Why I Write Romance Novels

[Post by Donna Fasano / Image by Pinky-Vuduu]

I can’t tell you how many times over the course of my 20-plus year career as a published romance author I have been asked, “When are you going to write a real book? You know, a [insert genre of choice: mystery, historical, thriller, etc].” So I’d like to take this opportunity to tell readers why I write romance novels.

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Why I Write…

[Post by Matthew Williams / Image by Beginte]
I can remember with some interest how, as a child, I would spend hours making things out of plasticene, or using mismatched toys from different franchises to construct large armies and sagas. And then, when I was old enough to have a sense of the aesthetic, I began to draw, and draw, and draw… In time, my love of RPG’s and video games made me want to create some of those too. It was never enough to just enjoy them on their own. Somehow, I always needed to create, recreate, or bring the things I liked best together in one place, where they could coexist on my own terms.

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A World of New Words

A World of New Words

I’ve recently started learning German and have discovered a whole world of new words; words which do not have an English equivalent. This has led me to wonder how learning another language can help improve our ability to express our feelings, and maybe even make us more aware of those feelings in the first place.

For example, I’ve experienced weltschmerz for many years, but I never had a nice neat word for it until now. The literal translation of weltschmerz means ‘world-pain’, or world-weariness, and was coined by the German author, Jean Paul Richter. It’s the feeling ‘experienced by someone who understands that physical reality can never satisfy the demands of the mind’, or ‘the feeling of sadness when thinking about the evils of the world’. Upon discovering this word I felt a weight lifted from me; having a singular word has helped me accept that feeling and it seems easier to deal with now that I have a label for it in my mind and it’s not just some intangible experience.

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Writers Wanted For the Eat Sleep Write Podcast

Adam told me about another great Opportunity to give authors the chance to reach people. Podcast! Read here, what you need to get an podcast interview on his site.

Please take a moment to read my podcast proposal below, and if you have any interest in recording a podcast aboutyour adventures in writing, I hope to hear from you soon. I invite you to my site where you can look around and listen to some of my podcasts on EatSleepWrite.

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Writing Tip: The Importance of Building Worlds

[A Guestpost and Image by Ben Galley]

If you’ve ever tried to write a book, you’ll have done some world-building. Whether by design, necessity, or accident, it’s essential to any novel, no matter what the genre

By definition, world-building is the act of creating a world or setting for a novel and its plot. It’s a very important task indeed. Why? Well, if you’re thinking that world-building simply refers to dreaming up the physical attributes of a room, or a city, or deciding what colour the sky should be, then think again. World-building is so much more than that. It can define characters, give life to a plot, and basically underpin every scene of a book.

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Lord of the Rings and other Fantasy as Post-Apocalyptic Tales

[A Guestpost by Larry Kollar / Image by JohnnySlowHand]

(Disclaimer: as a writer, I do understand that “apocalypse” is actually a revelation, but for this article I will adopt its common meaning of an all-encompassing disaster.)

Many classic fantasy tales have a post-apocalyptic element. Of course, as for most Western-based fantasy tropes, Tolkien is the standard-setter. (Tolkien’s ages of Middle-Earth parallel Greek mythology, which named the four Ages of Man: Golden, Silver, Bronze, and Iron. I’m guessing, given his background, that this was deliberate.) The backdrop for Lord of the Rings includes two former ages, each ended by their own apocalypse. The end of the First (Golden) Age, when Morgoth was defeated, was accompanied by great destruction—it was said the lands were broken, and Beleriand began to sink into the sea. The Second (Silver) Age ended with Númenor sinking into the sea, and the formerly flat world being made round.

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Standing Out in a Carbon Copy World

[A Guestpost by Cate Russell-Cole / Image by FlorentCourty]

If all writers thought and expressed themselves the same way, all books would be the same. Fortunately, they aren't. We enjoy libraries stocked with diverse characters, settings, views and approaches. There is always something new to discover. It whets our appetite for thinking outside our own style and genre.

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