Jane Godman & Finding Writing Inspiration

Please welcome the lovely Jane Godman back to the blog today!
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Inspiration can strike at the strangest times, just as it can dry up when we least expect it to. Here are some of the things that I’ve found over the years to fire up my ideas:   

1. Read a variety of books

Stephen King once wrote, “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.” The links between reading and writing are well known.

Within the pages of books other than your own, you will find ideas, learn about different writing styles, structure, and formatting. 

Research also helps you to relax and broadens your imagination, making it a great source for writing inspiration.

2. 2. Listen to Music

Music can help you unwind while at the same time fuel your imagination, helping you write a piece conveying the same emotions as the songs you’re listening to.

The lyrics of a song itself can also tell a story. It can be the inspiration for a setting, dialogue or scene. I use playlists to set a mood according to the scene I’m writing. Action. Romance. Sexy. Sad. 

3. Watch Television 

Television programs display different cultures, places and time periods. 

You can observe characters in situations that you wouldn’t see in real life. Take notes of memorable quotes from dialogues, turning them to inspiration for prompts or new topics.

4. Engage with readers

Ask your readers for opinions about what they’ve read and what they want to read next. This can present you with a different point of view and new ideas.

By communicating with them, you’ll be able to know which areas you’re lacking. Take criticism as a way to improve and as inspiration for your next content.

5. Always carry a notebook and a camera

Writing inspiration everywhere. It can be an old building, a painting, a newspaper article, even a person you pass in the street. 

Ideas don’t arrive when you want them to. They will often turn up when you least expect them. 

Keep a notebook and an album of photographs (or a Pinterest board). You can keep adding to it as you go along.  

These are a few ways I use to ignite a spark but there are so many others.  I hope you’ll share yours!

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JANE GODMAN is a 2019 Romantic Novelists’ Award winner and 2018 Daphne du Maurier Award finalist. She writes thrillers for Harlequin Romantic Suspense/Mills and Boon Heroes and paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne/Mills and Boon Supernatural and St. Martin’s Press Romance. She also self publishes her historical and gothic stories.

Jane was born in Scotland and has lived in Germany, Wales, Malta, South Africa, and England. She still gets the urge to travel, although these days she tends to head for a Spanish beach, or a European city that is steeped in history. 

When she isn’t reading or writing romance, Jane enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and enjoying the antics of her dogs, Gravy and Vera.  

 Connect with Jane Godman on the web:

Website         Facebook          Twitter         Goodreads

Colton 911: Family Under Fire

An unexpected family

A once-in-a-lifetime reunion in danger…

After a bitter breakup, FBI agent Everett Colton never expected to see his ex-girlfriend, Alyssa Bartholomew, again. Suddenly, tragedy reunites them—and makes them guardians of an orphaned baby girl. Everett suspects that her parents’ deaths were anything but innocent. When his instinct for danger proves correct, it’s his job to protect the child he’s grown to love…and the woman he never forgot.

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Thanks Jane! Those tips are excellent! For me, music is always a source of inspiration and a way to find my way out of a dilemma. Reading too - although that may be just another excuse to read more!!

How about you? What are your favourite ways to find inspiration?

Jane Godman & Finding The Voice Inside

Please welcome Jane Godman to the blog today!
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“When you find your authentic voice, it’s like stepping into a comfortable pair of shoes. The rhythm and pacing of your words feel right, as if they’re meant just for you.”

Shirley Kawa-Jump

We hear a lot in writing about the author’s “voice” and how important it is to ensure that it’s unique and engaging. I’ll admit it’s a concept with which I struggled in the early days of my career.

Wasn’t writing an interesting story enough? What was it that made my voice different from anyone else’s? Gradually, I came to recognize the way I brought my own personality to the page when I wrote. In the same way that I can identify the voice of my favorite authors, I can now see what makes my own writing stand out.

Author Voice

So what is voice? It’s the author's style, a distinctive quality that makes his or her writing unique, and which conveys the author's attitude, personality, and character to the reader.

Tone, choice of words, content, and even punctuation make up the authorial voice. It is usually fairly consistent. With some very famous authors it is even possible to identify the author by reading an excerpt of his or her work.

The following is from Charles Dickens’ famous story, A Christmas Carol. 

… Scrooge had as little of what is called fancy about him as any man in the city of London, even including—which is a bold word—the corporation, aldermen, and livery. Let it also be borne in mind that Scrooge had not bestowed one thought on Marley, since his last mention of his seven-years' dead partner that afternoon. And then let any man explain to me, if he can, how it happened that Scrooge, having his key in the lock of the door, saw in the knocker, without its undergoing any intermediate process of change—not a knocker, but Marley's face.

Some of the features that immediately identify this as a piece of Dickens’ writing are: the humorous description, the “wordiness”, and the way he talks directly to the reader (as if the reader could respond). 

Character Voice

The writer’s main voice is the one that tells the story, but there are other voices that take a turn under the spotlight. They are, of course, the characters the author has created. 

Every person has their own way of putting together words, phrases, and ideas. These elements make up that person’s voice. Some people are witty or chatty, others are stilted or curt. For each of their characters, the author must find a believable voice.

As well as being a master of the narrative voice, Dickens created memorable character voices, one of the most compelling of which was Uriah Heep from David Copperfield. 

"'When I was quite a young boy,' said Uriah, 'I got to know what umbleness did, and I took to it. I ate umble pie with an appetite. I stopped at the umble point of my learning, and says I, "Hard hard!" 

Heep is a nasty character who calls himself “’umble” (humble), but we get a sense from the way he talks that he is anything but.

How do you develop your writer voice?

“The best way to develop your writer’s voice is to read a lot. And write a lot. There’s really no other way to do it.”

Stephen King

When you’re reading, notice the writer’s voice. These writers have very distinctive, strong voices: Penelope Trunk, Erika Napoletano, Johnny B. Truant, Chuck Wendig, Chris Guillebeau

When it comes to writing, don’t be afraid to let go and experiment. What have you got to lose? Happy writing!

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JANE GODMAN is a 2019 Romantic Novelists’ Award winner and 2018 Daphne du Maurier Award finalist. She writes thrillers for Harlequin Romantic Suspense/Mills and Boon Heroes and paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne/Mills and Boon Supernatural and St. Martin’s Press Romance. She also self publishes her historical and gothic stories.

Jane was born in Scotland and has lived in Germany, Wales, Malta, South Africa, and England. She still gets the urge to travel, although these days she tends to head for a Spanish beach, or a European city that is steeped in history. 

When she isn’t reading or writing romance, Jane enjoys cooking, spending time with her family, and enjoying the antics of her dogs, Gravy and Vera.  

 Connect with Jane Godman on the web:

Website         Facebook          Twitter         Goodreads

Colton’s Secret Bodyguard (The Coltons of Roaring Spring)

His mission: keep her safe, no matter what…

A Coltons of Roaring Springs thriller

Just as Bree Colton is about to take the local art world by storm, someone is determined to sabotage her success…unless Rylan Bennet can keep her safe. Bree doesn’t want anyone to protect her—not even gorgeous Rylan, whose secrets threaten them both. But can the former soldier win the battle for Bree’s heart and the war against a sinister foe?

Buy on:

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Thanks so much Jane! I really enjoyed Colton's Secret Bodyguard - great characters and a plot that kept me turning pages far into the night!! If my readers enjoy romance, suspense, and great characters, this is a fabulous read!

How about you? Have you developed your author's voice? Who are some of your favourite authors who have distinctive voices? I'm currently rereading the Lord Of The Rings trilogy and am loving Tolkein's voice all over again!

Jane Godman & The Dreaded Synopsis

Please welcome Jane Godman to the blog today!
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The story is finished. The characters have reached their happy ending. It’s time to put your feet up and reach for the champagne…

Except for one last thing. The dreaded synopsis. It’s the moment many authors, myself included, loathe. I’ve seen it described on Twitter as “synopsis phobia”.  Personally speaking, I would rather write a book than write a synopsis. 

No, seriously. When I’m writing a story, my imagination runs free, my characters speak for themselves, and the setting is a real place in my mind. Okay, so it doesn’t always flow as perfectly as I’ve just made it sound. The point is that I’m in control. 

When it comes to synopsis writing, the opposite is true. There are constraints that spring up like manacles. I can’t tell a synopsis the way I can tell a story. 

To put it simply, a story is something I do, while a synopsis feels like something that is being done to me. Having written the book, I now have to condense it into five pages for someone else.

What is even more limiting, and what took me a long time to understand, is that, in writing romance, you are not required to summarise the story. It’s the emotional journey of the hero and heroine that’s the key. 

There is reams of advice out there about how to tackle a synopsis. I’m fairly sure I’ve read it all.

I’ve created tables (I like the color-coded ones the best), spreadsheets, questionnaires… You name it, I will have a template for using it to write a synopsis. I’ve even used a few of them. Some more than once. 

Over time, I’ve narrowed my synopsis down to a series of bullet points: 

• Who are my hero and heroine and why are they wrong for each other?
• What changes do they undergo as the story progresses (plot)?
• What internal (primary) and external (secondary) events are keeping them from being a couple?
• The black moment and subsequent internal change that leads to commitment.
• Resolution and reward.

I think my editor might look at that list and laugh, because I don’t always manage to stick to that neat, succinct plan. But I try, and, who knows? As time goes by, I may even start to enjoy writing a synopsis. 

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JANE GODMAN writes paranormal romance for Harlequin Nocturne and SMP Romance and thrillers for Harlequin Romantic Suspense. She also self publishes her historical and gothic stories. She has been a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice Nominee and The Romance Reviews Readers’ Choice Award Winner.

Jane worked in a variety of shops, bars, and offices before settling into a career as a teacher. She was born in Scotland and has lived in Germany, Wales, Malta, South Africa, and England. Jane still gets the urge to travel, although these days she tends to head for a Spanish beach, or a European city that is steeped in history. 

When she isn’t reading or writing romance, Jane enjoys cooking and spending time with her family. She is married to a lovely man, has two grown up children and has recently discovered the joy of becoming a grandparent (to two gorgeous boys).

 Connect with Jane Godman on the web:

Website         Facebook          Twitter

Colton and the Single Mom (The Coltons of Red Ridge)

This Colton cop falls for a ready-made family

A Coltons of Red Ridge story

A serial killer is on the loose, and true-crime filmmaker Esmée da Costa is on the case. K-9 cop Brayden Colton, the prime suspect’s half brother, works hard to stop her prying, but sparks fly as he falls for Esmée and her son. When Esmée and Brayden’s little family comes under siege, can they save all they love?

Read Reader Reviews

Buy on:

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Thanks Jane!