Wednesday, November 5, 2014

CLS Romance: 15,000 Words Done, Being Selective

I had a wonderful two days with my romance project this week, clocking 8,000 and 4,000 words respectively. I am clearly in love with the book, and it also reminds me of why I love writing in the genre - both romance and fantasy.

Oh yes, CLS Romance is in the fantasy genre, or should I say, a fantasy sub-genre. I love writing in fantasy because it gives me a strong sense of character, place, and also freedom. In fantasy, there is a freedom for characters to be heroes, for danger to be real danger, and for decisions to matter.

With the modern world, there are expectations and rules to follow. In a fantasy world, some actions are justified and also heroes can be heroes without being second-guessed by those in the world or quite possibly the reader. For a book that focuses on one subject (romance), I want there to be as little focus on baggage around the world and on the story, and more of the characters.

It's always a danger when writing stories where your focus is tight, you get comments like "what about this?" and "what about that?" - while this is great feedback and I love it, there is also a careful consideration to not throw in so many "the world should work this way" stuff so it derails your story on a tangent, or all of a sudden "things cannot happen" the way you want them too.

As an artist and a writer, you need to be selective.

In fact, the quality and ability to complete your story directly depends on your selectiveness. Things need to "work" and "make sense" but you don't have to paint everything or include every detail. This is not to say things should be so out there they are beyond belief, but I can't throw in "what ifs" that make logical sense that would drive my plot into never-never-get-it-done land.

It's also true in life, you need to be selective in the things you commit to, the choices you make, and the projects you choose to work on. It's the greatest lie of modern life that the 'have everything' Internet indoctrinates us with.

Having everything and trying to do everything is the surest route to unhappiness.

It's only when we are selective and limit our choices is when we are able to focus and find enjoyment in the few things we love, and do these few things well.

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