Don't Get Stuck in the Weeds

Don't get stuck in the weeds like Ullr.

Signs you may be overthinking your writing:

• You write, then delete. You write, then delete.
• You can’t stop researching details.
• You’re still staring at a blank page determined to find the perfect start.
• You make no progress.

You may think overthinking isn’t an issue for you. But be honest with yourself, how many times have you written a sentence only to delete and rewrite it over and over? Hello first sentences! 

The trick is being able to acknowledge what your brain is doing. If you’re not aware of how it’s operating how can you change it? And also…how do you change your brain?

For me, overthinking is the drive for perfection. It’s the inability to leave a sentence alone because it’s not conveying the exact emotion or action I’m looking for. Have you ever heard of there’s more than one way to skin a cat? Same applies here, there’s more than one way to describe a specific emotion/action/what-have-you and there is never one perfect way.

Once I realize I’m stuck, because yes, overthinking can be a type of writer’s block, I like to reset my brain. A short breathing session or yoga session, because yoga literally means to unite the body and mind. This helps me get back to alpha brain waves which is where creative thinking happens.

Think of brain waves this way, beta is when you’re actively speaking or exercising. Beta is worked up. Take a step down to alpha and you’re relaxed. You’re walking in a garden without having to concentrate or your sitting in meditation. Another step down is theta. Autopilot. That’s why you can have those ah-ha moments while you’re taking a shower or driving your car. You’re in autopilot which frees your mind up to wander and find solutions. 

Next time you find yourself overthinking, maybe give resetting your brainwaves a try! 

Overthinking and the Blinding Flash of Brilliance

 This Week's Topic: How Do I Stop Overthinking My Writing?

{cuts open skull}

{takes out brain}

{leaves it on desk}

No? Maybe not?

Okay, fine. 

I laughed when I saw this topic because overthinking things is so me. I can spend a whole day in a thought spiral for what amounts to less than a page worth of story. D'oh! What a colossal waste of precious time, right? 

So, how do I stop doing it? Yes, I appreciate that the question is "stop doing" versus "never do."  In accordance with the universal first step, one must recognize there is a problem. For me, that usually comes when a pee break forces me to step away from the computer. I have a habit of mentally checking my progress toward my daily goal during those moments of, erm, seated relief. (Yeah, I'm the girl who starts her day with "what do I have to get done today, what do I want to get done today, and what can I absolutely not do today.") That's usually when I realize I've spent the last two hours reworking the same damn page. When I return to my WiP, I don't let myself look at the mess I've created. I move on. 

Sometime around 2AM, the solution will come to me. 

The second way I realize I'm overthinking the problem is when I MAKE THINGS WORSE. Usually, I'm overthinking a scene or a moment when I'm trying to clarify and/or simplify the information imparted. Somehow in the throes of it, I make things more complex. Again, once I realize what a disastrophy I'm writing, I move on. I force myself to turn the page (or page-down the page?).  The Blinding Flash of Brilliance (BFB™️) will come once my subconscious has had time to noodle on it.

Overthinking a point of your story is bound to happen. The key to working through it is to realize when you've succumbed. Once you know you're caught in the thought spiral, you can break free. Give your subconscious time to figure it out, then you can go back and fix things. You know that process called Editing? Yep. It's where BFBs shine. 

Overthinking Your Writing? Be Like Jackson

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is: How do you stop overthinking your writing? The accompanying photo is of Jackson, who makes a practice of overthinking absolutely nothing. I'm tempted to say "Be like Jackson" and end the blog post here. 

But, seriously, the key to not overthinking your writing is ... stop overthinking.

I know that's not helpful, but it is an important skill to acquire. Conversely, it's important to purge yourself of the idea that thinking is necessary for writing. As an intuitive writer, I do everything I can to maximize intuition and minimize conscious thought. The more I think, the slower I write. I know this about myself, but there's a pervasive idea out there that writing comes from thinking. 

This gem was going around Twitter/X the last couple of days:

We won't dive into how much of a dipshit this guy is, including a misguided impression that writers are somehow not into opportunities that allow us to pay the bills. What's key here is that he believes you have to have an outline before writing, that you have to THINK it out. Spoiler: you do not. I am living proof of it and a total advocate for being that opportunist. Let the story come to you.

Something to keep in mind is that overthinking is a form of perfectionism, which can be paralyzing. Therefore, any techniques for killing perfectionist tendencies will help here. Basically let go of expectations and the need to make the story perfect as you're writing.

Relax. Let it flow.

Be like Jackson.

 

Believability—and sexiness—is all about emotion

 

As a fantasy romance writer (now called romantasy, I guess?) today's topic is near and dear to my heart. While love scenes aren't necessary for a fantasy romance novel, they are common, and I tend to write on the steamier side. Let's just say I've got some experience with writing love scenes--I was actually editing one this week, adding a little more emotional depth and a few key details. I love the way that sex peels back the layers of a character and digs into the dynamics of a relationship. There is nothing more vulnerable than desire, and acting on that desire reveals a lot about a character, both to the reader and to themselves.

So how do I keep them believable? There is a level of general staging to make sure that clothing doesn't suddenly change or disappear, and to ensure the action more or less makes sense. That level has to be handled gracefully to keep the reader in the scene, though how detailed or steamy is more driven by the tone of the story than believability. Beyond the basic mechanics, I tend to focus on the emotions rather than what body parts may or may not be involved.

A kiss can be incredibly powerful and passionate, if the POV character is swept away by it. Some sensory details can heighten the immersiveness of the scene--again especially ones that the POV character has a deep reaction to, or little details that reveal how the other character is feeling.

These days, I am also conscious of consent and modeling good sex practices (including safe sex when technologically appropriate) so I try to incorporate enthusiastic consent into my love scenes. Which honestly isn’t hard because—let’s be real— “yes” and “more” are two of the sexiest words ever, and the kind of characters I’m drawn to write love to hear them.

At the end of the day, believability flows from character, and their motives and emotions. If you have nailed those as an author, then the acts themselves are merely a matter of taste.

Jaycee Jarvis is an award winning fantasy romance author, who combines heartfelt romance with immersive magical worlds. When not lost in worlds of her own creation, she lives in the Pacific Northwest with her spouse, three children and a menagerie of pets.

Find her at http://www.jayceejarvis.com/

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/18092674.Jaycee_Jarvis

BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/jaycee-jarvis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AuthorJayceeJarvis

Mastadon: @Jaycee@romancelandia.club

Journey to Believable Scenes

Love scenes in novels aren't made believable within the confines of that single scene. Usually. Certainly writers can do plenty within the scene to kill the mood or break a reader's willing suspension of disbelief. In my opinion (and subsequently, in my craft practice) love scenes are made believable by virtue of the journey that led up to the sex scene. If a story goes straight for the sexy times right from the outset, then the journey has to be implied within the context of the scene.

It's no secret I like smart heroines. It may, therefore, be no surprise that in order for me to believe my heroines would hop in the sack with someone, I need to believe that decision would make sense from within that heroine's point of view. This is why I need a journey to a love scene. That journey is a series of small vignettes that put pins on a map taking my characters from strangers, even opponents, to trust. No. Not to lovers. To trust. Lovers comes after trust has been established in my books. No trust, no nooky. Of course there are heroines who would hop in bed with someone they don't trust. If that's going to happen, however, I, as a reader, need to understand her motivation for it. Is this a trauma response? People pleasing at enormous cost to herself? A rebellious move? A revenge screw? I can buy a lot but I need to comprehend why someone is willing to put themselves into the most vulnerable of positions with an unknown quantity. I suspect, in this post Me, Too era, when few of us are privileged enough to get to ignore just how dangerous simply existing can be for female presenting people, most of us need to get inside someone's head when they're going to engage in (perhaps fatally) risky behavior.

BUT. This isn't a murder mystery so we're not hiding corpses yet. We're still trying to get folks between the sheets.

The path from Hello to the bedroom (or wherever) is sign posted by the scenes where the first sparks of attraction fly, and in the scenes of discovery - these are the ones where characters are learning about one another and are finding the good and admirable - and in the scenes where the learning about one another starts paying off because they aren't just talking at one another anymore. They're communicating. Mostly. Coming to understanding. If I'm doing my job, somewhere in those scenes, my characters aren't just melting one another's hearts - they're melting the reader's as well. IF that happens, the love scene will likely be believable.

Barring my attempts to do something anatomically impossible, but that's another day's rant.

Believable Intimacy

 This Week's Topic: How Do I Make My Love Scenes Believable?

Man, it's tough being the one to follow Jeffe, who won Romancelandia's most prestigious award for best romance with Pages of the Mind. Her backlist includes holy-hot-stuff fantasy and contemporary erotica. I write "how to 'splode your enemy's head" kind of books; thus, I kinda wanna cheat and just post a "what she said" link. 

But, I'm pulling up my ruffled big-girl panties and giving you, dear readers, my $0.04 worth of opinion.

I could be a little shit and say, "I don't write explicit sex scenes," but that would be a lie. I've written 'em, I just haven't tortured the public with them. However, I do write (and have published) scenes of intimacy. They may not be ass-baring, but they are soul-baring. And, yeah, as Jeffe said, the key to believability is to ground the actions, emotions, and personal evolution in the character's character. 

In healthy relationships, vulnerabilities are exposed, acknowledged, and treated with care by the partner.  In healthy relationships, desires are shared both verbally and physically. In healthy relationships, there's give and take, both in dominance and submission--even during vanilla sex. There's a respect between (or among) partners that--in a medium of show vs tell--is absolutely shown.

By contrast, in unhealthy relationships, the opposite is shown. Deliberate disrepect. Intentional hiding  of or trampling over needs. Engagement as a tool of punishment (not kink). Humilation and degradation (again, not as kink). Whether or not anything is being penetrated, the cruel intention spurring the actions is plain. 

In the course of a story, the scene of intimacy is used to either advance character development or to demonstrate character self-sabotage. Sure, if you're aiming to write a believable sex scene involving humans, you'll want to avoid portraying the man as an endless fountain of jizz banging on his mate for hours. Chafe is real, and dudes do have to take a break to rest and reload, ya know. 😇

Writing Believable Scenes

 We had big fun at Beastly Books yesterday celebrating FaRoFeb! The delightful Vela Roth came up from El Paso, and A.K. Mulford and A.J. Lancaster joined us online from down under. The panel was also broadcast on Instagram Live and you can find a recording of it on the FaRoFeb Instagram account.

Our topic at the SFF Seven this week is "How do you make your love scenes believable?"

By "love," I assume the asker means sex - though how to make the confessional of heartfelt love feel earned and not pasted on or saccharine is an interesting question. But, in truth, the answer to both, or even really ALL scenes - love, sex, fight, daily conversation - believable is to ground them in character.

This is true whether you are a plot-driven or character-driven writer. Stories are about the emotions of the people in them - what they want, what they can't have, what drives them to chase what they want anyway. So, a fight scene is never just about the choreography and who wins or loses. It's about what that win or loss MEANS to the characters, what impact their injuries might have on them beyond the physical.

Likewise, a sex scene is never just about tabs and slots fitting together. It's about emotional intimacy, what the sexual interlude means to the characters. It has nothing to do with whether or not multiple orgasms are believable or making first-time encounters awkward or including realistic body noises and accidental passing of fluids and gases. Those things might factor in if they relate to the characters' emotional lives, but by themselves, they don't change anything, one way or the other.

Because believability comes from emotional truth, regardless of everything else.

FaRoFeb celebrates together!

 HR Moore founded FaRoFeb to celebrate fantasy romance and romantasy books every year. It has a robust author community that celebrates each others' successes and cheers each other on via the discord server and on social media.

February is FaRoFeb's month, which includes extra exciting promos and events. Check out the remaining schedule and put it on your calendar for next year: https://farofeb.com/. The community has grown and we now have events throughout the year, so it's never too late to see what they're up to.

We've been working on the TikTok feed for FaRo - the newest place we can be found! We love sharing our reading interests with the BookTok community.

Finding like-minded, supportive communities is one key to a successful book release. You can learn from your peers about their book release tips, for instance, and support each other by sharing book release social media posts. Nobody should go through this alone. 

A hot tip, though. Make sure you've done your homework before you ask for advice in author communities. 

• Has someone recently asked the same question in the facebook group? Read that post instead of asking the group to repeat their answers. 
• Have you already checked some of the big author blogs and sites for answers (like the great advice we have on SFF 7 Authors this week)? If someone has already written about the topic, it's better to read that and then ask a follow-up question rather than, again, making the group repeat answers. 
• Are you asking beginner questions in an advanced authors' group, or vice versa?  Remember you are not just taking from the community, but should be contributing too, so working at a similar level will be more helpful for everyone.

How do you prepare for your book releases? Let us know in the comments. And happy writing!