I have been doing nothing productive these past few days– no writing, no grading, just reading Regency Christmas romances. The next couple of weeks will be brutal so I need the break.
It looks like I’ll start rewriting the Kringle novel when I’m on Christmas break in a couple weeks.
Today is Thanksgiving lunch at the Savoy Grill, followed by Wicked at the Screenland Armour. Very Kansas City.
Have a very good day, whether or not you celebrate.
I think I have the idea on how to re-re-revise this year’s Kringle novel. It’s going to be a little flexible with reality, but not in an unrealistic way. No, that didn’t sound so intelligent. Let me try again. I will have to introduce a slightly unrealistic scenario, but not one that requires a massive suspension of disbelief.
The problem has been how to keep my aspiring writer in town and at the lodge for long enough that she actually has time for relationship development from meet-cute to growing interest to the peak, the misgivings, the breakup, and the reconciliation. The writing retreat has to be about two weeks long, and she’s not independently wealthy, so two weeks at the lodge isn’t something she can afford (even though it’s not exorbitantly expensive to stay there).
Enter an artist-in-residence program. This is not completely unrealistic; Amtrak had one a few years ago (that I desperately wished I was well-enough regarded as a writer to receive). There’s no reason the lodge couldn’t have this, and in the winter, which is not the prime tourist season. I know in reality that the lodge I am modelling this after never has a down time and thus would not sponsor an aspiring writer. But it’s theoretically possible.
In this scenario, my female protagonist, a writer, would be invited for a two-week artist-in-residence stay at the lodge, which would last through Christmas. During this time, she would give a book reading, talk to local aspiring writers, and write some features on the area. So she would interview the local Santa and visit the surrounding towns as well as the park. And she would fall in love with the executive chef.
How does she have two weeks for a writer’s retreat if she’s also college faculty? This is the end of her sabbatical, and she will go back to work after the break. Not unreasonable assumptions again.
I think this is doable. All I have to do now is write it.
I have given up writing my latest Kringle Christmas romance. I don’t like giving things up, but the premise of the book became untenable upon writing.
I had given up writing it once before, feeling that the timing was all wrong. Then I got an idea to expand the time period of the book so that I had more time to develop the relationship. It turns out it wasn’t enough; I don’t have enough time left in the story to develop the downturn of the relationship, where the couple starts second-guessing the relationship and their own fitness for it.
Let me explain: My Christmas romances generally run from a few days before Thanksgiving through mid-December. The relationship develops fast, but I have about three weeks of plot-time to develop the relationship. That’s enough to take them from developing relationship to devolving relationship and through the reconciliation. With Kringle All the Way (the book I just abandoned), the couple had from the 17th through the 25th to get through all those stages. Try as I may, I didn’t have enough time in which to develop the relationship. In a Christmas romance, the happy ending has to happen by Christmas. What’s more depressing than a breakup over Christmas? That’s why the timing is so important.
This is the first story I’ve given up! I have a story that I’ve set aside for a while with a promise to get back to it eventually, but that’s not the same. I don’t enjoy giving up, but this story is fatally flawed. To spend any more time on it is to waste that time. That’s why giving up is sometimes a good thing.
So I gutted the Kringle book and started it again. My female protagonist is now a writer who can spend a bit more time at the lodge and start her stay early enough that they might actually progress to a “breakup” before Christmas.
The romance novel has a structure. I use a Scrivener template called “Romancing the Beat” based on Gwen Hayes’ book of the same name. This lays out the romance in terms of four parts: Set up, Falling in love, Retreating from love, Fighting for love. Each of those parts has five steps that progress the reader through the story. (If you think that romance novels are too formulaic, there are beat sheets for your favorite form of literature as well. We have expectations when reading a story).
The problem with my original story is that the happy ending has to happen by Christmas (it’s a Christmas romance, after all). As the romance started less than a week before Christmas, the plot had no time for them to pass through the stages between doubt and breakup. I suppose I could have collapsed them, but part of the fun for the reader is to pass through those stages. It’s not only part of the plot, but gives the reader a satisfying emotional roller coaster.
So I am rewriting the story with a protagonist who can stay a little longer. Not even that much longer — she’s got two more days to be there. The days are important, not only for the timing of the novel, but for what can happen during those days. Because their getting together time is not as close to Christmas, they have time to do things together before the male lead (an executive chef) has to buckle down for the Christmas Eve/Christmas Day buffets. This is in closer keeping with the original plot. It’s not romantic if they don’t get to enjoy some courtship.
I wrote the first thousand words yesterday. I think this will be a better book, although I won’t be done by the end of November. At least I won’t spend all my writing time grumbling about how it’s not working.
I wrote 1450 words yesterday, which is good for not having written for a little while. It’s going slow. I hope I have time to write some today, because I need to get back into it and this story is at least somewhat motivating.
I’m a little scared that maybe I’m done with writing and just don’t know it yet. It’s been a couple months since I’ve done any serious writing, and for some reason I don’t seem to have the time for it. i write the blog every day, sure, but have I run out of novels? Lost the temptation to write something new?
I need a solid session of writing today after classes. That should give me a couple hours of writing time. Wish me luck.
It finally feels like fall, with morning temperatures in the 30s and the sunlight growing softer. It’s not a great year for autumn leaves, with most turning a dull yellow-green instead of fiery red. But I’m here for it, and looking forward to the coccooning that happens in the season.
I’m off today (Friday in the US) because of Walkout Day, a custom at the university during Homecoming week. Homecoming is a tradition in colleges and high schools surrounding an (American) football game, where there is a parade and homecoming floats and other activities. Alumni come back to enjoy the festivities, hence the name. It is the epitome of fall activities for small towns and small universities.
I hope to write today. Mostly organizing my notes, but that, too, is writing. I also may pick the picture for the cover of Kringle All the Way. We shall see how productive I feel.
This new novel is got me looking forward to developing it, which I will do more of today in my spare time. I didn’t know what I was writing would make such a difference.
It’s another Christmas romance. Low spice, cozy with some humor.
Jacquie Ames goes back to the hotel she spent her honeymoon at 15 years ago, trying to find closure after her recent divorce. Only to find her ex-husband with his much younger fiancee there for the holiday. Barry Trout, the executive chef at the hotel, sees Jacquie’s distress and makes a deal: Let’s show your ex that you don’t need him. What could it hurt? The ex definitely has it coming to him. The two become a fake couple, but genuine feelings grow. If Jacquie could just find closure from her divorce and Barry could give up his solitary existence, maybe they could make it work for real.
This is another of the novels I write during the Christmas season so I get the full feeling of the season funneled into it. (To be truthful I will start it November 1, so a little early for the Christmas season, but WalMart will play Christmas carols anyhow).
I write to write. I publish just in case someone wants to read. I hope to be discovered, because I promote as much as I can, but it’s not enough. But the books will never be read sitting in a drawer somewhere.
I haven’t started writing yet. It’s been that kind of semester, where I don’t feel like writing at the end of the day. This is not to say I have been completely devoid of writing-related endeavors. I have been waiting for Reclaiming the Balance to come back from a sensitivity edit. I have been working on Kringle All the Way‘s plotting and characters so I’m ready in November. I made a poster for Reclaiming for my office (and have yet to print it).
I haven’t felt like much of a writer lately. Fewer stops to Starbucks, fewer days writing, less inspiration. Neither of my open novels are doing a thing for me inspiration-wise. Not much flow when I do write. I feel a bit foolish now talking about flow and how well I had been doing.
I will go to Starbucks tonight to work on Kringle All the Way. I need some plotting and character sketches before I start writing in November.
Wish me luck.
Words Like Me 