Category: Writing

Posts in which we talk about the writing craft and process

Northanger Abbey

Updated on January 13, 2014 by diane

Last Saturday the Washington Romance Writers had their first meeting of the year, which traditionally is reserved for Kathy Gilles Seidel, our resident Austen scholar. For the last six years she’s been working her way through a discussion of Jane Austen’s books especially as depicted in movies. Saturday was the last of this discussion series, ending with Northanger Abbey.

There are two movie adaptations of Northanger Abbey, one made in 2007, starring Felicity Jones and JJ Feild and shown on PBS as part of an Austen series. The other was made in 1987, starring Katharine Schlesinger and Peter Firth (not Colin).

I was able to watch the 1987 version and to reread the book. My impressions can be summarized by saying that I loved the book and appreciated anew Austen’s deft hand at characterization and her wit. I also thought the movie makers just didn’t “get it.”

Some of the discussion was around these issues:

1. Is Northanger Abbey a romance? Not really. It was more a character growth story, but more so a satire on the gothic novels of the period, specifically The Mysteries of Udolpho.

2. The film makers didn’t get the wit and satire in the story. The 1987 version changed the whole tone of the story. They did their best, though, to intensify the romance elements.

2. If Northanger Abbey were a romance, then Henry Tilney would not have made it as a romance hero, but in this story, he was the nicest guy in the book. The movie makers embellished Henry to make him more alpha-like.

Getting together with like-minded people, discussing topics like Jane Austen and romance writing is a wonderful pleasure. Each time I attend a meeting like this, I feel renewed and rejuvenated!

(Risky Regencies did a similar Northanger Abbey discussion several years ago, led by our talented Cara King. See here and here.)

What’s rejuvenating you today?

Posted in Jane Austen, Writing | 1 Reply

New Year’s Plans and Giveaway

Updated on January 2, 2014 by Elena Greene

Happy New Year! I hope everyone is safe and warm despite the recent storms. It is so pretty in my backyard and I’m glad I haven’t had to drive anywhere.

I’m not much into New Year’s Resolutions. I get the appeal of the idea of starting fresh. The problem is that a year is an awfully long time to strive to be good. Frankly, I can rarely make it through a day without messing up in some way or other. I think it’s better to try to start fresh at any time. Even, say, halfway through a bag of potato chips I hadn’t intended to eat. Though admittedly hard to do!

So while I think it’s a good idea to take stock now and then, I prefer plans to resolutions. I want to change something, I make a plan and I try to make it fairly specific. Once things make it onto my To Do List, there’s a good chance they’ll get done eventually. At the very least they aren’t forgotten.

This year, one thing I want to do is see if I can learn to write faster. My writing time is still constrained by being a stroke caregiver and mother of teenagers (one of whom is headed for college SOON!) but maybe I can make that time more productive. I’ve heard some prolific writers imply that slow writers like me just need to work harder. In my case, I think it’s more about working smarter. I write quickly once I get my ideas together, but it takes me a while to connect (or reconnect) with the story and the characters. Part of that is having to write sporadically–which I can’t help–but I also think part of it is being so driven that I don’t refill the well often enough. After each spurt of creativity, I struggle for a while.

I did The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron a while ago. I’m still good about doing the Morning Pages (daily journaling) but like many, I’m not so good at the Artist’s Dates (weekly activities intended to be fun for the muse). For me, this would be things like taking time to play the piano, do crafty stuff, get out into nature, watch more movies and read for pleasure.

So this year my plan is to put an Artist’s Date on my To Do List each week. It may seem counter-intuitive to getting more writing done, but I’m going to try it and see what happens.

How about you? Any resolutions or plans for the New Year? I’ll be giving away 5 free download codes from Audible for Lady Dearing’s Masquerade. Comment on this post between now and next Thursday, Jan 9th. I’ll announce the winners on Friday, Jan 10th.

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Giveaways, Writing | Tagged new years resolutions, The Artist's Way | 11 Replies

My turn to say Happy New Year

Updated on January 1, 2014 by Janet Mullany

Happy New Year!

I usually like to do a rundown of my favorite books and movies of the past year but this is a bit difficult. There are two books which are absolutely outstanding, neither of which are romance (although Pam Rosenthal may not agree):

Jo Baker’s wonderful Longbourn, a novel about the parallel universe of Pride & Prejudice, the story of the servants at the Bennets’ house. Their story is not necessarily that of their employers, and ranges far wider than the upstairs characters ever do–Africa, Spain, and with harsh, beautiful experiences at home. This is the English version, which I own–it has a servants’ staircase on the back cover.

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson, an astonishing story of England in the first half of the twentieth century. It’s about what could happen if you had the chance to change history, to relive your life and make things right, a fantasy we’ve certainly all shared to one extent or another.

This holiday season I’ve been lounging around eating toast in bed and rereading Deborah Crombie and Julia Spencer-Fleming. Both great mystery series.

But I haven’t read much romance that knocked my socks off. I know I’ve bought/read quite a lot on the kindle, but it doesn’t stay in my mind. And to paraphrase the Monty Python guys, it’s all getting too silly. I don’t know whether I can write this stuff any more, feeling that I just squeaked into the genre via some odd loopholes.

So I’m not sure what I’ll be writing in 2014. I have a sequel in the works to A Certain Latitude–that reminds me, just a few days to go to enter the Goodreads giveaway. I’d hoped I might get the sequel, A Certain Proposition, out by the end of the month, but the lying around reading and eating toast got in the way of that. However, I’m self-pubbing my Jane Eyre novella, Reader, I Married Him, later this month.

But after that? I have to find something new to write. I have to master the Facebook thing. Lots of things to do.

What are you planning for 2014?

Posted in Reading, Risky Book Talk, Writing | 4 Replies

Character Types

Updated on November 23, 2013 by megan

You know the aphorism that there are only seven basic plots in the world?

There are also, therefore, a limited amount of character types, particularly in romance. I have started writing a new project, and am consulting The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines, which was mentioned at a workshop at the recent New Jersey Romance Writers’ Conference some of us attended last month.

My heroine is the Spunky Kid–loyal, a team player, witty, and with, obviously, spunk. The hero is the Bad Boy, an irresistibly alluring man with a bad attitude, and a chip on his shoulder. He mistrusts everyone-until they win his loyalty.

It’s been fun to browse through the book and read about the types of people who could come alive in the pages of my writing, and also to see what examples the authors cite as to certain character type pairings. I am not normally one for using reference books, but this really seems to have hit a chord with me, and I am excited to use it for plotting this, and future, books.

Do you find yourself wanting to read about a certain type of hero or heroine? The librarian, the seductress, the charmer, the best friend, the chief, or some other type?

(Darcy here is the Chief).

Posted in Writing | Tagged Megan | 5 Replies

Avengers, Archetypes and Poll

Updated on November 22, 2013 by Elena Greene

I often get behind on pop culture, but try to catch up during our weekly Take-out & Video Night. Lately we’ve been watching the Avengers films. While action alone is OK for my husband, but my daughters and I need more. Joss Whedon’s attention to characterization is what makes these movies for us. Every superhero is distinctly different from the others; there’s always internal as well as external conflict. That the franchise is a feast of attractive men also doesn’t hurt (though I’d like to see more female superheroes, too).

I find it amusing that I can discuss the relative hotness of all these superheroes with my daughters. Being writing geeks, we also like to analyze the characterization and plotting and since we are writing geeks, this doesn’t detract from the fun.

Tami Cowden, author of The Complete Writer’s Guide to Heroes and Heroines, has developed a list of romance hero archetypes (read more here). Here’s my attempt to map these superheroes to archetypes. Sometimes more than one category seemed to apply, but OK, characters are like that.

Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth). Bold, nice to look at (such pretty muscles!), not always the brightest (so it’s good he’s paired with a scientist) but honorable. I say he’s a Swashbuckler though Chief and Warrior could also apply.

Captain America (played by Chris Evans). Kind and decent, he could be a Best Friend but also rises to be a Chief and Warrior when necessary. Also a bit of a Lost Soul since he’s out of his original time period. I told my daughters he’s the only Avenger I would allow them to date.

The Hulk (played by Mark Ruffalo). Definitely a Lost Soul but also the Professor. I love that combination!

Hawkeye (played by Jeremy Renner). I say Warrior but would like to see more of him to be sure.

Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr.) It’s hard to categorize a “genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist”. I say Bad Boy but he also has elements of Chief, Professor, Charmer, Swashbuckler and Lost Soul.

Even though he’s technically a villain, I have to give Loki his hotness dues. My daughters are huge fans but I told them under no circumstances would I allow them to date Loki.

In the original mythology, he is often called a Trickster (a character who shakes things up but isn’t obviously evil). Marvel has made him into a villain. Using the archetypes from Joseph Campbell’s Hero with a Thousand Faces, the Marvel version of Loki has elements of Trickster, Shadow and Shape Shifter. Back to Tami Cowden’s archetypes, on the hero side he could be a Lost Soul but according to her villain archetypes he’d be the Bastard and/or the Traitor. Whatever you call him, he’s fascinating.

So to the poll. Explain/discuss in the comments!

[poll id=”19″]

Elena
www.elenagreene.com

Posted in Frivolity, TV and Film, Writing | Tagged archetypes, Avengers, characterization, Tami Cowden | 10 Replies