I re-read the first chapter of my HM&B Competition entry last night (well OK the only chapter so far) and.......ewwww what a load of cr*p! And I mean that most sincerely folks!
What had started out as promising first chapter (hah! who am I kidding!) is now being pecked to pieces by the "crows of doubt" who seem to be swarming in ever decreasing circles as I type. (It didn't help when I read Lynn Rae Harris's opening chapter last night of her debut HM&B book - you know the one - the one that won her the competition last year!)
I now need to "re-visit" my wip and think serious, serious editing (read "total re-write") and layer in the emotion - I've decided my wip is lacking the emotion quotent that is a pre-requisite of any HM&B. Kate Walker (in her 12 point Guide to Writing Romance ) devotes a whole chapter of her (excellent) book to the subject of emotion. Michelle Styles, Donna Alward and Kate Hardy all go into great length about layering in the emotion on their blogsites. And now so must I. So I'm going to get out the metaphorical "cake filling" and I'm going to start layering it in right now. Before it's too late. And if I can quote one of the quotes in Kate's book "The 3 most important things in making a book a best seller are emotion, emotion, emotion." (HM&B editor) Right got it? Yes absolutely got it. 100% got it - I think!
Take care. Caroline x
1. Agree, Kate Walker's book BRILLIANT.
ReplyDelete2. Your chapter won't be as bad as you think it is (or indeed, as bad as the first chapter of the ms I subbed to the RNA today). Your blog is great, your writing style is very readable and I'd put money on the fact these traits have carried through to your chapter. And, you got some pretty terrific comments in your NWS report, so you already know you write very well.
3. You CAN do it. And it's a huge positive that you can see areas where your work can be improved - that's what sorts the published from the unpublished.
Go, Caroline.
XX
ps Sorry, 1 should read 'Kate Walker's book is BRILLIANT'.
ReplyDeleteAhh. Thanks Suzanne. +ve, +ve, +ve. That's what I am after reading your lovely comments. Take care. Caroline x
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