Story Length- Does Size Matter?

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Have you ever written a piece that became a form, or even a genre, you hadn't planned on writing in? Or do you choose a form/genre in advance?

“Make the story as long as it needs to be.” The words from my writing coach echoed in my mind when I began my journey writing romance and continues to help me with each story as it evolves.

Storytelling is an art form that requires writers to let the tale unfold the way it needs to. Resisting can influence the quality of the final execution. I have been in situations where I tried to pound a story to fit into specific word counts, mainly based on my own capricious standards or a publisher’s guidelines. The story almost always pushed back, leaving me to streamline and coax it into the required length. Sometimes it worked–but not always.

Continue reading “Story Length- Does Size Matter?” →

August 5, 2020 7

Writing Characters in Real Places and Spaces

#openbook

Talk about the setting of your book. Is it entirely imaginary or is it based on a real-life place?

I love writing stories that allow readers to tap into the fantasy and escapism that fiction provides. At the same time, I like to include points of reference from my environment. Similar to integrating real-life characters experience, my story plots also contain geographical references to position readers in characters’ environments, potentially essential to reinforce arches and allow them to relate.

Settings in the romance genre tend to be at economic and geographic extremes. At a Popular Cultural Association conference, romance scholar Jodi McAllister pointed out that romance plots frequently unfold between female protagonists and rich men in cities or small-town bearded hunks. She posed a question asking why people didn’t seem to fall in love in the suburbs. She made a great point. I spent my teens and early adult life reading about ridiculously wealthy men taking their love interests to bed. Not necessarily a bad thing, I enjoyed the escapism, but not everyone lives like that way, nor do they exist in tiny towns with one traffic light. I want my readers to see themselves in my stories. Continue reading “Writing Characters in Real Places and Spaces” →

April 20, 2020 7

Male Authors, Female Characters and the Wonders of Writing Sex

I have read many social media posts and articles from women expressing shock and frustration on the ways some male authors describe female characters and sexual encounters in their writing.

Here is one example.

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A post shared by Romance Author+Editor+Coach 🔥❤ (@laylawriteslove)

Yeah, the dude wrote that women’s insides are “mazes” and men “conjure up” pee. There are far worse. This one just gave me so many giggles when I read it that I had to share. Some of my other favorites include: Continue reading “Male Authors, Female Characters and the Wonders of Writing Sex” →

December 10, 2019 0

Know Marcus Kent #urbanromance #contemporaryromance

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Originally Posted on 10/12/2019 by Kayelle Allen

Know The Hero From Sweet Love, Bitter Fruit By Lyndell Williams @laylawriteslove #RLFblog #urbanromance #contemporaryromance

Lyndell Williams, welcome to Romance Lives Forever. I’m Kayelle Allen, author and owner of this blog. Happy to have you here! We’re excited to find out more about your hero…

Know the Hero from Sweet Love, Bitter Fruit

It’s late, he’s bored. What does he do?

Marcus Kent is never bored. He has an intense schedule at work. When he gets a minute, he will chill with his boys Simon, Faisal, and Quinn and then head home to his wife Toni. For Marcus, twenty-four hours is not nearly enough, so he needs to be strategic about his time so he can fulfill all of the demands on him. He’s all about getting things done with efficiency.

What kind of food would he impulse buy if hungry?

Marcus is a carnivorous alpha. Red meat is his food of choice, especially burgers. He doesn’t eat just any meat. Although he is not Muslim, he prefers halal meat, so he will stop by his favorite halal spot or another one (NYC is packed with them) to grab a quick bite. Of course, he’ll have to go a little longer on his daily morning run but having some ground beef goodness is worth it.

Describe the kind of clothes he prefers to wear.

Marcus has a walk-in closet with a wall stacked with high-end sneakers. They are his award for working hard at the community center he directs, keeping wife, Toni happy and being there for family and friends. He sheds his business suits as soon as possible and slaps on a pair of those bad boys with some sweats and a tee-shirt to run through Harlem or have a game of basketball, completely elephant trunkin’ it.

Does he know how to fix things?

Continue reading “Know Marcus Kent #urbanromance #contemporaryromance” →

October 17, 2019 0

LWL Podcast: Naming Characters

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Naming characters can be an involved and frustrating part of the novel-writing process, but it is critical to provide ones that will pique readers’ interest and give them a chance to connect with the personalities making up a story’s plot. In this LWL episode, I talk about the undertaking of finding the most suitable names for my stories’ characters and a little bit of reader drama with one character’s name.

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September 25, 2019 0

#MFRW Author: Me, Myself, and The Story-Authors in Their Narratives

read-3048651_1920 Putting yourself in the story.

Considering stories are products of writers imaginations, it is hard for anyone to say that they don’t put themselves in their stories. A good plot, messaging, and character personality requires deep reflection. A simpatico relationship with characters is also a must, so all authors become invested in the narrative at some level.

However, that doesn’t mean that every author injects themselves as an actual character. I have yet to do so, although other people are fair game. But, that’s not the point. I have to admit, that there are elements of my experiences in my stories. Continue reading “#MFRW Author: Me, Myself, and The Story-Authors in Their Narratives” →

July 18, 2019 0

#OpenBook – “Masculine Energy” and The Woman Writer

OPEN BOOK (5) #Open Book

What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex?

I remember listening to a male lecturer talk about women, men, and gender relations. One thing that stuck with me was when he went on this diatribe about women who have a lot of what he called “masculine energy.” He waxed for what seemed like forever about how a woman who dares to have a lot of masculine energy is a problem because she will always be ready to challenge a man. He claimed that such women are too assertive and authoritative and proclaimed that he could tell when there is such a woman in his midst.

After I laughed my…head off, I cringed a little at the incendiary generalizations he made, that make life hell for women. I won’t go into an analysis of how his language dangerously allocated certain human behaviors like confidence, ambition, critical thinking, power, and resistance as masculine and categorized women embodying any of these characteristics as “manly” deviants straying from their feminine nature.

I won’t highlight how someone privileged by gender can be guilty of reinforcing oppression by demonizing those struggling against their subjugation, discrediting them as misfits. Really, men need to stop that nonsense, especially those disguising themselves as progressive but are actually just as chauvinistic as their fellow misogynists.

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June 10, 2019 7

In Vitro: Short Story Audio Clip

WELCOME NEW MEMBERS! (1) Alhamdulillah, I am blessed to have Sabina Khan, a great writer, for a critique partner. One of the biggest challenges we have when it comes to working together is our often conflicting schedules. However, this being the digital age, we managed to come up with a method—at least on my end—to share.

I often leave audio clips of my work for Sabina to listen to at a convenient time. She expressed to me how much she enjoyed listening to me read my work and constantly encouraged me to upload audio clips for my readers. I was initially hesitant, but I decided to give it a try by reading the first part of the newest Layla Writes Love short story, In Vitro.

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June 8, 2019 1

Favorite Character Question is Major Author Bait

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From all the characters you’ve created, which is your favorite and why?

What kind of f—

Okay, I smell a setup. My kids tried asking me something like this. It didn’t work then either. Which one of my characters got you? Was it Raad?

It was Raad. He’s so narcissistic. It’s bad enough he wrecked my concentration until I got his characterization finished. Now, he’s gotta try to force some sick confession out of me? Sit your butt down, Raad, and wait for me to release Building on Broken Dreams to show your…self to the world.

giphy4