ICE CRYSTALS

"JANE TOOMBS’ NOVEL IDEAS"

"Plots stack up in my mind like planes over Newark," says Jane Toombs, romance novelist, whose twenty-sixth book, Midnight Whispers will be published in December [1989], and whose recently completed Riverboat Rogue is due out in March [1990]. She has written under her own name and various pseudonyms, but she recommends "against using a variety of pseudonyms, because if readers like one of your books, they won’t be able to find your other books in a bookstore."

Jane writes romance because she believes that the relationship between a man and woman is the most important thing in the world--the foundation of family and civilization. Romances provide an escape into a world where women of mythic proportions find strong, nurturing men who care for them as if they were the most wonderful people in the world. In romance, the relationship is the most important part of the plot. Other elements may be present but only in limited doses. Romance readers prefer romance unmixed. Love must triumph in the end but readers want pitfalls, excitement, and conflict. Jane warns that readers don’t want any loose ends.

Intrigued by mystery, suspense, and the paranormal, Jane tries to make her romance stories different but says you must not let outside action overshadow the romance. Jane started with Gothics and when she switched to historical romances, she found them more difficult to write because they’re longer and also because sexy scenes are easier to read than to write.

To unify your story, Jane says you should be able to express your theme in one or two sentences. "Love conquers all" is the theme of all romance; each romance needs something more. Never preach at readers but subtly weave personal opinions into the story.

It takes her four to five months to complete a book. She has no set schedule but writes 7 to 9 pages a day on a word processor with the simplest program she could find. She begins with an idea, then fleshes out the plot, looking through her notebooks of ideas if she gets stuck. She says the middle is always the hardest and that the incidents she thinks of first are usually too trite. Jane recommends Dean Koontz’s How To Write Best Selling Fiction as practical and readable but warns against trying to deal with a publisher’s contract yourself. It is easy to get an agent once you have an editor interested in your work.

Jane said that her first book was written while she was in the middle of a divorce, had a job, and five children. If she could find the time to write, so can we.

{Article published in Word (W)rap : Newsletter of the Hudson Valley Chapter, National Writers Club, Sept.-Oct. 1989, based on a talk given by Jane Toombs at the August chapter meeting.}

THE ICE PICK

The Key: How to Write Damn Good Fiction Using the Power of Myth, by James N. Frey. N.Y.: St. Martin’s Press, 2000. 260 p. $23.95. Includes a bibliography. ISBN 0-312-24197-6.

Much of modern fantasy, science fiction, and horror, as well as mysteries and romances, all use the myth-based story.

If you want to create screenplays or "fiction that has the power to profoundly move a reader" this book is a step-by-step guide to doing that through using the magic of the myth--not a modern copy of a Greek, Roman, or Norse myth--but the universal form and structure that has turned on readers for generations, that speaks to our deepest longings.

"Mythic forms," says Frey, "resonate in every individual human being on this planet. When a human being encounters some version of a myth, the individual responds at a very deep level, subconsciously, and is powerfully drawn to it as by magic."

Emphasizing that heroes must be interesting and well-rounded characters, Frey begins with a discussion of the physical and psychological qualities all heroes and heroines in myth-based stories must possess at the beginning of, or obtain sometime during, the story. He explains in detail the qualities required of your hero: courage, cleverness, some special talent, a wound or vulnerability, expertise at what he does, and a rebellious streak, and he tells why these are important.

He does the same for your antagonist, the Evil One. He shows how you can and should make the Evil One a rounded character and a worthy opponent of your hero. One of Frey’s techniques is to write a "journal" entry in the Evil One’s voice, so that you can get to know how he or she feels and thinks.

According to Frey, "Mythic forms and structures are the foundation on which all good stories are built." Using modern movies and books in various genres, Frey goes on to show how myth has been used and to explain how to construct your own story using the mythic structure.

He begins with "the hero in the world of the common day" who is then called, or forced, to "leave" or begin the adventure, which may or may not be a real "journey" at all. The hero is sent on a mission (or finds one at home), is forced to learn new rules, is tested, and suffers a transformation.

Discussing each of the mythic characters and motifs usually found in myth-based stories--and which you can use or refuse--he shows how you can adapt them to your story, so that you sustain tension throughout its development and end with a dramatic, satisfying climax.

No actual myth has ever had all the elements, and "when creating your own myth-based fiction," Frey says, "you should continually ask yourself: Would my story be stronger, more effective, more dramatic, more engaging, more emotional, and more gripping if I included this or that mythological element?"

These are tools to use, not a prescription, and you can follow his steps as closely as you like in your own story. "The force of myth is irresistible," says Frey. And you can use its form and structure to create your own myth-based heroes and to build your own myth-based stories.

I wish it had an index, but I love this book for its clarity and simplicity and, most of all, for its practical approach. I recommend it very highly.

{Published in SF and Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Jan. 2003.}

THE ICE PICK

The Joy of Writing Sex: A Guide for Fiction Writers, by Elizabeth Benedict. Cincinnati, Ohio : Story Press, 1996. $16.99. ISBN 1-884910-21-1.

This book "is not a primer for writing pornography" or "a collection of tips for writing hot sex scenes." Nor is there anything in it about rape, which is an act of violence not sex. But if you want to write a romantic scene and leave the rest to your readers’ imaginations or follow your human or alien characters into the bedroom, this book will show you how to get the most out of the scenes you choreograph. Too many writers (not you, of course) throw in a sex scene simply to spice things up, wasting a valuable tool for characterization or plotting.

There should always be at least "two things happening at once [in] a sex scene. . . . Sex needs a purpose in your story beyond the momentary frisson it brings to your characters. It needs to reveal something about them, act as a metaphor, a symbol, or an illustration of an aspect of your theme, your plot, and/or your characters’ desires and dilemmas." Benedict helps us see the differences in female and male expectations and experiences and tells why you must know what your characters want from the encounter. She discusses the difficulties in writing sex scenes and explains how to keep them exciting and original. Yes, original. Your sex scenes "should hinge on the freshness of your characters, dialogue, mood, and plot and not on the sexual mechanisms," lest they all sound alike.

As she says, "a good sex scene does not have to be about good sex," but "a well-written sex scene engages on many levels: erotic, aesthetic, psychological, metaphorical, even philosophical." And it should fit with the setting and tone of your overall story, not just be tacked on there to shock your mom or get people to read your stuff.

In separate chapters, Benedict discusses how to handle writing adulterous, first-time, illicit, married, recreational, and solo sex, as well as the impact of AIDS. She quotes writers from different genres and analyzes the juicy parts of their works. (Warning: After reading this book, you may never read a sex scene in quite the same way again.)

"Sex scenes should be approached with the same attention to craft and to function in the larger work . . . [as] every other scene."

If you write romantic or sex scenes, you should read this book.

{Published in GPIC: the Oklahoma Science Fiction Writers Newsletter, Jan. 1998. Reprinted in SF & Fantasy Workshop Newsletter, Mar. 1999.}