short don’t mean easy

Author Jo Leigh recently sent me a copy of her new Novella, “Time After Time,” which appears in the collection, Perfect Timing. While reading it, the following things occurred to me:

1) Why aren’t there more World War II-set historical romances out there? Wowsa, that’s an era with serious romantic potential. All those brave, desperate, good-hearted men, all those courageous, patient, hard-working women, all those uniforms, all those fashions, all that great music, all that good-vs.-evil stuff going on… Leigh made me cry thinking about everything that her hero, John, had been through.

2) A good romantic novella is a hard thing to write!

There was a time when I went through a lot of novellas. They were quick reads and stories in manageable chunks have always appealed to me. But novellas, especially romantic novellas, in which a writer has the responsibility of cramming a believable love story into a short amount of space — well, that’s a tough one. I’ve read a lot that just don’t work — where I don’t get that romantic “awww” moment where I truly believe that the couple was meant to be together and MUST figure out a way to be together against all odds!

I’ve been lucky enough to read some really fabulous novellas this year. Aside from “Time After Time” I’ve also read “The Disciplinarian,” which is Leigh Court’s debut in Red Sage’s Secrets Volume 15. Talk about your gut punch moments. The black moment in that story was appallingly romantic. One of those things where you sit up in bed, hand clutched to your heart, wondering how ever are they going to make this work?

Aside from having a drop-dead cover (::cough, cough::) Volume 15 might be one of the strongest collections Secrets has ever put out. “Simon Says” by Jane Thompson is even a RITA finalist this year, and you RWA readers know how rare it is for anything erotic to be up for a RITA. And from a small press, too! I am rooting SO HARD for Red Sage and Jane Thompson to win this year. And I’m so excited that I will be, in some form, up on the screen that night. Anyway, go read that collection if you haven’t already. It’s amazing.

Also this year, I read Sylvia Day’s collection, Bad Boys Ahoy. My favorite story of those was “Lucien’s Gamble,” about a gentlemen’s club owner (in the fine Derek Craven tradition) and the noble lady he falls for. One of my favorite “keeper” romances of all time is the Loretta Chase novella “The Mad Earl’s Bride” in the Kathleen Woodiwiss-helmed Three Weddings and a Kiss. (The early Lisa Kleypas in there is a good one too.)

Novellas are a popular way for romance publishers to introduce new writers. I’ve noticed that Berkley does this a lot — if a writer is coming our with a new paranormal series, they stick ’em in an anthology with one of their biggies in order to introduce the world. A lot of the Berkley “novellas” are actually the first few chapters of a writer’s book. And many a writer has seen their name on the bestseller list when they are included in antho with a star. Kensington Brava, of course, has made its name with novellas. Kate Duffy says she likes to start her writers off in there. (I think it was Rachel who said yesterday that one of her life goals is to be in an antho.)

A lot of my favorite anthology stories feature characters who already know each other. It makes the romance that much easier to compress if you can figure the characters are already half in love (or even all the way in love). If not a prior connection, then at least put them in the kind of life-and-death circumstances that force a swift intimacy. I tried to write a romantic novella once. I was very proud of it, and it got some great responses (one Harlequin author called dibs on being in an anthology with me once I was published there) but I had a tough time making the romance work in the end.

(It’s the romance part of romance writing that usually trips me up. Anyone who tells you writing romance is easy is lying through their rotten teeth.)

In general, I think writing short is infinitely more difficult than writing long. Voltaire once said, “I’m writing you a long letter because I don’t have time to write a short one.” Every word, every line, every scene has to count for so much more. You don’t have time for tangents or mistakes.

This is a lot on my mind right now as I try to keep my current book within the established length. I just wrote a scene the point of which, looking back, doesn’t seem particularly worthy of the six pages I devoted to it. Two pages, maybe. But if you’re going to spend six pages on something, it should be something more important. And, once again, it’s the romance tripping me up. 😉