Conversations concluded...
I thought I'd throw together the last couple of emails into one post. I hope you enjoyed our conversations. For more information on Diana's books, please visit her websites at http://www.dianagroe.com or http://www.emilybryan.com.***
I love that you were passing Distracting the Duchess around your meeting. That's totally something I'd do. and it sounds like the kind of trouble I'd cause.
You make a good point. We don't want the humor so distracting, that the reader loses sight of the story. It's a gentle balance, because you want the reader to keep reading. You want the book to be engaging, but running gags aren't enough. I think that's why I try to balance the physical humor with the conversational. The humor needs to reveal something about your characters. This is especially important to me during my more revealing scenes. Just last night I wrote a the scene where my hero goes to visit the heroine for the first time since he's realized she's in his town. He's confronted by her best friend, who has no intention of letting him see her friend. This could have come across as a very intense scene, but if I had, I would have lost the heart of these characters. The feel deeply, but they cover a lot of that emotion with their wit. I had to start and restart the scene several times to get just the right feel for it all.
Did you find it difficult moving from the more emotional historicals you've been writing, to the more lighthearted Emily books? I'd imagine it would be a bit like having a split personality.
Hugs, E.
***
Re: switching from dark, angsty drama to light-hearted romps. Oh, yeah, it was a stretch, but there's light and dark in everyone. It was just a matter of letting one side of my personality out a bit more. The hardest part has been getting used to having two names. I have yet to answer to Emily, but it'll come.
Part of why comedy is so hard is that so often things are only funny because they happen naturally. There's nothing natural about writing comedy, but you have to make it seem as if the joke happens without effort. So setting up the comedic premise is important. My stories have to live in a place where funny things can happen almost inevitably.
But I do have to watch myself or I'll let things get serious. Part of that has to do with the fact that my books are love stories first and foremost and loving someone is about as serious as life gets. Plus, I love to add adventure to my tales. Even though life is mixed portions of comedy and drama, we expect fiction to be more one thing than another. I start my stories with the promise of laughs. Part of my job is to make sure I don't give my readers whiplash later, but I do sneak in some adventure and a few somber moments just to make it real.
Writing my Emily Bryan stories has been great fun. Hopefully, the joy I feel at the keyboard will transfer to my readers.
-Diana
Labels: geeky fun, writers aren't crazy, writing
posted by Erin @ 7:09 PM
2 Comments:
Erin, I've had a ball visiting with you. Hope your readers enjoyed it as well. Will I see you at the RT Convention or Nationals?
Cyber-hugs,
Em
I'll be at Nationals, but not RT. Can't wait to see you there!
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