Writing for Harlequin Mills & Boon

SlopingBird

skylight wrote: »

I'm glad someone is!!

Its driving me potty - I wake up at night scribbling an idea or lay in bed in the morning thinking of dialogue. I was so late up yesterday morning the kids weren't in school until 9.45am.

And I'm not sure my enthusiasm is reflected in the quality being produced. But I am enjoying it for what it is.

Enthusiasm is essential and always shines through, believe me. I'm sure your children weren't too concerned about having a lie-in either.

I visited New Voices again at lunchtime and I'm so impressed with the high standard of most entries. Romantic fiction is such a competitive market though and as such, is very hard to break into. It would be brilliant if even one of Martin's scribes manages to get through to the last 20!

On a similar but slightly different subject, if anyone is interested in writing for television Channel 4 is running a great competition at the moment (deadline November 1st).

Check it out at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/writersroom/opportunity/4screenwriting_2011.shtml

That's my next challenge, and then I'm going to finish the first three chapters of my Mills and Boon and submit it in the usual way.

Keep writing everyone. We'll get there in the end!

Jei-jei

Thanks for this SlopingBird. I have no idea about scriptwriting but I'm certainly willing to do some research and give it a go.

You are right about the competition in NV. It really is blazing. I think my personal favourite just came in today. Although there's no way to get to read them all. I try to look at as many as I can but it's difficult. I've certainly got far more than twenty in my favourites list. Don't envy the judges their job at all.

LuckyLucy11

I went to a writing group yesterday, it's Christian based and has roughly 9 members some who've never missed a day since it started 7 years ago. They're older people, the youngest is in his late 30's. They mainly write poems and self-publish to raise money for a number of charities.

They were very welcoming and went around the table introducing themselves then read out their work, I said I'm hoping to write for Mills & Boon, the group leader Jack made it clear they don't accept work with swearing or racy scenes. They're mainly a poetry group but one read out 6 double sides about God, one read two pages about a house she one lived in. The rest stuck to poetry of good standard and the woman beside me who said she was homeless read out a poem about the twin towers which almost made me cry.

I had a folder of about 14 first chapers of stories and declined reading them out but offered to illustrate for another womans childrens book which is just waiting for a few illustrations before going ahead for publishing.

It's worked in the sense of making me twice as focussed today. The leader said he would bring me a list of other local writers groups next week.

SlopingBird

Jei-jei wrote: »

Thanks for this SlopingBird. I have no idea about scriptwriting but I'm certainly willing to do some research and give it a go.

You are right about the competition in NV. It really is blazing. I think my personal favourite just came in today. Although there's no way to get to read them all. I try to look at as many as I can but it's difficult. I've certainly got far more than twenty in my favourites list. Don't envy the judges their job at all.

There's loads of useful information on the BBC Writers Room site and they also publish some great scripts. Hattie was one I really enjoyed and the two episodes of Accused. It's very different from M & B - far less description but more structure.

Good luck.

Jei-jei

Well I made the mistake of voting for someone below me which unfortunately put her on page one.

She went from 61% to 65%. I say unfortunately because when I clicked 'refresh' immediately after - there she was with 59%!!!!

I can't help feeling I should have left her alone.

That's the last vote I'm giving. It's obvious some entries are being targeted. I've given up trying to find a couple of my favourites by page. Have to index the ones I want to read again.

Didn't realise this competition was going to be so much fun!

Gazing_On_Sunsets

I go to my local writers' group when I have time - it is useful to make me sit and write. However like yours, of the 5 members, one edits the parish magazine, another is a mormon - I have not told them I proofread erotica, and I don't think I'll let them know about the lesbian ebook I wrote either... They are lovely people and I don't want to embarrass them!

LuckyLucy11 wrote: »

I went to a writing group yesterday, it's Christian based and has roughly 9 members some who've never missed a day since it started 7 years ago. They're older people, the youngest is in his late 30's. They mainly write poems and self-publish to raise money for a number of charities.

They were very welcoming and went around the table introducing themselves then read out their work, I said I'm hoping to write for Mills & Boon, the group leader Jack made it clear they don't accept work with swearing or racy scenes. They're mainly a poetry group but one read out 6 double sides about God, one read two pages about a house she one lived in. The rest stuck to poetry of good standard and the woman beside me who said she was homeless read out a poem about the twin towers which almost made me cry.

I had a folder of about 14 first chapers of stories and declined reading them out but offered to illustrate for another womans childrens book which is just waiting for a few illustrations before going ahead for publishing.

It's worked in the sense of making me twice as focussed today. The leader said he would bring me a list of other local writers groups next week.

Anglea

I have to laugh at the comments about being embarassed about telling people what you normally write.

I remember the time I showed some friends the opening chapter of a psychological crime thriller and they said it was really good, however, they seemed to have a real problem with the fact that I was coming up with all these ideas, and one friend even suggested I must be mentally ill

And this was a girl that read all the latest horror and crime novels and never seemed to think the authors were insane, but just because I wrote something like that, I must be ill. Not very logical.

I also remember the time I read one of them a romantic story, again got a strange response. Perhaps friends don't like to think of us writing sex or crime for some reason?

Likestowrite

offered to illustrate for another womans childrens book which is just waiting for a few illustrations before going ahead for publishing.

That sounds very exciting. What type of illustrations do you do?

LuckyLucy11

Well I don't do them professionally but I am good at drawing, much better than I am at writing so I thought I'd draw a few according to her specs and see what she made of them. I'll let you know how it goes.

Jei-jei

Well welly well well! That was fun over on New Voices...

I didn't realise it was going to be so volatile when the results came out. What could the poor judges do? Subjectivity plus marketability was ever going to be a factor.

I received some really lovely comments from Nikky Logan and learnt that people thought I could write - which TBH is all I ever went in for: opinion. Even the critiques were exactly the same ones I'd already pondered so it made me feel I was going in the right direction.

My sub to M&B before the competition was more along their marketing criteria (in my op.) than my entry so I'm hoping to get some positive critique back from them. Fingers crossed. Don't think as a newbie you can ask for much more than that.

A couple of pretty nasty comments were made about some of those selected. Not nice at all. Almost frightened to look at the comments for the Chapter Twos.

Anyone else here follow the comp?