Julie Miller's Blog - Posts Tagged "my-writing-process"
My Writing Process: Ever Evolving? or Back to Basics?
The more I write, the more I learn about writing. I've always believed that as a teacher, and I'm seeing it firsthand as my writing career progresses. Whether published or not, there's always something to learn from completing a writing project.
I recently finished revisions and updates for the first novel I ever had published--IMMORTAL HEART, a contemporary paranormal romantic suspense--that will be reissued on June 15th. That was 40+ novels ago. And wow, what an interesting trip down memory lane to read through that ms again. There were some obvious updates content-wise after 15 years that I needed to address--giving my techno-wiz heroine a cell phone, changing her videotape collection to DVD's, using flash drives instead of (groan ) floppy disks.
But I discovered that my writing style has changed over the years, too. I discovered a few cliches in the ms--maybe they were fresh back then, but they've been overused now. I discovered that I must have had a favorite word back then because I used it a LOT in that ms (I've changed several of them, played with different phrasing in the new version so it doesn't jump out at the reader the way it kept jumping out at me). Plus, I think I'm a tighter writer now (ooh, that rhymes). For example, I can see that I took fewer chances with breaking the rules of grammar and sentence structure. Some sentences--dialogue, especially--I just wanted to snap in half so that the pacing moved faster and it sounded more realistic to those characters. Of course, I was still teaching full-time when I first wrote that story, so maybe all those rules I insisted my students use were stuck in my head, influencing my style. I hope I've given the story the contemporary, fast-paced tone I use now to go along with (what I'm pleased to discover) the deep characterization that I still have today.
As I begin my next writing project today (a Christmas cowboy novella for an Intrigue anthology I'm writing with Dana Marton and Paula Graves), I'm keeping in mind the evolution of my writing style. No more 'darlin's' unless that hero is from Texas, and even then, probably not. And really, 'galvanized' is a cool word, but I think once in a ms is plenty since it's so unique. I'm giving myself permission to play with those grammar rules. My ms will still be clean and easy to read, but I will break some rules intentionally for certain effects in my story.
But there's something else in that first novel that I want to get back to in my writing. That truly was a book of my heart (in fact, the whole trilogy I wrote featuring that group of characters was a books of the heart project). While I know there are certain requirements in writing now--right tone for the line, required length, certain level of heat, hooks that readers like, etc.--I don't want to limit myself creatively. I want to dream more, let my imagination go, allow myself to feel the joy of writing that I felt back then. For example, in the first book of the next miniseries I'll be writing, I'm already thinking of some tweaks I want to give my hero. Deepen the angst and conflict. Incorporate some things that have touched me in real life recently (he's a Marine). And so on. When I start writing that 45th book, I want to try to recapture that book of the heart feeling. The ptb at Harlequin say that readers are looking for something a little unpredictable and fresh in their books, while still being able to bank on the promise of a particular line. I'm hoping to pull that unpredictability into my story by trusting my instincts and playing a little more.
So that's where I am in my process. Reflecting back on how far I've come while giving myself permission to break a few more of those rules I didn't know about back then that I know now. I'm looking forward to starting my next slate of projects with this new attitude. That'll keep it fresh and exciting for me as a writer, as well as for the reader. I hope!
Feel free to ask a question about writing or upcoming projects. Share what you would consider fresh or unpredictable in the Intrigues/Harlequins you read. Or just share what you've been reminiscing about lately.
I recently finished revisions and updates for the first novel I ever had published--IMMORTAL HEART, a contemporary paranormal romantic suspense--that will be reissued on June 15th. That was 40+ novels ago. And wow, what an interesting trip down memory lane to read through that ms again. There were some obvious updates content-wise after 15 years that I needed to address--giving my techno-wiz heroine a cell phone, changing her videotape collection to DVD's, using flash drives instead of (groan ) floppy disks.
But I discovered that my writing style has changed over the years, too. I discovered a few cliches in the ms--maybe they were fresh back then, but they've been overused now. I discovered that I must have had a favorite word back then because I used it a LOT in that ms (I've changed several of them, played with different phrasing in the new version so it doesn't jump out at the reader the way it kept jumping out at me). Plus, I think I'm a tighter writer now (ooh, that rhymes). For example, I can see that I took fewer chances with breaking the rules of grammar and sentence structure. Some sentences--dialogue, especially--I just wanted to snap in half so that the pacing moved faster and it sounded more realistic to those characters. Of course, I was still teaching full-time when I first wrote that story, so maybe all those rules I insisted my students use were stuck in my head, influencing my style. I hope I've given the story the contemporary, fast-paced tone I use now to go along with (what I'm pleased to discover) the deep characterization that I still have today.
As I begin my next writing project today (a Christmas cowboy novella for an Intrigue anthology I'm writing with Dana Marton and Paula Graves), I'm keeping in mind the evolution of my writing style. No more 'darlin's' unless that hero is from Texas, and even then, probably not. And really, 'galvanized' is a cool word, but I think once in a ms is plenty since it's so unique. I'm giving myself permission to play with those grammar rules. My ms will still be clean and easy to read, but I will break some rules intentionally for certain effects in my story.
But there's something else in that first novel that I want to get back to in my writing. That truly was a book of my heart (in fact, the whole trilogy I wrote featuring that group of characters was a books of the heart project). While I know there are certain requirements in writing now--right tone for the line, required length, certain level of heat, hooks that readers like, etc.--I don't want to limit myself creatively. I want to dream more, let my imagination go, allow myself to feel the joy of writing that I felt back then. For example, in the first book of the next miniseries I'll be writing, I'm already thinking of some tweaks I want to give my hero. Deepen the angst and conflict. Incorporate some things that have touched me in real life recently (he's a Marine). And so on. When I start writing that 45th book, I want to try to recapture that book of the heart feeling. The ptb at Harlequin say that readers are looking for something a little unpredictable and fresh in their books, while still being able to bank on the promise of a particular line. I'm hoping to pull that unpredictability into my story by trusting my instincts and playing a little more.
So that's where I am in my process. Reflecting back on how far I've come while giving myself permission to break a few more of those rules I didn't know about back then that I know now. I'm looking forward to starting my next slate of projects with this new attitude. That'll keep it fresh and exciting for me as a writer, as well as for the reader. I hope!
Feel free to ask a question about writing or upcoming projects. Share what you would consider fresh or unpredictable in the Intrigues/Harlequins you read. Or just share what you've been reminiscing about lately.
