Writing Romance When You’re a Little Bit Heartbroken

Some of the most powerful love stories aren’t written when you're in love—they’re written when you're trying to remember what love feels like.

There’s something about heartbreak that sharpens the pen. The longing, the what-ifs, the ache of unfinished conversations—it all pours onto the page with a rawness that perfect love can’t always reach. And maybe that’s okay. Maybe it’s even beautiful.

Romance writing doesn’t have to come from a place of perfection. It can come from a need to believe in something soft again. A reason to still reach out. A hope that the world will feel warm once more.

So if you're sitting at your keyboard wondering how to write about love when your own heart feels bruised—write anyway. Write because of it. Write the happy endings you still believe in, even if they feel far away. Let the page be your safe place, your brave place.

Because sometimes, the best love stories are the ones we tell ourselves first.

Getting Back To a New Normal

This pandemic had been hard on everyone, but this week we had some light at the end of the tunnel. Our area has finally got the pandemic a little bit under control, so the kids can go back to school. Exciting! They've been out of school since last March. It's January. Oh, they went back to school for a couple weeks in September, but that was over quickly enough. Now, however, things are looking up.

So now I will have 2 less people in the house all day every day. My sister is still not back to working in the office and my retired mother will still be home, but it's a start. With the kids returning to school, I can start diagramming what my week will look like. Last week I'd made the decision to return to nonfiction, and I still intend to do that. It's quick and easy and a little annoying but a good way to make some money. But fiction is my first love.

Still, can't dive too deep too quickly. Fiction doesn't work that way, at least for me.  I need to ease back into it. I had wanted to return to my Fallen Romance series, but that takes a little more time, a little more research, a little more attention. So I'm turning back to romantic fiction. Historical romance, actually. That's always a fun genre to write and there's quite the market for it. 

My idea for right now is still simple. I'll flesh it out later. Just a girl, running away from home, and getting into more trouble than she rightfully should. Formulaic, I know. But it works. It works well enough that I'm certain to find it a home as soon as it's written. How long will that take? Anyone's guess, really. But it's somewhere to start and it should be fun to write. 

And I won't have the kids home 24 hours a day to interrupt me. Monday, here I come!

Writing Through a Pandemic

Coronavirus has touched us all. Covid-19 has ripped around the globe, disrupting the lives of everyone. It hasn't been fun, that's for sure. Many people have lost their jobs. Countless others have lost their lives. And it's not over yet. Though a vaccine has arrived, delays and problems with distribution means it could be months before enough people are vaccinated to make a difference.

And in the meantime, we all have to find a way to manage, to get through the pandemic in whatever way we can. In my case, I went from being at home alone all of the time, to being able to get work done on a regular basis, to having a house full of people at every moment of every day. We've been in lockdown here for nearly 10 months. We live in a multi-generational household that includes my two children, my younger sister, and my aging mother. The boys were usually in school, my younger sister works in an office, and my mother was typically at an appointment or a small gathering with her group of friends. Sometimes she would visit my older sister for a few days. For the most part, I was alone. I could work in peace.

And then the pandemic came. Everything was locked down. My younger sister had to work from home. Schools were closed. Everything was closed and visiting each other was no longer recommended by our public health officials. Eventually, getting together at all with people outside your household was severely restricted. All we could do was stay home.

At first, that was fun. It was great. The kids and I built a barn, a rabbit hutch, and we had a fence installed for our growing hobby farm. At some point, however, I realized I had accomplished little work. In fact, I stopped writing for 4 months. How could I write? I had both my children at home and my house was crawling with my mother and my sister. I couldn't possibly work like this. And it would pass soon anyway. Wouldn't it?

As it turns out, no. I tried waiting it out, but it's now January of 2021 and we're not even close to out of lockdown. I can't not write any longer. I need to get paid, after all. But after months of not writing, it was going to be hard to get back into the habit. Did I have a choice? No, not really, but it would be tricky.

You'll often hear writers moan that we can't possibly write on command. We can't possible just sit down and get it done. I've been one of them from time to time, but it's just whining. I have to get something done. It's not an option anymore. I still have a house full of people and working with all of them wandering around is definitely not easy. And the libraries are closed so I can't wander off and write there. But not working is simply unacceptable.

I'm primarily a fiction writer. Tamora Rose is my pen name for romantic fiction, but I write fantasy as LAQuill as well. Writing fiction really does take some inspiration, and I simply don't have any. So I'll turn back to nonfiction. Not as exciting, maybe, but there's money to be made there and I have children. 

It's been a while since I tackled nonfiction, and it's not my favorite. But it's an infinitely easier task than creating stories out of thin air. And it will get me back into the groove of writing every single day. Plus, if I get interrupted for the 9th time in a row, it's so much easier to reengage. I've been interrupted 4 times since I started writing this post 45 minutes ago. Long stretches of detailed plotting just isn't going to happen until people go back to work.

I'm not abandoning fiction. I'll work on my next romance when the house is quiet and the people are still. But right now, I need to write full time. Time to hunker down and get something done. Anything.

At the Beginning: That Dreaded First Chapter

Well, after a prolonged absence to deal with my declining health, I've started a new novel. The idea arrived in a rather timely fashion, so I've got that going for me. It should be smooth sailing, though not quick sailing. A book should essentially fall out of my brain now, as it usually does once the idea has manifested in my brain. Except for one small problem.


The first chapter. I am not a fan of first chapters. I know they're the hook, the way to draw readers in. I know they are for catching attention, for giving the reader just enough information to want to continue the story. But I don't like them. I find them endlessly annoying to write, though typically a joy to read. I'd rather jump into the meat of the story, a place where I can weave plot and dump exposition because it makes sense and it continues the spell for the reader.


But before I can continue the spell, I have to start the spell. And that's a real bummer. Introducing characters and settings when I already know them by virtue of thinking them up in the first place...it's just so boring. And while I could write the book out of order, that never works for me. I have to start at the beginning or there won't be a beginning. I'll just never go back and write it.


So here I am. About to introduce Sorcha, a girl who's lived in my head for the past six weeks. I know her, I know her story. I want to write her story. But before I can do that, I have to orient my readers to the story I'm about to write. I have to make sure they can find there way.


It's important. I know it's important. But I don't have to like it.

Starting Anew: Finding the Idea

Well, the editing for my previous project is done, at least from my end. The editor still has to make small changes, bit as far as I'm concerned, it's over and done with. And when that happens, it's time to start a new project.

For me, as a writer, this is probably the most grueling part of the entire process. If I'm at the beginning, the very beginning, it means I don't have any idea what I'm writing about. Where do I start? What is my story? Who are the characters? Why am I doing this? It's very frustrating. Having to start all over again.

But this is part of being a writer, the finishing and moving on. I get that. But the moving on bit...having to get my head out of the previous novel and in to the next one, usually overnight, isn't easy.

Especially when I'm switching genres, as I frequently do. I have several pseudonyms, and I have to publish at least one book a year under each pseudonym. That's a lot of switching. It's exhausting and more than a little confusing. Sometimes I can't even remember what genre I'm supposed to be in.

It would be great if I could take a few days to find my bearings, but I don't have that luxury. I make a living writing books, but that means I actually have to write. I can't take a week off between projects. I simply can't. I have to move from one project to another as seamlessly as possible.

Which means getting an idea sooner rather than later. I sometimes feel a little desperate, and that leads to some rather ridiculous ideas. Like the cat and the monkey...never mind. That one is not only silly, but it's not even in a genre I write in. How about the young girl who is betrothed...nope. That's a book I read last weekend. Mustn't plagiarize.

I go through dozens of ideas, most of them not at all useful. Then I get a hold of myself. I remember that I'm a writer, and I've done this before, and I'm only allowed to freak out for an hour. Once I lose my mind for a little while, I'm miraculously able to find it again.

And when I do, the ideas falls from the sky, land in my brain, and make their way out my fingers.

What a relief.

From Here to There: My Own Editing Nightmare

I'm in the middle of the editing process. Or really, at the beginning. Or maybe just past the beginning. Whatever. I'm editing, with the help of an experienced editor. It's not my favorite part of my job, but it is a necessity.

Every time I write a book, I think that this will be the one. I'll finally take a look at the finished manuscript and declare that this book needs no editing. The editor will fix a few typos and declare the book perfect. That's what will happen.

That never happens. There's always something that needs fixing. And it's usually one of two things. Either I've written too much or I've written too little.

The first problem isn't really a problem. My editor typically removes the offending chapters and we move on. The second...well it's connected to how quickly I write and how much I hate going backwards.

I can finish a decent first draft in just 2 or 3 weeks. That's pretty quick for a book that's over 100,000 words. But sometimes, in my haste to get the first draft finished, I...jump around a little. Sometimes, just sometimes, I'll forget to stop and impart little bits of necessary information to the reader. I might skip entire scenes, scenes that really need to be included. I don't even notice, probably because I'm the writer. I already know those things. I sometimes forget that the reader doesn't.

So my editor will sometimes have to remind me that I jumped from here to there without warning. And then I have to do my least favorite thing. I have to go back and fill in the blanks. I hate that. When I'm done with a book, I like to be actually done. I like to move on. I like to start a new book.

But it doesn't always work that way. I'm a professional, and that sometimes means making sure the previous book is actually up to snuff before I can really move on. And though I might find it tedious, I do it. I do it because I have to, because the book deserves it, and because I like seeing my books on the bookshelves.

But I don't have to like it.

When Editors and Writers Clash

As a professional writer I find myself having to deal with editors for every book I write. Sometimes it's an editor I've worked with before, but every once in a while it's an editor I've had no experience with. Such is the case with my current novel. The editor assigned to handle my book right now is a lovely enough lady, and older one, who has been editing historical romance for 25 years. She's very good at her job, or so I've been assured. I've also never worked with her before.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not great with people. That's why I'm a writer. It allows me to spend my days all by my lonesome and not have to talk to anyone. Except when it comes to getting the book ready to publish. Then there are editors to deal with.

Let me stop for a moment to point out this little fact: I love editors. They have never failed to improve my books, and I'm not just talking about fixing typos and adding in missed words (though I greatly appreciate this, too). I have certain weaknesses as a writer, weaknesses editors are VERY good at hiding for me. For example, I over write. I'll keep going and going and going like an Energizer Bunny with a pen. I've written right past the end of my novels most of the time, and every time my editor will let me know exactly where the story ended. It can't go on forever, after all.

This is just one of the many things editors have done for me, so I love editors. Love, love, love. But I'm not great with people, so actually having to talk to someone about much of anything is a bit irritating. I suck it up because it's part of writing professionally. But I don't love the editing process.

Editors can probably sense this about me, and they're generally very polite and patient as I creep through the process. I've done it a dozen times, but I'm still leery of it. Not because my words will be changed (this is inevitable) but because I'm talking to PEOPLE. Dreaded PEOPLE. Still, I've always worked well enough with the editors in the past. We've meshed and sometimes even bonded over our love of the written word.

And yet this time...I don't know. We're certainly not meshing. She's not unreasonable and I'm not rude or anything, but we don't really get along. Like the coworker down the hall that is a perfectly nice woman and is good at her job but you can't stand her. To be clear: It's not that I can't stand this woman. We just don't exactly get along; there is little rapport between us. If we were working in an office, we'd tolerate each other but our bosses would probably make sure we didn't work together.

But my editor and I have to work together. So what are the options? Well, I guess we could not work together. She could not do her job, and I could not do my job, and absolutely nothing could get accomplished. It's an option. Not the best option, but it is an option.

I suppose she could appeal to her boss, tell him she doesn't want to work with me, and have another editor assigned. I've heard of that happening a time or two (not with me), but that seems extreme. We don't hate each other. She even thinks I'm funny in a strange sort of way. And I think she's a lovely lady (I use that word because she truly strikes me as a lady). Besides, as she's already told me, never in her career has she refused to work with an author, and she doesn't want to start with me.

So where does that leave us? I asked this question of my writer's group the other day (mostly because this is the kind of stuff we talk about) and I was surprised by their responses. Most of them advised me to refuse to work with the editor and demand someone I could develop a rapport with. I had to admit, I was surprised. Where did this attitude of entitlement come from? And I'm not just talking about writers. Why do we feel if something is too hard, or if someone isn't exactly easy to work with, that we should just abandon it all together?

Not meshing with someone isn't a good enough reason to freak out and get all demanding, especially for a writer. Life's not always easy. Things aren't always ideal. In fact, things are rarely ideal. In this particular case, the editor and I don't love each other, but we're both professionals. If she does her job, and I do my job, and we use a lot of email instead of phone calls (because emails can be less grating), then this editing process will eventually go away.

So what am I saying? Mostly that when a writer and an editor have a personality clash, it's time to put on your big girl panties and just deal with it. The editor can't rewrite your entire book, and he or she isn't out to make your life miserable. They're doing their jobs. Writers, myself included, owe them the same courtesy.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have phone calls to not make. Mustn't talk to people, after all. It would spoil my hermit-like image.

Choosing a Point of View When Writing a Novel

Well, I'm at the beginning of a new project, this one a rather lengthy novel that will likely be split into two or even three different books. Before I really delve into the books, I need to answer a few questions. The first is always what the story will be about. This one was easy. I already had the idea or I wouldn't have sat down to write the book

So I've got my story. After spending most of the week fleshing out the plot, I run into my next crucial question. Point of view (also called narrative perspective) is nearly as important as the plot. There are many choices, all of them with their pros and cons. Generally, when writing the types of novels I work on, there are three choices: first person, third person limited, and third person omniscient.

First person, which uses the pronoun I, is great for getting into a character's head. You can reveal all thoughts and feeling your lead character is having and you get to know everything that character knows. The main character is not a mystery. This is great, and would be great, except for the obvious drawbacks, the first of which is limiting the point of view. As a reader, you only get to know what the main character knows. There is no way of introducing any other information (unless I make use of the idea of the Interlude, but these always annoy me).

The other problem is one of suspense. If I'm using first person, then the reader can guess, probably accurately, that the main character is sitting by the fire telling the story after the fact. The main character survived everything that happens. I don't usually like to kill off my main characters, but I do it occasionally and I like to have the option.

Third person limited is not all that far removed from first person. Third person uses the pronoun he or she, but the point of view is still limited (for the most part) to the main character. This imposes some distance between the main character and the reader, and as an author, I don't have to reveal everything the main character knows. This allows for more mystery and some suspense. But I still have a hard time killing off the main character, since we've been mostly in his (or her) head the entire time. Also, this point of view can become boring for some readers, which is the kiss of death for any author.

Then we come to third person omniscient. A good point of view, as far as it goes. I can dip into anyone's thoughts at any time and I only reveal what I want, and only when I want to. I can kill any character and keep the integrity of the story. The problem? This point of view can seem cold and distant, which it is to a certain extent. It also leaves me open to being accused of head hopping, which is leaping from one point of view to another and confusing the reader while doing so. It can be done, but it takes a little more care and patience to do it well.

My choice, as always, must be dictated by the story itself. Looking carefully at my plot, it became clear to me that I only rarely drift away from my main character. With a little careful rewriting I can eliminate these scenes and drift closer to first person point of view. But I don't want to get that close. A little mystery is good for this particular story, since I don't want to reveal the end too quickly. Third person limited, then. But I like the intimacy of first person, so I think I'll do a prologue and an epilogue in first person. The best of both worlds.

When you are searching for a point of view, disregard what's popular and what you might be used to. This decision should be driven entirely by the story, and not by what is currently popular.

Want more information about narrative perspective? They this little video for starters.

The Torment of Revisiting Old Novels and Poems

I like to let my work sit. Not all writers do. Since I have multiple projects (including novels, short stories,  non-fiction, and poetry) on the go at any one time, and I'm always ahead of schedule, I can afford to do this. I typically let my work sit for six months. This gives me time to rethink what I've written, but having a time limit on how long a book or poem is allowed to sit for keeps me from toying with it needlessly (and forever).

When I do revisit my older works, I inevitably find things to change. This is great. It means that the book, poem, or article will go off to the editor/publisher as polished as possible. I'm finding things that weren't perfect the first time around and making the entire work better. There can't be anything wrong with this. Can there?

Well, let's talk about the torment of the entire situation. If I read a sentence and can't believe I wrote it, it's a little bit of a blow. Not a big one. I'm a writer, I can cope with changes (whether those are made by me or someone else). Still ... the idea that I could write a sentence that isn't perfect is annoying. Yes, I know perfection is unattainable, but that's not the point. Revising is still not a lot of fun.

I typically revise for three weeks. That's it. I don't make any changes after that unless asked to by the publisher/editor. I should be happy, right? I am. Right up until I read my own book a year later. I always find something I wish I could change. A piece of plot I didn't include. A minor character I didn't flesh out. A word I wouldn't have used. Dialogue that could have been wittier.

In most cases, the work has already been published and it relatively unchangeable. Even if I could change it, it's not usually a good idea to make significant changes. So I have to live with an imperfect work. And that can make me just a little sad.

But there's a bright spot in all of this. When I look back on books written three or more years ago and I note all the things I'd change, all the things I'd do better, I'm heartened. I've progressed as a writer. I'm better at my job now than I was three years ago. And three years from now I'll be better at my job than I am now.

I'm growing as a writer. The torment of knowing that there are things I'd change in past books is lessened by the knowledge that each subsequent book is better than the last. And this is a wonderful thing.

Making Real Life People Into Characters in Your Novel

I spent most of this week populating my novels with new and unique characters. It's a novelists job, to keep pumping out the characters. And I don't like limp characters in my novels. I like people with spunk, who are exciting and fun to be around. Bascially, I like realistic characters. But, when you've written dozens of stories, you start to run out of new characters.

Or do you? Look around you. Maybe not right now as you might be sitting on your computer in your own home. But next time you're out for a walk or on your way to work, glance around. There are people. More people if you live in the city, but there are still people out in the country. People going to work, people you live with, extended family. We all know some people. And we can observe more still. With so many people around, how can any writer claim to run out of characters for a book?

So this week I looked around. I watched friends and family, I watched people at the grocery store, and I watched families as I took my own children sledding this past weekend. Some of these people probably thought I was pretty strange with my notepad and pen, but that's okay. I watched and I listened. And I had a lot of fun as I realized once again that people are just plain weird. "Truth is stranger than fiction" has never been more real than it was this past week.

But all these people will make great characters. And I had a lot of fun imagining what they'd do in the situations in my novels. It was exciting and entertaining and certainly useful. There are so many different people in the world that I quickly found myself with more characters than I needed. Some of them are neatly written down and stored in my filing cabinet for future use in whatever story I come up with next.

So if you're having trouble creating well rounded characters, look to your neighbors. And your family. And whoever else you happen to encounter. Then insert them into a fictional situation and see what happens. Just remember to change everyone's name so they don't recognize themselves!

The Power of Dreams While Writing a Novel

This has been a bit of a tough week for me. It's now December and I'm rushing a bit to complete all my 2012 projects before 2013 sneaks up on us. I'm finishing two non-fiction books, have a children's novel that I swore to my editor would be finished a month ago, and I'm revising and editing The Courtship, which is due out next year. I'd consider rewriting the entire thing, but I think my editor might come at me with a pitchfork if I do that again.

So this had been a tough week. Too much to do and not quite enough time to finish it all. So what did I do? I took a nap. That's right. Four projects that really should have been finished in November still sitting on my plate, and I decide to take a good long nap. Why? Because when we sleep, we dream. And dreams inspire us.

I certainly needed some of that inspiration this week. Writing a novel is a tricky thing. It needs skill, talent, luck, and inspiration. I can command the skill and the talent, and the luck is usually with me anyway, but the inspiration can run off just when I needed it most. So I used my dreams as a source of inspiration. People in my dreams became characters in my novels.  Places become settings I'm proud of. Plots come out of the rather random things that happen in my dreams. And it all comes together, sometimes over several nights (or widely spaced naps).

This is what I did this week. And while it might seem like I spent a lot of time doing nothing but sleeping, I actually got far more done this week than I did last week. If the next four week go as well, I'll meet my goals with time to spare.

Here's hoping.

Happy Accidents When Writing a Novel

Accidents happen. And sometimes these are happy accidents. This is true of everything in life from finding a job to driving a car to writing a novel. What are happy accidents for a novelist? Well, they can be a lot of things. Perhaps that character in Chapter Three whose only purpose was to bring drinks to the table can suddenly play a significant role in Chapter Seventeen. Or you randomly explained how that serial killer escaped police custody and find out that it's actually a major plot point later on. There are lots of little accidents that happen when we're writing, even if we like to plot out each and every little detail.

This week I ran into a happy accident of my own while writing my current story. Weeks ago, when I had just started on my current novel, I was writing Chapter One (because I was at the beginning, of course). I had a couple of random characters in that chapter whose only purpose was to allow the protagonist to have a conversation with someone of no significance. Having conversations with someone who doesn't matter is what this particular character does, and he does it frequently.

Well, this week I was working on Chapter Twenty-Four. I'm basically halfway though this first draft. And suddenly the characters from the first chapter made a reappearance. They became useful in a way I'd never anticipated. I'd certainly never planned on ever using them again. But they just fit the situation and I didn't have to do much to establish them as characters because they had already been introduced. Okay, so I have to go back and tweek Chapter One just a little (by about ten words). No problem.

The point is that happy accidents result in some of the best parts of a book. No matter how much we plan out a story, it will inevitably surprise us. And this is the best part of writing a novel.

Using Poetry to Fuel Your Writing

I was working on a particularly intense part of my next novel this week and it just wasn't coming together. It wasn't writer's block because I could write. It was more like I was writing the wrong thing. My prose was off and the words were not sticking to the page. It just wasn't happening for me this week.

After much thought, I realized what the problem was. I wasn't digging deep enough. The emotion wasn't there and without that emotion, this particular scene was going to fall flat and would not contribute to the final novel. And if it wasn't going to contribute, I needed to either cut the scene or fix the problem.

Cutting the scene was not an option, so I had to fix it. I had to find the emotion that would fuel the scene. This is often the key to writing a novel. Of course, it's easy to say "find the emotion." It's much harder to actually do it. After three days of agonizing over this, I turned to the most emotional form of writing I know -- poetry.

I wrote the scene as poetry instead of prose. I let it form in verse and suddenly my brain was engaged. I was digging for the real meat of the scene and leaving behind that which just didn't fit. If there wasn't room for it in the poem, it didn't belong in the prose. Once I had the entire scene written as a poem, I went back and converted the poem into prose. And I am immensely pleased with the results.

Did this take me a little longer than simply writing the scene would have? Well, yes (if I'd actually been able to write the thing in a satisfying way). But the results are more than worth the effort. So if you find yourself in a bind while writing your first novel (or your tenth), try using a little bit of poetry to reengage a sluggish brain.

Write What You're Interested In

I was giving a lecture at the local university this week and we were talking about how to choose what to write. Which genre should you pick? Fiction or non-fiction? And inevitably someone piped and and said that writers should only write what they know.

I hate this little bit of "advice" that seems to pop up frequently. It really doesn't help anyone. Why should a writer confine herself (I'm a woman, I'm going to use the feminine here; no offense to the guys) to what she currently knows when she can go out and learn just about anything. It's a limiting viewpoint and not something I subscribe to. Especially when it comes to giving advice to students, since they don't know as much now as they will 10 years from now. They could get stuck in a mentality that will never lend itself to the best they're capable of.

So I amended the statement. My exact words were, "Let's change that up a little bit and say that you should write what you're interested in. You can always go out and learn something new." What does this mean? Well, maybe you want to write a non-fiction book on learning to ride horses but you've never even touched a horse in your life. You can still write the book. Get out there and learn to ride and write a book about it.

Doesn't this mean that you're now writing what you know? Well, yes, but you didn't know how to ride a horse before you got the idea for the book. The point is that you should never let the statement "write what you know" direct your writing. Instead, go with your heart. What do you love to write about? Horses? Fantasies? Murder mysteries? We all have things we love, and we should direct our efforts to these areas.

If you can do this, you'll soon find that the words just pour out of you and take their place on the page.

Taking Advice From Others About Your Writing

I talk to other writers a lot. Probably two or even three hours a day. I talk to aspiring writers and I talk to seasoned professionals. I even talk to agents and editors on a regular basis. I truly enjoy most of the time I spend interacting with other people in my field of work (I write for a living), but there are weeks when I probably should have just ignored everyone and focused on my writing.

Why? Because this week I encountered no less then six people, aspiring writers all, who simply cannot take advice. It's really maddening. And I'm not talking about these people taking my advice. I'm talking about them not taking ANY advice, not from anyone. Not from an agent who replied that the work was just too long or the editor who stated that the conversation was just too trite. These aspiring writers simply refused to acknowledge that their writing was anything less than perfect. And these are people who hope to be published!

I'm not saying you have to change your story over every little bit of advice you get, but you have to be open to feedback. As a writer, or an aspiring writer, you have to keep an open mind and understand that advice can often improve your story, hone your skills, and increase the chance of your work making it past the slush pile. The advice of critics can and will make you a better writer, but only if you're willing to hear it.

If someone with experience gives you advice, you should seriously consider it. A publisher, editor, or agent is usually an expert in the field. Others writers who have been published have a good idea of what works and what doesn't. If someone you trust tells you something is just not working within the story, do yourself a favor and really look at ways of improving your book.

And, if you absolutely refuse to accept any advice whatsoever, don't whine when you keep getting those rejections slips. Instead, frame then as a testament to your stubbornness. Harsh? Maybe, but none of us are perfect. I've never written a book that hasn't changed between the first draft and the last, and I'm pretty sure other authors haven't either.

Taking the Vanity Out of Writing

When writing, especially when writing novels or other works that demand a significant amount of time, it's easy to fall prey to vanity. It's easy to think about publication, and how to alter and change your story until it's what you think of as "publishable." It happens to everyone, even seasoned authors who've published forty books and are working on number forty-one. You might think that worrying about producing a "publishable" book should be an author's first concern, but you'd be wrong.

It happens to me sometimes. In fact, it happened this week. I was working on the first draft of a novel that as yet has no title, and I started approaching it all wrong. I started thinking about what my agent would want, what the editor might change, and how the publisher might market the book. Instead of writing a first draft, I was working on what would probably be the third. And I was skipping the most crucial steps, so I began to lose the core of the story I was trying to tell. Not good.

When you're at the beginning of your journey, when you're just starting to write that book, you absolutely shouldn't be focused on getting published. Until you have a workable product, there's no point in worrying about what you'll eventually do with it. So forget about being published. Dismiss the vanity that comes with imaging yourself as a bestselling author. Put all that aside.

I had to. I managed to. After two days of playing agent/editor/publisher, I remembered that I am a writer. My job is to use the power of the written word to weave a tale that's consistent, well written, and has a solid theme and premise. And I have to focus on that job until it's done. First draft, here I come.

Leave your vanity at the door when you first start working on that novel. Don't think about the world or how your neighbor might react to your words. Write a powerful story, regardless of genre, without any concern for how it might eventually be received. There's time for polishing and primping later. Pretend that no one but you will see the story. You'll stick it in a drawer somewhere and eventually, after you're dead and buried, one of your great-grandchildren might find it. Craft the story you need to tell. Later, hopefully with the aid of a skilled editor, it can be turned into something that may eventually sell to the general public. But now is not the time for that.

Once I'd remembered this, my fingers flew over the keyboard. My first draft is coming along nicely, my characters are developing (when they're not stopping in at the local pub for a beer), and the plot is shaping up. Of course, I had to delete the first two days' worth of work, but that's okay. The 'delete' key is there for a reason.