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There are a lot of keys to re-writing. Some technical — by which I mean how the getting gets done. I could go on about tools and technique, voice and verbiage, punctuation and point-of-view.

But the thing that is hardest to learn, and yet most important, is learning to “know” when something needs re-writed. Re-written, that is. That “feeling” is hard to catch, and harder to learn. Oh, it is easy enough to re-write someone else’s work. But our own work?!?

Hang in there. Get someone else to tell you what is wrong. Then wait for the feeling. The moment they point something out and your gut jumps up and says “Yeah, I knew there was a problem there… Now I’m sure of it,” you know you’ve caught the “feeling.”

That’s just the easy part. Now what you need is practice.

(And so do I.)

Followed, of course, by the writing crash. When nothing works, and all writing seems dry and dull, and you have to force yourself to write two sentences.

If it weren’t for the writing highs, nothing much would get written. The only thing is, it can do weird things to you… Like keep you awake in de center ob de night mulling over what comes next. It is a pretty strong attraction that can get someone (such as myself) out of bed at four in the morning to write for two hours.

I say that with experience.

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Ruritarian. Sound familiar? Good, because it probably isn’t. It wasn’t to me.

I stumbled across this comfortable rural-sounding word while reading an author’s forum. ( holyworlds.org ) My immediate impulse was to jump for joy, but of course I had to settle for posting all in capitals and smileys. The reason for my reaction was simple: I finally had a name to go with the face I’d been looking at for all these years.

In other words, I can now refer to Royalty in Disguise as a Ruritarian novel.

Often medieval in style, and often involving adventure, romance, and intrigue, a Ruritarian novel takes place in our own world, but is not historical in nature. The name originated from Ruritania, a fictional kingdom in the novel Prisoner of Zenda (1894) by Anthony Hope.

I hope you learned something today. I know I did!

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This week only, from the 24th to the 31st, special sale going on!

But there is a catch. You have to know the password (otherwise known as a discount code.)

If you have received this password from me, and wish to take advantage of it, simply run your mouse over the tab “shopping cart” above, and click on the “shop here” in the drop-down.

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Editors put up with (and correct) all manner of atrocious spelling and miserable misuse of punctuation and grammar. I misspelled “forrest” all through Royalty in Disguise, along with “allong” and “messanger.” I even had to add one of my character’s names (Dietrie) to auto-correct.

But the thing I laugh about the most is Jausten’s hair. It used to be green.

It happened like this. I wanted to say that he had yellow hair, but “gold” was too sophisticated. So I came up with what I thought was a great comparison: fresh-cut wood. After all, boards are yellow until they are weathered grey.

“Fresh-cut wood is green!” I was told.

Not exactly, but I was willing to find different words. I tried again. Fresh-cut hay.

I was not thinking of alfalfa. I was thinking of yellow hay. But, in Kansas, all my editors could think of was alfalfa, which is green.

“Jausten’s hair is green!” they told me.

So I was back to the drawing board again, determined that this time Jausten’s hair would be irrevocably yellow.

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I have to confess, I don’t really know what category, or “genre” to put Royalty in Disguise in.

“Fantasy” doesn’t work at all, because fantasy is, well… fantastically full of unreal things. On the other hand, “Fiction” is so broad that it tells you almost nothing.  “Romance” would be a misnomer. “Historical Fiction” equally so.

So, I have to settle for saying to anyone who asks,  “It is an adventure novel set in medieval times.” And if anyone asks me if there is any romance in it, I sweetly reply  “Well, a leeetle bit.”

And even though I don’t know and don’t actually care, I have to wonder… Does anyone know if there is a genre for that?

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Characters are always interesting. They can also be some of the most willful creatures, even though they exist only on paper. The thing with characters is, that they will do what they want to do, and even the writer cannot make them do something that they would never do.

Confusing? You bet! Necessary? Of course. They wouldn’t be real if they weren’t themselves.

For example, in chapter 9, Diantha realizes that going off alone in search of her brother was not the best of things she could have done. She decides to return home and eat humble pie just as she should. Things could have gone well from that point on, except for one thing:  Diantha gets another idea that, though not wiser, will save her face.

So now, as author, I could make her go with her original decision. But that would never do, because Diantha has already made a name for herself with her impulsive behavior. No, I am afraid the only option is to let Diantha throw caution to the winds, and go off on her foolhardy adventure.

… And there is nothing I can do about it until Diantha learns, somehow, through the course of the book, that the best ideas are thought through and carefully weighed.

But that is another topic for another time.