The novella has a title now: Brave in Heart. It’s a phrase from the poem “From Newport to Rome,” which first appeared in Julia Ward Howe’s collection Passion-flowers (1854). I need one more good week of writing to get it done. With dissertation demands, and a number of contest announcements approaching, I’m jittery and distracted and not at all productive. Nailing down a title felt good, however, so here’s hoping that the third act follows soon.
Tag: Inspiration
Mood Music, Part 1
After a few weeks away from it, I’m back to the historical novella. I don’t like the first three chapters, but then I think it finds itself. I’m not sure what to do about that problem. Cut those chapters and work the vital material in elsewhere? Switch POVs? It’s fairly obvious that I need to find a critique group if this is going to be a project I continue to pursue.
In the meantime, here’s my mood music.
The Waltz That’s Viennes-y
As Joseph Campbell taught us, there aren’t a lot of stories. There’s myth and then there’s variation on it. And while we may not be telling hero stories within the romance genre, there are only a few basic plots.
- There’s the innocent and the rake. (Related: various redemption fantasies and Beauty and the Beast-type stuff.)
- There’s love across some sort of big old status divide, such as class, race, family expectation, vampire/human, etc. (Related: forbidden love and Romeo and Juliet-type stuff.)
- There’s the dispossessed hero(ine). (Related: the hero(ine) wants to get the hell out Dodge, the hero(ine) wants to change her fate, and Cinderella-type stuff.)
- There’s the protector/protectee. (Related: most romantic suspense and serial killer-type stuff.)
- There’s the arranged marriage/marriage of convenience.
And obviously all of these plots can be reversed, used in concert, or be adapted for MM or FF romance. But my point is: there really aren’t that many stories. What matters isn’t originality. That’s very difficult to achieve and perhaps over-rated. No, what varies are the telling and the characters.
The Sticky Scene
I recently started drafting what I think is going to be a novella that launches a series set in the nineteenth century. There’s a scene that I can’t get out my head, however. A scene that I think fits into a contemporary set between two political operatives in Washington, DC. A scene that, in other words, has nothing to do with the project that I’m ostensibly writing.
I know that what I need to do is get the sticky scene down on paper and then go back to the historical work in progress. But I’m a little curious about how other people approach their work.
Do you have one and only one work in progress at a time? Do you have multiple projects that you flip between depending on your mood and motivation? Am I just too darn dilettantish?
Emma Barry 