October 12th, 2004
Okay, not literally. I have been cruising along with the vampire regency as of late. Did a little research on Scotland last night and dug up some really cool info that can be added to the story. I’m also making notes for my contemporary. My dh helped me brainstorm and came up with two different versions of the same story. Now I don’t know which one to choose. Seems like it’s a simple enough thing to do when one story is similar to the style of my other contemporary work, while the other is darker. But it’s not. I’m still drawn to the murder adventure/darker story. I just don’t know if I can pull it off…yet. What to do? What to do?
Follow your heart.
by Sylvia Day October 12th, 2004 at 11:14 pmExperimentation can be a lot of fun.
Go with the gut instinct. It’s always true. And hey, according to Maass’ “Writing The Breakout Novel”, it’s always when an author goes above and beyond what she’s done before that she rises to a higher level of success.
by Sidonie October 13th, 2004 at 2:28 amIf it’s a tuff choice I admit to taking the easy way out, and putting my faith inthe belief that everyting happens for a reason by flipping a coin.
by Sasha October 13th, 2004 at 2:47 amGotta atleast give it a go. Otherwise you’ll kick yourself later when you start thinking about the what-ifs. I hate that. I do the same thing only when something doesn’t work out I start taking peices of the two and merging them together until only I recognize the entire plot. Then my significant other has to come in, read it through, seperate it, yet again, and it makes sense. But you really don’t want to be plagued by thte what-ifs. Those are the worse.
by Blaire October 13th, 2004 at 10:59 amThanks Ladies! I’d actually considered doing something I’ve NEVER done before, which is to start the stories out the same way and then write each version of the book and see which one turns out better. What do you think? Have any of you ever written the same story with two different versions? Am I making sense? LOL!
by Jordan October 13th, 2004 at 12:18 pmYes, I have written the same story in two different ways.
Problem is, you become attached to both and one of them is destined to spend its life in a drawer. That’s the hard part.
by Sylvia Day October 13th, 2004 at 1:57 pmSylvia,
Yikes! I hadn’t thought about that. Maybe I’ll have a better idea after I outline. The thing about these two stories is they are polar opposites after the opening scene. One is light-hearted, while the other is a bit of a suspense. Grr…I don’t know what to do. &#$%!
by Jordan October 13th, 2004 at 2:40 pmI was in that position once. I tweaked the heck one of the versions so that it was sufficiently different. Little changes can lead to a whole different story. The thought of one version never seeing the light of day, just sux.
by Jaq October 13th, 2004 at 8:11 pmJaq, I realized that with the exception of the beginning and the heroine’s occupation the stories are quite different. I typed the notes up on them today. The thing is the heroine’s profession is a big part of the story. I’m trying to figure out a different profession for her to have for the suspense story, so I can keep both.
by Jordan October 14th, 2004 at 1:15 amSounds fascinating! Have you figured out a profession yet?
by Larissa October 14th, 2004 at 8:36 amShe’s a sex worker who retires the day the book opens. We see her on the job and then she leaves that part of herself behind to begin a ‘new’ life.
by Jordan October 14th, 2004 at 9:22 amHow much of the suspense subplot is going to be in the book? 50% romance 50% suspense? 40/60? 70/30? Does starting the book off with the suspense opening make it start off with a bang? Or do you want to have it start “Everything’s fine and dandy” and WHAM! the suspense? It depends on where you want to take it. *g*
by Sidonie October 14th, 2004 at 3:08 pmSidonie, I’d say the book will be 35 to 40% suspense to 60-65% romance. The book starts out with a fairly explicit scene, since the heroine is at work. It ends with a climax (pun intended). If I pursue the suspense route, the next scene I write will be a murder followed by police banging on the heroine’s door. If I take the story the other direction, the next scene after the explicit scene will be 3 to 5 years in the future. Have I confused you yet? LOL!
by Jordan October 14th, 2004 at 3:39 pmJordan there are a multitude of ’sex-worker’ jobs/levels and associated jobs: streetwalker, bordello worker, madam, escort (mid and high level), dominatrix, phone sex operator, internet porn ‘model’, those ladies in the psuedo massage parlour, (no one jump on me for the next two) sex therapist, and stripper. Aside from the obvious some of those jobs have more in common than others. Some of them are probably night and day differences and come with a lot of baggage/circumstances that would play out differently beyond the one or two things–re sex–they have in common.
Boy when I delurk, ya can’t shut me up.
Just throwing some stuff out there. Glad your determined to market both these books.
Jaq
by Jaq October 15th, 2004 at 6:24 amJaq, Your post actually helped me tremendously. It’s given me a couple of ideas that would allow me to keep the intensity of the story, but change enough to where I don’t have to worry about them being compared. Have you studied these different professions? If so, could you drop me a private email? Thanks, Jordan
by Jordan October 15th, 2004 at 1:05 pmHey, waddaya tryin to imply?! just kidding. No I don’t have any insights to any of those jobs, except from the usual sources–articles, etc.
The stripper thing I have a bit more knowledge of because the h in my first ms does a stint working in a strip bar. So I did research a bit into it by scoping out a club with a friend. Even ‘interviewed’ a couple of the girls (while my friend conducted her own interview on where they got their boob jobs done.) And I did have one girlfriend who tried it for a very, very short time (1 month) so she reluctantly (it’s an episode she’d rather forget) answered some questions.
But that’s why I love Google! You’ll probable get more information than you EVER wanted to know.
Jaq
by Jaq October 16th, 2004 at 11:50 amJaq, LOL! No implications.
I’ve had a couple of friends strip for a living and I considered changing the heroine’s profession to a stripper, but I think that’s too common. (If you know what I mean.)I do plan to use one of your other suggestions because I think it’ll work just as effectively with the issues the heroine needs to work through and the ‘tainted’ hidden past angle. Thanks again. I really appreciate it.
by Jordan October 16th, 2004 at 12:17 pm