I have spent the last few weeks stressing
over a query letter, and a synopsis and a series outline and it has just about
done me in. If you read Kay’s blog about
these things you would know how confusing it all is. I mean it has to be concise and follow guidelines
and I agree that is fair enough but in cutting it down I feel like I’ve lost my
personality. Keep the sentences short,
don’t add this, and don’t add that; in other words it has to be down to the
bone. And again I say it feels like I
have lost my personality. I mean it
doesn’t make sense that the very thing I am sending to a publisher which is something I wrote has to resemble a robotic
creation and not show any of my style or what makes me distinct from another
writer. Hence the reason why I am done in,
seriously who wouldn’t be?
My
head understands perfectly that the publisher sees so many manuscripts that their
heads must be done in too. Short and
sweet, and to the point is a fair way to narrow down their workload so why am I
so bothered? Well, no prizes for
guessing the answer. Fear, pure and simple and deadly fear! Those three things that
form a vital part of my submission will make or break me before they (the editors/publishers)
even see the novel. And, what is worse I
will still not know if my writing is any good enough because those things that
I have sent off are not really a representative of my real writing. See how flustered I am? I write romance and a short sharp summary although
needed is not indicative of what goes on in my books. What to do? Well, I decided to relax for a
little while and go explore what drew me to writing in the first place.
I then remembered a conversation I had
with Alison and Kay about doing a blog about what drew us to our genre, and not
just writing itself. We are all so different; Alison with paranormal and fantasy, and Kay with what we could call science fiction but
is also so much more as her work does cross some interesting borders. You see even though I also cross a few
boundaries myself everything I do has the element of love interwoven throughout
the various manuscripts I am working with or on. I have a poetry anthology written and ready
to go, a science fiction and a psychological thriller outlined as well as this
contemporary romance that I am so close to sending off to the publisher. Yet
the glue is love in all of them, different types of love at times but all my
characters draw strength in love, seek love as a counterpart to understanding,
want love so life is shared, demonstrate feelings physically often choosing
ways and means that may not suit others.
Why have I chosen this theme? I’m
not exactly an expert in that department and it clouds my text type stripping
it back to the romance all the time.
By now you would have worked out that
exploring what drew me to writing will have to wait for another blog. Right now the pull is towards discussing why
I have chosen this genre and I have to go with it because it is connected to
why I am having this crisis about something that is part of the process. That was a long sentence! Bear with me and I
may figure it out before the end of this.
So let me remind you of where we were (truth is I need reminding as well). Of course, it’s all about the reason I write
romance.
Is it possibly
because I believe that love is the most important thing for a human to have to
survive in this turmoilic world? Did you
like that last word? It’s mine, I made
it up and I am keeping it. However I
honestly feel this way and do believe it is the inability of some to understand
love and display it that does so much harm on a local, regional, national and
then global level. I don’t just mean romantic
love but parental, friendships, collegial, or for the four footed friends that
grace our lives.
Some of my characters are not so nice with
this word and define it to suit their needs but some like Lia just let it
happen. This contrast brings out emotions in us. Nico for instance fights calling it anything,
is afraid of what it may mean to his life but when he embraces it his life changes
in ways he had no idea existed. He has
someone with whom he can be exactly who he is, and it adds a dimension to the
physical without relying on frills, yes frills and not thrills. See call me simplistic, but I like that reading can
give you that glow, can get you all hot and bothered, can make you angry, sad
or joyful and can make you just forget
the world for that small space of time.
The truth is though, that every genre can
do this for the reader but romance, well romance is the very essence of our
lives and it does it in a way that keeps us dreaming. It is about the escapism the words on the
page provide in keeping hopes alive. I
have to abide by short and sweet rules or I may never get the chance to get my
words out there (yes, I can self-publish but that is another discussion). So I guess it is back to the drawing board so
I can finish my submission and see if I can do my small part in providing the
pleasure I have derived over the years.
Barb
P.S. Ironically it is the paranormal genre that
brought me to the world of seriously writing, I am talking sitting at the desk
hard at work writing. I should be more
specific and say it was the vampires.
How? Well I have three vampire
stories to tell you about first and it is the last one that will make it clear about
the writing and the genre I have chosen.
Please join me again and until then,