Help for an Underwriter?

janeofalltrades

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And I don't mean loans...

I set out to make my first romance novel 50k words, the minimum for the genre. The first draft was 42k. I've just finished the 4th draft and I'm up to 44k. I really wanted to market this as a novel and not a novella. Do you have any tricks you've used to make your novel longer? And how did you convince yourself it was needed? Right now the only additional scenes I can come up with are A) FMC runs into MMC's ex-wife, and tells her off, or B) MMC goes to pay respects to FMC's late husbands grave. Perhaps also a epilogue.
 
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lonestarlibrarian

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Is it possible to work in a subplot, rather than increasing the number of scenes? I know that romance novels have their own rules and expectations, so you can't go too far into the weeds, but is there a complication that you can add into the mix that your readers would find genre-acceptable?
 

LJD

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tbh, it's hard to tell without reading it.

What are your goals for the book? If this is adult romance and you want a print deal, 50k is only really long enough for the Harlequin category lines. I self-publish romance in about the 60k range...it depends exactly what you want for this story. Personally, I do find 40-45k the most awkward range for a romance, because it tends to get called both a novel or a novella. (This is how long my first self-published book was. I consider anything more than 40k a novel, but some people called my book a novella.) But possibly your book works just fine for your storyline at this length, and if you are focused on e-books, maybe not a big deal.

Adding a subplot is one option. Also, I really like Gwen Hayes's Romancing the Beat for structuring a romance. It's the only writing craft book that I truly find useful, and it's a quick read. You might take a look at it and see if you've gotten all the beats, or if there's one or more you could flesh out: http://www.amazon.com/dp/1530838614

Are your hero and heroine together in a lot of scenes? Romance readers like to see the MCs interacting...
 

Sonya Heaney

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Have you had anyone else look at it? I'm an underwriter, and with every book so far my editors have helped me add several thousand words. One of my editors is a genius at coming up with suggestions for scenes that expand on the main issues in the story.

Do you have scenes where you could go deeper and explore your characters a little bit more? I'm always terrified I'm boring people and so tend to write a lot of short scenes that I expand on later.

I'd definitely find a beta reader or two.

Also, are you aiming to publish this with Harlequin/Mills and Boon? (50K is around the length of many of their books.) If that's your goal they have very specific requirements that differ from other publishers. Their So You Think You Can Write site is a huge help, and they have a Facebook group you can request to join, where thousands of published and aspiring writers share hints and tips and critique other people's work. Both sites are actually good resources for aspiring romance writers, whether you're targeting them or not.

Perhaps also a prologue.

ETA: I'd only add a prologue if you think your story would be better for it. Prologues are losing popularity with readers and editors, and people tend to only like them if that backstory can't be woven into the main body of the book.
 
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janeofalltrades

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Is it possible to work in a subplot, rather than increasing the number of scenes?

I have a sub plot that could be fleshed out more, but that involves introducing background characters that I wasn't planning on introducing. There's already a lot of people to manage.
 

janeofalltrades

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I sent it to a friend to beta read, I have not hired an editor yet. If you have a recommendation I would be interested in a PM!

My plan is to self-publish (I did check out Harlequin and it doesn't fit their guidelines. At all.)


ETA: I'd only add a prologue if you think your story would be better for it. Prologues are losing popularity with readers and editors, and people tend to only like them if that backstory can't be woven into the main body of the book.
I meant Epilogue. Not Prologue. :gone: This is what I get for posting past my bedtime.
 

janeofalltrades

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I'm predicting mostly e-book sales, but I did want people to have a print option.

Thanks so much for the book recommendation! And yes they're in quite a few scenes together.
 

Girlsgottawrite

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I don't write in your genre, so take this with a grain of salt. I am a super underwriter my last book started out being 40K (fantasy - not good). What I did was look at that as a very detailed outline then went back through and looked for places where I could expand scenes (I have a tendency to rush through the first time around) and add foreshadowing. The foreshadowing really improved my book and increased my word count significantly. For example, at one point in my book, a character has to decide whether to overdose a girl whose dying and in pain, so I went back and wrote in two scenes about her dealing with a similar scenario with her horse. Hope that helps!
 
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FletcherHavarti

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I set out to make my first romance novel 50k words, the minimum for the genre. The first draft was 42k. I've just finished the 4th draft and I'm up to 44k. I really wanted to market this as a novel and not a novella. Do you have any tricks you've used to make your novel longer? And how did you convince yourself it was needed? Right now the only additional scenes I can come up with are A) FMC runs into MMC's ex-wife, and tells her off, or B) MMC goes to pay respects to FMC's late husbands grave. Perhaps also a prologue.

I'm thinking that adding a subplot or filler scenes could distract from the story you're trying to tell. Are there any points in the novel where you could throw a wrench into the works: put a new obstacle in front of your protagonist that he or she has to work through? I don't have the under-writing problem; my issue is exactly the opposite -- but what usually makes my novels longer is the fact that I'm always tossing in little (or massive) new problems for my characters to sort out. Usually I have no idea, at the outset, how they will overcome these obstacles. How could things possibly go wrong next? Just as it appears that the happy couple will finally get together...
 

janeofalltrades

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I have done that a few times. He asked her to dinner, a friend overheard and invited the whole group along. He finally got to kiss her, his assistant called. She finally is ready to try a relationship, then she has a nightmare where he dies, so she chickens out and won't talk to him. I can go through the toolbox and see if I can find another wrench...
 

FletcherHavarti

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I have done that a few times. He asked her to dinner, a friend overheard and invited the whole group along. He finally got to kiss her, his assistant called. She finally is ready to try a relationship, then she has a nightmare where he dies, so she chickens out and won't talk to him. I can go through the toolbox and see if I can find another wrench...

Sounds like you're already thinking along the same lines, then. :)

Since you mentioned you will self-publish, you're the boss and can put it out there with whatever word count works for the story. Maybe this one just wants to be short. I think you can still call it a novel at 44k.
 

TrapperViper

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I'm no expert, but it seems to me that you're problem is indicative of your talent. My understanding is that a recurring issue with novice authors and draft manuscripts is that they are overwritten and often contain far too much telly exposition and drawn out dialogue. If your writing is concise and progressive I'd say you have a pretty good foundation.

I'd take a look at the obligatory scenes of your genre and make sure that you have them all. Perhaps there are some regularly occurring scenes in the romance drama that you have yet to incorporate into your MS.

I look forward to reading your work if you decide to post in SYW.
 

janeofalltrades

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Aw shucks. I do have a lot of practice, I had to write papers for every class in grad school.

I'll definitely check that romance writers book posted above and see if I'm missing anything.
 
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neandermagnon

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And I don't mean loans...

That's my day job... :greenie I always find it hilarious when "underwriter" is used in this way, seeing as when I write fiction I tend to write too much and have to trim it down... does that make me an overwriter underwriter LOL?



There aren't any tricks for making a novel longer. You can add in a sub plot or make more things happen before your main plot is resolved. If the problem is that there's not enough detail in each scene then a rewrite can add a significant amount of words, but where that isn't the issue, then you're going to need to add something substantial. Just padding a story out with fluff, unnecessary details, scenes that don't add anything, etc will slow the pacing and make it boring.

But as mentioned, it might be fine to just leave it the length it is. I don't know your genre specifically, but for me, in the genres that I read, I don't particularly care about the story's length if it's a good story that feels complete.
 

LJD

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I'm predicting mostly e-book sales, but I did want people to have a print option.

If you're self-publishing, it's not such a big deal. You can have a POD (print-on-demand) version of any length; I have one for my 45k novel. I think print books are 4-5% of my self-publishing income, and it's fairly typical in romance for 90%+ of sales to be e-books for self-published authors.

I was more concerned that if you were selling it to a publisher that does print books, they're likely looking for longer books.
 

LJD

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I'm no expert, but it seems to me that you're problem is indicative of your talent. My understanding is that a recurring issue with novice authors and draft manuscripts is that they are overwritten and often contain far too much telly exposition and drawn out dialogue. If your writing is concise and progressive I'd say you have a pretty good foundation.

eh, I don't know. I think it really depends on the writer, etc. When I started writing contemporary romance, I wrote exclusively novellas in the 20-35k range. Part of the reason for this was that I couldn't even conceive of how I'd get enough plot for a novel-length romance without it seeming forced or without getting completely lost as I wrote. It was only later that I started writing novels.
 

janeofalltrades

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It was only later that I started writing novels.
Part of the conflict involves distance - my MCs live on opposite ends of the country. So when they do get together, they don't have much time to decide if they want to try this. It might be this one is just going to be a bit short. It is my first attempt at an actual romance.