I read this acronym on Jackie Ashenden's blog and loved it, so I have stolen it, made it mine and it now lives on a post-it above my computer screen. Keep It Simple Stupid. It is right up there with my post-it that reads "Tension on EVERY page."
How hard do we make this for ourselves. I have been following Jackie's blog, Lucy Kings blog and several others and it seems that we all seem to be suffering from the same fate. Blackmail, intrigue, reality television shows, intricate plots and our heroes and heroines are left flailing trying to keep up. So I have decided to KISS.
The twins...gone. The reality TV show...in the trash can. All the smokescreens I had erected are gone. I now have one hero (totally Alpha and totally tooooo sexy for words...although a few do spring to mind) and one heroine and a simple plot that they can twist and turn as suits their needs. Because, as it happens, that is who we are interested in, is it not. The hero and the heroine.And their journey.
PS: I did keep the trashed mansion though, and have thrown in a British bulldog for good measure. What can I say, old habits die hard.
Cover Joy for The CEO's Impossible Heir...
2 years ago
Yep, am definitely a fan of the KISS principle. I have quite enough going on in my ms as it is. 50000 words simply isn't long enough for all the stuff I was throwing at my characters, and my villain/blackmail subplot just had to go! The flamingo stays :)
ReplyDeleteI love the sound of a trashed mansion and really hope your book lands up in print so I can get the full story!
ReplyDeleteYay Felicity! Kisses all round!! It's silly, I knew this for months and STILL I kept making mistakes. It's as you say, the decisions and actions the hero and heroine make twist the plot, not all this other stuff (unless you're writing suspense or something!).
ReplyDeleteOh, and if you want to know about synopsis writing, I've just been through an intense, self-inflicted workshop!
Jackie, love to know more about synopsis writing. Send me whatever you have and ditto Romy, I hope this one ends up in print. And yes, I agree Lucy, get rid of all the other smokescreen and mirrors, but the flamingo must stay.
ReplyDeleteWow sounds like your trash can got a work out! I'm so thrilled for you it's not easy to delete all that work but it sounds like it's going to be all the more fabulous for it!
ReplyDelete