Regardless
how easy some authors make fiction-writing look, all of us struggle with something
in every story.
Take “Making
Peace,” my contribution to the new Prairie Rose Publications anthology Cowboy Cravings, for example. The hero,
Bennett Collier, is the elder brother of Amon Collier, the hero from “The Big
Uneasy” in Lassoing a Mail-Order Bride.
The brothers’ relationship composed a significant subplot in “The Big Uneasy,”
and “Making Peace” puts a period on the end of that relationship’s sentence. My
challenge lay in ensuring both stories could a) stand alone as complete,
satisfying reads in their own right, and b) be read in any order without one
giving away too many of the other’s secrets. That second point was particularly
vexing, since “The Big Uneasy” provided backstory for “Making Peace.” In
situations like that, there’s a delicate balance between revealing too much and
leaving readers confused by revealing too little.
I understand
it’s common among authors to know their characters and stories so well that they think they’ve
made things clear when they haven’t. Readers will have to let me know whether I
accomplished my goal with “Making Peace.”
Turns out,
all four of the authors who contributed to Cowboy
Cravings faced at least one issue that proved challenging, but in the end
each of us became stronger for having faced her demon head-on.
Here are the
problems each author faced, along with her solution:
‘Hearts and Diamonds,’ by Cheryl Pierson
Revenge sets Nick Diamond after a bride, and nothing will
stand in his way. But when that bride happens to be outspoken firebrand Liberty
Blankenship, all bets are off. Anything can happen when Hearts and Diamonds
collide!
I think for “Hearts
and Diamonds,” the hardest thing was the love scene. In a short story, it’s
really tough to create a love scene that “moves along” rapidly with people who
don’t really know one another. So I gave Nick and Libby a “sort of” shared
background—they remember one another, but he’s several years older than she is,
and they’ve lost track of one another.
Something
else that helped the love scene was the fact that she was marrying someone she
wasn’t in love with—and Nick reminds her of that. She lets him know, even
though she might not have been in love with [villain] Carlton Ridgeway, at
least she could have hoped for respectability. That plants a seed in his
mind...this might just work. Because, Nick had planned to give her that, too,
all along—unless she wanted an annulment.
Because a short
story is so limited on word count, the love scene I wrote was one that got the
point across heatedly, without going into the details of how each part of the
sex they had was accomplished. And, because they share this wedding night, when
the next crisis happens, they’re already emotionally closer than they’ve been
when we left them the night before in their ...ahem...passion. So it was
finding the right way to move the relationship along without having it seem
unrealistic that was the most difficult thing for me with this story.
‘Starr Bright,’ by Celia Yeary
A stubborn rancher, a Spanish beauty...and the Texas summer
heats up.
Any time we take a character—or characters—from previous
stories, we try to keep them as true to their original personality and looks as
possible. This shouldn’t be too difficult, unless, in my case, I used two
characters who were not in the same story. In “Starr Bright,” I used
Starr Hidalgo in all her glory, but I paired her with Conrad Taylor who was a
character in another novel, another decade. In my mind, these two should
be paired, no matter what. Since dates aren’t generally added to novels, I
knew no one would ever figure that out...or care.
‘Lily and Mesquite Joe,’ by Kristy McCaffrey
Lily Kingston has long loved Mesquite Joe Riordan. Facing
the truth of his past will test her resolve, but only her stubbornness can win
his heart.
I wrote “Lily and Mesquite Joe” well over two years ago as a
submission for Harlequin Historicals Undone, the online short-story branch of
this popular series of books. It was rejected due to lack of
characterization. Besides being bummed about the reject, I was completely
stumped. I honestly couldn't figure out how to fix the story because I wasn’t really
sure where the problem lay. So, I set it aside and let it collect cyber-dust.
When the submission call for Cowboy Cravings came,
that story started waving its hand at me—pick me, pick me. Prairie Rose
Publications welcomed it into the family, and kind-hearted editor Cheryl
Pierson gave it a once-over, then a twice-over, and, I believe, a thrice-over.
My hero, Joe Riordan, needed work, and with Cheryl’s guidance I began to see the
issues that plagued the tale.
In the end, Cheryl helped me redeem Joe, and when that
finally happened I had that “aha” moment of why the story was denied so long
ago. So, while rejection naturally makes all of us writers run crying to
our beds with a box of doughnuts, it helps to remember that finding the right
home for a story is important for the health and well-being of that creation.
We want to find a place where our writing can flourish. Lily and Mesquite Joe
found their way into the world at last.
So… Here are my questions:
Authors, have you
ever encountered a challenge that dogged you all the way through a story? How
did you resolve the issue?
Readers, have you
ever encountered a story in which you recognized an author’s struggle? Maybe
something just didn’t seem quite “right.” How did that affect your relationship
with the story?
As a thank you for taking the time to comment today, I’ll
give away an e-copy of the winner’s choice from among the four Prairie Rose
summer anthologies: Lassoing a Bride,
Lassoing a Groom, Lassoing a Mail-Order Bride, or Cowboy Cravings. No matter which you
choose, I promise you’ll get some excellent summer reading by some of the best
western historical romance authors writing today. (Why yes, thank you, I am the
very epitome of modesty. <grin>)
Be sure to leave a contact method in your answer!
Craving a cowboy on these hot summer nights? Here are four
stories that are sure to turn up the heat! If you love tall, dark, and handsome
cowboys with a touch of danger thrown in, and the ladies that show them they've
met their match, Cowboy Cravings is a
must-have. Fast guns, smooth action, and hot love sizzle in one delicious
recipe for these spicy stories. The summer has never been hotter in the Old West
than it is when you have to satisfy those COWBOY CRAVINGS!
Author answer: In "A Gift for Rhoda" (Wishing for a Cowboy), I knew from the second scene on that I didn't have enough word count latitude to tell the story I wanted to tell. I think it turned out all right, but if I could go back in time, I'd have written a story smaller in scope.
ReplyDeleteAs a reader: I can always tell when a writer forces humor or angst. Yep.
Jacquie, you absolutely did better than all right with "A Gift for Rhoda." Nate may win the award for fastest proposal in history , but the story works well and the relationship is believable. Plus, there's a cantankerous chicken. How can one lose with a cantankerous chicken? ;-)
DeleteI had the same problem with "Peaches" in the same anthology: too much story for the word count, or so I thought. Must've been the challenge du jour. :-D
Jacquie, I run into that a LOT. You know, my "Kane" series started out as a short story for a WF anthology. I soon realized...uh...no. I put it aside and worked on another "short story" that truly was SHORT. LOL But I, too, loved A Gift for Rhoda and thought it all came out very nicely in the end! And Peaches, Tex, my goodness--you did a great job on wrapping that one up and making it fit well in the word count. Y'all may have noticed we've "upped" the word count for the other anthos...we're a wordy bunch! LOL
DeleteCheryl
Cheryl
Great blog idea, ladies! And congratulations on the release of Cowboy Cravings.
ReplyDeleteI had an issue similar to Kathleen's - my stories in Lassoing a Bride and Lassoing a Groom are intertwined. They happen simultaneously. But they were going to be in two different anthologies. Yikes! In my mind, Wanted: The Sheriff comes first. For me, the challenge was not only "keeping" the right secrets but trying to write the stories in such a way that it didn't matter which one was read first.
Tracy, I thought about you and how you handled the related-stories situation while I was writing "Making Peace." You did such an excellent job with "Wanted: The Sheriff" and "No Less than Forever," both of which are some mighty fine reading.
DeleteAs a reader, I enjoy "series" stories. As a writer, they're tough, aren't they?
Y'all, I'm going to do that with Nick Diamond's brothers from my story Hearts and Diamonds. I introduced Jake, but haven't done more than just mention Brett. However... my stories are definitely going to be in order, since the anthologies will be spread out. I imagine Jake is going to make his debut at Christmas, and Brett will probably enter stage left in the Valentine antho. I thought both of you did fantastic with your hand-in-hand stories...that is really tough to do , and you both did them so well! Tracy it had to be hard to tell stories that intermingled at the same time like that--a really challenge. And Kathleen...well, let's just say, after The Big Uneasy and Bennett's departure, I wondered how in the holy moly you were ever going to redeem him...but you sure did!
DeleteCheryl
Short stories are a challenge in that you need a plot, but not too big of one. I've enjoyed all the PRP anthologies. They've made me love the short format again. Isn't it funny how multi-stories chase an author down? We can't escape those buggers.
ReplyDeleteLOL! That's so true, Kristy! When the opportunity came to contribute to the first PRP antho (WISHING FOR A COWBOY), I jumped at...even though I had NO idea what to write or how I would stuff everything into so few words. I hadn't even read many short stories in years. I thought I didn't enjoy the format anywhere near as much as I enjoyed novels -- both reading and writing.
DeleteSince the PRP anthos have been coming out so frequently, though, I've rediscovered a true love for short-form fiction. I've read so many good stories from my fellow Roses. Even better: I honestly believe training myself to write to a limit of 10K words has helped me tighten up novel manuscripts, too! :-)
I've never written a short story or novella. I'd like to, for publication, but I'm going to have to look into the nuts and bolts of short-storying. I like to develop characters for character-based stories and my impression is that short stories can't go into that too deep and are more plot driven.
ReplyDeleteGordo, an author has more room to develop character in a novel, but short-story characters can be just as well developed. Romance of any length heavily relies on character development. The challenge for me has been fitting a plot in there somewhere! :-D
DeleteSome good thoughts on challenges other writers run into. I tend to write longer novels with sub-plots, so I think writing a short story or novella would be a challenge in and of itself for me.
ReplyDeleteShort stories and novellas ARE challenging, Robin, but give it a try! I think writing short-form fiction has strengthened my novel writing by teaching me how to write "tighter" and how to pare scenes that would be nice to include but aren't necessary.
DeleteI never thought I could write short, either -- but now I truly LOVE it. :-)
I learned how to write tight doing my military history books. Over 100 of them were for Osprey Publishing and they're short, but packed full of detail. I learned how to cut out a lot of fluff and verbiage you see in so much non-fiction. Its helped me some in novel writing, but I think I get too wordy sometimes. I fear that's because I really want the reader to see and feel and understand what the character's doing/experiencing.
DeleteI don't think you're too wordy at all, Gordo -- at least not judging by THE HARDEST RIDE. I still think about that story. :-)
DeleteI think about it too LOL. I'm on chapter 10 of the sequel, Ride Harder. I guess I think I'm too wordy because I normally try and write so tight.
DeleteI began my career with short stories under 5000 words each. My big fear was writing a novel because of the time commitment and the freedom of writing so many words. In short stories there is no time for long, layered scenes and loads of dialogue. Some things have to be summarized that we might want to write in detail, but that's the way it is in short story land.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate all the challenges the four of you faced while writing short stories. I sure have had some of my own like back story, passive voice and writer's block.
I know this anthology is going to be a huge success. All the best to all of you.
Kristy, I just wanted to say again, thanks for your very kind words, and you know that Lily and Mesquite Joe could not have been the story it turned out to be if it hadn't had good "bones" behind it.
ReplyDeleteHugs! So glad you "landed" at Prairie Rose Publications!
Cheryl
I spoke the truth. :-) I'm grateful you took a chance on the story as well as the time to help flesh out those 'bones'.
DeleteLate to this post, but can relate to everything each author said. I also have found the more I write I work to deconstruct the stories while still enjoying them. (Not always easy) I will say, in all the anthologies I have read from PRP there has not been one I did not enjoy.
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting the rest of us know, 'it ain't always easy'. Doris
And, you are right Kristy, Cheryl is a gift to writers that is priceless. Doris
ReplyDeleteThank you, Doris. You are all just too kind. I enjoy working with each and every one of you!
DeleteCheryl
What a great post...and terrific stories. I can't wait to hunker down with this antho. I find I am loving writing novellas and short stories. I love the economy, the pare-down of just what the story needs. No extra. We writers love words and it can be tough, watching word count, but I find it freeing. I read a book by a highly regarded author who threw in a love scene that totally was unneeded, and I still remember that...nothing else about what is probably a fine book. Did she come short on the required word count? Was it a line where you had to have a set number of love scenes? Dunno. That's why at this time in my life, I'm loving the shorter works. I have to work hard to pick only just what I need.
ReplyDeleteTanya, I feel the same way. I started out writing "short" for Adams Media's Rocking Chair Reader anthologies. These were stories that were true stories but the anthologies had a theme. Memories From the Attic was the first one I wrote for and the word count was 1200 words...oh, I thought that was going to be impossible. But I honed and cut and got it right where it needed to be, and then the next one came easier. But with fiction writing, sometimes I just really have to be careful to "pick only just what I need" as you say...it takes some doing! LOL
DeleteCheryl
I love reading short stories, and have especially loved these anthologies from Prairie Rose. I haven't read even one I didn't enjoy. Writing short is difficult for me, but I hope to hone my skills in that area. You ladies are my teachers. Best wishes for more great anthologies and books in the future!
ReplyDeleteCaroline, what a wonderful compliment! Thank you so much from all of us here at Prairie Rose. We really love what we do here and hope we can always just keep getting better and better.
DeleteCheryl
As an author: I'm currently working on a short story that has a story within the story. Feedback from readers indicates there is some confusion over exactly whose story is being told, so there is some work to be done. I'm very lucky that I belong to a couple good critique groups. I do like working in short story format, having the word count limitation makes the writing process fun for me. I find the idea of a novel overwhelming.
ReplyDeleteAs a reader: I recently read a self-published novel and could tell the author was inexperienced and didn't get in touch with a good editor. While I admire the ability to write a novel (mine is unfinished and collecting cyber-dust for reasons mentioned above) that even remotely hangs together, there were too many problems for me to enjoy it. On the other hand, I've read other works that have plot holes and characterization issues and have been able to over look them because the entire work came together for me.
Great observations, Jeanne! A lot of authors start out wanting to write a novel and get discouraged for the very reasons you're talking about. Although writing short is hard in some respects, it's also a wonderful way to get better at writing in general, and to see some "progress" in our writing rather than working so long on a novel that might not be as rewarding.
DeleteCheryl