Stuck -- Book time -- Real time -- Romance
3am Monday morning. I'm up because I slept a lot on Sunday and when I awoke I felt lousy. And I was also stuck. I didn't know exactly what happened next in Heart Change. Well, I had set up X, Y, and Z. Right now it's mostly a fantasy, the plot is all there, so I should concentrate on the romance. Well, they have had their first sizzling kiss, then more plot.
The problem is book time vs. real time. I had this problem in Heart Thief (book 2 with the thief/outcast Ruis Elder and the judge Ailim D'SilverFir), and this is also one of those things I believe might make people think romances aren't believable.
In "real" time, I anticipate Heart Change to take two weeks -- and most people don't think people can really develop a solid relationship in two weeks, especially since the circumstances are only a little out of the ordinary.
In "book time" I think I'm on chapter 10 and I've finished the second day (this is typical for my books). Cratag and Signet have known each other a day and a half. They've kissed, but the romance is progressing slowly, a day and a half, even in book time (100+ ms pages) is too soon to jump into bed with these two characters.
Back to the stuckness. I usually let it stew, and have decided to go with set-up Y, though I hadn't planned on doing that before.
Ah, the tea kettle is whistling, and I hope I made some sense. Book time does not equal real time. By the end of the story, even if it's only a few days, lives must change. In a romance, folks tend to fall in love fast if the real time is only a few days.
Anyway that's my take. May you have a carefree day.
Robin
The problem is book time vs. real time. I had this problem in Heart Thief (book 2 with the thief/outcast Ruis Elder and the judge Ailim D'SilverFir), and this is also one of those things I believe might make people think romances aren't believable.
In "real" time, I anticipate Heart Change to take two weeks -- and most people don't think people can really develop a solid relationship in two weeks, especially since the circumstances are only a little out of the ordinary.
In "book time" I think I'm on chapter 10 and I've finished the second day (this is typical for my books). Cratag and Signet have known each other a day and a half. They've kissed, but the romance is progressing slowly, a day and a half, even in book time (100+ ms pages) is too soon to jump into bed with these two characters.
Back to the stuckness. I usually let it stew, and have decided to go with set-up Y, though I hadn't planned on doing that before.
Ah, the tea kettle is whistling, and I hope I made some sense. Book time does not equal real time. By the end of the story, even if it's only a few days, lives must change. In a romance, folks tend to fall in love fast if the real time is only a few days.
Anyway that's my take. May you have a carefree day.
Robin
posted by FantasyAuthor RobinDOwens | 3:19 AM
3 Comments:
A reader..
You are right book time is different; and with a few words you can make hours, days, weeks etc. pass!!
Looking forward to your next book.
Hope that we'll be lucky to get two heartbooks per year?! Greeeed is goooood... work! work! work!
You might find the definition of Mr. Righ from one of your fellow writers accurate. I know I do, being old and having experienced it as well.
elizabeththornton.com/blog/
Anon. Looks like only one Heart book a year for a while, because I want to write other things, too. It also helps me keep the stories and the world fresh.
Anon. That's a good comment re: Mr. Right, but having never really hearing a click, it's a little vague for me. ;)
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