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Jumpstart
Your Writing
Rose's
Colored Glasses
July
2009 Newsletter
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 Announcements!
What's New
in the World of the Roses?
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Two New FREE Offerings
by
Delilah Devlin
The ladies at Rose’s Colored Glasses
are always looking for innovative services to provide to struggling
writers. tried within my own local RWA chapter to organize a critique
group, one that would serve published and aspiring authors, but
the chapter is too small to support it. So, I thought, why not
do it through Rose’s Colored Glasses?
The RCG Critique Group has been up and
running for a little over a month, and we’ve had two rounds
of critiques. So far, the response has been enthusiastic. We have
over fifty authors participating, which means on any given critique
weekend, we have plenty of people involved to make it worthwhile.
If you’re interested in giving us a test run, follow the
link. It’s fun and best of all it’s FREE!
Roses
Critique Group
The second new offering we have is a
group that is working its way through one of the most popular
writing workbooks out there. I, like many of you, bought a copy
of Donald Maass’s Writing the Breakout Novel Workbook
when I attended a conference. But the book sat on my shelf
for three years untouched.
A month ago, I set up the Writing the
Breakout Novel Workgroup, and we’re presently working our
way through chapters six and seven. If you hadn’t heard about
it and would still like to join in, it’s not too late. All
you have to do is join the Yahoo Group and the lessons you exercises
you missed will be forwarded automatically.
Roses
Writing the Breakout Novel
Lastly, our annual “Write 50 Books
a Year” workshop will be staring up in August. It’s
a free workshop and we have people who join us every year to tweak
their plans.
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| Shada Royce, Shayla Kersten
and Delilah Devlin are pleased to announce the release of Black
Lace's Sexy Little Numbers
anthology. |
| Brenna Zinn is pleased to
announce her sale of a Halloween story to True Romance. |
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Delilah Devlin is pleased
to announce the release of Darkness Burning (6/23) from Avon Red
and the release of Stone’s Embrace (7/14)from Samhain
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| Myla Jackson is pleased
to announce the release of Men in Blue Kensington
Aphrodisia Anthology. |
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 Call
of the Wild
Changes in Style and Voice
3 Exercises to Discover Your Inner
Genius!
by
Cerise
DeLand
Cerise is a new Rose at Roses Colored Glasses. An award-winning
author of 18 mysteries and romances in print in soft and hard
cover, Cerise now also indulges in the joys of e-publishing with
novels at Ellora's Cave and The Wild Rose Press!
You can reach her at cerise.deland@ymail.com
Beginning a new manuscript can be one of the most thrilling
adventures an author takes. Until it lags in excitement, lacks
logic and then…sags in the beginning, middle and the end
of every chapter! How can you step out of that downward spiral?
Escape the peril of writing a boring book? Try these three exercises
to change your style and your voice.
Write your main
character in first person point of view
Yes, re-write the first chapter as if the main
character saw the action through this immediately intimate lens.
What will it do for you?
~ It will improve your verbs. It will show you
instinctively where to rid your work of transitives. It will negate
the need for those frilly filler helping verbs like "began
to" "wanted to" and all forms of the verb, to think.
~First pov shows you where to eliminate false action. Actions
of the hero will become more vibrant as you strike out ones like
"paused," "considered," all their synonyms,
and that old fave of first drafts, "wondered."
~First pov spruces up any back flashes that bored you with extraneous
material. First will make back flashes scream at you to make them
pertinent-or kill them.
~Most importantly, if first pov is to be intriguing to the reader
(in this case, you), it must have a unique and vibrant view of
life that any reader can thrill to, chill to or chuckle at. This
is the rendering we call voice. You can work best toward it in
first person pov.
However, if that didn't ring your chimes, here's
another.
Write one scene
in a contemporary funny voice, third person point of view
I can hear you crying now that you simply cannot do that.
You are writing sci-fi or vampires or a mystery.
But consider, some sci-fi can be funny, think STAR TREK. Some
vampires are hysterically funny, think the recent successes of
Charlaine Harris and company. Some mysteries are funny. And they
sit at the top of the best-seller lists. Janet Evanovich didn't
get to the top of the list writing a faint-hearted Stephanie Plum.
Try it. As you mother said, you never know. You might like it.
You might break out of your rut and use it.
After you have done this-and perhaps loved it (or at least
discovered a new way to render your material), you do need to
ask yourself one primary question: Not could your novel be funny
but, yes, SHOULD your novel be funny, instead of tragic? A knee-slapper
instead of a tear-jerker? A wise-cracking character dance or a
chick-lit/hen-lit sophisticated romp? A funny Mafia don or a New
Jersey boy-man so incompetent he will soon sleep with the fishes?
You'll never know unless you try this exercise!
Move the crucial
event to the First Paragraph
Bring the most crucial
event or action that would normally occur within the first three
chapters and crush it into the first paragraph of your manuscript.
Ah, you say, I can't do that. I can't find the
dead man in the first paragraph. We have to know who he is-and
why he's dead. Or if romance is your genre, I can't fall in love
or lust with my hero in a few words. I have to see him, hear him
talk with the heroine, understand why she loves him.
Really?
When we first begin to write, we diddle around
with the action, not letting anything vital really grab hold until
The Hero/Heroine (otherwise known as The Decider) must choose
whether or not to Answer The Call to Adventure and risk his neck,
fortune or heart. We spend so much time getting to know the character
ourselves that we lose sight of the need to move that plot along,
ladies and gentlemen!
What does this movement drastically forward do
to your voice? It makes it pertinent. It makes it realistic. After
all, in real life, when tragedy happens, we are always shocked.
Or irritated that it didn't go the way we expected. Or the way
others told us it always would.
So use that element of surprise to force the action up front.
And then breathe through your main character's nose, see with
your character's eyes, feel with his skin. And then let him speak.
He will, I assure you, be doing surprising things,
saying extraordinary ones.
Let him.
Then, decide within the formats of the exercises above, if
any brought you closer to a more unique perspective on the book.
Things you did not predict. In words you had no idea you could
produce.
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When
Murder Isn't An Option
Writing
Together Under One Name
by
Kat
Alexis
(aka Allie Standifer & Eve Savage)
  About
a year ago, Ellora's Cave put out a call for themed story submissions.
They were releasing a series of books revolving around desserts.
Eve thought this would be a great series to write with her best
friend. So she called Allie and said, "I've got this story
idea about chocolate penises, a rich handsome man and a past
relationship. Wanna write it with me?" Allie agreed and
the partnership was born. They proceeded to write four stories
in record time. All of them a mix of Allie's flair for dialogue
and strong characters along with Eve's bold sexuality and love
of humor. Since they started writing together they've been asked
numerous times, "How do you two do it? Especially, since
you're in different states." So without further ado, here
are their answers to the burning questions.
Q: How do you write together
being so far apart?
A: There's this wonderful invention called the internet. Plus,
we both have unlimited cell phone minutes. : We chat via text
and yahoo all the time.
Q: Who comes up with
the story ideas?
A: We take turns. One of us will come up with the main story
concept then we hash it out tossing ideas back and forth until
we agree on the final plot. That usually takes about 20 minutes.
Q: Do you argue over
the concepts and plots? Character names? Descriptions? Titles?
A: Nope. We just go back and forth until there's a solid idea.
Then one of us puts it into a quick synopsis so we've both got
something to work from. Usually, the person whose concept it
is will come up with the character names, but if the other doesn't
like it, we just toss out other picks. There have only been
two names that had to change because one of us didn't like the
other's choice. We pretty much have the same taste in heroes,
so our men are always guys we'd like to see and think are hot.
Usually one of us will have the description in our heads and
we go with that. For example - the current story we're working
on has Eve's heroine name and description and Allie's hero name
and description. The main story concept was Eve's, but Allie
had some great ideas for making it more complex and conflicted.
As for titles - we're both terrible with them. Usually Eve's
husband or Allie's cat picks our titles.
Q: Who starts the writing?
A: More often than not it's Allie. After the initial scene,
Eve gets it and takes it through the first love scene. Then
we go back and forth until the story is done.
Q: Who does continuity
and punctuation before submitting?
A: Eve does. Then it gets submitted to our editor Helen at EC.
Q: What about edits?
Surely those are hard to deal with.
A: Not at all, and don't call us Shirley. : Eve usually does
the first round of edits with Helen's comments. Then she sends
them to Allie to see if she wants/needs to add anything. When
she's done, it heads back to Helen for FLEs.
Q: What about blurbs
and excerpts? Who picks those?
A: Depends on who gets to the email requesting them first.
Q: How did you come up
with the pseudonym?
A: It's a combo of our middle names.
Q: What about your separate
projects?
A: We both make time to work on separate Allie and Eve projects
in between Kat stories. It's important to keep your own identity
as well as that of the partnership.
As you can see, their partnership is pretty
easygoing and friendly. They've not tried to murder each other
yet and sincerely doubt they ever will. Currently, Eve and Allie
are working on the first of the four stories for next year's
EC themed books based on the arts. With both of them writing,
it's amazing how much they get done!
Writing partnerships aren't for everyone, but
Allie and Eve's is certainly a blueprint for a good working
relationship. Kat's stories are full of laughter, strong characters
and hot sex. Be sure to check our their newest release Berry
Bliss over at Ellora's Cave!
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 Where
do Ideas Come From?
by
Elle
James
and Myla
Jackson
As I sit in front of my computer dreaming up
new stories to feed my writing muse and entertain readers, I
have to smile. When I first started writing, I thought I'd never
find enough to write about. Boy, was I wrong! Ideas bombard
me from every direction.
Billboards,
Phrases, Cliches...ah hah!
I'll see a billboard with the name of an insurance
agent on it and the name intrigues me. Bam! The name alone generates
and idea. I'll overhear a phrase that would make a great title
and Bam! I have to write it! I'll read an article in the newspaper
or hear something on the radio news and Bam! I'm reaching for
my pad and pen to jot down an idea.
News
This happened to me when I was driving through
Witchita, Kansas. On the news they were talking about the BTK
serial murderer (Bind Torture Kill). I was living in North Dakota
at the time and there they were still talking about the great
flood of 1997. I put the two ideas together and Dakota Meltdown
was born.
The drug wars in Mexico are in the news constantly
lately so I based my March 2010 book in Laredo, TX in the middle
of a drug war that spills over the border.
Given the
Basics by an Editor
Some ideas are given to us Intrigue authors
in the form of a 2-page short synopsis as is the case of my
next book coming out-An Unexpected Clue. You might think...huh!
Like you didn't even have to think to write that one. Wrong!
How do you write a story about an 8-month pregnant heroine on
the run (waddle) from a crazed killer? Did you know that you
can give the same exact idea to 5 different authors and get
5 different stories? It's true. We all come from different backgrounds
and have a different outlook and voice. That's the beauty of
writing!
So the next time you overhear a conversation,
see a great name, or hear an interesting phrase it might be
the germ of an idea for another writer.
Cool, huh?
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 Getting
Back My Mojo
by
Brenna Zinn
Two years I made and followed through with
a difficult decision. I walked away from writing, cold turkey,
to spend more time with my daughter before she graduated from
high school. I made an interesting observation during my hiatus;
Stephen King isn't the only person who needs to write to quiet
the voices in his head. I do, too. Which is probably why I cheated.
Like a dieter eating Hostess Cupcakes underneath
the covers of her bed to avoid being discovered, I hid a blank
journal in my purse. When a story idea floated into my head
or a thought or feeling really struck me, I wrote it down, knowing
one day I would sit in front of a blank screen with plenty of
guilt-free time on my hands.
Now that I've jumped back into the writing
saddle, I occasionally review the notes in my journal. Although
my memory is so bad as to be scary, I find I can remember the
triggers to most of the journal entries. These triggers or creativity
catalysts serve me still when I find myself struggling for the
next word or scene, conflict or motivation. Hopefully they'll
help you, too, when you need to jump-start your writing mojo.
Unplug
Unplug - completely. Trust me, I know this
is a hard one. But I found that hearing my inner creative voice
required being away from the noises and distractions of the
world. This meant no radio, no internet, no telephone, no nothing.
Just me and the strange little man sitting in the back of my
brain who comes up with my ideas. I also discovered generally
tap into him best when I'm driving to and from work, my radio
is off, and there's nothing but a ribbon of grey road before
me. With nothing to do but drive and no one there to divert
my attention, I found that little man of mine can be quiet entertaining
and enlightening. He'd throw out all sorts of story plots and
suggestions. Some of his ideas are good and others bad, but
he's trying all the same. And, because I'm unplugged, I can
hear him. By the way, showers, though much shorter, work almost
as well as car trips if you're looking for a good time to unplug.
Find the Emotion
Find the emotion. Conjuring up intense feelings
to translate onto the written page tends to be difficult for
me, especially if I'm not personally experiencing the type of
feeling I'm trying to convey in the story. If I'm happy, how
do I find deep sadness to write about? If I've had a serious
argument with my hubby and can think of little other than throwing
him and every electronic gadget he owns out the front door,
how can I possibly finish a story where everyone lives happily
ever after? The secret, I discovered, is watching movies. When
I'm writing about a kick butt heroine with major attitude, I
pulled out the Lara Croft or Underworld DVDs and then turned
up the volume. When I needed a tear jerking, break-my-heart
scene, I watched An Affair to Remember (the old black and white
version with Cary *sigh* Grant) or P.S. I Love You. Two hours
of watching the right kind of movie can move my attitude or
emotions to the point of near bursting and I can't wait to sit
down in front of my computer and get it out.
Read
Read and then read some more. My two-year break
from writing gave me more time to read, which I did as often
as I could when I couldn't be with my daughter. Although I sometimes
ruined the flow of the story, I found myself abruptly stopping
at various points in the book to figure out how the author accomplished
wondrous feats such as painting a brilliant scene through her
descriptions, developing characters through their speech, thoughts,
and deeds, or making me feel immensely in love with the hero
or heroine. Once I discovered a great passage or series of passages,
I went back through and reread, analyzed, and notated. Some
of the best notes in my journal were discoveries I made while
reading. Will I use this information in my stories? You can
bet your Aunt Fannie's false teeth that I will.
Keep in touch
Don't lose touch. Although not noted in my
journal, I'm very much aware that two major contributors in
helping me get back into writing mode were staying connected
to my writing friends and helping judge RWA chapter writing
contests. Yes, I know judging a writing contest when I was supposed
to be hanging out with my kiddo should probably be considered
as cheating as well. But judging contests is a lot like being
addicted to a very strong drug. I simply couldn't help myself.
Anyway, if you have a support group of friends who are writers
and if you keep your finger in the game by judging other's work,
slipping back into the writer's seat is very easy to do.
Get You Mojo
Back!
So if you're experiencing a writing slump or
are coming back from your own writing hiatus and need a little
something to get you back in the game, consider trying the same
things that helped me. You may be pleasantly surprised with
your results. Good luck!
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 Are
you stuck in the middle of plotting your next story? Maybe you
got the characters through the big crisis and are figuring out
how to make the resolution memorable. Or you are thinking about
your next story but not yet ready to commit to whatever pre-writing
process works for you.
Make it Short
Why not consider writing a short piece? A story of 12-22 pages
is perfect for the confession magazine market. Write even shorter
and enter a contest for a women's magazine with $3,000 as the
first place prize. For those not writing romance, try a story
with a specific theme for a men's magazine. Often when I'm stuck
with one project I move to another. Write in a different length,
in a different format, write first person instead of third-just
write.
Confessions
Confession stories are written first person, involve events
occurring in a short period of time and that could happen to someone
just like you and your friends. A lesson is usually learned and
the audience is working class women aged 18-80. More information
at dorchesterpub.com
Family Circle
Family Circle magazine's short story contest is for 2,500
word stories (2 max/person). First place is $750+publication.
Contest rules at: tinyurl.nxphmr. Deadline: August 31.
Good Housekeeping
Good Housekeeping is running a short story contest to be judged
by a best-selling romance author, Jodi Piccoult. Your story should
focus on the lives of women today and the maximum word count is
3,500. First prize is $3,000. Contest rules at: goodhousekeeping.com.
Deadline: September 15, 2009
Saturday Evening
Post
Saturday Evening Post pays $25 per each published, one-page
humorous story. Saturdayeveningpost.com/submission-guidelines.html
Smithsonian
Smithsonian Magazine runs a last page humor column of 500-650
words. "The article should be amusing and the tone genial-a
story rather than a lists of jokes or situations." Payment
is $1,000. See Smithsonian.com for detailed rules.
Esquire
Esquire Magazine is running a short story contest for stories
up to 4,000 words. First prize is $2,500 & publication. Stories
must use one of the following three tittles representing a date,
a thing and a statement: Twenty-Ten, An Insurrection or "Never,
Ever Bring This Up Again." Esquire.com/Fiction/fiction-contest.
Hurry, deadline is August 1, 2009.
Part of being a writer is to stretch your abilities to develop
your skills. Best of luck to all and we'd love to hear from those
who tried one of these contests.
NOTE: all URLs are preceded with http://
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 Now
I'll be the first one to admit plotting gives me hives. But, I
do have a couple of writing tools that help me stay on track as
I write.
Years ago when I attended a writers' conference in Houston,
author Susan Wiggs had participants bring magazines to one workshop
where we worked on collages to help character and story development.
We cut out and pasted photos onto paper at the long ago workshop.
I found the exercise to not only help me clarify my thoughts on
what my  characters
looked like, but some photos I tore out simply because I liked
the images helped me develop plot points. The collage I started
then eventually turned into Balanced Heart, now available at The
Wild Rose Press. When I did the fact sheet for the art department,
I included a copy of my collage. The resulting cover was just
perfect.
With
the growth of the Internet, I now search photos through Google
Images http://images.google.com/. A nice aspect of building a
collage with Picasa from Google http://picasa.google.com/ is I
use the collage as my computer's desktop background plus the individual
photos become the screen saver while I'm writing the story. They
help me stay focused as I write.
 Another
writing tool is building a specialized music playlist. I use iTunes
to pick songs I think will relate to the story or that give me
ideas to include in the story. When I'm writing on the story,
the playlist runs continuously. With the playlist on my iPod and
playing when I walk the dogs or do housework, I continue to think
about the story. After the story is sold, there may be a several
months gap before edits come in. By this time, my mind is occupied
with a different story. But, the playlist built for that particular
story can send me right back to the characters and setting that
populated it.
Focus is everything when writing. Setting and characters have
to be consistent throughout the story. Building a collage for
visual memory and assembling a playlist for audio memory help
keep things organized.
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Okay, you've written
a book-maybe more than one-and you need to build a readership.
How the heck do you tell people who you are and why they should
buy your books? Any writer who narrows down to just one form of
communication today is more likely to fail than succeed. Through
the Internet you can develop a fan base as far away as Hong Kong,
Brazil, Egypt, Australia. Mention the history of the Internet
to a group of people, and chances are someone will make a snarky
comment about Al Gore claiming to have invented it. To know why
it's important, you need to know a little of its history.
The History
of the Internet
President Dwight D. Eisenhower created
the Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) in 1958. Its purpose
was to give the United States a technological edge over other
countries. Bit in the 1950s, computers were enormous devices that
filled entire rooms. Many could only read magnetic tape or punch
cards, and there was no way to network computers together.
ARPA aimed to change that, with the
help of a company that created a computer network, linking what
at that time were four major systems running independently. They
called the network ARPANET. Without ARPANET, the Internet wouldn't
look or behave the way it does today -- it might not even exist.
They called the connection between multiple networks inter-networking,
or the Internet for short.
In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee developed a
system designed to simplify navigation on the Internet that became
known as the World Wide Web. At first some people mistakenly identified
the Internet and the Web as the same thing. The Internet is a
global interconnection of computer networks; the World Wide Web
is a way to navigate this massive network. Think of it this way-the
World Wide Web is like a spider's web with millions of threads
running in all directions. It's the highway to every computer
network in the world. Drop a blog into the WWW and hundreds of
millions of people have access to it, no matter where they are.
By 1994, Internet commerce had become a reality.
Many blogs and experts are saying that
the Internet is now becoming the major source of information that
people turn to. Couple this trend with the recent trend that people
are now willing and wanting to do their shopping on the Internet
and you have a great place to sell yourself.
So,
where do you start?
You need three tools-a web
site, a blog and a mailing list. You need a web page and
a blog whether you are published yet or not. On the web site,
you can post facts about yourself and teasers about your works
in progress. Blogs are easy to do and there are simple programs
like Wordpress that walk you through the steps to create them.
Blog about interesting topics, not just your books. Think about
what you discuss with your friends and pick topics from that.
Create a blog with a group of friends where you each take a day.
Collect the emails of everyone who posts. That's the beginning
of your all-important mailing list.
Find out who else has blogs. Ask if
they're willing to have guest bloggers. When you appear on someone
else's blog, you are opening yourself up to yet another new audience.
Social
Networks
What about social networks? If you don't
let them take over your life, they are a quick way to get the
word out to a lot of people. I have a page on MySpace where I
blog on that page, post items about my releases, excerpts, quotes
from reviews, and even run contests. I also use Twitter and to
a much lesser extent Facebook. I have built an extensive following
on Twitter in a very short time. I find it easy to use because
the length of your post is limited. Two or three sentences gets
your message out to the world.
Podcasts
Podcasts are another form of Internet
communication. Some publishers even have their own. Search for
podcasts and let anyone you know who runs one that you would be
delighted to be a guest.
Groups
An abundance of Yahoo chat groups exist
on the Internet, but select carefully. Google Romance Yahoo Groups,
and on each home page look to see how many members the group has.
If you're brand new to chats, join one of the groups and monitor
the chats so you can get an idea of how many people actually participate.
I've found my participation increases dramatically when I run
a contest to give away a book. And I add all those people to the
all-important mailing list.
There are sites such as The Romance
Studio and Author Island that do a book a day giveaway. I do one
a month and add at least a hundred people to my mailing list.
Both of these sites have membership fees but I have found them
worth every dollar. Coffee Time Romance and The Romance Studio
are two other good places where you can spend very minimal dollars
for a lot of exposure.
So stick your toe in the Internet. Jump
on the World Wide Web highway. Remember, the words you drop into
that highway in Nebraska or Kansas or Texas can easily end up
in Sweden, Brazil or Hong Kong.
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Dear
Rose
 I'm
new at this writing thing and wonder where to get started. I have
ideas, and I love writing, but the publishing side of it is a
mystery.
Scratching
my Head
Dear
Scratching,
Having the idea and doing the writing is just
the beginning. The publishing world can be very difficult to "break"
into. Here are my tips to you:
1) Join a writing group. If you're
writing romance, I recommend Romance Writers of America. If you're
writing Mystery, Mystery Writers of America. For many of the genres
of writing, there is a group out there. Romance Writers of America
is perhaps one of the most advanced in what they have to offer
to the beginning writer, therefore it's good for all genres to
get a start there. In these groups you'll find moral support,
critique groups and help with the industry and skill of writing
and publishing.
2) Hone your craft. Read books like Techniques of the Selling
Writer, The Writer's Journey, Heroes & Heroines, Goal, Motivation,
& Conflict to learn the nuts and bolts of telling a story.
It's important to get the mechanics right. Many editors will toss
a manuscript to the side if they stumble through the sentences
or the points of view keep changing in every paragraph. Go to
seminars, conferences and lectures on writing. LEARN as much as
you can about the skill of writing.
3) Persist. If you really, really want to be published, you
will have to make a commitment to writing and submitting your
work. Just writing a novel will not sell it. You have to write
more than one and you have to submit your work to agents and editors
to sell them. Get it out there!
When I began writing, a wise person told me that if I was
in the business to make money, I was in it for the wrong reasons.
It could take anywhere from 5-10 years to sell your first manuscript.
Some people I know have written for 20 years and have yet to sell.
It's rewarding and self-fulfilling to publish, but you have to
be persistent and really want it. Good luck!
Rose
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Should
a Writer Grow An Internet Presence?