So, what does happen?
I faced that problem recently, upfront and personal. I started working on this novel a year ago. The premise was good, the characters appealed, and the hook was fantastic. But, I couldn’t make the plot work. There was something very wrong. No matter how I twisted the characters, the situation, it all seemed contrived. Nothing I hate worse than to start a book and find a predictable plot or something where it’s obvious the author manipulated the characters to make the story line work.
I could have thrown this story away, but I didn’t junk it, although I thought about it – a lot. I’d set the story in England, in the middle of the 19th century. No real historical characters, which would have presented another problem.
No matter what I thought up, it wouldn’t work. One night in bed, inspiration came. I crawled out of my warm bed and staggered to the computer. (One of the things my husband doesn’t like about my chosen career - I frequently get these revelations late at night – in bed) Why not change the time and the place, I thought? It would solve several of the problems blocking my writing. And it worked beautifully.
However, after I’d rewritten the first four chapters, I discovered another problem. What had kept the hero and heroine apart was no longer valid. Back to the drawing board. After a review of the heroine’s motives, and her goal, what was causing her conflict was clear. Once again I was involved in the story. So I didn’t have to junk this tale.
Why does that matter? It’s just fiction, nobody really gets “thrown away”. But to most authors, the characters become real people. It’s difficult to let them go and you just don’t want to pitch them after you’ve dreamed them up.
In all the years I’ve been writing romances (twenty one to be exact), I’ve only thrown one story away. It simple wouldn’t work. It’s the one hidden deep in my file cabinet, However, who knows? Someday, I may pull it out and have another go. For now, back to my current hero and heroine.
Showing posts with label Allison Knight. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Allison Knight. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
What makes a book ‘The book of your heart’
If you’ve ever heard an editor speak at a conference the one thing they say – repeatedly – is write the ‘book of your heart’.
Okay, fine and dandy! But what does it take to write such a book? With the medieval coming in August, I now have the answer, because ‘Heartsong’ is truly the book of my heart!
First, the characters are all special. They developed over the many months, into people I liked. They seemed alive. Their problems became important to me, and I lived the story through them. I felt every bit of Rhianna’s pain, felt Garrett’s frustration and Colvin’s hate. It didn’t happen right away. In fact, it took months for them to grow on me to the point where I really cared what happened to them.
I also love the plot. It almost wrote itself. Things kept happening to the characters, one crazy thing after another, all developing from what happened before. The characters' reactions fit their personalities and because they had taken months to grow into the people I felt I knew, I could image how they would react. Consequently, the novel is one I love. In fact, I don’t want to bid goodbye to these characters, so, yes, I’m working on sequels.
To answer the question I posed at the beginning, this book is a book of my heart, a real favorite because I know the people in the story. I care about them and I like how they changed and grew, how to related to each other. I can hardly wait to see how the other tales turn out.
Of course, my friends think I’m a bit touched! They can’t understand how my characters become so real to me, I can figure out how they'll react in a given situation, but then they don’t write books. However, maybe they are correct. Perhaps I am ‘touched’! But, I don't think it's a bad thing.
Allison
Okay, fine and dandy! But what does it take to write such a book? With the medieval coming in August, I now have the answer, because ‘Heartsong’ is truly the book of my heart!
First, the characters are all special. They developed over the many months, into people I liked. They seemed alive. Their problems became important to me, and I lived the story through them. I felt every bit of Rhianna’s pain, felt Garrett’s frustration and Colvin’s hate. It didn’t happen right away. In fact, it took months for them to grow on me to the point where I really cared what happened to them.
I also love the plot. It almost wrote itself. Things kept happening to the characters, one crazy thing after another, all developing from what happened before. The characters' reactions fit their personalities and because they had taken months to grow into the people I felt I knew, I could image how they would react. Consequently, the novel is one I love. In fact, I don’t want to bid goodbye to these characters, so, yes, I’m working on sequels.
To answer the question I posed at the beginning, this book is a book of my heart, a real favorite because I know the people in the story. I care about them and I like how they changed and grew, how to related to each other. I can hardly wait to see how the other tales turn out.
Of course, my friends think I’m a bit touched! They can’t understand how my characters become so real to me, I can figure out how they'll react in a given situation, but then they don’t write books. However, maybe they are correct. Perhaps I am ‘touched’! But, I don't think it's a bad thing.
Allison
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Can't Write - Promote
What’s a writer to do when they can’t?
Recently, I ended up in the hospital. No details, except to say I certainly didn’t feel like writing, or even thinking about my characters and their problems.
So, what’s a writer to do, when they can’t write?
I certainly didn’t want to waste time lying in a stiff hospital bed feeling sorry for myself. If I couldn’t write, I could still talk about writing. It wasn’t long before the nurses, aides, and others attached to the floor were asking about my books. I signed a number of bookmarks, and asked my husband to bring brochures, post cards and one book to the hospital for the nurses to share. Hummmmm….. Wonder if they’ll start the book and then order their own copy to finish it! Fingers crossed.
Okay, I didn’t get to put anything on paper, and I won’t know if I gained any new readers, but I made some friends, people who perhaps will recognize my Pen Name.
One of my visitors was a coordinator of volunteers, a delighted woman with a daughter who wrote children’s books. She took my information to give to her daughter who appears to have book store connections.
The point of all of this!
Recently, I ended up in the hospital. No details, except to say I certainly didn’t feel like writing, or even thinking about my characters and their problems.
So, what’s a writer to do, when they can’t write?
I certainly didn’t want to waste time lying in a stiff hospital bed feeling sorry for myself. If I couldn’t write, I could still talk about writing. It wasn’t long before the nurses, aides, and others attached to the floor were asking about my books. I signed a number of bookmarks, and asked my husband to bring brochures, post cards and one book to the hospital for the nurses to share. Hummmmm….. Wonder if they’ll start the book and then order their own copy to finish it! Fingers crossed.
Okay, I didn’t get to put anything on paper, and I won’t know if I gained any new readers, but I made some friends, people who perhaps will recognize my Pen Name.
One of my visitors was a coordinator of volunteers, a delighted woman with a daughter who wrote children’s books. She took my information to give to her daughter who appears to have book store connections.
The point of all of this!
Never let a promotional opportunity pass you by. I’ll never know if my hospital stay had an effect on my writing, but I do know that, although I couldn’t put anything on paper, my restricted activity enabled me to meet some new readers and talk about the second love of my life, writing romances with happy endings.
Of course, the first love of my life is my wonderful husband. (grin) After all, he brought the book, the brochures and the post cards to the hospital for me.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Writing Methods
If you listen to actors talking about how they get into their roles, you’ll hear things like,
‘method actor’, ‘living the role’, ‘be yourself’ and much more. Writers are not much different because we have our own ways to create the stories we write.
I remember my astonishment when I found that Steven King was what we writers call a ‘panters’. He sits down at his computer – he started with an old typewriter – and with a scene, a character, a thought, he starts a book, with no idea where he’s going. In other words, he writers ‘by the seat of his pants’. Sherrilyn Kenyon does the same.
Then, there are authors like me. A detailed outline and character interview sheets need to be filled out, and my research completed. Even though sometimes my characters take me in another direction, I start with a detailed road map. I write from an outline.
There are combinations of the two. A good friend, and author of dozens of books, always has a beginning and an end, but as she begins she doesn’t have any idea how she’ll get to the final pages of her novel. It works for her.
If you spend time on line, researching the various writing methods, an example would be the classic “W” plot, or the “snowflake” model, I suspect you’d be stunned at how almost every writer has his or her unique why to go from the beginning to the end of a story. As each book, each author is different, so also is the method that individual uses to get the words on paper. All of this verbiage leads to one important point – there is no perfect way to write a book.
‘method actor’, ‘living the role’, ‘be yourself’ and much more. Writers are not much different because we have our own ways to create the stories we write.
I remember my astonishment when I found that Steven King was what we writers call a ‘panters’. He sits down at his computer – he started with an old typewriter – and with a scene, a character, a thought, he starts a book, with no idea where he’s going. In other words, he writers ‘by the seat of his pants’. Sherrilyn Kenyon does the same.
Then, there are authors like me. A detailed outline and character interview sheets need to be filled out, and my research completed. Even though sometimes my characters take me in another direction, I start with a detailed road map. I write from an outline.
There are combinations of the two. A good friend, and author of dozens of books, always has a beginning and an end, but as she begins she doesn’t have any idea how she’ll get to the final pages of her novel. It works for her.
If you spend time on line, researching the various writing methods, an example would be the classic “W” plot, or the “snowflake” model, I suspect you’d be stunned at how almost every writer has his or her unique why to go from the beginning to the end of a story. As each book, each author is different, so also is the method that individual uses to get the words on paper. All of this verbiage leads to one important point – there is no perfect way to write a book.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Why I Write About The Past
“One night, while the Earl of Sandwich was playing cards, he got hungry...” So began another dinnertime tale about people to whom my father swore we were related. With every story Dad wove through our meals, he instilled a love of history. But Dad wasn’t the only one. My grandfather delighted in gathering his grandchildren around him and telling us about his life; how, on the night he was born, snow came through the cracks of a one room log cabin, why he never got further in school than third grade, although by all standards he was a very successful man.
Mother also had stories to tell. Her contributions centered about dishes and knicknacks from relatives who journeyed to the USA, from Germany, Holland, even Spain. Each piece had some account connected to it. I loved the one about the purchased Spanish bride.
The ideas for my stories all center about events in the past. I have a sneaky feeling it’s because I learned to love history at a young age,finding out about the weather, food, living conditions of a particular time. I spent hours hunting through books for tidbits of information. When I started writing I was teaching school and had a large library only steps from my classroom. After classes I often spent time researching.
Our librarian loved the fact I wrote historical romance. She’d uncover a book she thought might be of interest to me and lay it aside so I could decide if it would be worthwhile reading. Each year, when the library budget was announced, I got a chance to buy the books she would replace. For little more than two dollars a volume I bought an older edition of The Encyclopedia Britannica. I used it for years, even with a few pages missing, liberated by students trying to write a term paper when time was short.
However, be warned! Even with a love of history, some times an author can't find the facts. In my medieval romance, "Heartsong", coming from Champagne Books in August I mention things I imagined because real facts were simply - unavailable.
After all, it’s called fiction for a reason.
Allison
Mother also had stories to tell. Her contributions centered about dishes and knicknacks from relatives who journeyed to the USA, from Germany, Holland, even Spain. Each piece had some account connected to it. I loved the one about the purchased Spanish bride.
The ideas for my stories all center about events in the past. I have a sneaky feeling it’s because I learned to love history at a young age,finding out about the weather, food, living conditions of a particular time. I spent hours hunting through books for tidbits of information. When I started writing I was teaching school and had a large library only steps from my classroom. After classes I often spent time researching.
Our librarian loved the fact I wrote historical romance. She’d uncover a book she thought might be of interest to me and lay it aside so I could decide if it would be worthwhile reading. Each year, when the library budget was announced, I got a chance to buy the books she would replace. For little more than two dollars a volume I bought an older edition of The Encyclopedia Britannica. I used it for years, even with a few pages missing, liberated by students trying to write a term paper when time was short.
However, be warned! Even with a love of history, some times an author can't find the facts. In my medieval romance, "Heartsong", coming from Champagne Books in August I mention things I imagined because real facts were simply - unavailable.
After all, it’s called fiction for a reason.
Allison
Monday, March 10, 2008
Birth of a Story
It comes in the still night hours, first as a whisper, then a nudge. Finally, a shout that leaves me with chills. But, then I always get them.
I jerk awake, grab at the blankets and pray my sleeping husband wouldn’t demand, this time, that I ignore what is happening. It isn’t the first time. I can only hope it won’t be the last.
With care, I slide from the bed and creep through the hall to my office. There was a time when my office was a corner of the kitchen, then a niche in the basement, which created a real problem, but now I’ve graduate to my own room.
Slipping into my chair, I gaze at my sleeping computer. Nothing for it. I have to turn on the machine. It might be two o’clock in the morning, but I can’t let it go. Never.
What is going on, you ask?
Why, a story! A full blown tale, played through my dreams, waking me in the middle of the night, demanding, no, screaming so loudly I must leave that warm bed, and the love of my life and seek the cold, dark office and a robotic machine, just to get the words on paper.
Fortunately, for me, I am married to someone who understands why I prowl around in the dark hours of the night to keep a solitary vigil before a computer screen, or drop out of a conversation to stare at nothing for long minutes before I begin a quick dash to find the always handy pencil and paper.
This is the life of an author. An idea, a precious bit of nothing, springs fully developed into your head and you can not sleep, or carry on a conversation until you have the idea, the character, the scene on paper. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, for a few minutes, solitude becomes your best friend. How lucky I am that my ‘real’ best friend understands.
I jerk awake, grab at the blankets and pray my sleeping husband wouldn’t demand, this time, that I ignore what is happening. It isn’t the first time. I can only hope it won’t be the last.
With care, I slide from the bed and creep through the hall to my office. There was a time when my office was a corner of the kitchen, then a niche in the basement, which created a real problem, but now I’ve graduate to my own room.
Slipping into my chair, I gaze at my sleeping computer. Nothing for it. I have to turn on the machine. It might be two o’clock in the morning, but I can’t let it go. Never.
What is going on, you ask?
Why, a story! A full blown tale, played through my dreams, waking me in the middle of the night, demanding, no, screaming so loudly I must leave that warm bed, and the love of my life and seek the cold, dark office and a robotic machine, just to get the words on paper.
Fortunately, for me, I am married to someone who understands why I prowl around in the dark hours of the night to keep a solitary vigil before a computer screen, or drop out of a conversation to stare at nothing for long minutes before I begin a quick dash to find the always handy pencil and paper.
This is the life of an author. An idea, a precious bit of nothing, springs fully developed into your head and you can not sleep, or carry on a conversation until you have the idea, the character, the scene on paper. It doesn’t happen all the time, but when it does, for a few minutes, solitude becomes your best friend. How lucky I am that my ‘real’ best friend understands.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Curing Writer's Block
HOW I CURE WRITER’S BLOCK
(or working on more than one book at a time)
There comes a thing in every writer’s life when the words slow or - Heaven help us! - they stop completely. It’s happened to me, but I think I’ve found the cure.
When it happens with my work in progress I start work on another book.
Another book, you say. How on earth do you do that?
Easy. I have a bunch of three hole binders and I’ve developed several forms which allow me to quickly review a different book when the words stop flowing on the novel I’m currently undertaking. One of those forms is an interview with the hero, heroine, and a shorter version for secondary characters, including the villain or villainess which I filled out when I first started the book. I have a list of characters’ names, so they don’t all start with the same letter of the alphabet and I have a plot outline. (By the way, that often ends up changing a whole lot – but, it’s a beginning.)
However, by quickly refreshing character descriptions and the situation, I can go to work on a completely different book.
It works for me. I find I can go from one story to another after a quick review, then, when words slow or stop with that novel, I can go back to the original book and continue where I left my characters.
There is one amazing thing that frequently happens when I jump around. As I work on another novel, I’ll discover a plot problem with the original idea the stopped or slowed the words. Or sometimes, in researching one book, a solution to a problem I didn’t recognize with the original work surfaces and I can return to my first work in progress with a fresh approach.
Now, I suppose this might not work for someone who doesn’t plot, or work from an outline, no matter how limited. But I do plot and I do outline, so it works for me.
However, if all else fails, and I can't write, I leave the computer and go read a book.
Well, not everything is one hundred percent perfect!
Allison Knight
(or working on more than one book at a time)
There comes a thing in every writer’s life when the words slow or - Heaven help us! - they stop completely. It’s happened to me, but I think I’ve found the cure.
When it happens with my work in progress I start work on another book.
Another book, you say. How on earth do you do that?
Easy. I have a bunch of three hole binders and I’ve developed several forms which allow me to quickly review a different book when the words stop flowing on the novel I’m currently undertaking. One of those forms is an interview with the hero, heroine, and a shorter version for secondary characters, including the villain or villainess which I filled out when I first started the book. I have a list of characters’ names, so they don’t all start with the same letter of the alphabet and I have a plot outline. (By the way, that often ends up changing a whole lot – but, it’s a beginning.)
However, by quickly refreshing character descriptions and the situation, I can go to work on a completely different book.
It works for me. I find I can go from one story to another after a quick review, then, when words slow or stop with that novel, I can go back to the original book and continue where I left my characters.
There is one amazing thing that frequently happens when I jump around. As I work on another novel, I’ll discover a plot problem with the original idea the stopped or slowed the words. Or sometimes, in researching one book, a solution to a problem I didn’t recognize with the original work surfaces and I can return to my first work in progress with a fresh approach.
Now, I suppose this might not work for someone who doesn’t plot, or work from an outline, no matter how limited. But I do plot and I do outline, so it works for me.
However, if all else fails, and I can't write, I leave the computer and go read a book.
Well, not everything is one hundred percent perfect!
Allison Knight
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
WHY I WRITE!
Occasionally, when I present my program on publishing to junior high students (grades 6, 7 and 8 in the US), I get the question – “Why do you write books?”
It’s usually asked by a student who hates anything to do with composition. But, if you think about it, it’s really an excellent question. Why do I write? Let me try and explain.
First, money is not the most important reason, although that’s usually what the kids answer when I ask what they think. They are certain writing a book is an easy way to make a bundle of dollars. They’re not happy when I tell them few authors make a lot of money. There are some exceptions of course, but even if you go back in history, few authors, then or now, made a lot of money.
You should hear the groans when I tell them the primary reason I write is that I have to write. However, it’s true. The characters running through my mind require I tell their stories.
However something special occurs when I write a novel. For a time, I get to dwell in another time, get to become another person, live a different life. Oh, there’s nothing wrong with my life, but I’ve always been a daydreamer. Writing romances fulfills all the daydreams I could ever have.
No matter if today I am a villain, or the next day I’m a lonely heroine, crying out for attention, or justice, or romance, I still get to be all kinds of people. Because I usually write in a historical time period, I also learn how people lived years before. In fact, researching a book is often nearly as much fun as writing the thing. And putting my tales on paper affords me a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
Is writing a novel hard work? You better believe it. Sometimes your characters won’t behave the way you want them to, or the plot takes an unbelievable twist and your whole concept changes. The ability to use appropriate words is critical and it can be a struggle to find just the right word or phrase. The actual writing, either on paper or on the computer, is physical work. So yes, writing is definitely hard work, but when you love what you do….
Visit Allison at www.AllisonKnight.com
It’s usually asked by a student who hates anything to do with composition. But, if you think about it, it’s really an excellent question. Why do I write? Let me try and explain.
First, money is not the most important reason, although that’s usually what the kids answer when I ask what they think. They are certain writing a book is an easy way to make a bundle of dollars. They’re not happy when I tell them few authors make a lot of money. There are some exceptions of course, but even if you go back in history, few authors, then or now, made a lot of money.
You should hear the groans when I tell them the primary reason I write is that I have to write. However, it’s true. The characters running through my mind require I tell their stories.
However something special occurs when I write a novel. For a time, I get to dwell in another time, get to become another person, live a different life. Oh, there’s nothing wrong with my life, but I’ve always been a daydreamer. Writing romances fulfills all the daydreams I could ever have.
No matter if today I am a villain, or the next day I’m a lonely heroine, crying out for attention, or justice, or romance, I still get to be all kinds of people. Because I usually write in a historical time period, I also learn how people lived years before. In fact, researching a book is often nearly as much fun as writing the thing. And putting my tales on paper affords me a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
Is writing a novel hard work? You better believe it. Sometimes your characters won’t behave the way you want them to, or the plot takes an unbelievable twist and your whole concept changes. The ability to use appropriate words is critical and it can be a struggle to find just the right word or phrase. The actual writing, either on paper or on the computer, is physical work. So yes, writing is definitely hard work, but when you love what you do….
Visit Allison at www.AllisonKnight.com
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Bio Allison Knight
Allison, like many authors, read a book she didn’t like. Despite occasional digs from her children, she wrote a romance. And then another and another. To date she's published twelve romance novels.
A retired high school teacher, she’s taught fiction writing and spoken at conferences throughout the country. She still goes back to the classroom to teach. She talks about how she got published and some of what's involved in writing and publishing a book.
When her husband retired, they moved south to the land of hurricanes and sunshine, where she writes, creating heros and heroines, then finding ways to make their lives miserable.
Her thirteenth book, 'Heartsong', a medieval romance, will be available in August
http://www.allisonknight.com/
http://www.aboutromance.bebo.com/
http://www.allisonknight.blogspot.com/
A retired high school teacher, she’s taught fiction writing and spoken at conferences throughout the country. She still goes back to the classroom to teach. She talks about how she got published and some of what's involved in writing and publishing a book.
When her husband retired, they moved south to the land of hurricanes and sunshine, where she writes, creating heros and heroines, then finding ways to make their lives miserable.
Her thirteenth book, 'Heartsong', a medieval romance, will be available in August
http://www.allisonknight.com/
http://www.aboutromance.bebo.com/
http://www.allisonknight.blogspot.com/
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