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• Interference by other characters. Whether the interference is intended to create trouble between the hero and heroine or bring them together, it takes the focus off the main relationship. The hero and heroine should solve their own problems.

5. The story simply isn't well told. You haven't put words on the page in a spellbinding way. Perhaps you're summarizing your story, telling instead of showing. Or the sentences may simply be unclear, so the readers have to deduce or interpret what you mean. You may show the action in the wrong order, confusing the readers. Or maybe you're showing only part of the scene, leaving out details necessary for the readers' understanding. For whatever reason, the actual words on the paper do not convey to the readers the images you saw as you wrote. Symptoms of this malady include:

• Slow starts. The first chapter might consist of the heroine reflecting on her pasl and what has brought her to this stage in her life. If you start with action

instead, you give the readers a reason to care about the character; then they'll sit still to hear about the roots of the problem.

• Peaceful endings. Chapters or scenes that end with the heroine drifting off to sleep without a care are wonderful places for the readers to do the same thing.

• Rushed dramatic action. Watch out for words and phrases like later, after a

few minutes, when she'd had a chance to think it over, and other indications that the readers are being told rather than shown what happened.

• Low emotional levels. When the story events and characters are not emotionally compelling, the readers find it difficult to care whether the hero and heroine get what they want.

• Wandering viewpoints. The POV shifts back and forth for no good reason, or it's difficult even to figure out who the viewpoint character is.

• Random dialogue. Instead of relaying important information, the dialogue focuses on everyday detail—lots of instances of hello and good-bye and How do you like your coffee?

• One-sided characters. It's easy to show the difficult, angry side of a character and assume the readers will know that the guy's really delightful underneath—because after all, he's the hero.

• Below-standard grammar, spelling, word usage, and mechanics. Anything that takes the readers' attention off the story and forces them to figure out what the author really meant makes it easier for them to put the book down.

DIAGNOSING THE PROBLEMS

If you can, put your story away for a few days—even a few weeks—before you start to revise. When you read it again after a break, you'll be better able to judge what works and what doesn't. And you'll be more likely to see whether the words on the page actually evoke the meaning you intended to share with your readers.

When it's time to take a look at what you've written, to figure out what's working and what isn't, and to create a plan of attack for revising, use the checklist below as you reread your work.

This in-depth checklist covers all the main sections of the romance novel and will help you spot areas where you've lost the thread of your story, told too much too soon, or left out crucial information or steps in the development of the plot or relationship. You can use this list at any stage in the writing process to help keep you on track, or as a guideline when you've finished the manuscript.

The more you can distance yourself from your story and pretend that someone else wrote it, the better this checklist will work for you. Try pretending that you're a book reviewer and you will have to give not only your reaction to the story but the reasons for your opinions.

• How does the story start? What do the readers know about the main character by the end of chapter one? What do the readers not know and want to? What do the readers know that they don't need or want to?

• How many pages into the book does the plot action begin? When do the readers meet the second main character?

• What forces the hero and heroine to stay in the situation? If being around each other makes them unhappy, why doesn't one