I'm back & romance writer or not -- part 2

What I’m Reading: Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (I really should explain that one, & and I will – later) and I’d Tell You I Love You But Then I’d Have To Kill You by Ally Carter.

What I’m working on: Rewriting Slayer from the beginning – it’s a whole new and better story.

Word count today: What words?

Sorry I’ve been out of commission lately. You’re probably getting tired of my “I’m so busy” excuse. Me, too.

However, this HAS been a busy week – lots of extras at work, and we moved – closer to work. Technically, once I get all set up here, I SHOULD gain an hour to write every day because I’ll lose an hour of commuting.

I’m hoping that by Monday, I’m organized enough to write. My office is a disaster right now, but the rest of the house is looking pretty good.

Regardless, I think I’m back. Finally. That means I can record the trials of writing and discovering my voice here. First up – some explanation and exploration of the romance writer or not blog I put up several days ago.

I spoke at length on the phone to a writer friend last night. We talked about what we write, what comes easy to write, what we want to write, and how it’s all changing.

My epiphany: I don’t like boxes.

Never have.

Don’t get me wrong. Rules and guidelines are great. If I have to write a research paper, I want to know how many resources I need and how long it has to be. As long as guidelines and rules suit my needs, bring ‘em on. However, writing fiction is different.

The guidelines of category romance and even single title romance feel stifling to me. I don’t want to be limited to telling a story in 55k words or 100k words. I just want to tell the story.

My new favorite book is How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff. It’s YA. ( I really hate that label.) Meg broke a ton of rules, but it really, really works. It’s short (just over 200 pages). She handled dialogue uniquely. She tackled difficult subject matter. And it works.

So, I guess the first piece of evidence that I’m leaning away from true romance writing is that the box feels too confining. I want to tear the box’s walls to shreds and just let the story lead me.
Well, I’m getting droopy eyed. I need a shower. I’ll blog again tomorrow – I think.

See ya then.

Macy