GUEST BLOG: RHONDA LEAH

I’m a real estate appraiser by day, romance writer every other second I can squeeze in. I never considered the two had anything in common until recently. Someone recently made a comment about having a light bulb moment while judging a contest. About the same time, I was doing a “Review Appraisal”. They’re not my favorite things in the world, just like I know judging writing contest isn’t a favorite for many of us. But sometimes it’s doing things that take us a little out of our comfort zone that we need to do most. Yes – sometimes what takes us out of our comfort zone is we need the most.

Why? Am I into self-torture? No. Let me try to explain. What I have discovered both by judging contest and by doing review appraisals is sometimes it is so much easier to see a flaw in someone’s work. It’s easy to pick out things we might be guilty of in our own work.

I truly believe it is next to impossible to see and recognize certain things in our own writing…at times. I’ll be the first to raise my hand and say – I know what it’s supposed to say. I know what it’s supposed to accomplish. I know why the scene is here and what it is supposed to do for the plot or pace. Do I see what I actually wrote? That I used the word ‘said’ or ‘that’ twenty times? In a word – no.

But give me a contest entry that tells instead of showing? Wham, I’m all over it. Used ‘that’ twelve times in two pages? Got that too. Sharp change of pace/or scene? I’m giving them hell (well in my head I am). And the list could go on.

But let me read the same three pages I wrote twenty times – can I ‘see’ or ‘hear’ (if I am reading out loud) where I’m telling and not showing? No, sadly I can’t. It’s hard for me to catch. But at times I can see flaws in my writing much more clearly after judging a contest or doing a critique.

Which brings me to – What hat am I wearing? This where Appraising and Writing turn similar for me. Doing a Review Appraisal is a whole like editing my writing. A few things they have in common…

Watch what you say and how you say it – In appraising there are words we don’t use and there are words we do use. Appear is a word we like. The storage shed can appear to be approximately 12×12. Your Family Doctor can Misdiagnose Andropause Symptoms: It seems counterintuitive that your family doctor or a spefree sildenafil samples http://greyandgrey.com/brochure/grey-grey-ss-brochure/t one as this is the reason that maximum people like the same and are taking some other drugs too for its treatment, then it can lead to serious side-effects. This blockage of the arteries lowers the amount of blood supply to the penis which get cialis online directly results in a very weak erection or probably no erection. As kamagra is a generic drug hence it treats significantly one’s erection issue just like buy sildenafil 100mg . Higher levels of cialis generika testosterone are also required for proper erection in men. NOT, The storage shed is 12×12. In writing there are certain words considered to be ‘junk’ words (and boy do I love them!). So I keep a list and look out for my junk words.

Was the best _______ used? In appraising it has to do with data/comparables/etc. In writing it has to do with everything. If you’ve judged a contest think of the things you look for while reading the entries and keep it in mind as you go over your own writing. Try to look at your work from a distance, try to become detached. This is what I do when I do “review appraisals” and now I can see it is what I need to do when “editing”.

Disclosure? In appraising it’s a big deal. In writing think of things like– did I get my point across? Did I show enough emotion? Did this move the plot forward?

Know your market! In Appraising it’s a must. I could not pick and go out of town and do the same job I do in my immediate market – where I work in daily. In writing we’ve all heard KNOW YOUR MARKET! It’s imperative to know where your writing fits. You must know what genre(s) you are writing and what publishers accept those genres and/or what agents to query.

And the list could go on, but I’m wrapping it up.

Keeping this in mind, I plan to read my work wearing a different hat from now on. And in a way it’s a lot like what I do in my day job. I step away from each appraisal and go back over it before it goes out. Distance is the key. In our rushed society we sometimes don’t have the time to give ourselves the distance we might need.

So in closing, I say put when you sit down to work on your manuscript, know which hat you need to pull out. Wear your creative writing hat when you open your file to write. Wear your editor/judge hat when you edit. And I wish you the best no matter which hat you choose.

Tara wanted one night, but now must choose between a wild ride and a hot rod.

It’s Tara Wilde’s birthday, and all she wants is a one-night man. Tucker Carson is just the ticket. But they have more in common than they realize, starting with a shared fetish for hot cars.When Tucker returns home, he can’t forget the woman who gave him a false name and toyed with his heart.

When chance brings Tucker back to Tara’s home town she thinks he’s there for a temporary visit, and makes up for lost time. But when he steals her car and gets it into a wreck, she finds out she cares more about the man who lied to her than her beloved vehicle.

With lies and the ghosts of her past in the way, will Tara keep her heart safe, or be driven on the road to passion?

You can find the book here:
http://www.lyricalpress.com/one_wilde_night
Visit my website for information
www.rhondaleah.net / http://www.lyricalpress.com/rhonda_leah

– Rhonda Leah
My contemporary romances range from sweet and sassy to sensually erotic, covering just about everything in between. My stories will always have a Happily Ever After, because nothing makes me want to scream more than a cheerless ending.

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