I have many “flaws” with my writing, areas that I must exert conscious thought to correcting. One of these “flaws” is my difficulty expressing my heroines. I’m much, much better at working in the male perspective. I understand men much better than I do women and I can do a much better job at portraying them in a sympathetic light. Only after multiple edits and repeated proddings from my cps can I see where I can reveal more of my heroines. They’re tough women, independent to a fault, and intelligent. Somehow, this makes them less sympathetic unless I spend a lot of time in their heads analyzing their thoughts. Or so I’ve been told.
I have a ms that has been in many contests. Over the course of entering these contests I was constantly reminded by judges to expand the heroine’s perspective so they could get to know her better. Lacking confidence and training, I took the advice. I added paragraphs here and there to reveal her better. This took time and so many edits it makes my head spin.
However my editor, my beautiful wonderful editor, took one look at it and said, “This is a fabulous heroine. Your best yet. She is strong, intelligent, pulled together, and there are so many layers to her.” But guess what? She saw all the little paragraphs I’d plugged in and wondered why they were there.
She “gets” me and my writing! Oh man, I could roll all over the floor and laugh with delight. She sees how I write my heroines, how I reveal them through their actions and the POVs of other characters and NOT through introspection and she likes it. I could kiss her. Really. So now I’ve not only been given permission to keep my heroine the way I want, I’ve been encouraged to. I get to tell my story my way, which means most things are seen through the hero’s eyes, including the heroine. Her actions and words will do the talking. She’ll be a mystery to most readers. As she’s revealed to the hero, she’ll be revealed to the reader and not a moment sooner.
I wish I could tell you how excited I am by this. How my heart swells with happiness and the prospect of getting this book polished fills me with delight and not the dread that normally accompanies edits. It a freedom I relish and I’m certain I don’t deserve at this stage in my career.
Soooo… going with my previous post, please try to filter the advice you get. A lot of advice is useful and a great teacher can help you improve your craft. But try to see if “your way” works for you. It might be a defining factor that can keep you a happy and successful writer. Being successful doesn’t mean you have to fit the mold. Make your own. God willing readers will like it.
I can’t stress this enough. I’m not the best writer in the world, not by a million, gazzillion miles. I’m not the best researcher, or plotter, or character builder. I’m damn lucky, but that’s it. What I’m trying to say is these opportunities aren’t reserved for fabulous writers. They’re out there, editors are looking. Everything you hear about what they don’t want and what they do want is not always true. You and your outside-the-rules stories and style may be what they’re looking for. Stick to your guns. Please.
You are so right, Sylvia. I learned so many “rules” that it held me back in a lot of ways, keeping my imagination from just flying away. That’s one of the things I have loved about EC is that it set me free and I could do anything, anything that I wanted. Whenever you get advice, take what works for you and dump the rest.
by Cheyenne McCray May 12th, 2005 at 7:44 amGood for your Sylvia! Speaking as a reader here, I much prefer to become acquainted with a character by their actions and dialog. To me it’s more organic, more real, and more compelling than swimming around in a character’s head and constantly being told by the author.
by WendyI agree Wendy. Nothing drives me more batty than reading a story where the author is telling you every single chapter what the internal conflict is. I really, really hate that. If the heroine had a crappy, abusive first marriage and is afraid to trust men, you only have to mention the crappy marriage once. I’ll get it, I swear. Then everything she says and does should reflect that turmoil and I’ll know why.
I’m really excited about this story. I’m not sure how well it will be received since it’s really the heroine who is ‘tortured’ in this story. I’ve been told those types of books don’t go over as well. But you know how I feel about doing what I’m told…
by Sylvia