Saturday, November 7, 2009

NaNo and other things...

For me, NaNo is off at a snail's pace. All I've written so far is 654 words.

I've been mulling over the feedback that's been provided on my first chapter as part of the Category Romance Writing course I've enrolled in. Overall, the feedback was positive. My marker (not my original teacher) had some really good suggestions on how to improve the work. Boy, am I glad I didn't enter it into the Harlequin Presents comp! The chapter needs a rewrite. Problem is, I don't know how to keep the elements in there that the marker praised me on when I change the things she suggested. And she also suggested writing the rest of the ms first before coming back and layering in individual details about my characters. But I seem to have stalled...

Anyhoo, one criticism related to my title which reflects my warped sense of humour, I guess. The marker was correct in stating that it suggests I'm not serious about the genre, even thought that wasn't my intention at all! So 'My Big Fat Fake Wedding' will have to go. Any suggestions? I've got a billionaire who owns a strings of luxury hotels, a cocktail waitress and a marriage of convenience.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated!

4 comments:

Maisey said...

Ooh, titles! I wanna play!!

Playboy Billionaire, Waitress Wife

Waitress Wife at the Tycoon's Command

The Millionaire's Reluctant/Convenient Bride

And on the subject of layering in character detail...I couldn't do it that way. I write a much more complete first draft than most, but I need to. I don't leave details out. I do go back and layer in more description, attraction that kind of thing, but the real important info is always there from the beginning. Not to devalidate what you were told, but just know that that approach doesn't work for everyone, and that's okay.

Maisey

Angie Peters said...

Hi Maisey! Thanks for stopping by :)

Loving those titles - I particularly like the third one for my story.

Thanks for sharing your process re: character detail. I think it just goes to show that we should just take from courses what suits us and our process, and there's no one 'right' way to write.

Garden Diary said...

Hey Angie,

Any one of Maisey's suggestions sound good.
Whenever I'm stuck for a title I simply refer to my library of M&B and play around with the list on the back pages. I don't give it much thought as it's only a working title.

As for writing the full MS before layering... Personally, I sweat over every word, phrase, paragraph... and edit as I go. Everyone has a different modus operandi, so whatever works I say.

cheers

Angie Peters said...

Hi Veronica,

You're right - I'm not going to sweat over this, as it is just a working title, afterall. Referring to the M&B on your bookshelf is a great idea!

Hmm...Your process sounds similar to Maisey's. So you wouldn't have any major editing/rewriting at the completion of your first draft then? The thought of having a mess of a first draft gives me the shivers, as I wouldn't know where to start to make that mess into a coherent piece of work!

Thanks for sharing - it's good to be reminded that speed writing is not the only way to do it :)

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