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| Tanya Hanson |
Hey writers, have you ever stopped to think about all the elements we fiction writers are attempting to balance as we write? Rewriting helps us layer in what we may have missed that first or second pass. Our guest today discusses writing historicals, rewrites, and how "knowing" and "doing" are two different things. Read on! ~ Annette
Rewrite, Rewrite, and Rewrite Some More
by Tanya Hanson
I’m meeting more and more authors who work full
time, raise kids and pets, volunteer and do church work, and still manage to write
books. I’m incredulous because...
...in the past, I did all those things
concurrently except write books. I
put it off until my kids went off to college. But I told myself I was learning. Preparing for my future as an
author.
You see, I taught writing and literature to high
school students. With my kids snug in their dormitories, I was mega-confident. Hadn’t
I learned everything about writing by teaching it?
Well, there’s writing, and then there’s romance writing.
I learned the difference quickly after joining an RWA chapter. A romance editor
will excise long, overwrought paragraphs of description, no matter how
perfectly they’re written. Why? Readers tend to skip them.
Readers want action—the
push and pull of the hero and heroine falling in love and finding their faith,
in spite of themselves.
So what do we romance writers do? Our characters
have to live somewhere. Best advice—mix in details about the setting in the characters’
action and dialogue, rather than all at once like a travel brochure.
Same thing in historical romance. Nobody wants a
long lecture about the past. I write historical Westerns. To set the time and
place, I might show my cowboy-hero discussing with the sheriff some topics
relevant to the Old West. Maybe women’s suffrage, a Civil War battle, or the
latest rifle technology. He and the lawman could be searching the cowboy’s
ranch for clues on cattle rustlers. Throughout their conversation, my hero
imparts some of his backstory as well as some historical tidbits. And the
reader gets a good—but quick—mental picture of the setting.
I can even add some intrigue. Maybe the sheriff
is a fan of barbed wire closing up the open range and my hero is not. Hmmm. I’ve
just foreshadowed a potential conflict.
Another hint: Romance writers show; they don’t tell.
Those adverbs so beloved by my students now become actions. For instance, “I’ll never leave you,” he said tenderly becomes even better by
showing. “I’ll never leave you.” He
brushed his fingers across her cheek.
The romance reader needs to “feel” not just “read”
what’s going on. The plain old He held
her hand becomes much more personal as Her
breath hitched when he took her hand.
To quote Elmore Leonard, “If it sounds like
writing, rewrite it.” Even more so for those of us in romance. We want our
readers to feel what our characters feel and not waste time or words getting
there. Cutting and revising and editing hurts, but our stories are better for it.
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| Claiming His Heart |
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