Romance or...

 

To write about romances is to lose some readers with the very word as the stories have been ridiculed so much, with a fair number poorly written with a formula. Yet, romance is at the heart of many emotions. What makes two people decide to tie their lives together-- including legally? But then again, how many real life romances end, sometimes even in tragedy?  So, when writing such books, to avoid being ridiculed, what should a romance be about?

First of all, separate romance from love story. Love stories don't have to have happy endings. Some examples from the past include Gone with the Wind, Wuthering Heights, and most of Shakespeare's plays. Love can be a violent emotion when is not accompanied by other behaviors. There are many books where love or even romantic feelings are in the story but they aren't love stories or romances. An example of that would be Where the Crawdads Sing. Different examples of passion for someone but not a love story or a romance.

Romances, on the other hand, always end happily-- or are supposed to. The teasers might suggest they won't, but they will-- or they're not romances.

The issue though for a writer is what makes two people drawn together and then have the probability the relationship will last? A writer can't just set them up and assume they'll fall in love and it will (after some crises) work out. It has to be believable to the reader. Well, unless someone is writing formula and then they just follow the pattern; but what if the author wants it to feel real and bring the reader along for the ride?

All of Jane Austin's books are romances. Her own life never got that happy romantic ending but her lead characters always did-- despite the problems to getting there. 

Romances can be about more than romance but it does have to be at the heart of the book. A writer can't just say they fell in love. Readers have to believe it would have happened. I often read reviews for other authors of romances and readers get quite irked when they don't believe those two people would have chosen each other.

One of the things that makes a couple feel real is when they have things in common to draw them together. But, there should also be those opposite elements that lead to conflicts between them. Otherwise, there's just -- and they lived happily ever after. I'll write more about that in the next blog as this one is already getting too long.

What If?

 

Sometimes, it's obvious from where the idea for a book has come. I have been thinking about this topic and then looked at books I've written and tried to figure out from where the idea for them had come. Characters? Themes? Plots? One that I hadn't thought of right away was setting. With some books, it becomes easier to figure out. You have to remember that I've been writing far longer than I've been publishing. With most, I had no idea if they were even publishing possible. They just had to be written-- following a popular pattern or not. 

The one that stumped me required delving into my own past. I kept thinking-- what made me ever write Sky Daughter? I wrote it in the mid-1990s. It had a lot of complexities. From where did all that come? Then I knew-- the beginning for it was place, the setting and a lot of What Ifs followed that. 

Years back, we had been driving through northern Idaho, with its tall peaks and trees, the beauty of the scenery, often its isolation. On one of the trips, we had the van radio on and found a show where the talk was about militia and the need to protect themselves from the outside world. I hadn't heard talk like that before. What would it be like if that's all a person heard? That part of Idaho has a very mystical feel, in a good way, but I wasn't trying to recreate what was based on reality but that question that inspires many books-- what if.

I began with a heroine (if that word can be used today). I saw her with Celtic heritage, a folk singer, who had come back to the mountain home of her grandfather. She'd had little experience there and mostly wanted to recenter herself after many losses. I was listening to a lot of Celtic music at the time. So, if that's the music she had been singing, writing, how had that influenced her soul? She was red-haired and looked much like from where her roots had been.

Then-- what kind of hero would be right for her? One of the mountain boys? Not hardly. He had to have come from outside, no more understanding its culture than she did-- although thanks to the time she'd had with grandparents, she did understand nature. What if he was from New York City, a Jewish Puertorican who was looking for healing from wilderness-- though he knew even less about it than the community into which he was heading.

From there, the story took off with more characters, some still there and some influencing who she was, the parts she hadn't recognized-- like a grandmother who had been a witch, hence the title-- Sky Daughter, what she had called her granddaughter with the time she got with her. Her mother had no use for mysticism and had sheltered her daughter from contact with it. 

At the time, I had read a book on modern witchcraft, which flowed into what the book became. Some think witches are supernatural beings but what if they are those who chose to develop natural spiritual abilities using age old rituals? What if those rituals do have power? What my heroine in this book discovers is her grandmother's Book of Shadows, which she left for her granddaughter when she died. Such books were supposed to stay in the hands of witches. The whole thing is a shock to her but does she need to learn something as that mountain has more there than she had could see-- though she felt it.

So, the What If, thinking begins with something. It might be people but it might be a place. I've had that lead to books more than once. The places are real but the rest of what is there is fiction-- or is it? What If?

To be or not to be

 

 To start, I want to define a word, esoteric-- intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest. Where it comes to the subject of writing, I think some of that applies. If we just enjoy reading, then specific understanding of what we read is not of interest. On the other hand, if we want to write, it does apply.

There is a difference between a theme for a book versus its plot. Theme is the heart, the message throughout the book. Plot is what takes the reader there-- or does it have to? I have read popular books (many are like this) where I'd say the theme is all that mattered. Plot? What plot? It's not about that but rather the feeling, the heart of the story. Yes, things happen, but not in the sense of a plot. I must add that often life itself seems without a plot.

I like writing plots. All of my books have them. In the case of Moon Dust, there is a plot along with the theme. Are both needed? Maybe not for many readers. But, we are talking now about my interest as a writer.

From where do my plots come? Some from the characters and my own desire for an interesting book. I learned some of what I use from reading but also from Joseph Campbell's books regarding the journey of the hero. What made some mythologies survive until today and others be forgotten?

Campbell encouraged a book to begin where the hero starts (which could be heroine). Where is the life they led and what would it take to remove them from it? That's the gatekeeper experience. We start with a stable experience and then along comes-- why would that person leave it for something else, maybe scarier? It has to be strong and seem worthwhile to the reader. The fact that it has lasted in mythologies means it has lasted.

One of the things I learned, a long time ago with writing, is the W. There is a moment of huge energy and then a moment of relaxation and peace, of considering what had happened,  before another high energy event. Life  does not have to, but can do that. Fiction isn't always about life itself. It's about writing on emotional events. Plots provide this. We would like many peaceful moments, but they aren't always what makes us grow the most.

So, plots give us the W, the ups and the downs, that in the end take the story where the theme intended it to go. I believe that happened with Moon Dust. Two people without a lot of professional energy to create dynamism (a principal and decorator) but it's what happens to them in the plot that forces them to grow beyond their expectations for themselves. This excitement is what takes the reader along for the ride.

when it begins with a theme

 

As I said before, I can't tell you how to create books here. What I can do is relate how it has worked for me with some of my own. The following will be an example of when I used a theme, the book, Moon Dust.

First, I need to better define what I mean by theme. Frankly, I went to the dictionary for some synonyms that might explain how I am using the word. There were a lot of good ones including: subject, concept, essence, marrow, pith, gist. I don't know if that gets to the heart of what I am trying to describe, which is that, where the topics range from abuse to brainwashing, heartbreak, education, etc. the real theme is healing, and it fits with all that comes up in the book.

My interest in writing the story began with knowing that not only girls are sexually abused but also boys. It's not been taken as seriously when it's a male because they are supposed to be enjoying it. The thing is-- abuse is about power taken away. It's not enjoyable for any victim.

Before I began writing, I researched by reading several books on what the abuse can be when it's a boy as well as what the impact was when they grew up. Men have been too often denied counseling for it. That means its impact can be hidden under other emotional issues.

Moon Dust had another subject that isn't so popular for romances. It begins with a divorce. The male protagonist was a high school principal, who has much responsibility for the teachers and children under his wings. To flesh out the character, I remembered the high school principals I had known. Having a hero involved in concern for kids, led to what education should be and the downside of it-- what about youths who are being brainwashed by those who seek power over them. Principals run into all sorts of problems.

What? That doesn't sound like a romance. Well, romances often aren't what readers expect. They can be; but for me, I need something more and this theme was about people needing to recognize what happened to them and when to get treatment.

Writing this book, even with a difficult subject, was one I enjoyed because I cared about the topics. I helped myself by the heroine being a home decorator, which enabled me to explore what it takes to help someone else find the right decor for their home. It was a lighter touch to add to the heavier theme of divorce and adult emotional disorders due to childhood trauma.

Of course, there was a love story, if not the usual one. Some violence, growth of the characters through what they are learning, and, naturally a happy ending- if not what's expected.  

Moon Dust has not caught on with romance readers maybe because it's more woman's fiction. How do you label books? Don't ask me! I write what works for me and hope it finds readers looking for a little something more in their reading. That key word-- finding-- is always the problem.

I have started other books with a theme in mind, but this is probably one of the strongest. I  like this book. I hoped to write about it here to encourage other writers to also look for what interests them. That will lead to the characters and the plot. Yes, plot and theme are not the same thing.

My photos from a visit to Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland Oregon

amazing place to spend much time.