Part #2 of our chat with Pippa Roscoe. LUV: Do you have any suggestions for others who want to write romance? Pippa: A lot! I have a lot of suggestions. More than can fit here to be honest. So, I’ll try and give you the best ones. Read. Read as much as you can and as broadly as you can. I feel like this is an easy one for romance writers, because we’re all incredibly voracious, fierce readers and a lot of this we know as truth; Respect the readers, respect the genre, respect the HEA – whatever that HEA looks like to you. Reading is such a personal thing; it’s a lifeline, it’s sometimes the only thing that’s put a smile on our face for weeks, it can make us feel connected emotionally when we’re alone, and it can make us feel that sense of overwhelming hope when things seem hopeless. But as a writer, it’s also your industry. And if you’re not delving into the wider world around you, your own work will become stilted and closed off. So, read. Reading books you don’t like can be as informative as reading books you do like. Listen, if you want or need to DNF – that’s fine. But knowing what it is about the book that wasn’t working for you or was a hard no for you will enable you to avoid doing the same thing in your own work. Please don’t negatively compare yourself to books that inspire you. Identify how they do what it is that you enjoy in their work; is it dramatic irony, humour, tragic injustice, what are they doing when you’re bawling your eyes out at 2 in the morning because you haven’t put down the book yet? Underline that passage, highlight the sections, make notes, think critically about use of language... and then forget it and see if it naturally works its way into your work. Spend some time figuring out what your writing style is. As an editor I encountered many writers who were trying to turn their voice into something it wasn’t. The disconnect that comes from this can be a barrier between you and your audience. There are so many tones within romance. Cosy, sexy, sweary, sweet, moral, amoral!, evocative, blunt, sharp, cynical, wistful. When I first started writing, I thought I’d be writing sharp, vengeful, powerful, hate to love, lone wolf alphas. I’ve done one or two of them, and I love them, but apparently I actually really enjoy writing heroes that make me laugh. The ones who are (deep down) little cinnamon rolls dressed up as the big bad wolf; the lion with the thorn in his paw. It just suits my narrative voice a little better. And my writing became better when I was able to indulge that part of my natural voice. So if you can, before you dive into your story, do some writing exercises, try some short stories and see what you enjoy writing the most, because that is the clearest way to find out what your writing style is. Also, know you can write multiple tones! You don’t have to stick to one for the rest of your writing career. Learn how to revise. Taking feedback and developing your story is one of the most important parts of your job as a writer. Figure out how you revise best. Know that it’s a process, a skill to develop just as much as getting the words on the page in the first place. Because although it would be nice to think that as creators we perfectly pour our idea onto a page for the first time and everyone will read it in that same perfectly constructed way – we don't. I promise you, we don't. In all of my years in tv and publishing, I have never seen a book or script made worse by revisions. (This is different from something being overwritten!). And clinging to that knowledge is how I get through the revisions. But this comes with a warning; take revisions from people who know their business. Not your best friend’s aunty who happens to like the same tv shows you do. Getting feedback is different from revisions or editorial critique. Know, right off the bat, that it's hard. It's hard because no one else can do it for you. It’s hard because no one else can find that driving force you need to put pen to paper when you’re not feeling it, when you’re worried you might never make it, when you’ve read it a hundred times and you don’t know if you’re making it worse or better. The doubt that will come at you is like nothing you’ll ever have experienced. But you can and will get through that. It is the hardest thing about being a writer. But it is also what will make you stronger and better as a person as much as a writer. And lastly, if you know that you are happiest when you’re writing, if you know that it’s part of you that needs to be let out as much as the inner diva that needs to dance in the kitchen at 2 am, if you know that like going to the gym or running, you need it to help balance everything else out in your life – do it and never let anyone make you feel shame for it. Do it and know that you don’t have to be published, or put on the screen, do it and know that you’re amongst friends here who get it.

Posted by LUV Team at 2022-10-04 19:00:53 UTC