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
About Susan May Warren
Former Russian Missionary Susan May Warren is the best-selling author of more than 40 novels and novellas with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill, and Summerside. A Christy award and RITA winner, and multiple finalist for the RITA, Christy and winner of Inspirational Readers Choice contest, Susan currently has over a million books in print. A seasoned women’s events speaker and writing teacher, she is the founder of http://www.mybooktherapy.com an online community for writers, and runs a fiction editing service teaching writers how to tell a great story. Visit her online at: http://www.susanmaywarren.com.Author Archive | Susan May Warren
Creating SPARK in your romance! (How to build Act 2)
We took a little hiatus last week as we all got ready for NaNoWriMo. If you are a NaNo-er, you may be interested in joining the MBT Voices NaNoWriMo celebration. We’re encouraging people to dive in with daily notes, problem solving discussions and some great prizes (including a Kindle!) for those who complete their goal. We also have a tool to help you plot your story! So, if you’ve been thinking about participating in NaNoWriMo, go sign up on the official NaNoWriMo site, and then visit the 2010 MBT NaNoWriMo Celebration forum for encouragement, tips, and support as you write your novel in 30 days. Today, we’re going to move onto Act 2 and talk about how weave in the next two beats: Wooing and Sparks, as well […]
Read the RestToo Stupid to Live? Building Act 1 with believeable motivations!
Yesterday we talked about incorporating the first couple beats of your story into the first Act, and especially the first scene. Today, we’re going to continue the conversation by show how we might use Why/Why Nots to help move our character forward in his journey toward Act 2. ACT 1 Review: Life Inciting Incident The Big Debate (Romantic) Quest You’ve already established your character’s home world and had them meet in a way that helps the reader to feel sympathy for your characters. You’ve also shown that they have an interest/need for something more, namely, a romance. Finally, you’ve hinted at the stakes of the story, and perhaps even woven that in with the Why Not (or obstacles) between your characters. E.g., having your character say, “The […]
Read the RestPutting it all together: Adding the Romance beats to your first chapter
For the last two weeks on the blog, I’ve been going through the 10 beats of a romance that we discussed last February so as to refresh our minds before we start putting the elements together. This week, we’re going to dive into taking those beats and combining them with our story structure so that we can actually build our novel. Just to sum up, we’re going to be working with the first three beats as we start putting together Act 1. Beat 1: Boy Meets Girl: In this component, there is an event, goal or circumstance that occurs to bring our hero and heroine together—Usually this happens in the first chapter, but it definitely needs to happen by Chapter 3. Some examples that you thought up […]
Read the Rest
