Today I'm being interviewed by the lovely Marilyn Shoemaker, romance reader and reviewer extraordinare. If you want to know what I'm reading at the moment or what I like/dislike most about writing then pop on over.Book 3 - imaginatively titled YHR as it's part of the 'Young Hot and Royal' miniseries - is moving along steadily (hah - where have you heard that before!!). I had some feedback from my editor yesterday about the very sketchy outline I sent in a while back: I need to pinpoint the emotional conflict and think about the characters' journeys, especially the hero's.
Since sending in the outline my ideas have changed a little. The conflict and showing it right from the start is something I've been working on, and hopefully this now comes through in the first chapter.
The feedback about character development isn't entirely surprising. When I start a story I tend to have the heroine and her emotional baggage mapped out in much more detail than the hero. Often the hero starts out being a shadowy figure whose sole purpose is to mess up the heroine's life. And then gradually as he interacts with her I get more of a picture of who he is and why, and can go back and weave his conflict into the story. This probably isn't the most efficient way of writing, but it seems to work for me.
What about you? Are you more heroine- or hero-centric?
6 comments:
I'm definitely more heroine-centric too. My hero starts off gorgeous but with not a lot of depth. At least he's got depth but I haven't unveiled it yet... if that makes any sense.
Will check out the interview :)
I'm the opposite. It's all about the hero for me - which is why my poor heroines have ended up being one dimensional. I'm working on getting them both to be actual real people - hard! :-)
I'm heroine-centric too :) Congrats on the miniseries by the way!
P.S. Great interview :)
I do detailed character questionairres for both hero and heroine before I write a word. It's my OCD nature.
But your way is certianly true of the reader's journey (and any relationship). You have an idea what your own issues are but it's only as you get to knoe the hero (or ther person you're dating) that you start to know what makes them tick.
So your heroes are just another relationship unfolding in your life ... I hope the relationship proves satisfying.
It depends on the story.
But it is worse when a secondary character takes over.. and you get the dreaded words: please focus on the romance.
And as I have just read it, I would suggest that Manuscript Makeover by Elizabeth Lyon might help. The great light bulb for me was the backstory emotional wound and the fact that in some way, the hero or heroine has to have come to terms and be working on conquering it. Proactive.
Also Julie Cohen has been doing some things on character arcs...
An interesting question, Lucy (BTW, just finished your lovely Damsel book. Very much enjoyed!)For me it's wholly dependent on the MS. One character usually comes to me first, and based on that, I try to come up with a character that would be completely unsuitable for them and rock their world to pieces. :-)
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