How Not To Write A Pitch

The verdict's in - my pitch sucked big-time. (Of course, Donna Alward never insinuated this.) Didn't make Top 11 let alone Top 5. So what did I do wrong - boy, where do I start?

Lesson 1. Do not make your pitch too long.
This is me we're talking about - difficulty writing short and succinctly. Whether it's writing fiction or writing progress notes at work. Same problem, different context.

Lesson 2. If you have a hook such as a Marriage of Convenience, make sure you make the need for said MoC personal.
For instance, my hero needs a MoC to convince the board members he should be elected next CEO of the family business. They're old-fashioned and don't like his playboy reputation so have doubts about him being focused enough, dependable and responsible to take over the helm.
This is not enough - why should his personal relationships have anything to do with his professional capabilities? No, what my hero needs is a more personal reason for the MoC.

Lesson 3. Ensure you include why the heroine would fall in love with the hero - and make sure the reasons tie into the story. Being caring, passionate and believing in the heroine is not enough.

Fortunately, the lovely and generous Donna Alward had some extremely helpful suggestions on how to tighten the hook and the story. She was very encouraging.

But I must admit, bombing out with my pitch brought me back down to earth with a thud of the meteoric kind. After all the rumenating and planning and brainstorming, it was discouraging to realise how weak the motivation for the MoC still is.

I feel like I'm trying to make my characters fit into boxes by manufacturing reasons why they need this MoC. And by doing so, I've lost sight of my characters, what they want, and why I even wanted to write this story in the first place.

I'm mulling over the possibility of going back and starting from scratch. At the begining, there was no MoC in sight. Fake fiancee for a month did not have high enough stakes, according to my writing teacher. Let's up the stakes - how about a MoC for six months?

And after struggling with this story for months and months and months, getting lost in the reams of notes on my characters, their conflict, and the story, I'm considering doing something I never said I would do....give up completing the ms.

The process has been so messy, the writing has stalled on a number of occasions as aspects of the story feel 'off'. I long for the freedom of writing a shitty and fast first draft. Not trying to strive for perfection in the first three chapters before I continue with the story.

Unfortunately, I need to continue with the story the way I have been for the purpose of my writing course. I need to submit a third chapter, a love scene, a synopsis and a query letter. Which seems like such a waste, considering I won't be submitting this as a partial but plan to start all over again.

Pitches and writing doubt demons

Wow, time flies! I didn't realise I had been away from here so long. So much for my goal of blogging at least once a week.

After a full and tiring week at the day job, I managed to get a pitch done for Donna Alward's Perfect Pitch Contest on eharlequin. Boy, did I sweat blood on that one! One thing I learned is that pitches are damn hard! I wasn't 100% happy with it, but it was the best I could do with the time I had. So I pressed 'send' last night. It will be invaluable to get feedback on my pitch from an experienced author like Donna.

In other news, I received feedback from my teacher about my second chapter. The verdict is that I still have a lot of work to do - I need to 'deepen and layer my story in a realistic and sympathetic way'. Hmmm....For my next assignment I've looked at my first draft of my third chapter and I'm considering cutting it out completely and making the fourth chapter into my third (if that makes sense!)

Regardless, the doubt demons have firmly taken residence at Chez Peters. Why, oh, why did I think I could write a MOC as my first ms targeted towards Modern Heat? I'm starting to doubt whether I have the skill to pull it off at this stage. But I'm stubborn, and I want to finish this ms. I need to finish it so I can have that boost of confidence that I can finish something - not just a first draft but a polished, shiny ms. Even if it is imperfect. But I'm limping along, struggling with the writing, struggling to silence the 'shoulds' that swirl through my head.

Anyway, that's enough rumenating for a Saturday morning. Off to work on Chapter 3...

How are you coming along with your WIP? And did you enter the Perfect Pitch Contest?

Goals for 2010

I wasn't going to post my writing goals for 2010, but then realised it was a cop out. After all, if there's no public accountability for reaching my goals then it doesn't matter if I don't achieve them, right?

I had written these up in November 2009.

1. Write daily - this can be as little as 100 words a day on weekdays when I'm buggered from the day job.
2. Complete Category Romance Writing course by June 2010 (this is broken down into smaller goals and deadlines for assignments to be completed and submitted).
3. Enter writing contests - Great Beginnings (April), High Five (August/September), Emerald (November), Selling Synopsis.
4. Find a critique partner (most likely through RWA Critique Partners Register) and/or join a romance writing group (Melbourne Romance Writers' Guild).
5. Have partial completed to send to Richmond by June 2010.
6. Have full ms completed and polished by September.
7. Post once a week on my blog.
8. Network with other romance writers (comment on writers' blogs, be more active on eharl community forum, etc).
9. Read every day.
10. Organise my writing office (this needs to be broken down into smaller goals otherwise it will never happen!)

I've got my brand spanking new 2010 diary and I'm going to write my goals in there, then I'll jot down dates to review them during the year.

Happy new year to you all, and hope you achieve your own goals this year.

Books Read in 2009

I was hoping to have read stacks more books this year but, similarly to last year, life got in the way. Will have to aim to read more this year.


Highlighted in red were my fave reads which is not to detract from the other books which were still enjoyable. So, without further ado, here goes:


1. Get a Clue by Jill Shalvis
2. Flashpoint by Jill Shalvis
3. Confessions of a Millionaire's Mistress by Robyn Grady
4. Playboy Boss, Live-In Mistress by Kelly Hunter
5. Untamed Billionaire, Undressed Virgin by Anna Cleary
6. The Boss's Bedroom Agenda by Nicola Marsh
7. A Night With the Society Playboy by Ally Blake
8. Hired: The Boss's Bride by Ally Blake
9. Natural Born Charmer by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
10. Two Weeks In The Magnate's Bed by Nicola Marsh
11. Kate Walker's 12 Point Guide to Writing Romance by Kate Walker
12. The War of Art by Steven Pressfield
13. The Italian Boss's Mistress of Revenge by Trish Morey
14. The Billionaire's Baby by Nicola Marsh
15. The Secret Mistress Arrangement by Kimberley Lang
16. The Mile High Club by Heidi Rice
17. Pleasure, Pregnancy and a Proposition by Heidi Rice
18. Savas' Defiant Mistress by Anne McAllister
19. Heart and Craft: Bestselling Romance Writers Share their Secrets With You, edited by Valerie Parv
20. Time to Write by Kelly L. Stone
21. Hot Nights With A Playboy by Nicola Marsh
22. Hot-Shot Tycoon, Indecent Proposal by Heidi Rice
23. Between The Italian's Sheets by Natalie Anderson
24. Exposed: Misbehaving With the Magnate by Kelly Hunter
25. Spanish Magnate, Red-Hot Revenge by Lynne Raye Harris
26. Memoirs of a Millionaire's Mistress by Anne Oliver
27. The Antonakos Marriage by Kate Walker
28. Antonides' Forbidden Wife by Anne McAllister
29. Hot Boss, Wicked Nights by Anne Oliver
30. Bought: Damsel in Distress by Lucy King
31. Getting Red-Hot With The Rogue by Ally Blake
32. At The Boss's Beck and Call by Anna Cleary
33. Revealed: A Prince and A Pregnancy by Kelly Hunter
34. Public Affair, Secretly Expecting by Heidi Rice
35. The Millionaire's Mistletoe Mistress in Christmas With The Boss by Natalie Anderson
36. Devil In A Dark Blue Suit by Robyn Grady
37. The Secrets of Successful Romance Writing by Emma Darcy
38. Hot Boss Boardroom Mistress by Natalie Anderson
39. Married: For Business or Pleasure? by Nicola Marsh (part read)

Now off to put in a dent in my TBR pile...

Editing Blues

My wordcount meter hasn't been budging lately. The reason for that is that I'm trying to edit my second chapter. Trying being the operative word.

I'm following Margie Lawson's Deep Editing: The EDITS System through her lecture packet that I purchased. I've only got one word to describe how I'm feeling at the moment: overwhelmed. Cliches abound, too much introspection, not enough witty dialogue. Right about now, I'm hating everything about my chapter.

So I've decided to try and rewrite the chapter and see if it reads better than how it does at the moment. This editing biz is harder than writing. Now I now why they say 'Writing is re-writing' (though I can't remember who said this, so apologies because I don't know who to attribute this quote to).

How do you go about editing/revising/re-writing your manuscript? Have you got a systematic method or is your way random?

Desperately Seeking Writing Mojo

I've lost my writing mojo.

Life seems to have gotten in the way once again. I'm mentally, emotionally, psychologically and physically fatigued from all the constant challenges I've had to face in the last 16 months. Just as I think the worst is behind me, then something else happens. It's all finally taken a toll.

I know that sometimes writing needs to take a back seat - especially when there is no energy left. But I wish I'd stop feeling so damn guilty about it.

I've decided to write at least 100 words per day. Because not writing feels so bad. And I lose track of my story and where I'm going with it if I take too long away from the WIP.

The point of this post is not to whine, believe it or not. I want some suggestions from those who care to share them. What do you do when your writing mojo goes AWOL?

Plot hole bigger than the Ozone Layer

More than 15,000 words into my WIP and I've realised that I have a massive plot hole. And it's integral as it relates to the reason my hero needs a marriage of convenience. Now, I can hear you asking: How did she not pick this up earlier - like in the planning stage? Unlike my previous mss, I did actually plan this one. I spent ages brainstorming with my teacher, getting to know the characters, their backgrounds, and the internal and external conflict. And yet...I knew there was something wrong, something niggling away at me.

S'pose it's better that I picked it up now rather than at the end. Now in order to address the plot hole issue, I'm coming up with ideas that are making it more and more complicated. And I keep remembering the KISS principle: Keep It Simple, Stupid.

So I can either keep trying to bust my brain trying to come up with a way to fix this thing. Or I can change the reason entirely as to why the hero needs the MOC. Which means I need to go back and rewrite. Grrr...whoever says writing is easy ought to be shot!

Oh well...might as well get back to it.