John Gardner’s The Art of Fiction is rough going – for me, the language isn’t friendly or immediately accessible. Lots of good points in there, if I can just untangle it all. DH pointed me to the Turkey City Lexicon this morning. Ah, earthy and practical. Phew! Much easier to read. I will finish the Gardner, though.
My DH also asked me if I’d posted anything for feedback. I admitted I hadn’t and that it had taken a lot to get up the nerve to show him that original short story draft and the version of events seen from the guy’s POV. There were no scribble marks on the page, this morning. He said it read as more realistic-fiction than romance, and boy, this showed that the guy certainly didn’t love her — he was a calculating shark. Ok. So not what I was going for, but I figure practice is good stuff, regardless.
I’ve been looking through both the short story and my novel for scenes for dialogue to enter in a Romance Divas contest. I’m torn between the short story scene where they discover they’ve been put in the same hotel room and a scene from the novel where the hero charges out on the terrace and punches his best friend because he thinks he’s about to ruin the heroine’s reputation.
I think I’m also going to stop by Border’s and look for a book on plotting today too.
Any recommendations?
Kaige – I think you’re doing great. Keep trying out different ways of coming at it. Don’t forget, not only does not ever style work for everyone, but yours is going to change due to time/what you’re writing/where you are in it. . .etc.
Keep it up!
Impatience is one of my character flaws. I will admit that. However, I will count stubbornness among the virtues. =) Not everyone will, I’m sure.
Thanks for the encouragement! I bought Ronald B. Tobias’s 20 Master Plots and how to build them today and it’s making a lot of sense. Now, we’ll just have to see if I can put it into practice.
Have you thought about asking our Author of the Month, Julie Leto, for a book suggestion? Especially since her workshop this month was on plotting.
Thanks for stopping by, Kristen. I did as you suggested. I also mentioned what I picked up yesterday as well. They helped a lot in getting my head wrapped around the “why”s of this stuff.
I haven’t had a chance to work through any of the exercises, but that’s on my plan.