Welcome & What You Need to Know Before Getting Started (PLEASE READ)
Module 1: Romance, Ideas, and Confidence
-
What is a romance?
-
A Few More Things to Note about Romance
-
Idea Generation
-
Be a Reader First
-
When in Romance: Tropes
-
BONUS: On Being Bored & How Ideas Can Hide
-
Idea Selection: Finding THE ONE
-
BONUS: Finding Your Writer Engine
-
Confidence: The "One Day" Speech
-
End of Module 1 Assignment: Playing With Ideas
Module 2: Pre-Writing Decisions
-
LIVE CALL WEEK #2 - REPLAY NOW POSTED HERE (69:09)
-
Intro: Pre-Writing Decisions
-
Point of View/POV
-
Narrative Tense: He Said, She Says
-
Genre
-
The Romance Subgenres
-
Length
-
Connected Series, Continuing Series, or Standalone
-
Heat Level
-
To Plot Ahead or Not: A Few Strategies
-
BONUS: The Selling Synopsis
-
End of Module 2 Assignment: Bringing Together Your Pre-Writing Decisions
Module 3: Creating Amazing Characters
-
LIVE Q+A and Intro to Week 3 Call - REPLAY NOW POSTED (45:46)
-
Introduction to Character
-
Ladies First: Crafting Your Heroine
-
Holding Out for a Hero: Crafting Your Hero
-
The Magic of Backstory
-
A Compelling Goal: Make Them Want It
-
Motivation: Why do they want it?
-
Conflict: When Goals Collide
-
Antagonists in Romance
-
Character vs. Caricature vs. Stereotype
-
BONUS TIP: Riffing on Favorite Characters
-
BONUS LECTURE: Tips for Naming Characters
-
End of Module 3 Worksheets & Assignment: GMC & Wounds
-
BUILD A CHARACTER LIVE Video Call (replay now posted) (75:31)
Module 4: Book Building Blocks
-
Intro to the Building Blocks
-
POV: How many?
-
POV: Head-Hopping
-
Deep POV: Why It's Important
-
What Does "Show Don't Tell" Even Mean?
-
POV: Distinct Voices
-
POV: Author Intrusion
-
Setting
-
Time/Timespan
-
BONUS LECTURE & DOWNLOAD: Tracking Story Timeline & Creating Story Bibles
-
Dialogue: The Good, Bad, and Ugly
-
End of Module 4 Wrap-Up
Module 5: Three-Act Structure Overview & Beginnings
-
LIVE CALL Q+A and Module 5 Intro (REPLAY NOW POSTED) (71:01)
-
Three-Act Structure: An Overview
-
Beginnings
-
Trap #1: The Backstory Dump
-
Trap #1A: Prologues
-
Trap #2: Cliched Beginnings
-
Trap #3: Too Many Characters
-
Trap #4: Starting in the Wrong Place
-
Act 1: The Setup
-
Act 1: The Inciting Incident/Catalyst
-
Act 1: The End of the Beginning
-
The All Important First Meet
-
End of Module 5: Recap and Wrap-Up
-
LIVE Q+A & Week 6 Intro - Replay now posted (51:35)
Module 6: Middles & Endings
-
The Middle: No Sagging Allowed
-
Act 2: Midpoint/The False Victory
-
Act 2: Things Go Wrong
-
Act 2: The Black Moment
-
A Note About Cliffhangers In Romance
-
Act 3: Endings
-
End of Module 6: The Completed Draft
-
Recorded Video Chat/Q&A with Agent Sara Megibow + My Original Query Letter (69:36)
-
Additional Plotting Resources
-
LIVE Q+A with Editor Dawn Alexander (Replay now posted) (70:47)
Module 7: Before You Publish Your Book
