Romance Weekly Blog Chat for September 2, 2014

Do you like to read romance novels? Wouldn’t you like to know more about your favorite authors? Well, you came to the right place! Join the writers of Romance Weekly as we go behind the scenes of our books and tell all…… About our writing of course! Every Tuesday we’ll all answer the same questions and after you’ve enjoyed the blog on this site, we’ll direct you to another. So come back often for a thrilling ride. Tell your friends and feel free to ask us questions in the comment box.

Hello! Thank you for stopping by my blog. I hope that you enjoyed the insights on writing, editing and when to submit, shared by the amazing Carolyn Spear on her blog,  http://www.carolynspearromance.com/blog

In this week’s blog, we are answering three questions, posed by our own Ronnie Allen. I am not a published author at this time, so my opinions are based on my efforts to date with my two completed manuscripts and the third work in progress.

Perhaps my comments below, will provide you with a different perspective than my published colleagues. So here goes.

 

1.     When do you decide that you've done enough editing and additional changes would make it different, not better? So, it's the time to submit.

That’s a hard one for me to answer, as my opinions are the result of my early experiences completing two manuscripts. So far, I have written and revised until I feel that my manuscript is fairly solid. Then I give my manuscript to family members and a critique partner or two, who provide me with their feedback. I review the edits, comments and suggestions and make whatever changes seem rational to me. Once the manuscript is as clean as I can make it, I consider it ready, and then I decide whether to pitch to prospective editors, publishers or agents (if it’s close to conference time), or to send out query letters.

 

2.     When and how do you accept change advice by rejection letters and critique partners?

So far, the rejection letters I have received have been a bit obtuse, with no specific critique comments. There have been some implied concerns, which I have worked to understand and then to incorporate the interpreted corrections into my writing as best as I was able. I have received far superior comments, suggestions and edits from my critique partners and Beta readers, and I am so grateful for these people. They have been the ones who have really helped to improve my writing. Again, as stated above, I usually receive this type of guidance once I have sent my manuscript out for review. It’s when I receive that feedback that I take all of the advice into consideration and make the necessary changes to improve my manuscript before I resubmit.

3.     When you're not writing, how do you spend your day, or do you create your day around your writing?

When I’m not writing, I focus on family. However, that doesn’t mean that my thoughts don’t travel back to ideas about my next plot, or my hero and heroine, and what their struggles will be in my next manuscript. Since I love to write mystery and murder into my romance plotlines, my hero/heroine have their work cut out for them just to survive.

And yes, to be honest, some of my best ideas come to me in the shower. Maybe scrubbing my hair helps to stimulate my brain!  ;-)    

 

Well, that’s it for me. I’m glad that I was able to share my thoughts with you today, and again, appreciate you stopping by. Next, I invite you to please stop by Mishka Jenkins at her blog  https://awriterslifeformeblog.wordpress.com/  - I know she will be able to provide you some wonderful insights about her fantastic writing life.

Please come again next week.

Warmly,

Mikki Cober