I think I've noticed something. Because I've been reading more and more over the years, I think I'm getting sexier. LOL I mean...smarter!
My vocabulary has grown. What used to feel like "formal" dialog, now sounds natural to my inner author's ear. Maybe too it has something to do with having a smart critique partner who writes historicals. She adds an explanation with every new word I learn, and it sticks.
Other parts of my writing have changed too. When I first began publishing in 2004, I was writing romantic suspense. That's because everyone in my critique group was writing suspense. Eventually I found my own voice in romantic comedy but carried the rules of suspense with me.
Also back then, erotic romance was selling like candy to epubs. I wanted to get published, so I heated up the sexual component. *Funny aside...my husband gave me a year to get published. I told him what he could do with his year, then I went after the goal like a mad woman on a mission. One year to the weekend later, I received my first contract offer. (Insert raspberry here.)
So, getting back to evolution, as a result of that dare a higher heat level became part of my repertoire.
I had to get used to holding my head up in public, but now I forget some readers might be shocked by a sex scene. Well, I'm evolving again...Trying to write sex without crossing into crude territory.
I still have no idea where a comma goes, but that may come with future evolutions. At least my spelling and grammar have improved, not that either is perfect. Hey, we have to give editors something to do.
I wonder what I'll be writing in ten years. Maybe Vampires and Werewolves will have gone out of style and I'll learn how to write something else. The only thing I can't imagine doing is giving up on romance altogether. It's the part of any story I look forward to, and if it's missing, believe me, I notice.
I've evolved a bit since I started too. It's a learning process.;) Love the cover and the hunk!
ReplyDeleteYour post reminds of somebody's comment at National: If there's a couple in the corner making goo-goo eyes at each other, somebody from 5th century BC Egypt, modern Manhattan, and every age and culture in between would know exactly what's afoot.
ReplyDeleteRomance is THAT enduring, and THAT universal. Thank goodness talented romance writers like you are THAT enthralled with their craft.
It's always interesting to me, too, to see my own evolution as well as those of my favorite authors. No one should stay static.
ReplyDeleteI've been reflecting on my evolution lately and it surprises me how much I've changed since starting way back when. :)
ReplyDeleteI hope I'm evolving into a better writer with every book. I've always said that romance started in the Garden of Eden and though styles have changed, times have changed and society changes on an hourly basis, love has never changed much. The heart doesn't see styles, times or society. It just sees what it wants and isn't happy until it gets it.
ReplyDeleteSo true. Thanks for passing on that well-said wisdom, Grace.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad I'm not the only one who sees their own evolution and appreciates it.
Yes, love is a subject that fascinates me. It defies explanation. Can't be seen or quantified. But it couldn't be more real.
I can't tell you how much that photo of Dean Winchester reading in bed brightened my day! Sometimes I think I am devolving becasue of how often my head is turned by a handsome hero!
ReplyDeleteLOL, Cat. You can call it being "observant" and feel good about it!
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