(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 […]
Read the RestArchive | 3. Publish your Story RSS feed for this section
Managing the Muddle
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 […]
Read the RestHi from Your Therapist
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 […]
Read the RestHow to write a great kiss!
Yesterday we talked about Sparks and Wooing and how to weave them into Act 2. But…the best way to combine them is with a great KISS. This post is all about specifics. The Whens of The Kiss can be found at: http://www.mybooktherapy.com/index2.php/2010/10/12/the-kiss-and-the-hearbreak-ten-beats-of-a-romance-part-3/. Just to review quickly here are the three kisses in a romance (and if you are writing a romance in the General market, you can extrapolate from there. J): Kiss One: An “introductory—I didn’t mean to, did we just do that?” Kiss Kiss Two: A, “I really want to kiss you now and I’m going to” Kiss Kiss Three: And an “I love you, and I mean it” Kiss But let’s touch on the hows. A kiss should be savored. […]
Read the Rest
