Kahlan's Fantasy & Paranormal Romance: IWSG

Showing posts with label IWSG. Show all posts

Wednesday, 2 October 2019

If You Read Regularly, Does it Make You a Better Writer? #IWSG #WritersLife

It's been said that the benefits of becoming a writer who does not read is that all your ideas are new and original. Everything you do is an extension of yourself, instead of a mixture of you and another author. On the other hand, how can you expect other people to want your writing, if you don't enjoy reading? What are your thoughts?

I didn't start out as a romance writer. Under my real name, I write dark speculative fiction. Writing romance is something that has intrigued me, though, so I wanted to give it a try. At first, I tried scifi romance, but that wasn't working out for me. I'm not really a scifi writer (even though I tend to have futuristic settings with advanced technology in my fantasy stories). So I figured, since I mainly write fantasy, why not go that route with my romance?

The thing is, since I've never written romance, and I don't often read it, I wasn't sure how to write it. I tried looking up articles on writing romance, but I found their advice to be too generic and didn't really fit my personality. If I'm going to attempt romance, I'm going to approach it like I did my dark fantasy stories. I'm going to try to be as unique as I can be and write the stories as I enjoy reading them.

Of course, I still needed to know what readers expect from fantasy and paranormal romance, so I did the next best thing. I've started reading some of the bestselling fantasy and paranormal romances on Amazon. I've been trying to stick with indie authors since they attract a different reader in most cases.

Reading these stories has given me a great insight into how I can write my own stories so that others would enjoy them, so I would have to say that being a reader is extremely important for writers and can definitely make you a better writer. You can still be original and unique in your writing and writing style, while learning the techniques that have worked for other writers.

What is IWSG?

It's a great way to connect with other writers!

The purpose of IWSG is to provide a way for writers to express doubts and concerns without fear of appearing foolish or weak. On the first Wednesday of every month, you can post about your thoughts, doubts and fears, discuss your struggles and triumphs, and encourage other who are struggling.

Visit the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website to get started!

Don't forget to visit this month's co-hosts and offer your support!

Ronel Janse van Vuuren

Mary Aalgaard

Madeline Mora-Summonte

Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor

Wednesday, 7 August 2019

#IWSG Why I Write #Paranormal #Romance & Book Feature

Has your writing ever taken you by surprise?

What surprised me was my decision to try my hand at fantasy and paranormal romance. I always knew that I'd eventually want to try other genres, but I when I first started writing, romance was the last thing I'd ever imagined myself writing. I was never big on romance, even in my own relationships.

So why write it?

Part of it is because romance seems to happen naturally in my stories anyway even though I don't plan it that way. When I start a story, I start with the main characters, and they come to life within the story and practically write it themselves.

Even though the romance wasn't a big part of the story, my readers seemed to love it. So it got me thinking, maybe I could give romance a shot and see how I do.

Even though the romance will be more prevalent in my stories under this pen name, I still want there to be a bigger story that has nothing to do with the romance. More to the point, I want the plot to be centered around something outside of the romance, even though the romance might come about because of it (if that makes sense).

I've been reading a lot of paranormal romances lately to get a feel for them, and I really believe I'm up to the task. Although, I'm not sure I'll be using a lot of the terminology commonly found in romances, for two reasons:

Most of the time it comes across very cheesy and makes me cringe.
It's so overdone, to the point that it takes me out of the story trying to figure out how it could have been worded better (in other words, it turns on my inner editor).

Is there a genre you want to try that you would have never considered before? What is it?

Sacrificed to the Beast

by Jessa Kane

Someone has been terrorizing my small town—a huge, horrifying beast, to be exact. He won’t stop rampaging until the villagers sacrifice an innocent. Lucky me! I’m the chosen one. I’ve been tied to a tree in a wedding dress and left as an offering to the cruel ruler of the hills. But once the beast approaches, I glimpse the lonely human beneath the wild hair and mountainous body. Yes, he’s very much a man…a man who will stop at nothing to claim me as his mate.

Get it today on Amazon!

What is IWSG?

It's a great way to connect with other writers!

Visit the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website to get started!

Don't forget to visit this month's co-hosts and offer your support!

Wednesday, 3 July 2019

#IWSG Getting a Feel for #Paranormal #Romance

I have been reading a lot of paranormal romance books recently, and I'm finding a lot of my ideas are nothing like what I'm reading. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

I know it's good to have unique ideas, but I also know that people like to read certain things and my ideas might not fit with this. Of course, it could also be that other authors writing in this genre have fallen so deeply into the current trend that they haven't bothered writing anything else.

It's hard to tell.

What do you think? Do you think it's okay to break from current trends and do something different, or have you found that it tends to turn people off?

What is IWSG?

It's a great way to connect with other writers!

Visit the Insecure Writer’s Support Group Website to get started!

Don't forget to visit this month's co-hosts and offer your support!

Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor

Wednesday, 5 June 2019

#IWSG My Favorite Genre?

Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?

Well, technically, fantasy is my favorite genre to read and write, but I do enjoy some paranormal romances. My problem is I have a hard time finding paranormal romances that I enjoy reading. I'm not really into the "damsel in distress falls in love with her captor within minutes of him taking her from her family and friends" stories. I love strong female characters. I love a romance that takes a long time to develop. I love stories that don't put so much emphasis on a male's nether regions and how big they are or his perfectly chiseled face, and powerful physique.

It seems so many of the paranormal romances I find copy and paste the descriptive terminology from other books.

I want something fresh and different. Something that focuses on the development of a relationship rather than the end result (sex). I want something realistic in the sense that it leaves out the love at first sight aspects, especially in situations of abduction (sorry, it just doesn't happen like that and as soon as it does in a story, I can't keep reading no matter how much I was enjoying the story before that.

So, I've decided if I can't find the stories I like to read in this particular genre, maybe I should start writing them.

I've just gotten started, but it's been an adventure so far (especially considering I normally write dark fantasy. Although, I have to say some of that darkness is carrying over here, but the focus is still on the development of the relationship (as well as having a good story outside of the romance).

Do you read fantasy and/or paranormal romance? What do you like and not like about what you read?