Drawing from the Well
Queries Sent: 0
Total Queries: 35
Rejections: 10
Scenes Mapped: 2
Total Scenes: 321
I got a little writing done yesterday in and amongst feeling like absolute garbage from a massive allergy attack over the last couple of days. I’m feeling much better this morning, but not so much last night. As to the writing itself, most of the set pieces for Arc 1 are in place for the 6th Eighth. Progress is happening!
Filling the Well
Bloodwitch: 39%
The Raven Boys: 90%
Guide to Literary Agents 2019: 75/332
Continuing to chew through Guide. Hoping to make other progress today as well.
Polishing the Well
Yeah, it was kind of like this the last couple of days. Granted, I had the aforementioned sneezing fits, but I am so relaxed. I needed this week.
Well Chat
The Heart Is Everywhere
This was the movie that alerted me to what I grudgingly called “the formula” for a long time. What the formula turned out to be was the three-act structure with key plot turns at each eighth of the piece. Rom-coms have this down to a mathematical formula hence the deprecating title. Now, rom-coms prevalence in film media is down the fact that a little levity goes a long way toward creating enjoyment for a piece of entertainment. We’re not going to focus exclusively on romantic comedies in this blog, but it is inevitable that it seeps into the conversation.
So what makes the romance genre? Well, the romantic elements, obviously. The core of romance is people falling in love. Period. So what diversity of topics is there in the genre especially considering the ubiquity of its inclusion into just about every other genre? Well, the first question is whether or not the setting is before WWII or after. Before is historical romance and after is contemporary. It is that simple.
Once you get past the time period, there’s the question of standalone or series. For romance, this translates to single-title and category. Category romances are short novels (~200 pages) produced rapidly in a line of titles often numbered as they’re released. When I say rapidly, I’m talking as fast as monthly. To me, these are sometimes called your “smut” novels. The romance is the entire story with no subplots or extraneous characters. It’s all plot and major characters and moves pretty quickly. If you know me and the kind of novels I enjoy, you can guess why I don’t like these kind of novels.
So single-title or category, historical or contemporary. Fine. What else?
You’ve got paranormal romance which brings in a fantasy, supernatural element. This brings in a bunch more story elements and broadens the plot. Then there’s romantic suspense with a mystery involved, especially a criminal one. Beyond that, you have your speculative romances including sci-fi, fantasy, and time travel. The time travel one actually interests me (like the Time Traveler’s Wife and The Lake House movies) believe it or not, but again, if you know me, you know you can throw good time travel into any story and I’ll be interested.
Beyond this, it gets increasingly niche and that’s excepting its inclusion in other genres. Romance is in most stories and it’s an important element. It creates a humanity in story that might otherwise be lost. I’ve deliberately not included it in my first book as I try to take a different tack on what felt like a trope to me. Don’t be quick to dismiss it; it could tie your whole story together.
May the tide carry you to safer shores.
BSG