In my August 11th appearance on this
page, I talked about attending the 37th Annual Conference of Romance
Writers of America. Despite some pro and con controversy about the value of
membership in this organization, in my opinion, the group does strive to
support romance authors in their craft and their career, from those just emerging
and pre-published to multi-published masters. Many commenters on August 11th
asked me to share what I learned in some of the many workshops.
So let’s begin….
In all the sessions on the craft of writing, the
message was the same. Emotion is the takeaway readers seek, especially from a
romance novel. They want to be invested, to feel or empathize with the
characters. Maybe relive a treasured memory through the story.
The first workshop I attended was Seducing Your
Readers in Chapter 1, presented by Michael Hauge.
The tease and bio go something like this…
Salvaging a
novel with a weak opening is next to impossible. Never try to “grab” your
reader at the beginning of your novel. You must seduce them, draw them into
your world, create empathy for your heroine, set the tone for your story,
introduce immediate conflict, lay the groundwork for your heroine’s arc, and
foreshadow what lies ahead. This presentation will reveal how to compel your
readers to keep turning the page.
Michael Hauge
is a story consultant, author, and lecturer who has consulted on projects for
every major Hollywood studio, including films starring Will Smith, Julia
Roberts, Jennifer Lopez, Kirsten Dunst, Robert Downey Jr., and Morgan Freeman.
He is the author of Selling Your Story
in 60 Seconds, and has presented his lectures and workshops to more than
50,000 writers and filmmakers around the world.
My initial decision to sit in on this one was mainly
prompted an author friend who exclaimed how attending a presentation of his a
few years ago was so eye opening for her, it changed her writing life forever.
You could say I bought into her enthusiasm, the emotion she projected.
Suffice it to say, I wasn’t disappointed.
One element of writing he shared, I’d heard before.
In framing characters, a writer needs to begin with the wound. An event or ongoing painful situation she believes she’s over, that still determines her
behavior.
The hero, of course, needs to come to understand this, and her.
According to Mr. Hauge, the primary reason a
manuscript fails to resonate with editors, and therefore receives a rejection
slip, is because the hero and heroine have no real reason to be together,
except for the fact the writer wants them to be.
Kind of like – I
love you because we are in this book together. Not very compelling, or
interesting.
My main takeaway from the session is the core of
the following paragraph.
The reason the hero is the heroine’s destiny is
because he’s the only guy who sees her beneath her identity and connects with
her at her essence. He sees her true self and connects to her on that level.
Did your heart beat a little faster? A contented sigh
emerge? Me too!
The need for a deep and unique connection between
two souls is a dynamic that has stayed with me, one that I’ll think about, and
try to inject into my writing in every interaction between my hero and heroine.
Emotion. Deep, heartfelt emotion.
Hopefully, mission accomplished in my September 29,
2017 release On the Surface.
It’s available for pre-order here.
My days to blog at The Roses of Prose are the 11th and 23rd.
For more about me and my stories, please visit me at my website
