WHAT IS IT THAT TAKES A STORY FROM "GOOD" TO "GREAT???" By Gail L. Jenner

As writers of romance, each of us has a perspective on what makes the PERFECT romance, right?  For some, it’s all about characters. For others, it’s all about conflict. For others, it might be the setting or the history associated with western or historical romances...

When first starting out, I wonder how many of us believe we must follow a prescription or formula. Critics of the genre always seem to point to this as a “weakness” or flaw. Of course, writers of mysteries or thrillers are no less subject to a similar criticism. In truth, stories of any sort contain certain patterns that attract readers; eg: as in romantic films, the audience expects happy endings vs. tragic endings. 

But as we explore the genre, we all develop a broader range of understanding of what makes a good romance a great romance...not that we achieve it with every story we write! It’s that element of writing, however, I want to look at: what is it that takes a story from “good” to “great?”  Or, what elevates a story?
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According to Author Elizabeth Sims, “There are subtle differences between fiction that’s passable and fiction that pops—fiction that shows that you know what you’re doing. Consider agents and editors your über-readers. If you win them over, a larger audience won’t be far behind.”

I think focusing on a specific audience such as that is probably a powerful tool. At Prairie Rose, we are—of course—quite lucky in having our publishers eager and ready to consider our writing for publication, so focusing on THEM is a great “first step” in upping the ante, so to speak.

There are other elements, too, that can ramp up a story. For me, one is secondary characters. These individuals can provide comic relief or act as catalysts. They can provide a harsh and/or curious perspective on our main characters through their dialogue and actions and perceptions. Think of great films whose secondary characters increase the attraction of the audience: eg: R2D2 and C3PO or Chewbacca in “Star Wars!” Think of the sidekick characters in western films or comedies, and, more provocatively, Shakespeare or Dickens or Jane Austen. Sometimes these characters will take a film or story out of the realm of the ordinary into the realm of the delightful or powerful.

Another element is incorporating all five of our senses, eg: more than just sight or sound. Romances incorporate the beautiful people, but that is a visual. What about using more of our senses in describing our characters or settings? Incorporating the sense of smell—either good or bad—will flesh out our characters. Things to consider: what does a mountain lake smell like? What smells or feelings does the desert evoke?

Does our hero smoke, or chew? Is he a field hand or cowboy who will definitely “reek” at times? Or is he a more refined hero--and how does that affect the senses?

On a personal note that often lends itself to my western heroes:  My cowboy/ranching husband rarely walks in the door without bringing a definitive smell with him, whether it’s from cutting hay or working cows or wallowing in the mud...  And, contrary to some opinions, those smells remind me of the very physical nature of his work and life and can be alluring. YES, alluring!

Along with broadening our use of the senses, we can broaden our perspective on what makes a character attractive...Again, according to Author Elizabeth Sims, she noted that she had a student who shared, ““I once had an art instructor say, ‘If it didn’t have to be pretty, what would you draw?’”

GREAT question! What a challenge for us as authors. Of course, we have the template of Beauty and the Beast and that template has been used many times over. But it is a successful kind of storyline to study. Can our hero be beautiful on the inside, even if he’s rugged or damaged on the outside? Realistically, a soldier returning home from the Civil War would very likely be damaged—if not physically, certainly emotionally—and that might well be reflected in his walk, his talk, his demeanor.

And perhaps the last element to consider is two-fold: let’s make our readers either laugh OR cry. Not all at once, of course, but that notion takes us from the realm of a pleasing story line to a powerful one. What has happened in our characters’ lives that can be incorporated into their internal or external conflict? How can we raise the stakes of their potential love affair—and the potential failure or success of their relationship?

Again, develop secondary characters that can weave their own magic into the story and provide a comic relief or heavy-handed insult that revs up the drama. This is emotional suspense at its core: providing realistic (not caricature-like) emotions that rise and fall as the action and conflict grows. But it takes time to let these emotions develop, whether from past disappointments or failures to unfulfilled dreams or heartache. 

At the same time, we must avoid or eliminate the superficial or “cheap” emotions that are really only plastered onto the exterior surface of our characters! They must rather come from a heart-felt and deeply embedded aspect of DEEPER character.

Of course, other writers may have other kinds of ideas about what takes a good story to the level of great. The above “list” reflects some of the things I value when I read a story and sigh, “Wow....loved it!” I think about classic novels, but also novels I have read more recently, eg: Sarah’s Key or Nightingale or Widow of the South.  With each of these stories I was left with a full heart—not wanting the story to end.  

And isn’t that our goal—to affect our readers so deeply they want to come back to our stories time and again????

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Gail L. Jenner has enjoyed working with Prairie Rose Publishing and her collection of stories published by PRP has grown since "joining the gang" in Dec. 2013 with the re-release of her WILLA Award-winning Across the Sweet Grass Hills. 

"Prettiest Little Horse Thief"  and "July's Bride" are two of her other favorites.....and then there are the boxed sets and anthologies!  For more about Gail, check out: www.gailjenner.com or http://www.amazon.com/Gail-Fiorini-Jenner/e/B005GHR47O

NAMES. LOVE 'EM OR HATE 'EM?

By the English Rose.

Do you like your name? Or do you hate it? So many people who I know really don’t like their given names, myself included.

I was given the name Gillian, no middle name, that’s all I got and I hate it, so mostly I get called Jill or Gill depending if it’s spoken or written (except by Mum and my two sisters, who insist on giving me my Sunday name!) If I could have, I would have changed it to something I liked more. I used to wish I had a middle name so I could at least choose which one I liked best. Mum and Dan had two names and they gave my younger sisters two, so why not me? I want to have a tantrum!

I used to like the name Dawn, and when I was sending manuscripts off to publishers, on the return envelope I used to put G.D as my initials, thinking that the D would symbolise a new ‘dawn’ in my writing life! It never did. So I dropped the D.

My sister is called Viki Helen, and the Viki is just that, it’s not short for Victoria as so many people seem to think, but she has always been called Helen and she hates that, so much so that she has changed it to Helan, no idea why, as it is still pronounced the same way! I’d have wanted to be called Viki as it’s more unusual. My friend, Janice, has always wanted to be called Susan, and my friend Shirley wants to be called Marie.

My Auntie Doris had a little girl a year or so before I was born, and they named her – Doris! Which was fine when she was small, but as she grew they got called Big Doris and Little Doris!  As soon as she was old enough, she legally changed her name to Christine. I don’t blame her at all, who the heck wants to go through life being called ‘Little Doris’, it sounds very Dickensian!

As I am a huge lover of Scotland and consider it my spiritual home (it is actually my ancestral home) I once decided I wanted to be called Shona, a good old Scottish name, meaning Jane or Joan, but no-one would use Shona as they had got so used to calling me Gillian, or Jill for so many years. Darn it!

                                                           My altar ego, Shona.

What is it that makes us hate our name? Is it because we had no freedom of choice over it, because we were ‘given’ it by someone else? Maybe it’s because it isn’t strong enough, or poetic enough, or Romantic enough?

Do you think our characters like the names we give them? Do those names really ‘fit’ the characters? I know that in the days most of us at PRP are writing about, a huge amount of people changed their names on a regular basis for a variety of reasons, the only problem with it is, if we did decide to allow our characters to do that, the readers would get very confused! So would the writers probably! I’ve been lucky up to now, all my main characters seem to have liked the names I chose for them.

Have you ever written a character with one name, then changed it after the book was finished? If you have changed a character’s name part way through a story, why? And does that alter the way you write the character? My WIP has a bad guy who I am calling Mike at the moment, but I’m having some real trouble with him, every time I write about him he kicks against the name, it’s got to go soon! But what he’ll end up being called, I guess that might just depend on exactly how nasty he turns out to be!

                                                           The real me. Jill.

I chose to change my name for my books because I don’t really like my ‘real’ name, so for my traditional shoot-em-up Westerns for Hale in England, my author name is Amos Carr, and for PRP of course I am Gil McDonald. It would be hard to fit my full name on a book really!

So what do you think? Do you like or hate your name? If you had to change it what would you change it to and why? Plenty of food for thought here, I will be interested to see your comments.

Loving A Character Too Much

Sarah McNeal is a multi-published author of several genres including time travel, paranormal, western and historical fiction. She is a retired ER nurse who lives in North Carolina with her four-legged children, Lily, the Golden Retriever and Liberty, the cat. Besides her devotion to writing, she also has a great love of music and plays several instruments including violin, bagpipes, guitar and harmonica. Her books and short stories may be found at Publishing by Rebecca Vickery, Victory Tales Press, Prairie Rose Publications and Painted Pony Books, and Fire Star Press, imprints of Prairie Rose Publications. She welcomes you to her website at

Website 

My Amazon Author’s Page

Sweethearts of the West

Prairie Rose Publications Blog

LOVING A CHARACTER TOO MUCH

Have you ever created a character you just fell in love with—and then you couldn’t get him out of your head even after you finished his story? Well, welcome to my world.

When I wrote Harmonica Joe’s Reluctant Bride, it was not intended to have a sequel, nor was it supposed to be the beginning of a family saga.

 I’ve mentioned before that I couldn’t get Banjo off my mind. He was the street-wise teenager, raised by whores who was not only courageous enough to go up against the villain to save Lola with nothing more than an ice crusher, but he was also inventive and clever. So I gave him his own story in For Love of Banjo. 

You’d think that would be enough and I could let him go, but nope, I couldn’t shake the magic of Banjo. And to tell you the truth, I’m not really sure why.

In my WIP for the Christmas anthology at Prairie Rose Publishing, I decided to tell the story of the widow, Penelope Thoroughgood. Now maybe you don’t know who she is. Banjo mentioned her in his story. He spent the night with her and said she had taught him some important things. Without besmirching Penelope’s good name I had to figure out how I was going to accomplish that feat. I also had a character in my story, Unexpected Blessings, for the summer anthology Lassoing A Bride 

and her name was Lucille Thoroughgood. Now I have plans for Lucille in a future story, but I had to get her age young enough for this future story and how did the widow Thoroughgood end up with a child with the same last name some ten years or so into the future? Oh, the brainstorming that took place.

But I wanted to get back to the original topic which is characters we can’t shake. Banjo is one of those characters for me. He has shown up in every single Wilding story I’ve written. Well, it really got out of hand with Penelope’s story. He is not supposed to be the main character. Yet, he kept showing up in all his magical, handsome glory trying to nudge his way into first place. I had to restart the Christmas story three times before I was able to subdue the irrepressible Banjo Wilding.

Have you ever had that happen to you? What did you do?