The Women of RWASD, October 17, 2012

I’m overwhelmed by the women of RWASD.

Guys writing romance have a lot to learn from their female counterparts. Our local chapter of Romance Writers of America (San Diego) has approximately 120 members. Well over 1/3 of them are traditionally published authors. All of these published authors are women.

I learn from interacting and being inspired. Our authors are brilliant at writing, building their fan base via social media, and as human beings. As a guy and former engineer, I should be able to build my social imprint, but I seem not to have enough energy to rev it up properly and make it take off. Of course, I could back into it by getting an agent or editor. But there’s another problem.

I write with an individualistic style and worry the normal reader won’t ‘get me.’ I think I do a great job of developing all my characters, but I worry if my voice is too unique. I shouldn’t have to second guess, but then again, I have no agent. I continue to learn and hope to contribute to the romance genre.

This week’s video may have nothing to do with anything, but it brought tears to my eyes when I sat through it. SO, I’ll try to justify it. Elementary school teachers are generally women, who as a whole ‘get’ (nurture) kids. They’re more empathetic on average. Therefore, they can more easily inspire. They will get the best out of their students, just like the fantastic women of our chapter inspire so many to step up and get published. It is also voting season. This video, of a grade school class, promotes voting (but not who to vote for) (3 minutes).

 

 

BTW, that's what our chapter is like, metaphorically.