People ask me all the time where I get the ideas for my romance-suspense novels, and I have to answer honestly — “I have no idea.” My best guess is that my influences stem from years and years of reading the classics as an English teacher, along with reading and studying an undetermined number of short stories. While I’m not sure where the inspiration originates, I do know what doesn’t impact my stories: other contemporary fiction and romance novels.
I’ve been told that my biggest weakness as a writer is that I’m not avidly reading books in my genre. I think there is some truth to that, but I rather enjoy just writing what I like. One of the first lessons I learned is not to change my style and tone to hop on a trend or to try to be like another author who’s selling more. I’m not for everyone, and chasing that audience is like chasing my tail. I write what I know. I write what I like, and it works for me.
When I write a book, the events flow out of my head linearly, and I see all of the characters in the scenes interacting at once. I am the omniscient narrator, and I want to tell the story as I see it in my head. Now, I know this can be done writing in first-person, but it’s difficult for me to relinquish the power of my third-person ‘all knowing’ view because I want to include every detail, every thought, every action, everything all at once — except, of course, the spoilers for plot twists and other secrets best revealed at a later time. I want to paint a full picture for the reader, and I just can’t get that result with first-person, alternating chapters.
Does this mean that one style is better than the other? Certainly not. And I’m painfully aware that my third-person approach is not the cool kid on the block right now. But I look at it this way — just because something is popular doesn’t mean I have to conform. I believe that a great book speaks for itself, and that its point of view has to tell the story in a way that the readers understand, and in a way that it all makes sense to me.
I asked some avid romance, romance thriller, and romance suspense readers their preference regarding point of view, and not a single one said they prefer first person. Likewise, none of them claimed to like third-person more either. This survey supports my theory that readers just want a story that makes sense as they work their way through it.
Until I can figure out how to wrap my brain around first-person points of view, I have to stay true to my old, faithful style. Apparently, it’s working for me so far. I receive more positive comments on my well-developed characters and the pacing of the action than any other elements of my work. These are two critically essential aspects of a novel, and praise for them tells me to just be me. Just keep doing my thing