I have been reading scripts and writing rejection letters this morning. Saying this is not a story for us is one of the hardest things I do. Every time I start to read a story I want to say “Yes!! Let’s do it”… I am a writer too, have sat in the position of a writer submitting a story to a publisher. As a matter of fact, I have a very impressive stack of rejection letters. I have been rejected as a children’s writer, a writer of erotic stories and a romance writer. I kept knocking on doors until I let Laurie Sanders the founder of BVS. I spent years learning from her.
To writers, I would like to offer a wee bit of advice if I may. See the story through your character’s eyes, feel what they feel. Try to keep it feeling real. A script landed on my desk a while back describing the character stripping off her clothes as she walked around her apartment. It got to the point she was taking off her pantyhose while walking. I wrote back to the writer and suggested she tried doing that. If it physically doesn’t work it breaks the belief for the reader of your story.
I have a little checklist on my desk when I write…
Keep in Character Show not tell.
A deep point of view requires at least three parts of the character’s experience (mental, emotional and physical, consider spiritual.)
What is the motivation… Where is the drama? Tension? conflict?
What do they feel? What do they see?
What do they smell? What do they taste?
Use all five senses.
Show the emotion… emotions are not just one thing. They are not constants. They come and go.mEmotions have shape, color, texture, resonance – describe them that way, ebb, and flow… they swell, grow and expand… they cloak, cocoon, enclose, envelop and overwhelm
1.) Romance stories are ABOUT the developing romantic relationship between characters.
2.) Relationship stories are ABOUT curing the ills within an existing relationship.