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I love you, I love you not.

I hear authors say so often that emotion is the key element within a romantic novel and of course the more powerful you can protray this, the more sense of it your reader will experience. This is a difficulty I have come across; not the writing of emotion (I feel I have accomplished that very well), but expressing it within a historical is a lot more difficult than a contemporary romance, I think. Consider that in the georgian era, which is where my story is set, to express emotion was simply not done. It showed a lack of gentility to speak of your feelings openly. My characters cannot express it in speech, so maybe their thought is the best way. I have also seen authors protray their characters emotion in diaries, which gives you the advantage of being able to write all their feelings down without hiding anything.

In many of Jane Austens novels, emotion is shared between sisters and friends. In Pride and Prejudice, Lizzie and Jane are close confidants and talk of their feelings rather openly. Jane talks of her love of Bingley and her sadness when he leaves for London is clearly apparant. Lizzie on the other hand, although she listens dutifully to her sister, she doesn't disclose her hidden love for Darcy until the very last moment.

I hope I can achieve even one scene that is as stunning as the ones Jane Austen wrote. When Darcy and Lizzie meet and admit their love, my heart flips and this is the reaction every writer of romance wants to create.

I find that if I am experiencing a strong rush of emotion; be it anger or joy, I immediately reach for my pen and notepad. I write out my anger into a scene that portrays so much more of the feeling than it would have done if I'd written it when I was calm. I wonder if Jane Austen ever did this? Were some of her best scenes written when she was yearning for Tom Lefroy, or when she was sad to leave Steventon? I wonder...

The Emotional Hero

OK, so you have the plot and the general characters for your novel, but are they right for the part? After recently reading about the importance of the heroine and hero in any novel, I have come to consider altering some parts of their scenes.

It firstly occurred to me that my heroine may not have a strong enough character. To me, it is important that strong emotion is portrayed throughout, but that means tears and happiness. After all it is a romance and the struggles have to be shown as much as the love. I decided to shorten and even take out some weeping scenes to create a different impression of my main heroine, Lorena. She is now loving and romantic, yet still a determined young woman.

My heroine was a hard enough task to change, but the difficulty now is my hero...my Mr Darcy. He has to be strong, gentlemanly and the personification of masculinity, but I also think that he needs to have his fair share of emotion too, without the danger of portraying as weak. What do you think? Should he be emotional and should it be shown? Should my Mr Darcy shower his love over Lorena or keep it to himself?

You don't Know What You've Got Until It's Gone

It's true you know. You really don't know what you've got until it's gone. Last week when my laptop crashed, imprisoning with it my story, I never would have thought that I would miss writing so much. After 3 long days, I was on the phone to the computer repair shop every morning and afternoon for an update. Luckily, it has now been fixed and I continue in my efforts.

If you are anything like me and believe that things happen for a reason, then I believe this was someone reminding me how important this experience is to me.

Now, I apologise but my characters are calling...

Aimee

Read and Write

If there is one piece of advise to writers that I am hearing more and more of, it is to be an avid reader. I have already mentioned several authors, including of course the one and only Jane Austen whos novels are loved on a global scale. I have also mentioned The Pemberley Chronicles by Rebecca Ann Collins. The Pemberley Chronicles are not only great reads but are also full of accurate historical content that a writer can add to their notes of research.
Another fantastic read is Lydia Bennet's story by Jane Odiwe. This book is also packed full with historical hints, but the facts that stand out are slightly more fun to research. Muslin, bonnets, kid gloves and carriages are all what makes Jane Austen's novels seem so much more romantic than the world today and Jane Odiwe has included all this in a wonderful book that makes it all the more realistic of the regency.

Having read these books quite a while ago, I have been reading contemporary fiction to study different styles of writing. Books by Jill Mansell, Lauren Mccrossen and Lauren Weisberger have all been enjoyed. However after reading so many modern stories, I began to crave the romance and love of a regency. The Unconventional Miss Walters by Fenella Miller is an absolutely fantastic book, packed full of the history I love. I was hooked from the first page and it has become one of the fastest books I've read.


Fenella Miller has a friendly and easy to read style to her writing that makes reading so enjoyable. I read nearly half before I was able to put it down! Like Jane Austen, the story is like no other I have come across. To me it seems that some romance novels blend into a general plot with familiar characters and you know what is going to happen before you've read the first page. Not with this book! The Unconventional Miss Walters has twists that you will love and characters to adore and for any writers of historicals, it is full of fun and interesting facts.

Reading is a great way to learn the art of writing and like paintings, there are so many styles to witness. Inspiration and lessons will come from reading and it is a joy when you discover an author such as Fenella Miller and Jane Odiwe to learn from.
Both authors have new books out and both are Jane Austen inspired. I can't wait to read them both. Wiloughby's Return by Jane Odiwe is a sequel to Sense and Sensibility and is available to pre-order on from her website - www.austeneffusions.com. Fenella Miller has just released Miss Bennet and Mr Bingley, giving an insight into Jane's and Charles' thoughts through that difficult year in Pride and prejudice and is available from her website - www.fenellajmiller.co.uk.

Ending At The Beginning.

Does it ever frustrate you that Jane Austen and of course other authors finish their love stories at the beginning of a romance? I love Jane Austen unconditionally, but find myself forever yearning to know 'what happens next'. I have read so many sequels and all are good in their own way, calming my appetite a little every time.

I do find it more and more strange that so many authors finish their books as soon as true love is found...I want to know more! I realise that an ending is quite difficult to create, as the reader must feel some satisfaction at what has been achieved. Nevertheless it annoys me that the discovery of true love has become the normal ending.

As my story is becoming more and more developed, I know that mine will not end with a wedding! It will continue to follow my characters lives through their marriage and into their future. If I want to know more then surely other readers out there do too. I want to know if the lovers have children and what they call them, where they live and most importantly: are they still besotted by one another?

The Write Frame Of Mind

Writing, although a great love of mine can sometimes drive me mad. I find there are times when I've completed a beautiful piece of description, bringing my characters and settings to life and then ... nothing (sigh). I know where the story has been and I know where my characters are going, but the difficulty is how to draw the two together smoothly and effectively.

After much advise and a lot of reasoning with myself, I have come to accept this as a fairly common problem and to not punish myself too harshly for lack of inspiration. I have also come to work around the space with greater comfort.

An example presented itself recently; I had just finished a section that I was extremely pleased with. I now knew precisely what I wanted to happen next, but without creating a confusing time lapse, I couldn't go there immediately. So I sat down and wrote what I knew I wanted to include. Excitedly I typed the scene that was speedily playing in my mind and then almost like magic, a short yet very acceptable passage sprung from the air to bring the two sections together perfectly.

It just goes to show that not only can real life, real people influence and inspire you, but so can your own characters. Sometimes you just have to let them take over.

Aimee