Learning From the Books We Can't Finish

A long, generous rope. My patience is epic when I'm reading a book.

I slaved over Stephen King's The Stand for months as a teen. This summer, I've slugged through 59 pages of Moby Dick, but I'm not quitting. Unfortunately, I had to stop reading a historical novel recently for lack of interest, and frankly, it killed me to admit to it, late one afternoon, with a hand on its cover: "I'm just not into you." Sniff.

I view giving up on a book more as a personal failure. "It's me, not you. You're a good book. I'm the one with the problem." But my thinking has changed a bit as I've been trying to write fiction. I do feel greater empathy with other writers. I want to give them a chance to capture my attention. But with family, my own writing/revisions, social media, laundry, I have to get real.

So I stopped reading Bluebird, or the Invention of Happiness by Sheila Kohler last week. I wanted to like it. The cover was pretty. It coincides with a country and time period which I am also writing about: France, pre-Revolution. I figured I could learn a few historical details for my romance. Plus, Kohler is an award-winning writer. I thought the book would be a pleasure. It wasn't.

I started to let it sit for days. I couldn't recall the names of the main characters. In one chapter, the mother dies, and by the time I had picked up the book again, I'd forgotten that detail. Oops. Kohler's writing is sharp, but the story wasn't compelling me to hang with it. And, this is my take-away: books we don't care for also help our own writing.

I probably wouldn't have understood why her story didn't intrigue me unless I had recently taken a workshop with suspense novelist Robert Dugoni. Dugoni is a popular writer of high-tension books, and he's also on the circuit for writing conference. In his session about creating plots for page turners, he focused on the characters, particularly the protagonist. He suggested several key points for strong stories in regard to the main character:

1. The story must be personal to the protagonist. It must affect him/her on a deep level. Example: If you begin a story with a murder and your main character is the police investigator, why is this particular murder of consequence to him/her? Is the dead person a former lover, a streetwalker who was an informant, the spouse of a colleague who s/he was having an affair with? Make it matter and soon.
2. You must show early what your protagonist wants. To win (what?), to escape (what?), to retrieve (what?), to stop (what?).
3. The character(s) must experience obstacles. Torture them. Put things in their way and more than once. What stands in his/her way, major and minor?

His ideas identified, in part, why I didn't connect with Kohler's story. I wasn't sure what the main character wanted, what the story was going to offer me and why I should care. Granted, she wasn't writing suspense. She was writing historical fiction, where there are usually no smoking guns. But I wanted to feel something for her people, and I couldn't muster much. It could be a matter of taste. Dugoni hated Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I liked it. He thinks J.K. Rowling is a genius. I haven't felt like picking up her books (maybe next year).

I still feel a little like I failed in my attempt to read Bluebird. That's the compassionate side of me, but it's not typical of most fiction readers. They want the goods, and we have to give them compelling reasons to stick around.

Thanks for the opportunity to guest post. Jennifer Fulford

Romance vs. Reality

Hi all, I am a new blogger here at Nocturnal Nights and will be posting on the 28th of each month about writing romances in the genres of fantasy, paranormal, historical, mythology, and whatever else comes to mind.

A little about me: I write Celtic romances for Awe-Struck, Freya's Bower and Noble Romance. My lifelong passion for Celtic mythology and storytelling inspired me to write novels with fierce warriors, bold women and otherworldly creatures. I also edit for a small press publisher. 

My current home is Arizona with my husband and two dogs. Three of my favorite things are men in kilts, sunrises and anything dipped in chocolate.

I look forward to getting to know the other authors and readers at NN. Now, on to my post for today:

Writing romance can be tricky, at least for me, when it comes to deciding how far to take the fantasy and where to draw the line at reality. Usually when I tell someone I write romances, I either get a snicker or a big smile. The big smile almost always comes from a man. And I understand why some people snicker at romance authors—some romances are trite and too ridiculous to be believable. But what makes a romance trite and ridiculous to some is appealing to romance readers. They yearn to escape from reality by reading about a hero and heroine that fall in love, and despite obstacles, have a happy ever after or happy for now ending.

The trick is to find that balance between romantic fantasy and gritty reality to write a compelling romance. How does a romance author write a romance that isn’t too realistic or too unbelievable?

I thought about this when I saw a commercial for the online dating site called Zoosk. With sexy music playing, two half-dressed lovers run to each other in the bedroom and smack heads, then the woman bumps her head on the bed frame and they fall over a chair. Not the ideal romance scene, but in real life romantic moments aren’t perfect. I try to bring some of that realism into my sex scenes. In one book my hero and heroine break the bed frame. This adds some humor and realism to the romance. Moments like that can also reveal something about the characters, how they act in an embarrassing situation. 

I also avoid using purple prose, especially in my sex scenes. (Purple prose is a term of literary criticism used to describe passages written in prose so overly extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself). Every author should avoid the purple prose lure.

Another way to prevent a romance from being ridiculous is to avoid writing situations that are too unbelievable and can cause readers to roll their eyes. The one that bugs me the most is the virgin heroine who feels no pain and climaxes with ease her very first time having intercourse. No way. And this comes from experience. 

By keeping a balance between fantasy and reality, a romance can be convincing without losing the romantic fantasy aspect for the reader. After all, imperfect characters are more interesting and they can still have their happy ending.

Kelley Heckart

'Timeless tales of romance, conflict & magic'

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