I know some people would wonder why someone who’s already written a novel or two would want to attend a workshop on writing. But I love hearing other authors talk about the writing process. It’s always so different than my own.

Saturday, Bob Mayer spoke at the Virginia Romance Writers April meeting. He gave an all-day workshop on novel writing. He covered everything from originating an idea to marketing the finished product. Of course, some of the material I’ve heard before, but I loved his CONFLICT BOX. It’s so simple but complete genius. All it is is a square divided into four sections. The top two section represent the GOAL and CONFLICT of the PROTAGONIST. The bottom two sections are the GOAL and CONFLICT of the ANTAGONIST. Now here’s the beauty of it–there can only be two things that work here. One is that both character want the same thing driving them into a direct struggle. The second is that they have separate goals but for each to reach his own goal  a direct conflict is created in the other achieving his. In other words, if one character’s goal doesn’t somehow cause the other character direct problems in reaching his own goal, then the story isn’t going to work. It’s a great visual for checking your storyline.

There were other solid points made about novel writing and he suggested a myriad of questions to ask yourself as you write. He also said that RWA is the most professional writers organization and I couldn’t agree more. All in all a nice presentation. And I loved that our RWA chapter allowed its member to attend for free. Gotta love that!

Tags: Bob Mayer, novel writing, RWA
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As you can see by the stats below, it doesn’t mean that you will sell. But it says a couple of things about you. It says that you can finish a manuscript. It says that you can write a great first 50 pages and a synopsis. It gets the attention of agents and publishers. No doubt about it. I think any finalist would say the same.

So, for those of you wanting to be published in Romance and wondering if the RWA Golden Heart@ contest for unpublished authors is worth the entry fee, my answer is YES! Not only will your finaling ms be read by an editor, but when you attend RWA Nationals you will get tons of attention, meet important people, and get first pick at editor and agent appointments. Below I’ve copied the current stats put together by Keli Gwyn, a finalist in the inspy category. I actually have heard finalists from other years saying that our numbers are low. I don’t know if this is true but we did hit the scene right when the economy was crashing so this may account for some discrepancy. In any case, many (maybe most) of the finalists who have not yet published have had at least one or two requests for a partial or a full. And of those winners now published almost every story received a 4 or 4 1/2 star rating from RT.

Stats Summary

# of Authors Who Sold Full-length Novels – 22 of 64 (34%)

# of 2008 GH Winning Manuscripts Sold – 7 of 10 (70%)

# of 2008 GH Finaling (Includes Winning) Manuscripts Sold – 18 of 70
(26%)

# of Full-length Novels Sold – 48

# of Shorts/Novellas Sold – 7

# of 2008 Category Finalists Sold

(Double finalists in the same category counted as one, team writers as
two.

Double finalists in different categories show in each of their
categories.)

2 of 8 (25%) in Contemporary Series

3 of 4 (75%) in Contemporary Series: Suspense/Adventure

1 of 7 (14%) in Contemporary Single Title

4 of 8 (50%) in Historical

1 of 4 (25%) in Inspirational

3 of 10 (30%) in Novel with Strong Romantic Elements

5 of 8 (63%) in Paranormal

2 of 6 (33%) in Regency Historical

2 of 8 (25%) in Romantic Suspense

2 of 4 (50%) in Young Adult

Tags: contests, Golden Heart, RWA
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Okay, it’s hard to top last week’s excitement of receiving my first book in the mail. But with the RWA National Conference coming up there’s still plenty of fun to be had in July.

If you’re writing romance or mainstream fiction with elements of romance, you need to join Romance Writers of America. It’s a large, but well run, informative and supportive writers group. I love it! Have met many a writer friend through it–including critique partners. And find it a great way to stay informed of what’s going on the world of publishing.

I have a handy link to the right which will take you straight to their site…

Can’t wait for the conference next week. See you there.

Tags: conferences, RWA, writers groups
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