in Washington


Dear Wistful,

First thing: stop comparing yourself to other writers! Just as you don't have their voice, those other writers don't have yours. We each have to accept our own abilities or else we'd lose your minds and drown our voices in doubt. Second, never stop reading novels for enjoyment. Remember the reason you got into this business--to enjoy and share a good story. Why take that pleasure away from yourself? Just remember to take everything in moderation and you won't lose yourself in another's voice. So take the time to enjoy your favorite authors and note the reasons they are your favorite.

Whatever you do, don't give up on yourself or your voice. It's one in a million.

Rose

Dear Rose

Okay, maybe I'm jumping the gun here. Alright I am jumping the gun here since I've not been given an offer as of yet. My question is if pen names are a must in this industry? What are the pros and con's on having two names?

Confused by a Pen Name

Dear Pen Name,

Pen names are not a must, but can be a good idea.

Check out the pros to Pen names

1. Protect your privacy - you may want to protect your privacy for many reasons. You might want to avoid job pressures, avoid stalkers, or just retain your anonymity.

2. Set reader expectations - you may want to write in very different genres or subgenres and want your readers to have certain expectations they can tie to a name. For example: Nora Roberts writes beautiful romance novels, whereas J.D. Robb writes murder and suspense. They are the same author, but completely different genres. If a regular Nora Roberts picked up a book with Nora on it, she wouldn't expect to get a blood and guts suspense. Think how disappointed she'd be if she did.

3. Give you a new start - say you got a start in your writing career but after your first few books, you couldn't sell another. Your sales figures tanked and editors can see that information. You might want to change your name and give it a fresh start with no sales history behind that pen name.

Now let us list the cons

1. Remembering who you are when you're signing can be a challenge - If you have a bad memory like I do, you are constantly asking yourself who you are. This is especially bad when you're at a booksigning, signing two different pen names! Sheesh!

2. Costs associated with multiple pen names - Two pen names means two websites, two sets of promo items, two sets of ads, two of everything! It gets expensive.

3. Diminished bragging rights - If you choose a pen name and you tell your friends and family you're a writer, they'll go looking for your books under the name they know you by. When they don't find them, they'll say "yeah, right." Or they may think you're a little kooky buying another author's books and signing them with that author's name. It kinda takes away from your right to brag about your book...

Ultimately, it's your decision. Weigh the options and if you pick a pen name, pick one you'll like for a long time!
Rose

When to slide the project under the bed

Dear Rose,
I've been sending out query letters and getting rejections. How do I know when to call it quits? I love my story, but also want to be realistic in how much time/money I spend on postage when I have other projects I could be giving my energy to.
Rachel (when to slide the project under the bed)

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Dear Rachel,
This is a tough question and I'll answer it in a string of questions.
1. Is the project as clean as it possibly can get?
2. Did you take it through a critique group or partner?
3. Have you followed the publishing house's guidelines?
4. Have you read several books for the publishing line you're targeting to see if your book fits in that line?
5. Have you submitted this project to contests? Contests are valuable for feedback and if you final, your project gets in front of an editor.
6. Have you applied changes based on feedback from contests and critique partners?
7. Have you submitted the book to every publishing house it will fit and been rejected?
8. Have you repeated steps 1-7 at least once?
If you answered yes to the above questions, then you're probably ready to slide this baby under the bed. Just because you slide it under the bed doesn't mean it'll never sell, it just may not be your first book to sell. If you've already finished this book, the most important thing you can do is work on your next. All the while you're submitting, improving and resubmitting, you should be writing your next best seller. With each effort, you learn and grow as a writer.
Rose

Contest Woes

Dear Rose,

Recently I received my first contest entry back and my scores were all over the map. One of the judges rated it practically perfect, one judge thought it wasn’t worth killing a tree for, the third judge was indifferent. Their comments are the same way. Either no comments, nit-picky, or just a couple of things. How do I figure out what needs to be fixed and how to fix it? Or maybe I should just scrap it and start over?

Betty (with Contest Woes)

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Dear Betty,

The first thing you should do is to check who wrote what comment. If one judge is listed as a published author and another is not published, the advice of the published author may have more merritt as that judge has more experience with writing and publishing. However, in the end, you, the writer will need to evaluate the comments and determine what's right for you. This is your work, afterall.
Rose