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- LaShaunda
- I believe in promoting authors and their books. Let me introduce you and your books to online readers.
I'm also a happily married mother of three who's trying to break into the Christian writing field. The writing road can be rocky.
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7 comments:
Life wasn't cooperating so I missed yesterday but I've caught up.
I had two questions related to plotting for Barbara and/or Dee:
1) How do you know when you put too many subplots into the mix?
2) I write romance. In this genre, do the external conflicts need to divide equally between the hero and heroine? I'm struggling with my hero having much conflict, and therefore much in the way of a plotline, beyond the relationship issues.
3) For Dee specifically, do you outline your overall plot and then your scenes before you begin writing? Or do let the scenes come to you?
Okay, that was three, not two. I'm done.
I just wanted to pop in and tell Leigh that her workshop was exactly what I needed. I often become stalled on works in progress because I know something isn't quite working but I don't always know how to pin the something down.
Thanks a million!
Thanks, Rhonda -- it's always nice to know when something really hits the spot!
Leigh
www.leighmichaels.com
Dear Patricia,
On subplots -- you want your story to have a major plot, with your subplots revolving around it. Too many subplots will clutter your story and confuse your reader. One way to tell is to bring your book chapter by chapter to a writer's conference, and watch the reactions of your listeners -- the nonverbal as well as the verbal.
I don't believe your romance hero and heroine have to have equal amounts of conflict, and if your hero has the most conflict, you'll want him for your central character. Dee might be able to clarify further on this one.
Barbara
Night To Dawn
Hi I didn't miss a day. Just reading and learning!
From Patricia...
I had two questions related to plotting for Barbara and/or Dee:
1) How do you know when you put too many subplots into the mix?
If you are writing a story with four main characters like a girlfriend book(Waiting to Exhale, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Sisterchicks) then you will have four point of views. To be successful each subplot must mirror the main theme of your novel. For Waiting to Exhale was growing into womanhood. Traveling Pants-can friendships endure separation. You have to a major theme and each story being a quadtych of that theme. Those stories are very difficult to write well, but have been done. The trick is to make 2 characters grow the most and the other 2 grow a little bit.
2) I write romance. In this genre, do the external conflicts need to divide equally between the hero and heroine? I'm struggling with my hero having much conflict, and therefore much in the way of a plotline, beyond the relationship issues.
Are you sure you are a romance writer or a women's fiction writer? Women's fiction has romance in it, but it is not the theme that drives the story.
The best romances Pride & Prejudice, The Notebook. These stories have one main character whose conflicts aren't solved until he or she has a goal, that involves romancing someone or not wanting to admit that they are in love with someone. You need a muse or antimuse(Mr. Darcy) and you need a main character who doesn't have a story without the other. Some great romances to watch are: Pride & Prejudice, A Walk to Remember, Jerry McGuire
3) For Dee specifically, do you outline your overall plot and then your scenes before you begin writing? Or do let the scenes come to you?
I make a skeleton outline of my story. I work backwards. What is my end? How did we get here in the first place?
Scene writing. When I began writing using scenes I outlined the scene first. Now that I've written so many stories its second nature. It's like a theorem practice until it's second nature. I can't write a story without an initial action and conflict now. It doesn't feel right.
Thanks for the great questions, Patricia. Sorry it took so long to get back with you.
Okay, that was three, not two. I'm done.
Hello,
I wanted to see the information provided by Tee Cee Royal regarding launch parties.
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