Writing Romance FictionWith A Little Bit of Luck© Janet Woods In 2002, Janet Woods' novel "Daughter of Darkness" won the mainstream section of the Romantic Book of the Year Award. In this article, she tells you about her writer's journey. The decision to write hit me suddenly. After years of being a stay-at-home wife and mother, along came this little gremlin who said "WRITE!" "Who me? I'm a housewife," I snivelled. "I left school at fifteen. I'm too old to start writing. I can't spell, I've forgotten the rules of grammar, I can't type." "Lacks confidence in herself, but could do better," the gremlin wrote on my report card, then said. "Stop whinging, woman, and WRITE!" So I stopped saying "can't," bought a portable yellow typewriter and imitated being a writer as I hacked my first, doomed, novel with two-finger flair. The exercise gave me an idea of what I'd be up against in the future. A neck and arms frozen into position and eyes hanging out of my head. I took to muttering to myself, too, and laughing and crying at odd moments. Finally, I ran out of words and typed. THE END. All of a sudden I was infused with a wonderful sense of achievement (did I mention false confidence?) I'd done it! I'd written a whole novel! Fame and riches were mine. "Hah!" the gremlin said and, clutching his stomach, fell to the ground in a paroxysm of merriment. "That wasn't the end, it was only the beginning." Okay, so that was my shaky start to writing. There were many more shaky starts and finishes. I regard these now as apprenticeship novels. I soon learned that it was no good blaming my lack of publication on anyone but myself. Each failure taught me something. I didn't understand point of view, I'd failed to produce an opening hook, I'd dumped information, used too many adjectives, too many tags. You name it, I've done it. Most authors have. The thing that needs to be understood is that no matter how many "how to" books or articles you read, the cure for these mistakes cannot be learned overnight. Patience, and oodles of practice, is required. Work on one fault until it's eliminated, or replaced with something better, then work on another fault, then another. One day, all those small items you've been practising over and over again, will come together automatically. This is the basic framework all writers have to learn. Then you¹ll find you¹ve written a book that's readable and, possibly publishable, without even thinking about it. It's also possible that you will have discovered that elusive thing. Your voice. To give your work the best chance of success, editing cannot be overlooked. And even when a book is accepted, more editing will need to be done at the revision stage, then again at the printer's proof stage. The editing stage can make the difference between publication and rejection. A book is never finished until you are holding it in your hands, cover attached, and it's looking like a real book instead of a dog-eared manuscript - and someone else is doing the same, and that person writes to you and says, "I loved it, I couldn't put it down." And yes - people have said that to me. It's nice when somebody does, because books are aimed at readers and I like readers to be entertained by them - which is their purpose. However, I try not to let praise go to my head. Another person might not like the book at all. It might get a mediocre review somewhere, which will bring you down to earth with a jarring thud. Then again, a different reviewer might love it. So if you read a bad book review, just remember it's only one person's opinion - a person who speaks for himself, not for everyone else. Looking back now - with twelve novels and forty-plus short stories published or pending publication - it seems strange that I had so little confidence in myself when I set out on the writer's journey. Of those twelve novels, four category romances are e-published with New Concepts. Three are English style historical romances in hardcover, another three are modern relationship novels. Robert Hale UK has published those. They are mostly for library users, but can be bought via the amazon.co.uk site. So far, two of those books have also attracted sales of large print rights as well. Recently, I've been offered a contract for a two book saga with Simon and Schuster in the UK. This is a real breakthrough for me, with a simultaneous hardcover and paperback editions. The first is called, "A Dorset Girl" and will be published in July 2003. "Beyond The Plough", which is still being written, will be published the following year. Three other books are out there being assessed. As it appeared to me once, publication might seem an impossible dream to unpublished writers. It's not, but achievement rarely comes easily to anyone. There are no short cuts in writing. It's a competitive business, with too many writers competing for too few places. But don't let that put you off. Many writers will fall at the first obstacle, or on one of the many obstacles which come after. Only those who set a publication goal and work steadily and constantly towards it, come what may, are likely to reach their goal. Those people who think the words they put on paper are perfect to begin with, who resent being edited, who don't heed the advice offered by more experienced writers or editors, will most likely be the ones to fail. And if they happen to get published early and develop a tediously large ego (which is often the case, because writers are human, and we're elated by success) perhaps they should wait until they've become multi-published, because the hard truth is - you're only as good as your last book. Published
authors keep on working hard. They don't rest on their laurels,
but keep trying to improve, to write a better story, to keep abreast
of the market trends, and make themselves known to editors, reviewers
and readers alike. They also have to satisfy their readers' expectations.
You can join writing organisations, especially those akin to your writing interest. Look them up in the telephone book or on the internet. There are many, too numerous to name. Some of them, such as Romance Writers of Australia, specialise in a genre. Some of them cater for women, such as the Society of Women Writers . Most of the writers organisations offer advice of upcoming events, market opportunities or competitions. Entering competitions assists in honing skills and, often, there is some prize money or publication to reward you, and this will help build up credits on your CV. Then
there are the magazines. You can submit articles to magazines such
as Writing For Success . You can hone your short story skills and
target the popular magazines. Many of them offer guidelines, and
will pay good money as well. You could also become a book reviewer. Keeping in touch with organisations means keeping in touch with people in the business. You can join the internet writers' chat lines or offer your services, or volunteer for committee positions, which will keep your name in circulation on writers newsletters. Name recognition counts, however subliminally it's achieved. Often, one thing will lead to another. Let me take you on the journey of one book of mine. It's called "Daughter of Darkness", and was the winner of the mainstream section of the 2002 "Romantic Book of the Year" award, a competition which is sponsored by The Romance Writers of Australia, and is open to New Zealand as well as Australian authors. I wrote "Daughter of Darkness" in 1995. It was my first mainstream book, and my first historical. I wrote five drafts and it ended up at 130,000 words. I then sent the book off to be professionally critiqued. The critiquer liked it, but suggested a few changes. It took me three more drafts to get it right (or so I thought at the time). In 1996, Random House and Women's Day magazine ran a competition for unpublished novels. I entered "Daughter of Darkness" and it came third in a field of over 600 entries. I won a welcome $2,000 prize, but no publication. Over the next two years I sent the manuscript out to eight publishers, receiving eight rejections, so I threw the book into the reject cupboard and started writing another novel. Four years and six novels later, I remembered it, and took it out again. My writing had improved by constant practice but, I must admit, by then, my patience was wearing thin. If my confidence hadn't been boosted by having a couple of books e-published, and sales of several short stories during that time, I may well have given writing up altogether. I had got through several obstacles, but the path seemed littered with them and I was totally frustrated. After all that time resting, reading "Daughter of Darkness" again seemed like reading someone else's manuscript. The mistakes in it just leapt off the page, yet the story and characters shone brightly through. I realized the book was too long, so shortened it by some 20,000 words. Still, I didn¹t feel it was right. A year later I took it out again and, with ruthless confidence, removed another 8,000 words, bringing it down to the word length required by my targeted publisher. I then enriched the scenes by changing telling to showing. It began to glow. I knew it was ready then, so I sent it off, and it was accepted in just a few days. Once "Daughter of Darkness" had metamorphosed into a proper book, I entered it in the mainstream section of the "Romantic Book of The Year" award. When it won, I felt very proud that it had been doubly honoured, and was elated beyond measure - how can you describe a feeling that is indescribable? Since that sale, I've sold several more books, editing each one ruthlessly. From that award has come spin-offs. Three newspaper articles were written about me. One of them caught the interest of the local ABC, TV, Stateline, and an interviewer and film crew spent three hours doing a profile on me. Not only was it great fun, it was the sort of publicity to die for. So, the work I put into that book paid dividends in wonderful publicity, which I hope will hold me in good stead for sales of future books. People have rubbed me on the shoulder for luck. Sure, there's an element of luck involved in getting published. You have to be on the right editor's desk, at the right time, with the right novel. But don't confuse luck with chance. By making yourself proficient at your craft, by studying your markets, you can become both commercially and professionally aware. Isn't it better to write something you know will suit the publisher you send it to? Isn't it better to present that manuscript cleanly and professionally, in the format and style that publisher uses? It
still might not be published, but now you've moved into the stratosphere
of writers who have learned their business and are determined to
continue to grow in strength - and it's a really competitive place.
But wouldn't you rather be one of a few competing for publication,
than one of thousands waiting for chance to find them? Luck is turning
your way, you've earned it, you've made her sit up and take notice.
Before too long your manuscript will end up on the right desk with
the right editor, and she'll find your writing is too good to be
ignored. So you didn't get there by chance, did you? You made it happen by working hard, learning your craft, uncovering your talent - and with just that little bit of luck, perhaps. (c) copyright Janet Woods 2002 Janet is a British-born, Australian author. She has 12 novels published or pending, including category romance, modern relationship novels and mainstream historical romances. Her books are published by US publisher New Concepts, and Robert Hale Ltd in the UK. She's contracted to write a 2 book saga for Simon and Schuster UK. Janet's forty-plus short stories have been published internationally in magazines, anthologies, children's story books and on the web. Shortly, Livewire Publishing will release "Love Bytes", a collection of her romantic short stories. The collection includes her set of "How to" notes, "Romancing The Short Story." Ask for her books at the lending library, or they can be purchased from http://amazon.co.uk Janet's books can be viewed on her website http://members.iinet.net.au/~woods Enquiries for "Love Bytes" Robyn.Lidstone@LivewirePublishing.com.au This
article first appeared in Issue 10 of writing For Success, Nov-Dec
2002. To find out more about subscribing to this newsletter
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