On why I write romance novels
Why do I write romance novels? Why do I write love stories that make you laugh and leave a smile on your face? Because I reject the reality fed to us by the mainstream media and substitute my own. I used to consume the news many times a day. I would wake up in the morning and check online for what had happened whilst I slept. I would listen on the radio in the car whilst driving, and then watch it later on the television.
On plotting vs pantsing
In the writing world, people often like to describe themselves as a ‘planner’ or a ‘pantser’. Are you someone who carefully plots their stories, writes pages of notes about the backstory of their characters, and only writes the first word when you know how each scene will play out? Or are you a pantser, the kind of person who wakes up from an awesome dream about a dinosaur having sex with a werewolf in space and decides to write about it, without any clue as to how or when it will end?
What Evie read next
The next top picks from my kindle library are a crazy billionaire romance with a meet cute in a men’s bathroom, a steamy drama set in a Sonoma county winery, and a fake romance novel set in Manchester. The books were either recommended to me by authors, or found by my eternal quest to find writers like me.
On finding the right word
Often when I write, I find it very difficult to find the right words to describe how a character is feeling, or how an environment should be described. I see it in my head and feel it in my body, but it’s like trying to find a word to describe it that doesn’t exist in the English language.
On editing
Once I have an idea, and the bit between my teeth, getting words on the page is often easy. They aren’t necessarily the right words or even in the right order, but they are there. Writing too many words is a far better place to be than not writing enough, as cutting your work down creates a better draft. Having to add fluff just to up a word count is rarely going to end well.
On writing to market and finding your audience
I read a lot about the phrase ‘writing to market’ in the author community. The idea is to identify a reader group, for example people who want sweet and clean Billionaire romances, or YA (young adult) urban fantasies, and then write books targeting those markets. It makes business sense - find the market and then supply them with the product they demand.
What Evie is reading
Here are the current top picks from my kindle library. A gentle British romance set amongst the upper classes, a steamy gangster love story set in East LA, and a ‘enemies to lovers’ novel set in a publishing company in Australia. All three books were fabulous reads, and all were recommended to me by my editor or other authors. I absolutely loved them and hope you do too
On how to be a writer
If you want to write then just do it. You don’t need an English literature degree or a diploma in creative writing. There are many professional writers who have never taken a writing course in their life. Many flunked school or never had any support. Anna Todd started writing on her phone in the checkout queue at a supermarket. She was a 24 year old new mum, and worked to bring money by babysitting and working at a beauty counter. She’s now a millionaire.
On first drafts
It always makes me chuckle when a writer posts a photo of their computer screen showing the words ‘The End’ at the end of their manuscript, proclaiming that they have just finished writing their book. Yet this for most writers is only the beginning. The first draft is not the final one.
On my love of books
Books for me have been my refuge, my treat, my escape. I devour them insatiably like a never ending supply of calorie free chocolate.
