Monday, December 21, 2009

Having the file open doesn't equal working

Well, here it is the shortest day of the year. Assuming the sun comes up tomorrow as planned, we're on our way to summer.

I've had Bell-Men open on my computer all day, but I think I've only written about 500 words. This is not how I'd planned to spend my holiday. I may take a spiral notebook to bed and write the old-fashioned way. I bet I could get a thousand words in easy before I get bored and decide to read someone else's book.

Speaking of other people's books, I bought a Harlequin Intrigue at Goodwill today for 50 cents. You thought I was kidding when I said I was considering writing one, didn't you? Assuming I can gag my way through it (I had trouble forcing myself to pick one up; the titles revolted me so much I kept shying away), I'll see if I can manage to write one. Since I suspect my writing strength is characterization and my writing weakness is plot, I should be pretty good at writing romance. Also, I get to pick a pseudonym and that's always fun.

11 comments:

Aaron Polson said...

One of the texts for my English 102 class (the one I teach dual-credit at the HS) had a "tip-sheet" for writing a romance novel. I'll see if I can dig it up. It's a hoot to read, at the least.

K.C. Shaw said...

Ooh, that would be interesting. If you can find it, I'd love to read it!

Brendan P. Myers said...

500 words in one day is 100 more than Hemingway did.

And better 500 of the right words than 10,000 wrong ones.

K.C. Shaw said...

I wouldn't mind 10,000 right ones, but you're right, of course. :)

Fox Lee said...

"The Dong Throbbeth"

A Sin Romance


; )

Cate Gardner said...

Having the file open doesn't equal working... So that's where I've been going wrong.

Throw some melodrama into your Harlequin romance and make your heroine faint a lot. ;)

Jamie Eyberg said...

Good luck, I think. :)

K.C. Shaw said...

Natalie--You really need to be writing these yourself, you know. You'd be a billionaire!

Cate--I don't know why the words don't write themselves. Something must be wrong with my computer.

Jamie--Thanks, I think. :)

Anne Spollen said...

"...we're on our way to summer -" I'm going with that line.

I teach from a Bedford anthology; is that the one with the tip sheet?

And I tagged you ---

K.C. Shaw said...

Ooh, goodie, I've been tagged! Now I know what to blog about today. :)

LMEighmy said...

Very occasionally, I write romance novels, but nothing as steamy as harlequin. I prefer to put a little romance in my other stories...amid the action, adventure, death, chaos, mayhem and general angst. :)

Good luck trying to get through the Harlequin Intrigue. ;)