Getting Hooked to RWA

Ah…

Have you ever gone to a writers’ group?

If you haven’t yet you really should check one out sometime.

I’m pumped. My word count for the week is around 2k. This is kind of low with NaNo looming around the corner but then again it really isn’t half bad.

Why am I so pumped?

Today I attended my second RWA chapter group. They meet at the Baker Free Library in Bow, NH. I really like these gals, they are so much fun. In fact I never really realized how fun it could be to write a romance until now.

We had a guest speaker too, one of the things I like about attending writing meetings.

Today’s guest was Shannon Stacey.

She is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author from New Hampshire who is published with Carina Press and Harlequin. Her presentation was on Infusing Your Romance with Humor.

What a great topic…

How many times do you try to write with a little bit of wit? I know I try to add at least a small amount of wit in my works. Even Friends of Choice had a smidgen of wit when I wrote the scene where Karla had her old friends sleep over at her new home. I just can’t leave a dark read totally dark, if you know what I’m saying.

She said one of the best things for finding the humor in your writing is by shutting off the internal editor. One of her examples about this was how she accidently came up with the “magic penis” in her book Yours to Keep. Shannon said it was late at night when she was working on this scene and it never occurred to her until she went to edit the story. She almost cut this part out of the story but her editor loved it along with all her readers.

We had a blast listening to all the examples she gave us in how she used humor in her stories and warned about forcing, or trying too hard to make your story funny. She said just write and wait to see where all the pieces fall and try to keep it natural as possible.

You can learn more about Shannon Stacey by visiting her website: www.ShannonStacey.com

Another part of our meeting, a part that I like most besides the speakers is the challenges. One of the members comes up with monthly challenges for us. I guess last month was clean up your office and organize it as best as you can. I didn’t take part in this challenge. I must not have been thinking about how hooked I was to this Chapter Group.

This month’s challenge, created by Lisa, is called bichokwed. This stands for… you got it… butt in chair – hands on keyboard – write every day.

I’m going to do this one. NaNo is right around the corner and I really need to get this manuscript done. I will be happy with even having the first draft done by November.

I’ll even set the draft aside and edit it after NaNo if I have too. I want to get to work on the next book in the Orgarlan Saga for NaNo, or at least start it.

So if any of you want to take part in the bichokwed with me we can use the hashtag #bichokwed on twitter and you are welcome to share my little BICHOKWED logo for you blog if you would like.

I’m just piling the challenges up. ROW80 will go hand in hand with bichokwed this month. Maybe I finally find my discipline I have been shooting for.