Reese Ryan, Novelist
A Blog for Writers: Women and Adversity, Reese Ryan
“Making the First Move” and “Love me Not,” published by Carina Press, are the first two novels in Reese Ryan’s The Bad Boys Gone Good series. Not only does the name of the series entice readers to take a peek, Reese labels each book as a “sinfully sweet romance” with “colorful characters.” That is fascinating enough to charm readers into devouring the books. Reese shares here the obstacles she faced and still faces as a novelist.
Reese: The biggest obstacle I faced is one I still contend with: self-doubt. Our writings are such a personal creation that while I wanted to be a published author and share my stories with the world, the thought of doing so also terrified me. Eventually I felt confident enough to share my story with a small local critique group. I submitted to agents and then editors at small publishers. Another obstacle I dealt with in the beginning was an inability to get to THE END of a novel. Fortunately, I heard an interview with author Kimberla Lawson Roby that helped me realize the importance of outlining.
How did Kimberla motivate you to outline?
Reese: I considered myself a pantser, writing by the seat of my pants. I felt an outline would constrain my creativity. However, in an interview on BlogTalkRadio, Kimberla talked about how she outlined and why it worked so well for her. I was skeptical, but I also knew I needed to try something different. I had several partial manuscripts that were unfinished because I’d start a story filled with excitement and creativity, but I’d end up writing myself into a corner. I’d set the manuscript aside, waiting for the solution to come to me. That easily turned into months or years in which I hadn’t finished the manuscript. I decided to put Kimberla’s method to work. I outlined the next scene in a manuscript that I’d been stuck in for several months. It worked. I outlined the next scene, then the next few chapters. Before I realized it, I’d finished the book. The outline served as a framework, but I still followed my characters lead, even if that meant making changes to my original outline. For me this sort of hybrid approach worked perfectly.
What is the biggest obstacle you have to face now?
Reese: My biggest obstacle recently has been an extremely busy schedule. Over the past few months I’d been doing very little creative writing. I needed to make some changes to my schedule and make writing a priority again. I’m considering this summer sort of a writing retreat. I plan to write as much as I can with the goal of releasing my first indie published story later this year.
Reese’s books are available at her Web site: www.reeseryan.com, at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com and goodreads.com. She can be reached on Twitter, https://twitter.com/ReeseRyanWrites and Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ReeseRyanWrites.
