Writing Lab: improve your writing with Lissa Bryan and Jmolly

Lissa Bryan's and Jmolly's lessons for the Writing Lab have been very appreciated. These lovely writers are back to give us more ideas to discuss. Let's talk about...

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What Can You Do to Improve Your Stories -- and How Can You Become Aware of it.

By Lissa Bryan

Question: You write a lot and very quickly. How do you deal with reflections and insight?

Lissa's answer: I do produce quickly, but the actual "writing" of the story takes much longer. The stories have been "written" in my head, sometimes re-written a few times, before I ever sit down at a keyboard. I've had a long time to mull over the characters and their motivations, and the way they'll change and grow over the course of the story.

*.*
Q.: What would you like to improve in your writing?

A.: I would like to improve my lemon writing, first and foremost. I'm terrible at it. How do I recognize this weakness? Because I sit and stare at the screen for hours trying to write a one-paragraph love scene. I think the closest I ever came to a good fanfic-style lemon is Alice and Edward's first time together in "Sacred to the Memory."

They're the one part of my stories that aren't written ahead of time. Unless it's central to the plot, I usually gloss over them when I'm writing the stories in my head.

I guess what advice I would impart to fellow writers is that if you're not enjoying writing it, it's likely your readers aren't going to enjoy reading it, so you have to find a way around it that feels comfortable to you. For me, focusing on the emotions and pleasure is easier to write than graphic "insert tab A into slot B" descriptions.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Thank you, Lissa Bryan!

Lemons (and especially good lemons) are difficult to write, indeed. Jmolly has prepared a great tutorial. Don't miss it!

So You Want to Write a Lemon, by Jmolly.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

What would you like to improve in your writing?
As usual, your comments are welcome.

Lissa's stories: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/3300533/Lissa_Bryan
JMolly's stories: http://www.fanfiction.net/u/2058077/jmolly