The Write Way (because there is no ‘right’ way)…….

December 17, 2007 by in category Archives with 7 and 0
Home > Writing > Archives > The Write Way (because there is no ‘right’ way)…….

Just finished my latest work in progress and God, what a good feeling that is! Nothing quite like typing those two beautiful little words, The End.
But…for a working writer, The End only means a brief pause before typing the words, Chapter One. Although, every writer’s different. Some of us, when we finish a book, pop open some champagne, shut down the computer, walk out of the office and don’t even glance at the closed door for a month or more.

And ooh, sometimes I envy those writers! But you have to know yourself, and since I know me all too well, there will be no shutting down of the computer for me. Oh, I’ll take a day or two, it is Christmas, after all! But then I’ll open up a new document and start work on the next book.

See, I learned a long time ago that if I take a couple of weeks off, I get so far out of writing mode that it takes me several more weeks to get back in. It’s painful to sit in front of your computer and feel as though you don’t know how to write anymore.

It’s much easier to simply stay in writing mode. For me, at this time of year, that means writing one or two pages a day. It’s enough to keep my head in the book and easy enough that I’ll still feel as though I’m getting some time off.

So, during this great time of year, be kind to yourself. Play a little. Hug your kids, drop some money in the Salvation Army kettles. Give a gift to someone who’s not expecting it. Eat some cookies, sing some carols and do just enough writing to keep you ready for all of those January pages.


Maureen Child is the author of more than 100 romance novels and novellas. At the moment, she’s baking cookies and wishing you all—no matter what holiday you’re celebrating—a Merry Christmas and the very best of the season!

Author Details
Author Details
A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
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    ×
    A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.

    Okay, maybe this woman had it a little harder than WE do!!

    But when the holidays roll around and there’s family making all kinds of demands on your time, what’s a writer supposed to do?

    Today, the plan was to finish my current chapter and get at least half way through the next one. What’s the old saying?? If you want to make God laugh, tell Her your plans??

    Well, no writing was done today. And you know what, it’s okay. I’ll make up the pages. I’ll pick up the pace again later. Because as writers, that’s what we do. It’s who we are.

    If you’re lucky enough to be making a living at this wonderful/miserable/fantastic/challenging career, then you just suck it up and do what you have to do.

    Someone asked me the other day how I’d managed to write and sell more than 100 books in the last mumble mumble years. The answer? You keep typing. You keep imagining. You keep your butt in the chair and you do the work. If one proposal’s rejected, you do another one. When you finish one book, you move onto the next one.

    Now, with the holidays upon us (and how did that happen so quickly??), my game plan will be to write when I can and do however much I can a day. Try to write at least a page every day. Keep yourself immersed in your story because after two weeks off, it’s hard to remember how to string a compelling paragraph together!

    So remember that you’re a writer. When the family demands your time, remember to give yourself some time, too. To do what you were born to do. To tell your stories. To live in your imagination. Because, as my favorite old saying goes…….If Mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy!

    Author Details
    Author Details
    A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
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      ×
      A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
      I wanted to blog about writing contests, since we just announced the finalists in our own Orange Rose Contest for unpublished writers. And mega CONGRATS to all of you who did final!

      See, this is contest season in RWA…every month now in the Romance Writer’s Report, there will be listing after listing of contests you can enter, both published and unpublished. Now I’m a big fan of contests. I like winning badge jewelry as much as the next writer. But there are inherent dangers to contests for the unpublished. At least, I think so!

      The problem with contests is, it’s so subjective. Each writer or reader who will be judging your entries has her own likes and dislikes. Now, naturally, we’d all like to think that we put those prejudices aside and judge the work on its own merit. But hey, the judges are human. A perfect manuscript might get a low score because the judge doesn’t like westerns. Or heros with dark hair. Or heroines who talk too much.

      And the danger to unpublished writers is, I think, that they’ll make every change suggested by the dozen or more judges who’ve read their work, trying to please everybody. And in the end, they please nobody because they’ve sucked the life force out of their own words. Of course, there’s a flipside to this, too. There is the occasional writer who thinks all the judges are crazy even if five of them tell her the same thing and she refuses to change any of her ‘pearls’.

      So I guess what I’m saying is, once you get your score sheets, step back. Take the suggestions, the advice and let it stew for awhile before you leap in to make changes. Look at your scoresheets, see if all of the judges are remarking on the same thing. If they are, maybe it’s time to do a little tweaking. But bottom line is, the work is yours. You can’t please every reader. What you’re hoping for is to make your story and your writing the best it can be. Polish. Look for typos. Look for plot holes or repetition. Have one trusted reader go over it and then send it out. Let an editor be the real judge…since they’re the ones you have to please in the end……

      And I hope you win lots of badge jewelry!!

      Maureen Child is a multi published author of more than 90 romance novels. At the moment, she’s flipping through the RWR planning her assault during contest season.
      Author Details
      Author Details
      A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
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      Buy now!
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      Buy now!
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      THE MASK OF MIDNIGHT

      Buy now!
      THE MASK OF MIDNIGHT

      THE CHRISTMAS PRESENT

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      THE WORTH OF A VISCOUNT

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      SHADOWS AT DAWN

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      REWRITING THE PAST

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      CLEAR INTENT

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      ONCE UPON AN ENCHANTED FOREST

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      THE DECEPTION

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      THE DECEPTION

      THEIR HIGHLAND BEGINNING

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      THE WITCHES OF NEW MOON BEACH BOXED SET

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      ONE TASTE TOO MANY

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        ×
        A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.

        by Maureen Child

        Writing a proposal is probably the most important thing you’re going to do in your career. Your proposal is the ‘howdy do’ of publishing. It’s your foot in the door. It’s your ‘Hey, I’m over here, read me’, way of getting an editor’s attention.

        I’ve known several writers over the years who had one proposal. They sent this proposal out over and over again any time they’d hear an editor might be looking for something. They’d get feedback on this one proposal, make changes in it and then send it back out again.

        Eventually, this wear and tear on a proposal shows.

        And it wears on the writer, too. How can you be excited to work on a project you’ve been laboring over for five years? Nope. Once a proposal has made the rounds of everyone you can think of, put it away. I’m not saying you should never take it out for a ride around NYC again. But let it rest then go back to it with fresh eyes later.

        When I was trying to sell to Silhouette Desire, I’d already written nearly forty western historicals. Didn’t mean much at Silhouette. Sure, they liked the fact that I was published, but Westerns didn’t mean I could write contemporary Desires! I was determined, though. The editor I was submitting to at the time took three weeks to turn down my first proposal.

        But I was ready for her. When I got that first rejection, I had the next proposal in an envelope ready to go out. She was impressed that I’d kept working on other ideas. I asked her how many proposals I could give her at once. She said she didn’t want any more than four proposals on her desk at one time.

        Within three weeks, she had three more proposals from me sitting on her desk. By doing that, I told her some very important information about me. She now knew I had lots of ideas. She knew I was determined. And she knew I didn’t give up easily.

        So do your proposals. Your first three chapters and a synopsis. Make them sing. Make them shine. Send them out. And while you’re waiting…write something else.

        Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. And right now she’s working on…you guessed it. A proposal.

        Author Details
        Author Details
        A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
        On Sale

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        Buy now!
        Redheaded Ruminations

        STOLEN KISSES FROM THE VISCOUNT

        Buy now!
        STOLEN KISSES FROM THE VISCOUNT
        INTIMATE RELATIONS
        THIEVES: Book One of the Obscurité de Floride Trilogy
        FUR, FEATHERS AND SCALES: Sweet, Funny, and Strange Animal Tales

        SAVAGED SURRENDER

        Buy now!
        SAVAGED SURRENDER
        WHO’S THE FAIREST? A Sisters Grimm Anthology
        SNOW IN LOVE: Sweet Romance Holiday Collection

        THE LIFE OF RILEY

        Buy now!
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        FATHOMS: A NOVEL OF THE PARANORMAL

        GIRL IN THE MIST

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          ×
          A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.

          by Maureen Child

          I really hate writing a synopsis. Most writers do. And those that do love writing the darn things??… let’s just say we will never be close personal friends! We wouldn’t be able to bond over the misery of trying to cram a 2-400 page book into a handful of pages.

          A synopsis is all important when you’re going for that elusive contract. When you need to show an agent or an editor that yes, your story does actually contain a beginning, a middle, and an end. You need to make that synopsis sing–to entice your readers with the brilliance of your plot line and keep it all under ten pages, if you don’t mind!

          This is not easy. Especially if you haven’t figured out exactly how you want your book to go yet. Still, the synopsis must be written…so you jump in with both feet and hope for the best. Here are a couple of tips. I’m not saying this is the only way to write a synopsis, only that it’s worked for me for almost one hundred books………….

          1. Don’t clutter the synopsis with a million names. It will only be confusing. Get the hero, the heroine and if you have to, their children. Name the villain, of course, but leave out quirky Aunt Edna or the garage mechanic Edwardo who’s sleeping with the Mayor’s wife, Delilah Nogood.

          2. If you’re going to include backstory, to provide motivation, then label it as backstory. Keep it to no more than two pages. Then have a scene break, and type, The Story:

          3. Hit the high points. Pretend you’re telling your best friend what your book is about. This is a sure fire way to get the basic story in without a lot of detail that will no doubt be brilliant in the book, but in the synopsis stage is just clutter.

          4. Don’t have snippets of dialogue. It slows things down. Besides, the editor/agent will be reading your pages and the dialogue will make much more sense over there!

          5. Tie up loose ends. Never leave the mystery unsolved or the murderer un-revealed. (is that a word?)

          6. Show your characters’ growth arcs. That’s simple enough if you do one paragraph from the hero’s POV and then switch to the heroine’s. In a synopsis, don’t worry so much about head hopping. With those continual shifts, showing how your characters are responding to what’s happening, the editor/agent will see that you actually have a plan for those people!

          That’s about it, I think. Of course, as soon as I hit ‘publish’, I’ll think of something else! If I do, I’ll come back and add it in.

          The main thing to remember is that you want your synopsis to catch the imagination of those who read it. You want it to make them need to read your book. But no pressure!


          Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. A five time Rita nominee, she’s seen one of her books made into a CBS-TV movie and would love to have that experience again! Her June release from NAL, More Than Fiends, is a paranormal/urban fantasy/funny/first person romp filled with way too many characters that never cluttered the synopsis.

          Author Details
          Author Details
          A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
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            ×
            A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.

            .
            By Maureen Child

            I was asked to write a monthly blog on Craft for OCC. Very nice to be asked, by the way. But the problem came when I actually started thinking about what to say!

            Craft is just so subjective. Are there rules to writing? Absolutely. Should you try to bend them, break them and or spindle and mutilate? Why not? And who am I to tell you not to do it?

            So what I’m going to do is, talk about how I write. That’s not necessarily the way you’ll write. Or the way you should write. But it’s what I know. And, I’d love it if you had questions. Or suggestions on what you might like to read about.

            On my first blog though, I’m just going to say that to be a writer, you MUST write. Every day. Even it’s only for a few minutes a day. We’ve all got busy lives. Husbands, kids, parents, jobs…and all of it combines to make writing time hard to come by.

            But you’re worth the effort. Carve out a little bit of time all for yourself. Early in the morning, late at night. On your lunch hour. Make the writing as important as everything else in your world. Connect with your own imagination. Let the words flow even if they don’t seem to make sense at first glance. You can fix anything. But first you have to write it.

            So let’s hear the questions and suggestions. I KNOW you’ve all got opinions!


            Maureen Child is the author of more than ninety romance novels and novellas. She’s written historicals, paranormals, contemporaries and series romance. And her favorite book is the one she’s working on at the moment. Publisher’s Weekly says that Maureen Child…is one of the stars in the ascendant…

            Author Details
            Author Details
            A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
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              ×
              A Slice of Orange started in 2004 as a group of authors from Orange County, California. We have expanded to include authors from around the globe–from the UK, all across the US to New Zealand. Our authors include the multi-published and writers at the beginning of their publishing career. In addition to authors, we feature blog posts from editors, PR professionals, and cover designers. The bright segments of the writing and reading community that make up one perfect entity—A Slice of Orange.
            • Anonymous says:

              Hey Aly…….

              Just found your question! LOL…

              and Yes, I too have discovered a favorite phrase popping up in more than one book. Always terrifying and something I’m always on the lookout for!

            • Anonymous says:

              Hey Maureen-
              I just wanted to say- 90 books? WOW!
              Okay, here’s my question- with that many books under your belt- have you ever, unintentionally, recycled a phrase or joke or some such thing? I was reading Jennifer Weiner’s blog a while back, and she discovered she did that, and all I could think was- dang, there’s one more thing to worry about!

            • Anonymous says:

              Thanks, Jen…Usually, when it’s not working for me, I try the same scene from a different POV. Start with a different character. Or move it further along into the action. Anything that might give my creativity a noodge…

            • Anonymous says:

              Maureen I love your advice on revising. When I’m revising over and over, usually it’s because something’s not working and I just can’t see what it is…yet.

              With more than 90 books to your credit, you’re an inspiriation Maureen!

            • Anonymous says:

              LOL…….ah yes, I’ve always got an opinion! Thanks, guys…

            • Anonymous says:

              Oh, more stuff to tweak is an excellent incentive! LOL

              Thanks Maureen! I always trust you’ll have a down-to-earth way of dealing with problems like this.

            • Anonymous says:

              Maureen, I loved this post.

              And I loved Kate’s question and your answer to it.

              🙂 d

            • Anonymous says:

              Hi Kate….sure. Here are the words of wisdom……CUT IT OUT!

              Rewriting a scene over and over again doesn’t make it better. You will eventually, just suck the magic out of what you wrote in the first place!

              You have to limit yourself…=) Once is fine. Twice is okay…but any more than that and you’re risking diluting your own work. Move on, write more…give yourself other things to tweak!

            • Anonymous says:

              Hi Maureen! It’s so exciting to see you talking about craft!

              Okay, I have a question. Instead of WRITING every day, I seem to find myself RE-writing every day. Do you have any words of wisdom for someone who feels the need to tweak their work constantly??

              Thanks!

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