Losing That Loving Feeling

I remember that first time I decided I was going to write my own romance. Freshman year in college. I grabbed a notebook, a pen and was off to begin writing in the cafeteria near my residence hall. I think I got about 3 pages, and nothing more. Then one day, the year after graduate school, I decided I had to try it again...and the words just flowed. They flowed and flowed and flowed. And then they stopped.

So then I'd pick up another story idea. I'd get all excited. I filled pages and pages with words and then nothing.

So I tried another story. I'm sure you're getting a clear mental image here.

What was going on here? Then someone told me beginning a book was like starting a passionate love affair. (And before you think I did this with boyfriends, let me assure you that...) Well, anyway here's how it goes. That first rush of words is just like that first rush of passion. Everything's great. Your book is behaving like a perfect gentleman (when required) his jokes are funny and the word "dutch" has never slipped out of his mouth. You're fifty pages in and wow! you have a proposal. A book proposal that is.

Then your book stops looking so good. Maybe all your friends HATE him. He suggests stuff like maybe you shouldn't order fajitas because they make noise and everyone in the restaurant looks at you. You're a hundred pages in and goodness, is that the time? Maybe you should just cut this evening short. After all, you have that big meeting in the morning.

But after a good night's rest and mental shake you realize you really like your manuscript. A lot. Deep down inside he has a great personality. And really, with a few subtle hints at foreplay he might make it as a Blaze.

So you plod along for another seventy-five pages. Sometimes you laugh together. Sometimes it's a lot of work. But you're working toward something. Together.

Then you realize it. Page 205. Your manuscript is a total jerk.

You say something totally inappropriate and ban him somewhere cold, dark and forgotten.

Then one day you call him up. It's not you...it's me. You were wrong. You began to nitpick him for stupid reasons. Your internal editor wouldn't shut up. A critique partner made one obscure comment and you obsessed about it. A reviewer said your last manuscript had only one thing going for it: the cover.

You let doubt chip away at your love. You let other ideas float in your head and tempt you when that first rush of passion for your manuscript naturally began to fade.

That's the key, the word natural. It's normal and you should even expect that the excitement you felt when you first began your manuscript to lessen. Sometimes it's a struggle to finish a page. Looking at the blinking cursor becomes a nightmare. A lot of people will begin a book, but a huge percentage will never finish it.

When I hit the manuscript jerk wall, I go back to the beginning. What made me fall in love potential with this idea? What compelled me to write it? Remember the excitement then move forward until you're solid with your manuscript.

Honestly, I prefer solid much more than I prefer just passion. Passion can be flighty. But solid gets the words on the page. Solid has depth, layering and emotion and those flashes of passion are sweeter for the solidity. That's what makes a great love. That's what also makes a great book.

I have a confession to make. I'm a rerader. I don't think a year goes by when I don't read Judith McNaught's A Kingdom of Dreams. That books rekindles the passion for me to read new books.

I have a book to give away! A book I finished even. (Remember, you have to be registered on this site to win!)

And check out my trailer

Tell me what book you like to reread. I'll choose someone from the comment section to receive a copy of my current release from Harlequin Blaze - Hitting The Mark. If you already have it (and thank you if you already do) I'll give you a book from my backlist or an ARC of an upcoming book, whichever you prefer. And if you've already read the ARC it means you're my critique partner and you should put the mouse away and let someone else win.