More Editor Gold
My editor is a genius. It’s true. No really. She gives great revisions and she’s helped me make everything I’ve submitted to her SO much stronger. And today, we had a really nice talk on the phone, which is always great. She offered me a new contract (yay!) and some really solid revisions for book #3 (the book which feature my very sexy alpha Sheikh!) and also, we got to talking about my WIP.
Because with the sheikh, I had too much external, and my internal was only getting glossed over because of it. But with my WIP, I had a ton of internal stuff, and the characters fully formed, but I couldn’t really figure out how to get them together. And I said, jokingly ‘can’t I just throw them in a room together??’ And she said, well, kind of.
Because if their conflict is sufficient, it shouldn’t need the external trappings. So I pictured it like this: Put the H and h in a room and lock the doors. There’s nothing and no one else in there (please get your minds out of the gutter, I’m trying to make a point!) and they now have to get to the heart of their conflicts. With all the external elements stripped away, how long does it take them to solve it? Is it a ten minute conversation addressing a misunderstanding between them? Or is it something that requires them to really reach within themselves and address the issues inside of them that are keeping them from happiness and ultimately, from being with the person sitting across from them??
I think I may start plotting my sticking characters in an empty room and making them get right down to it. Talking about the conflict. Geez, people.
Tags: Revisions
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Yay, on your new contract!!
Thank you! Big stuff!
Woohoo Maisey! Go the contract. And can’t wait to see what you do with the sexy Sheikh! I loves me a tortured man like I loves Kohu Road dark chocolate ice-cream. Which is a lot. 🙂
I do too! He’s very sexy to me. Scarred, inside and out, hard to reach. But the heroine will. 🙂
DownUnder we call that ‘the cave’, the acid-test of sufficient internal conflict – if your hero & heroine are alone in a cave where nothing external matters (ie: no intefering parents, no clashing jobs, no property buyouts, no breached contracts and blackmail) WHAT keeps them apart?
It takes a while until all you’re left with is the essential him and the essential her. And the truly internal stuff that stops them being together.
I like that…’the cave’. 🙂 It’s a brilliant test.
Many congrats on the new contract – and such a wonderful editor. 🙂
What a great test…cave, room, wherever they happen to be locked in. I’m definitely going to try this out on my own characters. Thanks for the insight!
Jamie, I agree, my editor it wonderful. She’s an integral part of what I’ve been able to do with my MSs.
Congratulations on a new contract! Yay. I think you have a good plan there. I often write my scenes without backgrounds, or even very many tags, concentrating just on the character interaction.
It works in most, but not all, scenes. ; )
Good luck! I wish you much success.
Thanks, Lynne! I’m actually having fun with my revisions right now. 🙂