Writing Problems: Organizing Timelines, Character Histories, or Complicated Fight Scenes

When writers create their stories, they may or may not have an outline of what they are going to write. Typically, they start with an idea and the idea grows and grows until it turns into a story.  The problem comes when the story becomes too big or complicated to remember every little detail.  When writing a series that has a 12 book story arc, mistakes are easy to make and searching for previously written "facts" can be time consuming.  The worst thing that a writer can do is corrupt their timeline or mix up the histories of their characters.

Continuity problems are a way of life when writing complicated histories for characters that have lived for centuries and it is easy to lose sight of what was written in an earlier book.  I know that every writer uses some kind of tool to chronicle their facts whether it's hard notebooks or programs/apps.  I used to make notes and stack them on my desk, or worse, write random notes and save them in different sections of a future book so that I would remember them later.  I found this process to be completely maddening and decided that a physical notebook was a waste of my time.

Aside from using Microsoft Word to write my books, I use Excel, Powerpoint, and OneNote to try to simplify my data.  (I think I would have lost my mind if I hadn't accidentally opened OneNote and rejoiced in its beauty.)  I have created everything from maps of the Realms of Torture in Hell, to layouts for the rooms of my characters for the sake of continuity. Using different programs may seem overwhelming, but I found it to be immensely helpful.

Excel:  I am writing a 12 book series concurrently with no less than 212 characters or places across all of the books, and I'm not nowhere near done creating characters.  I made a list of all of the character's names, descriptions, titles (angels love titles), who they are loyal to, which books they are seen in, which books they are mentioned in, and if they died.  The information is in a giant grid so that I can quickly see which books the characters are in.  This is helpful, not only for timeline purposes, but I find that I don't duplicate character names or use too many characters with the same first letter.  It's easier to see all of the B characters so that I can avoid Brend and Brent.  It has saved me a few times.

I also have multiple timelines in Excel.  I have a history of human events, such as wars, because one set of characters will reference these events, and I have the history of the fallen angels who appear in the series. There have been many times when these timelines have saved me from making huge mistakes.  A character can't talk about their experiences in the 1500's if they weren't alive at the time.

Powerpoint:  I am a very visual person, and it helps if I can see a room, or a set of characters.  For every character I have, I Googled an actor or a model, or some random dude and associated a specific picture with that character.  It can be hard to find the right photo because I want it to express the emotion of the character, more than the physical features of that person.  Once I have my photo or photos, I write out descriptions for each characters, including their personality traits and quirks.  For example, one of my characters has a tattoo on his inner wrist and loves guns.  I have a random photo of the tattoo that I found and added photos of the specific guns he uses.  It tends to give me a better feel for the character and helps me remember what color eyes he has, since it can be hard to keep track of 20 sets of eyes! 

Creating fully furnished rooms with decorative windows is fun when you use the photo settings in Powerpoint.  I created a 3-D room using various photos from online catalogs.  One room has a bed with black satin sheets, a black Barcalounger, a carved wooden chest, a vanity with a water basin, a book shelf with handmade maps, and a stained glass window of a sunset sitting over a ledge with a red cushion.  I can remember all of this, because I have seen the room.  The odds of remember what this bedroom looks like once I get to Book 12 are slim, so I find that taking the time to construct this room will save me having to open up Book 2 and find where the room is and search through the text to remember what color the cushion was.

Aside from the character descriptions, or the room layouts, I also use Powerpoint for hierarchies.  When dealing with the Celestial Warriors or the Overseers of the Realms of Hell, it helps to know who out ranks who, since there are power struggles occasionally.  I used the "organizational chart" to map out my chain of command, which is great because it allows for thumbnail photos to be viewed next to the titles.   

The most complicated "slide" I have in Powerpoint is the map of Hell.  I used the drawing tools to create the Realms and color code them.  Then I added a thumbnail photo of the Overseers in each Realm or area, then used the "text box" to add descriptions.  It's definitely easier to remember the names of the Overseers and which Realm they are in charge of when I can see it at a glance.  In my ever expanding Hell, it helps to know which realms are near the Caves of Winds so that the character can take the correct path to the castle.  Without the map, even I'm lost.

OneNote:  I cannot say enough positive things about the program.  I was losing my mind one day working with Powerpoint because as much as I love it for certain things, it can be tedious when you are short on time.  I don't want to have to stop and create a text box every three seconds.  I knew that there had to be a better program to jot down notes and write down ideas aside from virtual sticky notes, so I went through all my Microsoft programs and found OneNote.  I had never heard of it before, so I opened it expecting to be disappointed, and instead it changed my life.

The screens in OneNote are a blank slate, just like Powerpoint, but you can click anywhere on the screen and make a note.  It blew my mind.  No more tabbing in Word, or inserting Powerpoint, or moving cells in Excel.  I could insert a photo and write all the notes I wanted and move them anywhere on the page.  I was in heaven. 

The fun part about OneNote is that I can "bookmark" any idea and see a synopsis on the side.  I can write notes anywhere on the screen, but I can tag them for later so that I can "remember" them, or "question" them, or "make a check list".  The possibilities are limitless. 

In OneNote, I have each Book in a Notebook, and inside each Notebook I have my ideas page where I list the things I have still have to deal with, like finishing out a plot line, or throw in a photo to remind me to deal with a specific character.  I have my chapter outlines where I can drop in photos so that I remember which characters interact in that chapter.  I also have my Continuity Notebook where I write down specific "facts" that carry across the series.  If the Angel of Death was once known as the Angel of Determination and it influences his character in some way, I had better remember that he was Determination.  I don't want him to be the Angel of Cautiousness in a flashback.

The best thing I have done so far is create an entire fight sequence.  I have 2 different settings where 20 possible Celestial Warriors are battling about 15-20 creatures, all of whom are named.  Since I have my photos of each character, I can build my battle scenes and move around the photos like a chess board.  I can see where each of the creatures dies and where a Warrior is hurt.  I no longer have to find the piece of paper where I sketched out stick figures to try to remember which Warrior killed which creature.  I now have a battle plan that I can refer to during the editing process.  There would be hell to pay if I forgot to kill off one of the creatures.  I find it easier to keep track of everyones movements when I can see each piece of the puzzle.

Writing a series is hard enough, but without the right tools to help organize my thoughts, my books would be a rambling mess of continuity problems.  I truly have no idea what I would do if I had to rely on being organized on lined paper and Post-It Notes.  I am the first one in line to try out a new program to see if it will help me streamline my writing process or help me remember which book someone died in.  I know that I wouldn't be able to accomplish such a large undertaking without some kind of digital assistant.  If you have a favorite program, let me know and I will try it out!

Changing the Name of the Game

When I first came up with the idea of writing a series, I had created a title for the series and the individual books.  I thought that the name best represented the books and what they were about.  For three years I have been writing these books and have identified them by these titles.  The name had become ingrained in my subconscious.  The problem came when it was time to publish the first book. 

When we started designing the cover, my husband suggested that the title was too common.  Since I write paranormal romance, there are a lot of similar themes across the genre.  Everyone writes about ghosts, vampires, werewolves, zombies, angels, etc.  My book involves all of them, but primarily focuses on fallen angels.  If you do a Google search on any of these themes, you will find scores of books with similar titles.  You can't throw a rock without hitting the word "angel", especially "fallen angel".  I was disheartened to realize that I needed a new title, one that still captured the essence of the book, but was easier to find amongst all the carbon copy titles.  

I wallowed in my grief for about two minutes, and then I pushed ahead.  I knew it was the right decision if I wanted to be noticed.  So for the next ten minutes, we were in a panic trying to come up with an alternate title.  We googled different ways of saying angel, apocalypse, Hell, and harbingers, but we got nowhere fast.  I was still stunned, so I wracked my brain searching for a better title. It was then that a phrase was thrown out by my husband.  It was a simple phrase, but it was relevant to the story, just in a smaller way.  As soon as he said the title, I had a fluttering sensation in the pit of my stomach.  The more I tested it and rolled it around my head, the more I accepted the new name.

We quickly googled the title and couldn't come up with anything of significance.  I breathed a sigh of relief and watched as the title appeared on the cover of my book.  While I still missed the old title, I knew it was for the best.  I didn't think it would be as successful if I had stuck to my guns and kept the old title. 

As writers, we tend to fall in love with our characters and our story lines and are resistant to change when a suggestion is made.  The problem comes when we are too stubborn to admit that the change could make a huge difference.  I'm thankful that I was in a flexible mood that day and was willing to listen since I do believe it will make a difference.

I still have to get used to the idea that the "Fallen Angels of Temptation" has now become "The Third Throne", but it's slowly sinking in.  Now I just have to change my internal working documents on my future books, and I will be set.

Sunlight vs. Darkness

It seems like forever that I have started a blog entry, but I am assuaging my guilt with the fact that I was holed up finishing Book 1 and working through the tedious process of editing my book.  While it is by far the worst part of the writing process and a very important one, it seems like it will never end.  The worse part is that is doesn't end, at least until it's finally in print and out or your hands.

Currently I'm going through the depressing part where others are reviewing what you have written and will either gleefully rip it apart, smile a fake smile and pretend it's great or shrugging indifferently.  I'm not sure which response I would prefer at this point.  My nerves are shot as I eagerly await feedback. 

While I have been playing the waiting game, I managed to go outside and remember what the shining thing is the sky is and that there are other food options aside from caffeine laced snacks and soda.  I almost feel like I have a life again.  So of course what do I do after a few weeks of normalcy?  I start working on the other books which are in various states of outline, partial chapters and notes.  I'm a sucker for torture.

I feel like if I don't keep going, then I will lose momentum and completely forget what I wrote in Book 1 and forget what my intended objectives are for the remaining books.  I was gleeful when I lay down, intent on taking a nap and instead envisioned huge sections for Book 2 that come in blinding glimpses of the obvious.  I, of course, had to write them down, and then edit them, and the expound upon them and ultimately forsake my nap.

I am constantly amazed that as well I pretend to know about the world that I'm writing about, I'm taken by surprise by all the things I never knew about.  I almost feel like a new reader who is starting a book and turning the pages as quickly as possible to find out what happens next, except that I'm writing the new pages and trying to get to the next one as fast as I can type.  It's an exciting experience, if not a little frustration since I want to know how it ends too.

There are days when I think, even if no one else ever reads my books, at least I will have had the amazing opportunity of writing them and getting this interesting world down into print.  Other days I hope like heck that someone will read it and tell others and before you know it, tons of people love it.  Of course every writer feels that way.  I'm just another in a sea of millions, but who cares?  I'm doing what I want to do, hopefully.

While it was fun to play in the sunlight for a little while and actually read books that I hadn't written, it's more enticing and interesting to sneak back into the darkness of my room, lit only by my monitor and explore the places inside my head that make me type as fast as I possibly can.

I know more blog posts will follow now that I'm securely back in the curtain drawn room where the sunlight is just a myth and a concept.  All the really intriguing things live in the dark. 

Balancing Work and Writing

I have to admit that I am not a full time writer, though there are times that I think I would like to be one.  Given that I am still in the process of writing my series, I still have to pay the bills in someway.  So, since I must work and take care of my family and dogs, I have to find the time to write.  Thankfully I have a husband that supports me, usually, as long as the house isn't falling apart while I'm in my writing cave.  Yet, even with the support of my family, I still have to find a few precious hours here and there to focus on my writing and get my words down on paper.

In previous blogs I have mentioned that you have to make time for yourself if you want to write.  Even though I am committed to my project, there are days when I'm tired or cranky or blocked, yet I don't give up.  I don't allow myself to forget what my goal is and why I'm doing this.  I'm not doing this for fame and fortune, though I wouldn't threw it away, but I'm writing because I like my characters and want to bring them to life.  It's that goal that makes me sit down once everyone is in bed and write for a few hours before I pass out.  Granted it's easier when inspiration is driving me crazy and nagging at me to type faster and get all my ideas down, but even when I'm not motivated, I still have to get things done.

I ask you, after a commute to and from work, after being yelled at by your boss or having trouble with your co-workers and dealing with customers, and then coming home, making dinner, stopping all the unnecessary sibling fights, do you want to sit down and write, probably not?  What I find most helpful is thinking about what I want to write during my spare moments in the day.  I love talking things out in the car, while making dinner, taking a long shower, but I have to find the energy to sit down at night and work.  There are weeks were I'm too stressed to concentrate but then I look forward to the weekend.  I steal any time that I can during those two days to kick the crap out of my keyboard and jam as much into the computer as I can.  For example, last weekend I added a scene to Book 1 that helps with an emotional response that I found was originally lacking.  I realized my character never really accepted that she loved the hero, or in this case, the anti-hero.  By adding a few paragraphs, I was able to show an important emotion that will balance out the story.  It took a few hours to re-work until I was happy, but it was well worth it and it didn't take weeks to write.  I also came up with a kick-butt opening to Book 6.  Something I didn't even know I had in me.

Balancing out your life is never an easy thing, no matter what your interests or responsibilities are, but it's important that you don't lose sight of your goals.  We are constantly kicking Thing 1 in the butt about what goals he should be setting in his life, goals for 1 year, 5 years, 10 years.  It's important to set realistic goals with your writing so that work and life won't overtake your passion.  Even if you get stalled for a week or two, don't just walk away and let your project sit around collecting dust.  If you are passionate enough about what you do and the story you are writing, you will learn to make the time alotted, work for you.  It may take a day, a month or a year to finish what you started, but don't let anything get in the way of your dream, even if it's bills.  If you want something badly enough, you will find a way.

Writing the Romantic Moments of the Romance

Everyone who has ever read a romance novel or any novel involving intimacy between characters wonders how the writer creates these moments.  Are they based on something that they have done?  Are the characters based on real people?  What is real and what is made up?  This is yet another question that my husband asked me.  "How do you come up with the kissing stuff?"

Okay, so before I answer the question about the intimacy, I will address the character question.  (Always keep them waiting for more.)  Do I base my characters on real people?  For the most part no, though there are certainly times when I draw from different people whether it's a phrase they use, or a personality quirk, or something that I enjoy about them.  Though it's still a representation of them, not the real person. 

All of the men in my stories, angels or mortals, are based on a type of person that I want to write about.  Some are heroes, some are bad guys, but they are all characters that I personally find interesting.  I try to make my bad guys truly mean and crazed, while my heroes are flawed yet redeemable.  That's just what I enjoy.  Each angel has their own personality and quirks, the same with the mortals.  All of the angels are weighed down by darkness which gives me a broader canvas to use.  My mortals have had rough lives that adds an extra layer to them.  I love all of my characters for different reasons.  My bad boys are funny or sarcastic, yet can pull a gut wrenching moment out of nowhere.  My mortals struggle to get beyond their past experiences and make serious choices about their future.

Once I know who my characters are and what their personalities are, then I can decide how they will deal with intimacy.  I want my characters to be intimate in ways that their personalities would allow.  That's not to say that the quiet guy is the sweet and sensitive type, it means that they will approach a woman in the way they have always wanted to.  If they are timid, they may express themselves more fully with someone that they love while behind closed doors.  I try and define their intimate encounters based on what I know about them.

Writing a romance that is heavy on storyline and character motivation sometimes causes problems when it comes to finding time for intimacy.  There is so much going on that you have to find a way to isolate the characters from the action and the people who want to kill them to give them time to express their desire for each other.  You try and make it plausible, but sometimes you have to bite the bullet and pull them out of the story even though they should be running for their lives or fighting back.  Given that it's a romance, you have to find time to add that aspect to your story and let me tell you, it's not always easy.

Okay, now the good stuff.  How do I come up with the kissing and hugging parts?  As I have said, I try to let those moments be defined by the characters.  I imagine what it would take for a character to satisfy their wants and needs.  Sometimes they prefer being tender and meaningful, other times they fully intend on rocking someone's world.  I also have to figure out where they are most comfortable being intimate with someone.  I have one character who prefers to be out in the open for anyone to to see him.  I have another who starts off tender and shy, but embraced his darker side as the excitement builds.  Another was abused and had no control over the situation so he enjoys being in control. 

Have I drawn on my personal experiences to create the intimate sections?  Sure.  I have used moments that I have experienced, good and bad, but mostly I try to figure out what the character would enjoy.  For example, my Angel of Death relies on his eyes to focus his power and see into a person's soul to figure out how best to tempt them to commit murder or suicide.  No one likes looking him in the eyes.  When my characters finally get together, they lock eyes the entire time which brings a level of intimacy for both characters.  She can look death in the eye without flinching and Death can look at someone in a positive way. 

As a romance writer I also get to explore things that I have never experienced.  Instead of trying to be intimate while the kids are screaming, the dogs are jumping on the bed and worrying about getting up on time, I can imagine a place and setting where the characters are alone and have enough time to do everything they want to do, without distraction.  I am also allowed to do things I would never do for a variety of reasons.  Characters in romance novels don't tire out as easily, don't get cold in the shower when the water isn't hitting them and don't have to worry about certain times of the month.  It's a fantasy world where people shrug off the reality of the world and do what the have always dreamed of doing.  Do I really want to stand in a freezing castle and be intimate?  No, not without a space heater, but my characters find it thrilling to be caught.  So as you can see, I try and let my imagination go to the places that I'm not will or able to go.

While I enjoy writing about the "good stuff", I spend more time writing about the story, the plot, the characters, and the character motivations.  Truth be known, I only spend about 5-10% of my time writing about the "good stuff" because I'm busy filling in the space between the intimate parts.  I  want to be able to create an interesting story where people happen to fall in love with each other and can express their feelings for each other. 

Romance vs. Smut

So I asked <3 to give my a topic for my blog and after much deliberation he came up with this question.  What is the different between writing romance and pure smut?  Okay before I go any further know that I everyone loves reading something completely down and dirty once in while, so I'm not knocking it, I'm merely talking about the difference and why I, for the most part, write romance.  Of course I'm sure there are times when things get carried away and go over the line, overall the intent is to write romance.  Having said that, let's continue on.

The intent in writing a romance is creating characters that have some kind of obstacle or difficulty that they must overcome to find love.  There are a thousand different reasons why people are lonely and haven't found the right person.  In the supernatural world it goes beyond simply having bad luck with men/women or not being able to find the right person.  Typically there is a larger problem at hand, sometimes it's a curse, or a power that keeps them from someone, but usually our character is so lost in darkness that they don't think they are worthy of love.  They need to find someone who can look beyond their flaws and past deeds and find the good in them.  There are also times when there is one person made for them that they have to find them, coupled with the darkness problem.  My characters fall into either categories, depending on if I'm dealing with the humans or bad guy angels.

The characters that are mired in darkness need to find a reason to believe in themselves and either stop doing evil or realize that what their doing isn't technically evil, but perhaps a necessary evil.  The emotional baggage for an awesome romance character is enough to push the best therapist to their limit.  The men/women who are supposed to dig deeper into our bad characters needs compassion, understand, patience and above all, an open mind.  Once our bad character sees themselves through the good person's eyes and starts to believe that maybe they aren't crazed psychos, then they can open their hearts and learn to love.  That's a good paranormal romance.

Throughout the exploration of the characters and their redemption there is always teasing and tempting where they want to love the other person but can't for a ton of reasons.  The "good parts" start when there is a physical connection that can't be denied by the characters, but they don't go all the way until they get past their baggage.  The characters attempt intimacy but there is something that stops them from giving their heart away completely, all the while making the other character, and you wanting more.  There is a build up between characters emotionally and physically until you finally get to the end and the problems have been addressed and the characters have had their true intimate moments.

Smut on the other hand will create scenarios whereby not much else is going except frivolous hook ups and physical pleasure devoid of any real emotion and intimacy.  Again, not knocking it, but showing the difference.  Of course there are plenty of times where the write, myself included, can get carried away with the characters and indulge themselves with pure smut to satisfy all the emotional heaviness that it took to finally get to the end.  Everyone is guilty of loving their characters a little too much and pouring everything they have into their intimate encounters.  After all, the readers want to escape from the real world and enter the places where steamy jungles and cool mountain top retreats exist.  (Personally most of mine take place in fairly normal locations, normal being Hell and motel rooms, but when you are dealing with dark characters like the Fallen Angels in Hell you dont' exactly expect the Ritz.)

Hopefully, if the romance writer has done their job, the reader will want to read the parts in between the intimate moments to follow the characters journey to love.  And yes, we have all jumped ahead to read the more interesting parts, but hopefully we go back to engage ourselves in the story line.  Personally, I want my readers to connect to my characters emotionally while waiting to get to the good stuff.  As long as I feel that there as been a journey whereby someone had been redeemed, then I will stand by my writing as romance rather than smut.  (Of course I'm not done writing my series yet ;)  )

Killing off a Favorite Character

When creating a book series you want to make sure that you keep the story moving and progressing and headed in some sort of direction.  In every book you create new characters, good and bad, otherwise the story doesn't always have room to grow and develop.  Many times we have to sacrifice characters along the way to progress the story.  Killing a character is fairly simple.  There are thousands of interesting ways to kill a character.  You can create a grand battle where the villain falls in an epic fight scene or tragic accident.  We love to kill off the bad guys.  Everyone roots for the villain to get his teeth kicked in and get whomped at the end of the story, as long as the bad guy warrants the death.  He has to be so evil that people want to see him destroyed.  There are plenty of amazing ways to kill a bad guy and satisfy your reader.  The problem comes when you have to kill off a beloved character.

When I speak of "beloved" characters, I mean characters that we have gotten to know over time and have an emotional connection to.  They could be someone who you are romantically attracted to. It could be the knight in shining armor who stays with the girl and helps her pay her mortgage, or someone who is likable and you could be friends with, though you are not in love with them.  There are times when the story needs a catalyst for something larger to happen or you need to emotionally shake up the reader.  There are of course dangers that come along with killing off a favorite character.  You have to make sure the death is justified and not just for shock value. You also have to make sure that it isn't a character that will cause riots by your readers if they die, yet they have to be characters that are likable enough that people will care that they are missing.

Killing for the sake of killing is fun but it's shallow.  The high wears off quickly and people will shrug once they think about it.  You want your reader to be upset that the character is dead, but know that there was a good reason, or a greater purpose to the death.  Take for example Beaches, I cry my eyes out every time I see it.  I'm a sucker for it!  While one of the main characters dies it was, I hope, for a good reason.  In Beaches, we see the friendship that developed between two characters over the years.  They had good times and bad times just like every relationship.  When Selia dies in the end it's to put an emphasis on how short life is especially when you care so much for someone.  It brings the two characters closer in the end and makes them realize that they should spend time together and appreciate each other before their friendship ends.  It also gives CC a reason to get past her selfishness and grow up since she is entrusted to raise Selia's daughter.  We cry because we care about these women and can relate to them and their relationship.  It shows us that it's important to connect with people and share our lives and experiences with them.  

The same goes for your character.  If your reader can take time from their busy lives to read your book, hopefully you will not abuse that relationship by building up a wonderful story and amazing characters only to kill off the main character just for shock value.  It cheapens the relationship and makes the reader not want to trust you.  Personally, I wanted to throw Bridge to Terabithia at the wall.  If you me that the story is about how short young life is and how we need to reach out to the strange and interesting girl next door to broaden our minds, I will still tell you it was crap.  I fell in love with the girl and I am still pissed that she died.  Don't even get me started on the movie My Girl.  It was crap that Macaulay Culkin's character died. 

When you decide that a main character has to be killed off, you have to decide if it will cause readers to be turned off completely because they can't imagine the series without the character.  For example, good luck killing off Edward Cullen from the Twilight Series or god forbid Jacob, you will have girls crying in the streets.  Yet, if Stephanie Meyers had decided to kill off Seth or Leah, for example, the death would have been tragic but we would have moved on.  Granted Harry Clearwater died, but we didn't know him as a character except in the movie, but we all knew that it was coming.  His death at least served a purpose.  You want to carefully chose who takes the dirt nap so that the story and the reader are satisfied.  

When I told my son that I had to get rid of a character for a number of reasons, he told me to choose my personal favorite.  I told him heck no, I don't think I would write the series without him, yet I could pick someone that I care enough about to mourn the loss of.  It's up to me to make sure the character is likable enough for the reader to agree with his popularity.

Once you have decided how to create the perfect death, there has to be an equal reaction whether it's strictly mourning by the other characters or a full out retaliation and war.  If you are going to spend the time and energy in making an awesome character only to kill them off, the other characters in the story should acknowledge the passing.  There is nothing worse that an epic death and no one else seems to care.  You know you cried when Kirk's father died in the new New Star Trek movie when his wife realized that he would never see his son.  His death sparked James T Kirk to make his father proud, after getting his butt whomped a few times in his youth.  (And yes I'm old enough to have seen the original series and movies, so don't go there.  Just making a point here.)  The point is, make the death worth while.

In short, once you have decided to travel the slippery slope of eliminating a character that is well liked and received, make sure that you are doing the right thing for the story and the reader.  And for the love of all that is holy, make sure he stays dead unless the point is for him to come back.  If you are truly going to commit to killing the character, don't wus out three bookes later and bring the character back because you have run out of ideas or because of reader backlash.  If there is that much reader backlash then you didn't think it through well enough.  Trust me, no one wants to see Macaulay Culkin's character return from the dead as a zombie bee sting kid.  (Don't even get my started on why there was a sequel to that movie.)  And no one wants to feel emotionally cheated that they mourned a character that spontaneously returns with little or no explanation.  If the character will return at some point, at least give the reader a teaser to let them know that "maybe" the end really isn't the end, otherwise they might not buy the next book that will clear up mysterious death.  

Character Motivation

I typically feel guilt when I haven't had a chance to write since sometimes life gets in the way of writing.  Other times I remind myself that even when I'm writing or doing other interesting things, my brain is still working in the background.  There have been a number of times in the past week where I think, geez, I need to get writing, and then something wonderful happens and a brilliant idea pops up out of nowhere, and I realized...that's why I didn't write.  I wasn't ready yet.  Sometimes you can't force things.  I've had two awesome ideas that explain why I haven't been writing as much...I wasn't ready!  Now, things have come into perspective, and I can carry on with something even better than anticipated.  Yey!

One of the problems I sometimes face is the fact that I sometimes know a characters original motivation because I know what he is like now, in the present.  You have characters that you know are evil, or troubled or hate someone or some thing.  Problem is, you don't always know why they are like this.  It's easy to say that someone is evil and go from there.  Sometimes its more fun to figure out why they are evil.  That's what I did last week.

I have a cast of ten angels and I know who they are since I'm working with them in the present, but I don't always know how they came to be this way.  I know that certain characters don't get along because they have told me as much.  I took it as fact that my leader of the angels hates a number of the other angels, but I didn't know why.  He simply hated them and wouldn't talk about it.  He wouldn't tell me.  He simply said, that he refused to say the name of one of the angels, that one was a jerk and the others he somewhat got along with.  Well that doesn't exactly help me.  I had to figure out why they hated each other.  It dawned on my that these angels all had a life before my main character meets them.  They all started off good, though separate, then had to join together for a common goal, united under a lead angel.  Over time the darkness changed them and they became evil.  Well, there is a whole lot of history between these characters that I know nothing about.  So it's up to me to figure out why they all act a certain way.

I knew my leader angel and the angel he refused to speak about probably had a serious fight for there to be so much anger between them.  The more I thought about the rage my leader felt, the worse the fight had become. (Keep in mind, I only have the leader's perspective to work from.  The other angel hasn't been brought into the story yet.) Then it dawned on me, punching someone in the face wouldn't elicit this much anger, it had to be some kind of betrayal, which implied that they were very close at one time.  What would cause two close friends to despise each other?  A woman?  Too easy.  Money?  They're angels who don't care for money.  Faith?  Yep, they are angels.  They lost faith in each other.  No just faith in God, but faith in someone you consider a brother.  There had to be something so terrible that they no longer could trust the person, believe in what they said, and fundamentally ruin the relationship that they had.  Once I understood that, my reason came to light and boy was I taken by surprise.  The reason and motivation was crystal clear and heartbreaking.  I love it!



Now of course I am writing a romance novel here so love is always a great motivation for a character, but I don't want that to be a crutch for these characters.  I wanted them to feel like they served a purpose, so I need to make sure that they all have some sort of job or roll to fill in this world and with my female lead.  They can't just follow her blindly because they love her, though that doesn't hurt.  They have to feel that being with her is a better option than not being with her because they feel useful in her world.  It's easy to find jobs for the hunter, werewolf and vampire, but it's sometimes more difficult to find a job for the rest.  Some of the characters have gone through an overhaul on their personalities and lifestyle.   I've had to come up with professions that would make it easier for them to fit into the story while giving them an outlet to feel fulfilled.  Sometimes it's something simple, other times it's a little more complicated.  One character will help her find loss souls in the world and help them find their way to the afterlife, good or bad.  One will stand as her advisor since he has more life experience than the others.  I had to make one a therapist because Lord knows I have some serious head cases on my team.  One is a medical professional that also has a big heart.  One is a serious head case but causes the team to err on the cautious side of things.  He is more in touch with the cause of evil than most...he's the survivor.  One holds faith above all else and will be the one who changes everything.  My female character has a lot to learn from each of them and hopefully will use all that these characters have to teacher her so that she can grow up and face each new challenge.

In short, I'm hoping to avoid the easy path of, well these two characters just don't like each other and have never gotten along, to taking the difficult path of truly looking into these characters and giving them enough history, emotion and motivation to keep them from being two dimensional.  Granted, some of these characters will develop more fully over the series, but in the end are strong enough for people to connect to and care about, whether they love them or hate them.  The characters will hopefully cause them to feel something.

 

The Middle

I saw a twitter post the other day that said a writer wished he knew what happened in the middle of the book.  I couldn't agree with him more.  I find that I run into one of two problems.  Either, I know the beginning and end or only parts somewhere in the middle.  It's a rare case when I know what will happen straight through the story.  Of course the story is ever evolving and changing and the amazing things tend to take place when you aren't looking.

I have been focusing on Book 1 again and I had the same issue.  I knew the beginning and mostly the end, but the middle was rather murky.  I decided that I needed to change perspectives and tell some of the middle from a different character's point of view.  I had a lot of information that I needed the reader to know, but it would have been a bit draggy if the same characters threw out all this description.  I found that when I'm stuck on how to present new info, I should change my character and give the reader a new vantage point.  I was also able to let the readers learn a little about a character that would continue on throughout all the books.  He was able to guide me through some tricky spots and then hand off to a third character that will be equally important.

So I was writing the big reveal the other day and I was having trouble arranging it so that it made sense.  I had all of this information, but it felt like one giant mess.  I decided to slow down the pace a little and instead of having huge descriptive paragraphs from one character, I made it more of a conversation so that the information flowed more easily.  I ended up cutting and pasting and rearranging the info and allowed my character to process it all before hitting her with something else.  I didn't want all of this news to be hurdled at her, but broke it up into understandable chucks and let her drive the conversation.  I am much happier with the result. 

In short, sometimes you have to allow a story the freedom to grow and develop in a way that feels right.  I tried to force the writing a number of times in that section and I hated it each time.  This chapter has been weighing on me for months.  I tried coming at it from different angles but it wasn't right.  I felt so much more relaxed once I had taken my time and let the story unfold rather than jam everything together and give the reader and my character whiplash. 

I was having so much fun writing the other day that I wrote a scene that I hoped would make the first book, but in the end I decided that it should really be used in the 2nd book.  I love writing something that is fun and cracks you up as you are writing it.  I told my son, Thing 1 what I had written, and the King of the One Liners threw out the funniest thing I had heard in awhile.  Thing 1 has a tendency to not only have great witty remarks, but the tone in which he says it would break the most serious person.  I was driving the car at the time and actually considered pulling over to the side because I was laughing so hard.  He's had this ability since he was about 2.  The kid is good.  It was so awesome that I decided to add it to the scene.  This is the kid that was condemn for not having enough creativity to write his own book.  (He is currently considering writing a story about dragons, having moved on from vampires.)

I am grateful to have the support of my family so that I can get through the tough middles and impossible endings.  Whenever I'm stuck, I can always go to Thing 1 and talk about a monster or an odd problem and get a new perspective.  Even if I don't use his idea, I can talk it through with him and find a resolution.  Thankfully Thing 1 takes after me and loves vampires, werewolves and zombies.  (Actually I have to thank his girlfriend for getting him into horror novels, but still we both have a love of the unexplained, and superheros, and Greek Mythology.)  I'm hoping that he doesn't become a serious adult who only watches the news and Masterpiece Theater, though somehow I don't think he will.  I'm hoping that one day he can write a book and I can help him with his impossible middles.

Inspiration

I'm sure that most people will tell you that they get their best ideas from talking to people they know or about things that happen in their own lives.  Others dream about things they wish would happen to them.  Somehow my inspiration comes at really random times.  Aside from closing my eyes and seeing the characters play out their own lives, as I have mentioned before, I also get weird little flashes while I'm doing something completely different than writing or thinking about writing.  I was walking up the stairs yesterday looking for a random item for Thing 1 or Thing 2 and bam, a great idea came to me.  I wasn't even thinking about my books.  How can looking for socks suddenly give you flash of brilliance that has been a plot problem for over a month?  I don't get it.  It will only be one sentence or one image and suddenly it makes hundreds of other things make sense.  It's like finding the missing dot in the connect the dot puzzle that you didn't even know was missing.  (Now the lion has a extra whisker that balances out his face better.)

My other source of inspiration is driving alone in the car, which of course is the worst place to have an idea.  I'm terrible at recording what I'm thinking.  I end up not even using what I said on tape.  Instead, I have to wait until I get to my destination and email myself on my phone the general outline.  To anyone walking past my car, it would look like I was having a texting war with someone.  I look intense and my thumbs are going a mile a minute trying to remember everything from a 30 minute car ride. 

I also find that my characters help me out as well.  As we all know this series has been sitting in my head forever and I have pictured what it looks like a million times.  Well, it took a character to enter into one of the Halls and look around and make a random comment to change something completely.  He added a history to the location that even I didn't know.  How the heck does that happen?  I have been there for 16 years and in 1 second he tells me something I never knew.  I was floored by that one.  It still gives me chills. 

I should be angry with my characters for changing my writing.  I will think about something and have this whole conversation or idea in my head and the second I put my hands on the keyboard and start writing for the character that is supposed to have the conversation, his or her voice takes over and the conversation completely changes.  Apparently they are a lot smarter than I am since their conversation comes out so much better than my original one.  I should be jealous or concerned that I'm losing my mind.  Either way, I usually happy with the result.  I find that when I write in my own voice, like in my blog, it's never as interesting as when I can channel the voice of the character.  (I usually delete what I wrote and let the character's voice win.)  It's funny when I got back and read the dialog and laugh out loud because I either forgot what I wrote, or it so completely fits the character's attitude.

The last 2 nights I've had trouble deciding on how to work a number of ideas and places into my first book.  I had to erase most of it because I hated it and it didn't feel right.  I realized that I had lost my character's voice.  Once I let them speak, I suddenly had the scene from the correct perspective and was actually able to write something decent.  What a relief.  Now if I only had the time and energy to write everything that I want to write.  I have forced myself to refocus on book one otherwise it will never get done as I play with the other books.  I'm dying to get to 12 now that I have an outline, and 8 since it doesn't seem as daunting anymore.  Even 5 would be more fun.  Sadly, you sometimes have to start at the beginning.  I have the pieces of the puzzle, I just need to get my crayons out and color them to match the rest of the puzzle. 

Why Write Romance?

While most people wouldn't bat an eye lash over someone writing a paranormal novel given the popularity of scary monsters and sexy vampires in our culture, many of them will raise an eye brow, or two when you tell them that you are writing a romance novel.  I get many interesting responses when I decide to share my secret with people that I know.  The responses range from interest and questions, to, "oh, that's nice", while changing the subject.  Others just don't quite know what to say.  The funny thing is, we are all adults and it's obvious that they enjoy intimacy with their spouses, yet it's still considered risque to talk about.  I try to limit my conversations when people hear that I am writing a book series and keep it vague on purpose.  Wouldn't want to offend anyone.  That isn't certainly is the kind of person I'm writing for anyway.  I am writing for the people who need a little kick start in their day who, even if they have intimacy, may enjoy hearing from someone else about their different experiences with relationships.  I know I do.

I didn't start reading romance novels, or even books, until I decided to read Twilight.  Before that I was more of a movie person, despite being an English major and writing for fun in my spare time when I was younger.  I always like vampires, so don't think Twilight turned me on to the paranormal, I have always been interested in the strange stuff.  But once I read Twilight, I realized that I could read for enjoyment instead of the books that I hated reading for English classes.  Much like me telling my son to write about things that interest him and blowing his mind, this book showed me that I could care about a character I had never seen in a movie (obviously I read it before the movie came out) and could make a connection to.  Up to that point in my life I had read Shakespeare, which was interesting, and some other books that were okay, but the majority of them were classics like Paradise Lost, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Tom Sawyer, The Yearling, The House of the Seven Gables, 1985, Brave New World, and the like.  While I could relate to some of the Shakespeare characters, as a kid I had trouble relating to fawns, kids from Missouri painting fences, futuristic government controlled worlds, new civilizations, odd mind altering drugs in a supposed Utopian society vs savage worlds and a house that had seven gables (my English teacher that year, God rest her soul, was terrible at teaching House of the Seven Gables and combined two different characters into one...Malborne Holgrave...even after being told by my one friend who had read the book, that she was making a mistake...so I only remember that much about the book).  My mind was had always been dark and has always sought out disturbing and dangerous characters.  Kids from Missouri who paint fences may have been real trouble makers at the time, but are not what I would consider dangerous.  Being a goody two shoes my whole life and having suffered from some seriously disturbing life altering situations, I tended to seek out the darkness to appease the side of me that was angry and frustrated with my life since I couldn't change it.  I channeled all my rage into the evil side of the stories.  I cheered for Maleficent when she turned into a dragon.  I wanted Keifer's vampire to win.  I would have been chosen for Slytherin.  So I had trouble finding my niche when it came to stories.

When I found Edward Cullen and his sullen life, I became addicted to him.  In my head, I removed his in action and recreated him into someone who had the best of both worlds.  He could kill with his teeth, yet he still got the girl.  In many senses I made him my own, just like most of the world.  What I was surprised to find was that I enjoyed the intimate moments that he shared with Bella.  Because of his raw power and killing potential, he had to force back his dark side and make himself kinder for her.  In many ways, I felt the same way.  I had to curb my anger and hatred and become kinder if I wanted my relationships to work out.  It was because of Edward that I remembered what it was like to want intimacy.  I had been going through a hard time in my life and I forgotten how to connect to people because of my pain.  <3 were having trouble talking to each other and remembering why weren't close anymore.  Edward unlocked some of the feelings that I kept hidden like, desire and love and kindness and compassion.  When people are in turmoil, they seal off the parts of themselves that can be hurt, to save themselves, and only show people what will keep their enemies at bay.  We snarl and growl to keep people away and protect ourselves.  Edward showed me how defensive and cold I had become.  In short, Edward helped me remember my softer side.  Ironic that a vampire, the creature I had turn to when I was angry with the world, could help me open up and discover what I was holding back.

After Edward, I wanted to find other books that would help to chisel away the ice inside of me.  I needed something to restart the fire and passion within me that I had buried.  My outer shell was too tough for anyone to get through so I needed to crack through it myself to be able to reach out to people. They certainly weren't getting in, so I had to get out.  I went to Barnes and Nobles and wandered into the taboo Romance section and was embarrassed at first.  What if someone saw the me there, oh no?  I picked up a novel and took it home and read it.  While the genre wasn't right, the cover had mislead me, I did find a little of what I was looking for.  I got to read about an impossible relationship and how the characters were attracted to each other and compatible, yet had to overcome great adversity to be together.  That was exactly how I felt.  Once I found the right genre, I made the connection complete.  I read about vampires who's emotions were locked away since they were warriors and how they found someone who made them want to change.  I read about how they learned how to love someone and be intimate.  Ultimately it helped me on many levels.  I found my passionate side, which is always fun.  But I also learned to how to trust someone.  I had to learn that it was okay for me to give a part of myself to them for safe keeping.  I didn't have to keep this wall around me to protect myself, even though I was already sharing my life with someone.  It taught me to rely on someone else for emotional support.  It showed me that I don't have to be an island onto myself.  For the first I trusted someone enough to be intimate.  So I fell in love with the genre.

My heroine was locked in Hell for years and years before I allowed to her to return to the human world.  In Hell she had been miserable, wandering around lost and insecure.  She feared everything and never grew up.  After years of holding her hostage, I finally let her interact with people.  That's when she found her romance.  Orginally, I came up with different men for her to deal with and learn from.  Over time she developed relationships with them.  That's when my story started to write itself.  Granted, as I've said, the characters in my head for 16 years aren't exactly the characters that I'm writing now, but the characters now have more substance to them.  When I started envisioning the men in her life, it was because they were cute or friendly, but once I started writing them, they took on problems and issues of their own.  In writing about her getting through to her men, I realized that I am writing about people getting through my own wall.  I have been able to throw all of my pain and experiences into my characters so that they can hold onto the pain for me and I can breath again. 

So when I write about romance, it isn't just about the intimacy between the characters, it'ss more about how they got to that point and what is going on in the moment.  They are allowing themselves to trust someone for the first time.  They are finding out that it's okay to have love and be loved.  That no matter what they did up to this point, they still deserve to be happy.  Most romance novels have that message at its core.  Unfortunately most people can't see past the bedroom moments to dig deeper into the message leading up to and following the bedroom scene.  I have cried more at my romance novels than I have from any of the books I read in High School or College and I think that's a good thing.  If you cry, that means you are connecting to something, whether good or bad.  While I may have cried with the deer died, it wasn't as gut wrenching as having a hardened man who had endured years of abuse finally embrace someone and tell them that they love them.  It gets my every time because it gives me hope.  At least they could eat the deer to survive if they needed to.