First Time Romance Writer

I'm two pages into my third story, "Working Title: Arranged" and there's a scene where Drake is talking to his dad. As I'm writing, the characters are saying things, but I haven't used the word said once. A little back story, as a writer and a reader, I hate seeing the same word over and over and over and over.. (do you see what I did there?) Because I am attuned to this, especially when grading my own student's work. So, when I started writing dialogue I was alarmed at how many times I used the word said . I did a bit a research into my dilemma, I think I was in high school at the time and I found something along that lines of: use said instead of synonyms- it's tried and true for a reason. I've attributed this idea to Stephen King's On Writing , but I'm not 100% sure that's where I read that bit of advice. Anyway, as I'm writing "Working Title: Arranged" I realized I've used says and not said . Then, holy cow,...

Ultimately, my goal is to publish my work on Kindle Direct Publishing.   I was reading bits of advice about doing so, you know: love what you write, write what you actually read, and stick to generas that sell- if you want to make money. But, the most interesting piece of advice I read was: publish several works at once, that way if your readers like what you write, they can find more of your work in the amazon store.  I love the idea of putting multiple works out at once. I've recently finished the third book in the Off Campus Series: The Score, by Elle Kennedy   (more about what that did to my writing in my next blog post). I like when books take place in the same world, and mostly, I loved that I got to see my book crush Garett throughout the series, even though his story was finished in book one.  So, I said- it's time to develop my world. I've changed the college a bit. Pembrook is now closer to the Chesapeake Bay. I'm still stuck on what this will do...

Writing is difficult.  It takes a lot of courage to put yourself out there, to find characters you like, to think of a plot that doesn't suck. Really, what I most likely need is practice. I've spent the last two days buried in research. And by research I mean laying in my front lawn, soaking up the sun, and re-reading three books. I read half of Beautiful Disaster   but I quit that book because I was on my third re-read and if I really wanted some research I should check out others. I re-read Thoughtless  but as I was reading, it hit really close to home. I was between two men at one point in my life. Engaged to one and then in love with a co-worker. I couldn't bare how long Keira spent debating between the two men. It broke my heart because I was in that situation, but I never took it as far as she did. Maybe that's because I was 27 when it was going on. I'm sure if I was just 19/20 it would have ended differently. It's interesting to think that maybe...

Today I feel a bit down on myself.  I was writing, hit a mild case of writers block, and decided to go ahead and take every writer's advice. Read.  I found a Tumblr post that said they were interested in faked romance, and I love a good "let's pretend we're together" story, so I bought: Yours to Keep, by Shannon Stacey  It had the typical "pretend we're engaged and live with me plot line," but I just kept thinking, she's so great at conversation and giving real life to her characters. I also really enjoyed the relationship between Emma and Sean. They had really nice personalities. I hadn't read any of her other books, but this one was fine enough as a stand alone. While reading, I noticed a few things I'm struggling with as a writer: My character spends a lot of time in her head. Maybe this is because I chose to write in first person. Any of the other short stories I've written have been in third person. When I was in cr...

So, I've been reading a lot of New Adult Romance and keeping my fiancé up late since I hate using a book light with my kindle and refuse not to be in the same room as him. It's okay though since we're both teachers on summer vacation! A few of my favorites romances to read on my kindle are: Wrecked, by Priscilla West Beautiful Disaster, by Jamie McGuire Thoughtless, by S.C. Stephens The Deal, by Elle Kennedy That Boy, by Jillian Dodd and Foreplay, by Sophie Jordan  When That Boy didn't end exactly the way I wanted it to, I thought what if I just tried my own book, then the characters can do whatever I'd like them to. So, I opened my trusty Mac and started writing. It already turns out these characters are not exactly doing what I thought they would, but writing is really fun. Sometimes I struggle with naming my characters and places, but as I was typing a college name just pilled on to the paper! I'd say that's a victory since they don't mak...