Show Don’t Tell: Weak Words

Wow, this blog post is so totally timely that it’s not even funny. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been writing, telling instead of showing is going to sneak up on you. I’m for real on this. Either you’ll find it, or your lovely critique partner will. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t bad if they point it out. At least then you get a chance to catch it before your editor does. I covered in my first ‘show don’t tell’ post about how to spot when you are.


Here’s a small re-cap on those things.


To get into showing, you need to get into deep POV(Point Of View). It’s an intense point of view, not only using sights, sounds, and smells, but also their reaction and the unique way your characters look at the world. For this you will need this formula: 

• Action
• Decision
• Thought
• Emotion 

So, let’s say you have that down. I bet now you’re feeling pretty good about your book, right? Well, there’s something else that can mess you up too and bring you out of showing. I know you’re thinking ‘damn, something else.’ That was my reaction too as I was learning. It’s not bad, so don’t go into a panic attack or anything. These things are called weak words or filler words by some. I bet you’re wondering what they are about now, aren’t you?  While working on edits for my new book I found some of these in my manuscript. Okay, I’m going to put you out of your misery. These are some words to look for.

• Oh
• Just
• Well
• So
• Like
• As if
• As
• That
• While

For some reason my crutch word in this book seems to be ‘that.’ Don’t fret, just go in and weed these words out. Once you do, it will make your book shine so much more. What pops up for you in your books that are crutch words?

Romance Isn’t Porn

*Today’s post is a re-post from about two years ago.* 

This blog post was inspired by someone who is on my case saying that romance novels are porn. I know romance novels take the heat for this and it just gets under my skin since I write romance. No other genre takes this much heat for what the author writes. There’s a big difference between porn and romance.

*Porn degrades a woman as a person. For the most part, the man doesn’t care for the person; he’s just scratching an itch and same could go for the woman.

*It’s meant to get the person watching turned on.

*If you took away the sex there would be nothing there…no character development, no plot…nothing at all.

* Romance novels don’t degrade woman. I’m sure there are some that do, but they are rare. There’s a story there to be told.

*They have external and internal conflicts that they have to overcome to get their ‘happily ever after.’

* If you take away any of the sex scenes there’s still a story there; it doesn’t affect it one bit. It can still hold its own.

It’s an author’s choice if there are going to be any sex scenes in the book at all. The same goes for if they’re open door or closed. Personally, I write open door ones and I’m not ashamed one bit about it. Everyone has sex and people need to stop being so uptight about it. Even those who write in the erotic genre of romance, it’s not just scenes with sex thrown in for the hell of it. It’s to help bring the hero and heroine along, it helps push the plot along. If it doesn’t then it sure as hell doesn’t need to be in the book.

Another thing…just because the author writes the stuff doesn’t mean she does that in real life. Like if an author writes about bondage, it doesn’t mean that she does it, or has ever done it. Romance novels are FICTION stories that the author makes up. Sure, something in her life might inspire the story, but it doesn’t mean all of it is from real life experiences.

My husband has no problem with me writing it. I think if he had anything to say about it, that since I switched to writing romance, things have gotten better between us. He has no problem helping with research.

Sure, a woman might get a tingle reading a really hot, emotional sex scene. At times it helps us connect with our emotions. Isn’t it better if instead of going somewhere else for love after reading that that she turns to her husband?

If you don’t like romance, that’s fine. Everyone has their own preferences, but don’t start attacking romance writers. It really won’t do any good; we won’t stop writing just because it bothers you. We write for those who like to read a good love story…about a couple overcoming odds, and finally in the end the hero gets the girl. Okay, I’m off my soapbox now.

For authors:

Do you take a lot of heat for what your write?

For readers:

What do you love about romance novels? What brings you back to reading them?

Do you NaNo?

Do you NaNo?

Well, it’s that time again for all of us crazy writers. It’s National Writing Month or also known as NaNo. It’s where writers from all over pledge to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Crazy, right? Of course for those of us in the USA it has to been in the same month as Thanksgiving, so that makes it even more of a challenge.

I think it’s a good thing as it helps to turn off your internal editor. I mean, really, you can’t write that much in a month and be going back to edit what you’re working on, or you’ll never get the book written. I’ve been doing this since ‘09, and it’s really helped me focus on what I’m working on at that time.

Some other good things about NaNo is you get to meet other writers from all over, and make connections, which in turn could help once you’re published to get spots on their blogs, and also readership. I’ve connected with some really neat people, who after it’s over with, we still stay in touch throughout the year.

This year, most of the members in my critique group are doing it as well. We’re there to encourage one another, and help plot out problems that arise. The whole point of doing this is to get your butt in a chair and write with no excuses. If you can write 1,667 words a day, then you can finish a 50,000 word book in a month. If you need to write more for a longer book, then do the math, but just do it. No whining or saying there’s no time to write because there is. Don’t worry about writing a good first draft give yourself permission to write crap, as that can be fixed, but blank pages can’t.

So, tell me are you joining in on NaNo this year?

WIP Wednesday

This week’s WIP blog is going to be a little different. So, I’ve been working this week to plot out a new book that might end up being in a series with my last book. I have to get it written and turned in and let my editor decide. I had a good chat with another writing friend, and she helped me flesh out the plot. Today I’m going to work on plotting out the rest and getting my chapter by chapter outline done, and then I’ll be ready to start writing some more on their story. My goal is to have the first draft done by the end of March.

Let’s see what I can find to share this week. I started some on Chad and Katie’s story, so here’s a little peak into chapter one.

“Believe me, if I’d been in your bed last night…” Chad brushed his knuckles against her arm, as he moved closer to her ear. His voice dropped to a sexy gravel. “You’d be so saturated with the sensation of my cock inside of you that you wouldn’t be able to walk or stop smiling.”

WIP Wednesday

Here’s this weeks little snippet from the current story I’m writing called Healing His Wife’s Heart.

Natasha leaned a hip against his truck. He couldn’t miss how sadness crept into her eyes. Did she really want to go through with this, or was it too hard for her to think about it all as it still was for him? If he could, he’d take away the pain and make her whole again.

“Damn, I worried about that. I guess the sooner we re-file, the better,” she slipped her hands in her pockets and shifted her feet.

“Ok, I need you to listen to what I’m about to say. Actually, listen and don’t react. Do you think you can do that?”

“What the hell are you talking about, Chris?”

“I have a proposition for you.”

WIP Wednesday

I’m starting something new on my blog. I’ve seen some other writers do it and thought it was a good idea. Every Wednesday I’ll be posting something from the book I’m working on. It will be just a little snippet. Here’s one of my favorites from Road to Recovery.

“You have no clue what you’re talking about,” she snapped.

“Don’t I?” He challenged, raising a brow.

“Ugh! You’re such a pig.” She pushed him and took off down the hall, his laughter trailing after her.

Kyle had gotten under her skin more than she wanted to admit. His cologne lingered on her scrubs, and she could still feel his arms around her. She’d almost given into the pull and leaned forward to kiss him. Kyle had been so close she could smell his Calvin Klein’s Obsession, and it screwed with her head. Her body ached to be in his arms again, to be so close to him there would be no way she could resist him if he moved to kiss her. Whoa! No, no, no, I can’t go there. I so need to find a man, and not one that works here.

Romance isn’t Porn.

This blog post was inspired by someone who is on my case saying that romance novels are porn. I know romance novels take the heat for this and it just gets under my skin since I write romance. No other genre takes this much heat for what the author writes. There’s a big difference between porn and romance.

*Porn degrades a woman as a person. For the most part, the man doesn’t care for the person; he’s just scratching an itch and same could go for the woman.

*It’s meant to get the reader turned on.

*If you took away the sex there would be nothing there…no character development, no plot…nothing at all.

* Romance novels don’t degrade woman. I’m sure there are some that do, but they are rare. There’s a story there to be told.

*They have external and internal conflicts that they have to overcome to get their ‘happily ever after.’

* If you take away any of the sex scenes there’s still a story there; it doesn’t affect it one bit. It can still hold its own.

It’s an author’s choice if there are going to be any sex scenes in the book at all. The same goes for if they’re open door or closed. Personally, I write open door ones and I’m not ashamed one bit about it. Everyone has sex and people need to stop being so uptight about it. Even those who write in the erotic genre of romance, it’s not just scenes with sex thrown in for the hell of it. It’s to help bring the hero and heroine along, it helps push the plot along. If it doesn’t then it sure as hell doesn’t need to be in the book.

Another thing…just because the author writes the stuff doesn’t mean she does that in real life. Like if an author writes about bondage, it doesn’t mean that she does it, or has ever done it. Romance novels are FICTION stories that the author makes up. Sure, something in her life might inspire the story, but it doesn’t mean all of it is from real life experiences.

My husband has no problem with me writing it. I think if he had anything to say about it, that since I switched to writing romance, things have gotten better between us. He has no problem helping with research.

Sure, a woman might get a tingle reading a really hot, emotional sex scene. At times it helps us connect with our emotions. Isn’t it better if instead of going somewhere else for love after reading that that she turns to her husband?

If you don’t like romance, that’s fine. Everyone has their own preferences, but don’t start attacking romance writers. It really won’t do any good; we won’t stop writing just because it bothers you. We write for those who like to read a good love story…about a couple overcoming odds, and finally in the end the hero gets the girl. Okay, I’m off my soapbox now.

For authors:

Do you take a lot of heat for what your write?

For readers:

What do you love about romance novels? What brings you back to reading them?

Pumpkin Latte

I found a yummy Pumpkin Latte that tastes just like Starbucks. This is a great thing because there’s not one near us. This calls for no coffee, but I add anywhere between 1/4- 1/2 cups of strong coffee to mine. I got this recipe from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Famous-No-Coffee-Pumpkin-Latte/Detail.aspx

Time for me to get back to writing and sipping on this nice fall drink.

Ingredients ( Makes 4 servings)

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1 quart milk
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions

1. Combine pumpkin, milk, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla in a large saucepan over medium heat. Use a whisk to blend well. Heat to a simmer; do not boil.

Music & Writing

Music can relay things so well when we can’t find the words to say what needs to be said. They can touch someone’s soul deeper than anything else at times. I don’t know about anyone else, but for me I have to write with music playing. If I don’t have music I just can’t write. I’m starting a new book and looking for music for the playlist. It becomes even more important during editing. The only noise I can handle is the songs playing. While writing the first draft I can deal with kids yelling, coming to interrupt every few moments…no big deal. I’ve been known to take my laptop into the living room and hold conversations with my family while writing. But when it’s time to edit, then all of that stops and I lock myself into my office with just the songs. There might be times while editing that I listen to the same song over and over for one season until it’s just right.

The other day while starting chapter one of the new book, I couldn’t think of anything to listen to and was having trouble with writing. That is, until this song by Chris Young came on and it hit me. This is how my hero is feeling.

Crazy thing is, my character’s name is Chris as well, but I’m thinking of changing his name. Now he’s not an alcoholic, yet this song just screams his character how he has bottled up his feelings for the heroine It’s a reunion story and a lot of painful stuff they’re going to have to get through for their happy ending.

Then this song came on and it’s on the nose how she feels about him even though she doesn’t want to admit it. She’s still pissed at him and rightly so, but she’s still in love with him even though at first she doesn’t want to admit it. The only question is, can she get over him blaming her for the miscarriage.

So, do you have to have music playing while writing or does it need to be silent? I’m looking for some new songs to add to this playlist. Any suggestions?

Happy Writing Mama!

First off, before I go into my post. I picked nicknames for my kids my oldest daughter will be referred to by pumpkin. My middle daughter firecracker and then my twin boys Phineas and Ferb anyone who has seen that cartoon will know what it is, and they remind me of my boys.

Now onto what happened this afternoon, Pumpkin came home from school and gave me her school work. I was looking over her graded papers, and she said “Oh, by the way, mom, I wrote a story today, it just came to me.” I proceeded to question her to find out more. And found out it was during writing time, and she had computer time, so she opened word and started writing. She then told me “oh yeah I wrote 510 words.” She left the kitchen and went into the living room, while I proceeded to pick my mouth off the ground. My husband said “that’s your daughter.” She’s written stories before in notebooks, but never that long. I read it over and it’s really good for her age, she’s in the 3rd grade. We talked about it some more before bed, and I told her she did a good job. Pumpkin said it just sort of came to her, and she had to write it down. She said she wants to be a writer like her mama. That’s my baby and mama couldn’t be happier.