Characters by Diane Burton

from The Writer's Circle

I saw the above on Facebook and could I ever identify with it. I’m a pantser. My stories always start as a scene or line of dialogue in my head . . . usually as I’m trying to go to sleep. I start writing with a vague thought of what’s going to happen. Since I write a form of romance (science fiction romance and romantic suspense) I know the story will end with a happy-ever-after. As I write, the characters come alive. And then they misbehave.

If my main character appeared in another story, I know a little about him or her. Like Rissa, the MC in The Protector, who appeared in previous Outer Rim books—The Pilot and The Chameleon. I knew she ran a tavern on the frontier, that she was tall, strong, and wore her dark hair in a single braid. Other than that, I knew nothing about her past life, what drove her, what she wanted out of life. That all came out as I wrote. Who knew she would start rescuing kids and take on a child trafficking ring led by a galactic gangster's minion? I didn't.

If I was a plotter, I would have written a detailed character analysis and filled out a GMC (Goal, Motivation, and Conflict) table plus written a detailed outline of the plot. Well, folks, if I’d done all that I would’ve told the story already and have no need to write it. That’s the way pantsers are. However . . . By the time I reach chapter eight, I have to plot, at least a little. Otherwise my characters take off on their own. Then I have to wrestle them back on track. If I’d plotted first, I wouldn’t have to keep going back and adding stuff. Someone described what I do as circular writing. Write some, go back and add, write more, go back and fix, write more, go back and change/delete, etc. Plotters think I waste time. Oh, well. It works for me.

I’m not saying my way is best. I’m not saying plotting is best. It’s what works for the writer.

Now if Rissa and Dillan would behave and quit telling me to change something, The Protector will come out this summer.

Diane Burton writes romantic adventure . . . stories that take place on Earth and beyond. She blogs here on the 8th and 30th of each month and on Mondays on her own site: http://dianeburton.blogspot.com/

5 Keys to Surviving A Successful Revision by Amber Leigh Williams

New Author Headshot!

This month is all about success and failure so I’m going to talk about something I know: revision. A Place With Briar, my Superromance debut on shelves now, went through no less than five revisions before it was contracted by Harlequin last summer. Recently, I underwent more revision when they contracted two more books for the Superromance line, the first of which went through intense revision last month. (Special note: at the end of today’s post, I’ll be revealing the title of this book, which will be on shelves in October.)

Over the years I’ve learned that revision is oftentimes necessary. My historical romance, Forever Amore, went through major rewrites and revisions before it was ready for publication. Many authors who have experience with Harlequin have also been asked to do quite a bit of revision to make their work ready for their targeted imprint. It’s almost a way for the editors to test how your working relationship with them will be. Bearing this in mind, I cannot stress how important it is to learn to accept revision and roll with it.

Here are my five keys to surviving a successful revision….

#1 – Caffeine! Not everybody drinks coffee. I’m one of them. In the mornings, I’ll have some hot tea with my Wheaties and get cracking on my editor’s revision notes. During the day, Coca-Cola is my friend. Particularly since I am serving double-duty as writer and mommy at home with my little one during the weekdays. (I don’t know how in the world I got through the revisions for A Place With Briar. Most of them took place while I was either pregnant or nursing and tea and caffeinated soda were no-no’s. Let’s just say it was much more slow-going.) Even if you’re not a caffeine-consumer, it’s important to get the right amount of fuel at the beginning of the day by eating a healthy breakfast in order to super-charge those brainwaves. I’ve found that when I eat right in the mornings, my body and mind are much better prepared for the day – whatever it may bring…from revision madness to toddler-sized shenanigans.
 

#2 – Old Adages! I did a guest blog post a while back called “Writing Axioms That Work” at Prairie Chicks Write Romance. It lists the five writing adages that have gotten me through nearly ten years of full-time writing. They work for all genres and some of them could even be applied to everyday life. When I know I’m about to tackle a tough revision, I dig my adage print-out out of the filing cabinet and pin it to the bulletin board over my desk. The muse is not always there for me, especially when I’m up against a deadline and have to write with or without her. This list of adages really motivates me (in addition to the caffeine!) and inspires me. “Never, never, never give me!” I actually have this one on a plaque on my desk, but it simply cannot be said enough. The second is a quote by author J.R. Ward: “Plots are like sharks. They keep moving or they die.” When you’re trying to figure out how to rebuild story structure, remembering this tidbit is imperative. “Scientific workability!” This is a quote from Julia Child who was not just a famed chef but a devoted writer. She believed that in cooking and in writing no small amount of attention could be paid to detail. For me, this applies mostly to the editing process that comes after the revision. Before I let my editor see anything, I pick through the entire manuscript at least twice with a fine-tooth comb so that when I present it to her, it’s as grammatically correct and as professional-looking as I can make it. (I set aside at least three days at the end of the revision process just for editing.)
 

GMC: Goal, Motivation & Conflict

#3 – Character Driven Notes! Before I can proceed with a first draft or a revision, I must know my characters. Can you tell I’m an ingrained plotter? I think it’s important for any writer, plotter or pantser, about to undergo a character-driven story like any romance must know his/her characters. When I first began writing, a friend in the industry did me a huge favor that wound up being instrumental in my career. She gave me notes from a workshop she had attended called “Creating Believable Characters.” The workshop was modeled after the book by Debra Dixon called GMC: Goal, Motivation and Conflict: The Building Blocks of Good Fiction. It gives you essential tools to figuring out your characters’ strengths and flaws and building your story around them so that they and the story as a whole are that much more believable. Believability is a big thing in the romance business, whether you write contemporary or historical, paranormal or sci-fi. Usually by the revision process, I’ve already sat down and written out my hero and heroine’s goals, their strengths and weaknesses (which in turn must line up or contrast with their significant other’s in order to create story conflict), their core needs (these also can contrast, creating conflict to drive the story), where their core needs come from, backstory, even their sexual history and secrets. For revision, I also go back and use these workshop notes to better adjust the important emotional high points, low points, and peaks like the all-important climax (or "third-act dark moment") of the story. Usually the reason I am forced to revise is because something with the characters doesn’t line up or because something just isn’t believable enough and I have to rework the story in order to make it so. It all goes back the hero or heroine and their GMCs (goal, motivation, and conflict). (If any of my writer friends are interested in these workshop notes, I would be happy to send you a copy. Just shoot me an email request for them at amber@amberleighwilliams.com!)

#4 – Back-Up Harddrive! However you choose to back up your work, DO IT! Do it every day. Let it be the last thing you do before you turn off your computer or work tablet and rejoin the real world. There is nothing more off-putting than getting well into a successful first draft or in-depth revision and losing all your work due to a system glitch or human error. Take it from someone who knows very well. Nothing makes me want to throw in the towel faster than having to start over from scratch. As much stress as a computer or data failure might be, knowing the bulk of your work and/or progress is backed up safely on one or two back-up hard drives or other devices makes it much less of a disaster.
 

Tools for Revision :-)

#5 – Wine Time! Yep, you heard me. For me, it’s a nice, cool glass of Pinot Grigio. For my latest heroine, it’s a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon. Whether you’re a fan of red or white, chilled or room temperature, at the end of a frazzled day of revisions, nothing quite does it like wine…and, if I can sneak it in amidst the little one’s bath time and prepping dinner for the family, a warm bath. Ah…detoxing. My favorite part of any hard writing day in the office. Just remember: it was Hemingway, I believe, who said that you can write drunk so long as you revise sober.... So for revision's sake, definitely save that glass until the day's end :-)
 

So there you have it, readers! My 5 Keys for Surviving a Successful Revision! Writers, I hope you found it helpful in some way. Now for the fun part – the title announcement for my next Superromance novel, the second book in my hometown series that will follow A Place With Briar in October 2014. The name of the book is MARRIED ONE NIGHT! If you’ve had a chance to read A Place With Briar already this month, you’ll remember the heroine Briar’s cousin, Olivia Lewis. Married One Night will feature her and a charming, British hero who is very Tom Hiddleston-esque. Intrigued? Stay tuned for the back cover blurb and cover which are in the works!
 

On Shelves Now! 4 Stars from RT BOOK REVEIWS!

Amber Leigh Williams lives on the Gulf Coast. A southern girl at heart, she loves beach days, the smell of real books, relaxing at her family’s lakehouse, and spending time with her husband, Jacob, and their sweet, blue-eyed boy. When she’s not running after her young son and three, large dogs, she can usually be found reading a good romance or cooking up a new dish in her kitchen. She is represented by Joyce Holland of the D4EO Literary Agency. Visit her on the web at www.amberleighwilliams.com!

Motivation - The M in GMC by Jannine Gallant

There's a lot of talk about GMC - Goals, Motivation & Conflict - in writing circles. Editors tell us we can't have a story without it. Authors agonize over it, using the following formula: Your POV character wants (goal), because (motivation), but (conflict) keeps him/her from attaining that goal. I'll admit, about the third or fourth time I saw this posted, I wrote it on the inside cover of my catch-all notebook, feeling more than a little nervous for having ignored GMC up to that point. Now, even though it's there, staring me in the face, I still tend to ignore it when jumping on a new project. Occasionally, when I'm in the mood to torture myself, I'll contemplate one of my completed novels and try to fill in those blanks. Sometimes it works. Other times, not so much.

Does this mean my books are weak? Probably not, since I'm not overly filled with self-doubt. I think it means I fill in the blanks on a sub-conscious level as I write. Goal is never an issue for me. My books tend to have lots of action with a plot that moves right along. A common goal in all romance novels is to find love, but most of my characters also have the goal of survival. I write suspense, so there's usually a bad guy hindering their chances of making it to the end with their skin intact. So, there you have it, my surface level conflict - outwit the villain. The internal conflict generally goes along with the finding love goal. What makes our characters tick that keeps them from skipping merrily down a smooth path toward happiness? That's where the M comes in.

Motivation. I rarely think about this. Which is why I was plenty shocked yesterday to find myself worrying about the motivation of my heroine in my current WIP. Grace was the sister of my heroine in my very first published book, Victim Of Desire. I gave no thought to a sequel when I wrote it way back when. And now I'm stuck with the traits and history I gave Grace. She's single, beautiful, sarcastic, motivated to succeed, and not afraid of much of anything. I can work with all that. BUT, she had the reputation for going through men faster than takeout pizza. Yikes, not the best quality in a heroine. So, for the first time ever, I started thinking about why she would act this way. What was her motivation for her love 'em then run for cover attitude? My CP suggested an early marriage that ended in tragedy, so she's afraid to love again. Good, but no go. She'd never been married in the first book, so I can't toss in a husband now. So after a couple of unsuccessful ideas, I finally came up with one I liked. My CP likes it, too! Now I have my motivation for Grace's behavior - but you'll all have to read the book to find out what it is. LOL

So, is it easier to sit down and plot out your GMC right from the beginning? Or are you like me, letting it develop as you delve deeper into the story and learn more and more about your characters? Motivation often comes from something that happened in our pasts, but we have to slip it into our writing gradually, keeping a bit of mystery surrounding it. No info dumps! But that's a post for another day...

Find blurbs and links for all my books on my website.