Writing Tips

Many of you have written to ask me to please include writing tips on my website as I did  a couple of years ago.

Okay, you've got it! From now on, and strictly on an unscheduled basis, I'll include some thoughts about writing. I'm not claiming they'll work for you, only that they work for me, but  I'm happy to share them.

And if you'd like to email your thoughts and questions to me, I'll do my best to respond here. And if should want to read some prior tips, just click HERE.

Creating the Alpha Hero

We've discussed who the Alpha hero is, but how do you create him? How do you create a hero who is assertive, not aggressive? Powerful, not overpowering? How can you show that a man is a leader, not a bully?

That last is easy. A man who .takes pleasure in threatening those weaker than he is a bully, but a man who defends a woman against danger is a hero. No difficult to see that difference, is it?

Other differences might be harder to spot. For instance,  your date takes you to a restaurant where he is well known but it's a place you've never been before.  The menu is complex.  The names of many dishes are foreign or unfamiliar. You're confused and he senses it. He smiles and says:

"Would you like me to explain any of the dishes to you? I was baffled myself, the first couple of times I ate here."

Assertive, yes? But he doesn't make you feel incapable. Or that he's taking over. But what if he takes the menu out of your hand and says, "I'll order for you."

Not good? Well, maybe not.  Maybe this means he doesn't think you're capable of handling the situation. On the other hand,  this response can be a charmingly  macho one that makes you feel cherished. So, which is it? The fact is, it can be both. Everything depends on how you write the scene, your choice of words, of adjectives, of what you tell your reader through offering the POV of your characters.

The one area in which I've seen unpublished writers (and even published ones) run into trouble is in the bedroom. Writing a sexy love scene in which a man leads a woman through a slow dance of seduction or tumbles with her into quick, overwhelming passion can be tricky. Sexual pleasure is all about equality but there are definitely times you'll want your hero to make the first romantic move, the first sexy move---but only with the heroine's obvious consent. I don't mean that he should ask her if this and this and that and that are okay; I do mean that it's up to you to make it clear to the reader that your heroine is willing and eager to meet his desire with corresponding desire of her own.

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