Yesterday, we talked about the use of Public and Private Stakes to raise the epic element of your suspense, and drive your reader through the story. But that is only one part of the equation. You need motivation as well. You need to employ something I call the PUSH-PULL. Let’s start at the beginning of the story: Your character will need a motivation to start them on their journey. Some Why and What do they want? This is easy – you simply take a look at their greatest dreams and give them glimpse of hope that they can achieve them early on in the story. But that’s when things get tough. See, on every great journey, there is conflict – or obstacles along the way. And your character will […]
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How 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 RestCreating 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 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 […]
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