by Gaelen Foley
First, join Romance Writers of America [www.rwanational.org]
to further your education in the craft as well as the business of
writing.
Second, order Romantic Times magazine [www.romantictimes.com]
to keep abreast of the books being published each month.
Finally, above all, write the kinds of books you most love reading.
If you were marooned on a desert island and could only have five
books with you - but they all had to be the same KIND of book -
what would those books be? The answer to that question can help
you discover where your true passion lies, out of all the types
of romances and women's fiction novels that are published each month.
We have the greatest chances of being successful writing what we
are truly passionate about. For those currently in school, I highly
recommend that you take at least one class in each of the following
subjects: logic, psychology, and business. These skills will definitely
help you as a writer and non-students would do well to make an independent
study of them, too.
But perhaps the best advice of all that I can give you is to share
with you some of the books that have helped me. The truth is, ultimately,
one teaches oneself to write; one learns by doing. To lead you through
that process, I've assembled the following list of my favorite resources,
by writing teachers and authors that I trust. For me, the most useful
books are those written by people who have done it themselves and
which get right down to brass tacks. Feel free to print this out
for your next trip to the bookstore. Without further ado:
Beard, Julie. THE COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE TO GETTING YOUR ROMANCE
PUBLISHED. Alpha Books, 2000. (An inglorious title for a book so
chock full of information. Wish I'd had this when I was first starting
out. Julie tells it like it is.)
Bickham, Jack M. WRITING THE SHORT STORY: A HANDS-ON PROGRAM. Writer's
Digest Books, 1994. (Bickham was a student of Swain's, see below.
Superb, insightful, methodical. Step-by-step program of how to tackle
the huge task of writing a complete work of fiction. Note: though
it refers to short stories, 99% of the concepts apply perfectly
well to novels, too.)
Falk, Kathryn, ed., et al. HOW TO WRITE A ROMANCE FOR THE NEW MARKET
AND GET PUBLISHED. Genesis Press, Ltd. 2000. (Perspectives from
dozens of established and big name romance authors on all aspects
of the craft and the business. For those who don't know this, Kathryn
Falk is, of course, the legendary founder and publisher of Romantic
Times magazine.)
Krentz, Jayne Ann, ed., et al. DANGEROUS MEN AND ADVENTURIOUS WOMEN:
ROMANCE WRITERS ON THE APPEAL OF THE ROMANCE. University of Pennsylvania
Press, Philadelphia. 1992. (Required reading for anyone who wants
to become a romance writer.)
Maass, Donald. THE CAREER NOVELIST: A LITERARY AGENT OFFERS STRATEGIES
FOR SUCCESS. Heinemann Trade, Portsmouth, NH. 1996. (The market
info is dated by now, but the principles on building a strong career
are sound. Starts with a rather brutal reality-check, but I definitely
consider this one a must-have.)
McKee, Robert. STORY: SUBSTANCE, STRUCTURE, STYLE, AND THE PRINCIPLES
OF SCREENWRITING. ReganBooks, 1997. (Applies to novels and all forms
of storytelling as much as screenplays. Definitely for the advanced
student. Fascinating, eloquent, and bold...though a bit pompous
now and then.)
Swain, Dwight. TECHNIQUES OF THE SELLING WRITER. University of
Oklahoma Press, Norman, OK. 1965. (The grand-daddy of all writing
books, a classic. Some of his examples are dated, but all of his
concepts are spot-on. A must-have.)
Trottier, David. THE SCREENWRITER'S BIBLE: A COMPLETE GUIDE TO
WRITING, FORMATTING, AND SELLING YOUR SCRIPT. Third Edition. Silman-James
Press, Los Angeles, 1998. (Applies to novels as much as screenplays.
Especially good for understanding structure and building characters.)
Vogler, Christopher. THE WRITER'S JOURNEY: MYTHIC STRUCTURE FOR
WRITERS. 2nd Edition. Michael Wiese Productions, Studio City, CA.
1998. (Vogler has taken the work of the late, great cultural anthropologist
Joseph Campbell and applied it to fiction. This book will walk you
through the mono-myth of the "hero's journey" and show
you how use it to deepen and strengthen your story.)
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