No job is without its weeds in the field. I'm grateful to have written for sixteen years with deadlines and work. What a gift! This, however, is the first time I've been without a deadline in all those years and the world is suddenly my oyster. Deadlines, while they are an author's best friend, also keep you on task and you lose the freedom you had when no one cared.
Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful someone cared, and never took it for granted that I was allowed this job for however long it lasted. The publishing world is changes. No one knows what's ahead with traditional publishing/eBooks/self-publishing/pods (print-on-demand) and I don't think it's an accident I ran out of gas at this particular point.
I've been told for years that Chick Lit is dead. No, bad writers of Chick Lit are dead. Sophie Kinsella is #3 on the NYT bestseller's list. I don't know that I'm funny enough to write Chick Lit any longer. I'm certainly not cool enough (but then again, I wasn't ever really.) I don't really know what I want to write.
And that's where the freedom is. Without a deadline, I get to think a bit more on what I want to write. Should I write a YA? A Chick Lit? A Romance? My ghost story? The point is, I get to do what I want. Whether or not anyone buys it will remain to be seen. The exciting part is that the time has finally come where I have more time to ruminate and that's exciting.
I do have an office to pay for, so I can't ruminate too long. The publishing world needs you to brand. To be one thing and romance is an easy sell. People know what it is, what to expect and they like that. I don't think I'm a natural romance writer. I like a little more characterization in my heroines. A little more snarky. And the world is so much bigger to me than boy meets girl. Michael Hague says that my favorite kind of movie/storyline is the hardest to sell in romantic comedy. He calls it "The Long Haul" and it consists of movies like "When Harry Met Sally"; "As Good as It Gets"; "500 Days of Summer" -- essentially, it's a storyline grounded in reality and un unusual situation.
My life is nothing if not an unusual situation. I find myself so bored in most romances because the heroine is so boring. I don't want to spend my time with someone so normal. I need something unusual that makes her quirky. ("27 Dresses" was good for that. How far will you go for your friend vs. yourself?)
I plan to come up with a proposal that interests me. And hopefully, it will interest a publisher. Because doing what everyone else does, just doesn't interest me. What's your favorite romantic comedy?
Another issue here is that Michael Hague say ALL romantic comedy screenplays have a lie in them. "You've Got Mail" Joe Fox doesn't tell our heroine he owns the big box bookstore that will close her down.
Here's the examples that Michael Hague uses. Can you name the lie?
Moonstruck
Mrs. Doubtfire
Big
Sleepless in Seattle
Tootsie
Coming to America
Overboard
While you Were Sleeping
Now, in Christian fiction, no one is supposed to lie, which makes this a little difficult (not to mention unrealistic) but this is what holds me back being under contract. I feel stifled by the truth. Maybe I can pull an Anna Karenina and just watch the liars. Hmmm. Anyway, the world is my writing oyster and it feels amazing. For the week it lasts anyway. : )
I'm in my office listening to Adam Ant. I made dinner before I left and I'm getting started tonight. So fun, right?
