Welcome & What You Need to Know Before Getting Started (PLEASE READ)
Module 1: Romance, Ideas, and Confidence
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What is a romance?
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A Few More Things to Note about Romance
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Idea Generation
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Be a Reader First
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When in Romance: Tropes
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BONUS: On Being Bored & How Ideas Can Hide
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Idea Selection: Finding THE ONE
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BONUS: Finding Your Writer Engine
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Confidence: The "One Day" Speech
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End of Module 1 Assignment: Playing With Ideas
Module 2: Pre-Writing Decisions
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LIVE CALL WEEK #2 - REPLAY NOW POSTED (74:44)
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Intro: Pre-Writing Decisions
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Point of View/POV
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Narrative Tense: He Said, She Says
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Genre
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The Romance Subgenres
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Length
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Connected Series, Continuing Series, or Standalone
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Heat Level
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To Plot Ahead or Not: A Few Strategies
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BONUS: The Selling Synopsis
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End of Module 2 Assignment: Bringing Together Your Pre-Writing Decisions
Module 3: Creating Amazing Characters
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LIVE CALL Week 3 Intro to Character + Q&A -REPLAY NOW POSTED (68:23)
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Introduction to Character
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Ladies First: Crafting Your Heroine
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Holding Out for a Hero: Crafting Your Hero
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The Magic of Backstory
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A Compelling Goal: Make Them Want It
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Motivation: Why do they want it?
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Conflict: When Goals Collide
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Antagonists in Romance
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Character vs. Caricature vs. Stereotype
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BONUS TIP: Riffing on Favorite Characters
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BONUS LECTURE: Tips for Naming Characters
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End of Module 3 Worksheets & Assignment: GMC & Wounds
Module 4: Book Building Blocks
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BUILD A CHARACTER LIVE call - REPLAY NOW POSTED (93:25)
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Intro to the Building Blocks
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POV: How many?
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POV: Head-Hopping
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Deep POV: Why It's Important
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What Does "Show Don't Tell" Even Mean?
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POV: Distinct Voices
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POV: Author Intrusion
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Setting
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Time/Timespan
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BONUS LECTURE & DOWNLOAD: Tracking Story Timeline & Creating Story Bibles
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Dialogue: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
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End of Module 4 Wrap-Up
Module 5: Three-Act Structure Overview & Beginnings
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LIVE CALL Module 5 Overview - Saturday August 14 (REPLAY NOW POSTED) (74:48)
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Three-Act Structure: An Overview
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Beginnings
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Trap #1: The Backstory Dump
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Trap #1A: Prologues
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Trap #2: Cliched Beginnings
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Trap #3: Too Many Characters
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Trap #4: Starting in the Wrong Place
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Act 1: The Setup
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Act 1: The Inciting Incident/Catalyst/Call to Action
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Act 1: The End of the Beginning
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The All Important First Meet
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End of Module 5: Recap and Wrap-Up
Module 6: Middles & Endings
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LIVE CALL (video replay now posted - WATCH BEFORE LECTURES) (54:58)
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The Middle: No Sagging Allowed
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Act 2: Midpoint/The False Victory
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Act 2: Things Go Wrong
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Act 2: The Black Moment
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A Note About Cliffhangers In Romance
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Act 3: Endings
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End of Module 6: The Completed Draft
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Recorded Video Chat/Q&A with Agent Sara Megibow + My Original Query Letter (69:36)
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Additional Plotting Resources
Module 7: Before You Publish Your Book
Resources
