It's my first time submitting an entry to Harlequin and my first time writing according to a deadline that's not NaNoWriMo, which I've done for the last three years. So far, I've come up with a few observations about writing competitions, that probably apply to writing in general. Given I'm bleary-eyed and hungry and lack sleep, this is my list so far:
- Keep calm and just write. The first day I started writing, I honestly had no idea what I was going to write about other than I had a cool cover from Melody Simmons and I had a title. That was it. And since I'm usually a pants-er, I just started writing and letting the characters tell their story - within specific guidelines, of course, like location (New York), time period (present), and genre (I started with chicklit and romance and mystery). Broad, I know, but I had to start somewhere and just pare it down as I went.
- Find your cheering squad and listen to what they have to say. Don't take everything personally. Given that the platform I'm writing and posting my work is Wattpad, I was hoping that readers from my previous works would warm up to small-town girl Billie and cold businessman Heath, and offer me feedback beyond awesome! cool! or Bae! and luckily I found them.
Some of them responded to the characters of the identical twins, Billie and Blythe, discussing among themselves and with me about first-hand experiences of being an identical twin, while others let it be known that a certain bathroom scene with Billie by herself wasn't something they expected to see. As much as sometimes I can't help but feel defensive about my babies, I had to remind myself that this is why I welcome the feedback. Do I have to tone down the bathroom scene or remove it altogether? Why is it there in the first place? Is it something integral to my main character?
No matter what the end result is, whether the bathroom scene stays or goes, it gave me questions that would eventually strengthen that scene and the character in it. So, don't take comments too personally. - Don't get discouraged. Don't give up. I hate to say this but I gave up on the contest halfway through. Even though it was getting a lot of traction with my readers, when I started reading other entries, my story was nothing like any of the entries. There was no romance going on (although there was a whole lot of romantic and sexual tension) and while some of the entries had sex in the second, third and fourth chapters, mine didn't come till I hit 50K words and Chapter 23. So I promptly sent out a tweet saying I was bowing out, I didn't know how to write Harlequin stuff and good luck to everyone else. It was pathetic and I'm still cringing.
But remember that cheerleading squad in #2? Well, they picked me up and dusted me all up with positive fairy dust and with the surprise of Collateral being picked by RT Book Reviews as one of the top 4 romances to read on Wattpad for July, I was back in the race - though this time, I had to keep it quiet. So yes, don't get discouraged. - Don't compare yourself to others. Why? See #3. It's easy to forget that we all are different. Even if people say that there are only 7 or 8 plot lines to go by, we all have our own unique voice to relay those plot lines with. We write with a filter that makes us uniquely us, colored by the way we see the world be it from the way we were raised, our learned beliefs and customs, as part of a culture, or even a race. We also have our own unique vision of the world we want to see on the page, whether it be dystopian, historical, contemporary, romantic, or horror. So given that, don't compare yourself to others - or your stories to other stories for that matter. Even characters can suffer from identity crises of their own, too.
- It's a marathon, not a sprint. So now that I've written the epilogue of Collateral and hit Complete on my manuscript, does that mean I'm done? Nope, far from it. There's editing that's yet to be done from here on, and also depending on the outcome of the contest, more editing that has to be done till it's as good as can be. And even when I'm done done, like really done, there's still more stories to be told. I am, after all, a writer. And writers keep writing.
That's my list so far on an overly caffeinated but empty stomach. Maybe I'll think of more stuff as I calm down from the caffeine jitters, but to everyone who entered SYTYCW15, congratulations on finishing that novel and the best of luck to us all!
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