The Black Moment in your novel is the most important part of your novel. I just had to say that because I see so many manuscripts that pull their punches on the Black Moment. Authors have fallen in love with their characters and they just don’t want to hurt them. But creating a powerful Black Moment is what both the character and the reader need to convince them they must change. So, how do you create a powerful Black Moment? First…let’s just take a look at the Black Moment Flow Chart: Dark Moment of the Past (Greatest Fear + Lie) = Black Moment Event = Black Moment Effect = Epiphany = Character Change. Again, how do we find the Black Moment? We go into our character’s backstory and find a […]
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Quick Skills: Finding you Romance Story Arc
If you are writing a romance, it can sometimes be difficult to know exactly how to build all the pieces so that you have the right amount of tension in your story. How soon do you make them fall in love? When do you start breaking them up? How do they get back together? This problem is solved by understanding the two main story arcs of romance: The Why/Why Not, or the Why Not/Why. (These arc models apply to both a straight up romance, or just a romance thread.) Understanding the kind of story you have helps you understand how to layer in the tension and where to insert the different components of your romance. Let’s a take a look: The first structure is Why/Why Not: These are stories that […]
Read the RestConversations: The basics of writing a romance.
Sally came into the coffee shop with a smile. “My husband gave me the entire weekend to write. I’ve written five chapters since last Monday.” “That’s a good man you have there,” I said. “And a good model of a romantic hero. This week, we’re going to talk about how to craft your romance.” “Oh, I know how to do that. I’ll just make them fall in love.” “That’s of course, the goal, yes. But along the way, we have to doubt that they will, indeed, live Happily Ever After, and we do that by creating obstacles, or what I call, Why Nots – both internal and external — that feel so big that they can’t overcome them.” “Consider this – if you know how much a couple has overcome […]
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Quick Skills: Act 2 Plotting
Act 2 plotting in 5 easy questions! I always get the Chapter Seven Blues. I know it’s inevitable, but I seem to forget that it happens, and often I’ll find myself down in the kitchen, moping (and looking for chocolate) and my husband will say… “You’re at Chapter 7, aren’t you?” I’ll turn, stare at him, and nod. “How did you know that?” “Because the excitement of the story has gotten you through chapter 3, and Act 1, and the momentum carried you into chapters 4-6, but now the steam has died in the middle of Act 2, and you’re down here hunting for inspiration.” (This is usually accompanied by him taking the bag of chocolate chips out of my hand.) He’s dead right. I’m smack in the middle of the […]
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