Kate's Blog

Winner & writing without a safety net

So if you read romance you probably know what a Big Black Moment is. Even if you've never heard that term, you probably can guess what it is. You read a book waiting for it at the end, for that moment when everything between the hero and heroine goes wrong, and the happily-ever-after seems truly impossible. The darkest moment before the dawn, when the characters man(or woman) up and realize they're going to fight for their happily-ever-after, and they're going to get it. I have always wanted my big black moments (or BBMs, which sounds like something unpleasantly related to the excretory system)to come from the characters and their flaws rather than an external plot development or misunderstanding. Something that has always stuck with me is a workshop I attended at RWA in 2000, when Deb Dixon said that the reader should be able to predict what the BBM is going to be from the first page. And she didn't mean predict in a bad way, like its all so formulaic and obvious, but rather in a GOOD way, because from page one you are showing who the characters are and what the nature of their big problem is going to be.

So what does this have to do with writing and safety nets? Well, for me, knowing what the BBM is at the end of my manuscript is my safety net. If I know what Niagara Falls these characters are headed for, then I can manage the rapids leading up to it. I have an end point in sight. Well, the last few books I have not known what my big black moment is going to be. I think I know my characters, and then they surprise me. They show me that something else is going on, something that is keeping them from each other. And I feel like I'm being rushed along the rapids of the story, and I'm going over the falls with them. Not how I normally like to write. But I'm learning to accept it, and even enjoy it, because hey? You know what? It's a heck of a ride.

Thank you to everyone who emailed or commented for a copy of Mr and Mischief. My daughter picked a winner and it was Erin! Erin, email me with your contact details and I'll send you the book!

And meanwhile The Man Who Could Not Love is for sale on eharlequin--it's a Presents Extra and it came out in the UK as The Bride's Awakening. I love this story, because the heroine is tall, and at nearly six feet myself I loved writing a tall heroine! I also loved writing how her convenient groom starts to see her as the truly beautiful woman she is--it is as much about his awakening as hers. Enjoy!

Labels: the bride's awakening, the man who could not love, writing life

posted by Kate Hewitt at Friday, May 06, 2011