Archive | November, 2010

  If you tuned in yesterday, you know we talked about the Breakup in writing a Romance.  Why is the Breakup Important?…   Because….   After the breakup, they’re going to realize Beat 8:  the Great WHY.  They will, after their hearts are breaking, realize they belong together.  If you’ve set up Act 2 correctly, the reader will see why they need to be together (because you will be showing us those essential scenes – covered in the Act 2 blogs).  This Great Why will suddenly trump the Why Not (the reason they broke up) and convince them that they can’t live without each other.   They will also realize what is holding them back from love – their flaws.  (and, perhaps, their lie).  And, in order to win back […]

 (Editor’s Note: You may want to go back and read the previous blogs on putting together all the beats of a romance into Act 1-2 before you read this blog.  Just as a recap, over the past two months, we’ve talked about how to incorporate the 10 beats of romance into the three act structure, covering the elements of Act 1 and Act 2.)   It’s time for the messy ending.  The breakup.  The Breakup is Beat 7 in our romance lineup.  This is when the biggest WHY NOT rises to push them apart. Every romance has a Breakup. Without it, we have no triumphant run into each other’s arms! We have no giant sigh of happiness.   I was fortunate to only have one bad breakup before I met […]

How is your NaNoWriMo manuscript is going?  I thought I’d take a break from our romance structure today and offer a bit of encouragement.    Just keep writing, Just keep writing….(that’s my Dorie impression).    But, I know, once you get to the middle, it can be a challenge to keep the tension high, the reader turning pages.    I call it…the Muddle.    How do you manage the Muddle?  If you find yourself stuck, writing the same old scenes, rehashing the same issues, the same tension, I have a solution.    You may be missing an element of the Tension Equation.    Tension is what drives every scene.  You’ve heard it over and over.  But what is Tension?  It’s a combination of a Sympathetic Character + Stakes + Goals […]

Hi Everyone, Happy Friday. For those of you writing in NaNoWriMo, how’s it going? Are you keeping up? I’m doing my best to run with the challenge. So far so good. I keep getting halted by the need for research. Oy. I know I’m supposed to keep going, but I’m not willing to go down any ole path just to get words on a page. I encourage you to make sure you’re going in the right direction as you blaze through your book. It will do you NO good whatsoever to start out with a suspense and end up with a sweet romance. I’m just saying… My new book trailer is out for Dining With Joy. Check it out if you have a few minutes! Also, next week over on […]