Romancing the Novel

As a writer of romance novels, one of my favorite movies is Romancing the Stone, which I saw as a budding writer. The movie starred Kathleen Turner, Michael Douglas and Danny DeVito. It was a great romp and I still go back and watch it every couple years. Turner's character Joan Wilder struck a chord with the writer in me. Writing novels is a lonely business with paydays few and far between for those of us not lucky or talented enough to produce a best seller.


Joan Wilder writes over-the-top romance novels with macho heroes, perhaps like hero of her own personal romance. As the movie opens she is narrating the final scene as it plays out on the big screen. When it ends, Joan Wilder is sobbing at how good it turned out, and perhaps because the ride her imagination took her on was over. Joan is sitting at her typewriter in her plaid flannel night shirt. She reaches for a tissue; the box is empty. She goes to the bathroom, but there is no toilet paper then to the bulletin board and finds a note to buy tissues and uses it to blow her nose.


I laugh every time I see it and think that is so me. When you are really into the story and the characters, the writing can take over your life. Whether you admit it or not, you put a part of yourself in every character---part you, part fantasy, and part fabrication. Even when you base a character on someone else, you are the one putting words in their mouth or thoughts in their heads.


Sometimes when the writing is going well, I feel like the characters and the story take control of me. I write late into the night and get up in the morning and start writing again. I eat at my computer typing between bites as the novel romances me through the pages on the screen. I have not been the best company when I become so immersed in my stories; so from the first time I saw Romancing the Stone, I understood Joan Wilder.


One source suggested that to write a good novel, one should open a vein and bleed. Well, that would just make a mess. A better suggestion would be to open your mind and let your imagination take flight. Whether your story is based in fact or fantasy, the words come from inside you.

Copyright © 2016 by Christine Myers