Good evening readers! Today I'm here to bring you the lovely topic of romantic-fiction (no pun intended, if you can find it).
Today's word of the day is venerate, meaning to idolize, honor with devotion, or worship something or someone. Sometimes people venerate the ones they love, which can show the depth of either their affection or their stalker tendencies. Anyway, onto the topic.
My inner hopeless romantic would simply enjoy reading a sappy love story with passionate kisses and a happy ending, but my inner writing would find that a terrible, terrible book. Despite the fact that many people read romance for, well, the romance, a romantic fiction novel needs to have all of the juicy goodies any other novel has: complex characters, a well-developed plot line, a setting for all of the interaction, and more. Romances aren't always about "boy meets girl" and there doesn't have to be a "happily ever after." Many novels also include romance a subplot, not wanting the entire novel to revolve around a romance, but also wanting to include it as a large part of their story. Let's face it: only the die-hard romance fans can stand reading a novel with a terrible plot and bad characterization, even if it is an overall romance.
Some people like reading "fluff"-like novels, ones that are sappy romances, but only if they are written well and have some substance to them. However, it's very hard to write a romance novel well without making it sound cliched. From the meet-up to the kiss scene, it's hard not to make everything sound completely stereotyped and incredibly corny. Even romance fans will groan at the appearance of yet another overused plot line or a typical character. No one wants to read a repeat of a book, even if it was good. Some writers will make a relationship progress way too quickly, just to get to the "good part," which I suppose varies for each person.
But don't get me wrong, there are some romance novels with a great use of language. There have been a few romance books that made me laugh out loud, brought me to tears, or both! The caliber of a romance novel depends not only on the writer but on the reader's taste, as does any novel. Don't think of a romance novel as a different concept entirely. It's just a different genre, like how every other type of novel falls into a genre. They're all in the same category; they're just different species. Take care when writing your romance, keep an eye out for overused plots/characters/phrases and avoid cliches, but overall, try to include some unique, creative spice into your romance. As long as you do that and follow any other techniques for writing a well-written novel, you'll be more than ready.
That's all for tonight, writers! I'm exhausted, but I hope you enjoyed today's post. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
Question: Do you like to read/write romance? Why or why not?
A writing blog to keep aspiring writers inspired and motivated.
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label novel. Show all posts
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Sunday, March 21, 2010
“The first draft reveals the art, revision reveals the artist” - Michael Lee
Good morning, writers! Penelope here, writing to get you out of bed on this beautiful Sunday morning! Before we get started, this week's word is glower., which basically means "a stare of anger or annoyance." It looks like it would sound like "glow-er" but it really has the vowel sound of "cow." Back in the Middle Ages, it uses to mean "a look of astonishment or amazement" but in the late 1700s, it started using today's meaning concerning anger.
I know when you all saw the title of today's post, you groaned. The truth is, almost all of us hate revisions, but in reality, revisions is what honestly makes the novel. I've been doing revisions on my story lately and I've almost completely changed a character's personality and interactions with one of my major characters. It's not like it's a random change; my minor character has just been misunderstood and I finally see the true side of him after reading over my story. I'm even considering changing the ending after this discovery, as his personality is finally seen fully by the reader at the end. Revisions, although time constraining, really make your novel the best it can be. If we all sent our first drafts to be queried, none of us would ever get published.
So the next time you look at the word "revisions," don't stick your tongue out in disgust. Just nod, because you'll know that although, to me, one of the hardest parts of writing a novel, it's the most rewarding.
That's all for today, writers! Have a good day! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
Question: How do you feel about revisions?
I know when you all saw the title of today's post, you groaned. The truth is, almost all of us hate revisions, but in reality, revisions is what honestly makes the novel. I've been doing revisions on my story lately and I've almost completely changed a character's personality and interactions with one of my major characters. It's not like it's a random change; my minor character has just been misunderstood and I finally see the true side of him after reading over my story. I'm even considering changing the ending after this discovery, as his personality is finally seen fully by the reader at the end. Revisions, although time constraining, really make your novel the best it can be. If we all sent our first drafts to be queried, none of us would ever get published.
So the next time you look at the word "revisions," don't stick your tongue out in disgust. Just nod, because you'll know that although, to me, one of the hardest parts of writing a novel, it's the most rewarding.
That's all for today, writers! Have a good day! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
Question: How do you feel about revisions?
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Writer's Block: Curse or Myth?
Good evening, bloggers! Today's topic is writer's block, the plague to us all. We often blame out lack of a word count for days, weeks, or even months on this little disease. Some people say it's the death of writers while others believe it's only a state of mind.
It can be a lack of inspiration or just a lack of motivation. Personally, you can have no ideas for a certain story you're writing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have writer's block. If you lack ideas for one story you may very well have a surplus of ideas for another. Or, it can be that you have so many ideas for a story that they get jumbled in your brain and the excess amount of ideas just boggles you and seems too overwhelming to work on.
If you have a plot hole, I see it as more of an obstacle to overcome than a block. A block, to me, sounds permanent, while an obstacle sounds like something to work hard for and achieve. If you have no ideas for it, try working on something else and coming back to it later. I solve many of my plot holes just out of the blue, either getting ideas from school assignments or conversations with friends or during a shower. Inspiration just hits you like an oncoming train sometimes--fast, unexpected, and hard.
One thing I'm sure to do is that, no matter what time it is or where I am, I write down any ideas I have. Even though an idea might seem like nothing down, it will someday grow. You can be pondering over it later and it can turn into a full-fledged novel idea. At 3am when I awake from a dream, I always groan and get up to turn on a light to write down my story idea from my dream. If I'm in school I write it on the corner of my notes to remember it.
If you just get lazy, that's your own fault. Or if you're just so busy that you find it hard to write, start off small with a prompt or a poem. Try a short story or something else before going back to your work in progress. Perhaps your WIP is boring you and you need to spice it up. If it seems like you have such a long way to go, think of it in sections and just remember how happy and accomplished you'll feel when it's done.
Sometimes writer's block is just a menace that prevents the right words from being released from your ballpoint pen. If you can't get the words out, try an exercise to get the juices flowing, like being really descriptive with something (look at an object and describe it in great detail with all five senses). Learning some new vocab can help too; I get Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day. If I just need to reconnect with my characters, I write a short scene or some drabble with them. Sometimes I even wind up altering them and inserting them into my story!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil..
Question: Do you believe in writer's block? Do you suffer from it often?
It can be a lack of inspiration or just a lack of motivation. Personally, you can have no ideas for a certain story you're writing, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have writer's block. If you lack ideas for one story you may very well have a surplus of ideas for another. Or, it can be that you have so many ideas for a story that they get jumbled in your brain and the excess amount of ideas just boggles you and seems too overwhelming to work on.
If you have a plot hole, I see it as more of an obstacle to overcome than a block. A block, to me, sounds permanent, while an obstacle sounds like something to work hard for and achieve. If you have no ideas for it, try working on something else and coming back to it later. I solve many of my plot holes just out of the blue, either getting ideas from school assignments or conversations with friends or during a shower. Inspiration just hits you like an oncoming train sometimes--fast, unexpected, and hard.
One thing I'm sure to do is that, no matter what time it is or where I am, I write down any ideas I have. Even though an idea might seem like nothing down, it will someday grow. You can be pondering over it later and it can turn into a full-fledged novel idea. At 3am when I awake from a dream, I always groan and get up to turn on a light to write down my story idea from my dream. If I'm in school I write it on the corner of my notes to remember it.
If you just get lazy, that's your own fault. Or if you're just so busy that you find it hard to write, start off small with a prompt or a poem. Try a short story or something else before going back to your work in progress. Perhaps your WIP is boring you and you need to spice it up. If it seems like you have such a long way to go, think of it in sections and just remember how happy and accomplished you'll feel when it's done.
Sometimes writer's block is just a menace that prevents the right words from being released from your ballpoint pen. If you can't get the words out, try an exercise to get the juices flowing, like being really descriptive with something (look at an object and describe it in great detail with all five senses). Learning some new vocab can help too; I get Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day. If I just need to reconnect with my characters, I write a short scene or some drabble with them. Sometimes I even wind up altering them and inserting them into my story!
If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil..
Question: Do you believe in writer's block? Do you suffer from it often?
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Start Your Horses!
On your mark, get set, go! Today is November 1st, the first day of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo).
Basically, for those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, the main idea behind it is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days (the month of November). One of the main objectives of NaNoWriMo is to get aspiring novelists to actually write their novel, but in 30 days. Why such a short time period? Well, in my opinion, if you gain the confidence of knowing you are fully capable of writing a 50,000 word novel (by finishing NaNoWriMo), you'll be able to more easily write your next novel (taking longer than thirty days of course). A major problem with to-be writers is that they lack confidence, thinking they'll never be able to finish, or lack discipline, not having the ability to just set time aside to their novel every day. With NaNo, you HAVE to budget your time or you'll never finish, so it teaches you time management. Once you finish a novel, you are free to gloat. Plus, after writing your novel and go back to revise it a few months later, you can learn about all of the errors you made and learn how to correct them.
A few tips to finishing your NaNoWriMo novel
1) Don't procrastinate. See how I posted this blog post? Yeah, try not to do that as much. That's time wasted that you could be writing your novel. I'm only posting this because I love you guys.
2) Don't edit. No matter how much you want to revise your previously-written chapters, don't look back. We both know they aren't you best, but don't reread them yet. That's for December.
3) Write the required 1667 words (or about) each day. It helps you keep a time line and not have to write all 50k in the last weekend of November. That's what I call stressful.
4) Calm down and have fun. Don't worry about if your writing is good or bad or about plot holes. Just write. It will all sort itself out. If it doesn't, that's what December's revisions are for.
I hope this helps! After all, I did use up valuable NaNoWriMo time typing it up. :] Best of luck to the participants! See you in December! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
Question: Have you decided to do NaNoWriMo this November? Why or why not? If so, what are you hoping to get from it?
Basically, for those who don't know what NaNoWriMo is, the main idea behind it is to write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days (the month of November). One of the main objectives of NaNoWriMo is to get aspiring novelists to actually write their novel, but in 30 days. Why such a short time period? Well, in my opinion, if you gain the confidence of knowing you are fully capable of writing a 50,000 word novel (by finishing NaNoWriMo), you'll be able to more easily write your next novel (taking longer than thirty days of course). A major problem with to-be writers is that they lack confidence, thinking they'll never be able to finish, or lack discipline, not having the ability to just set time aside to their novel every day. With NaNo, you HAVE to budget your time or you'll never finish, so it teaches you time management. Once you finish a novel, you are free to gloat. Plus, after writing your novel and go back to revise it a few months later, you can learn about all of the errors you made and learn how to correct them.
A few tips to finishing your NaNoWriMo novel
1) Don't procrastinate. See how I posted this blog post? Yeah, try not to do that as much. That's time wasted that you could be writing your novel. I'm only posting this because I love you guys.
2) Don't edit. No matter how much you want to revise your previously-written chapters, don't look back. We both know they aren't you best, but don't reread them yet. That's for December.
3) Write the required 1667 words (or about) each day. It helps you keep a time line and not have to write all 50k in the last weekend of November. That's what I call stressful.
4) Calm down and have fun. Don't worry about if your writing is good or bad or about plot holes. Just write. It will all sort itself out. If it doesn't, that's what December's revisions are for.
I hope this helps! After all, I did use up valuable NaNoWriMo time typing it up. :] Best of luck to the participants! See you in December! If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
Question: Have you decided to do NaNoWriMo this November? Why or why not? If so, what are you hoping to get from it?
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Welcome to Intent Forgotten!
Hello! I have created this blog as a way to help young aspiring authors like myself to improve their writing. Many of us only dream of having a novel published and I hope to teach all of you what I have learned so far about writing and perhaps we could reach our dreams of publication together.
I came up with the name of my blog because, as usual, I was distracted from my writing. As much as I love to write, I get distracted so easily. I always forget what it was that I had to do, why I was in such a place, etc. So, if you ever lose your muse or intentions, feel free to stop by and leave a comment or simply read my newest post.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. You can also leave a comment if you so wish to. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
I came up with the name of my blog because, as usual, I was distracted from my writing. As much as I love to write, I get distracted so easily. I always forget what it was that I had to do, why I was in such a place, etc. So, if you ever lose your muse or intentions, feel free to stop by and leave a comment or simply read my newest post.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to email me at penelopepaige@rocketmail.com. You can also leave a comment if you so wish to. Time to go sharpen that pencil...
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