Last week, we talked about the types of romance in novels: Friend Turned Lover, Enemy Turned Lover, and “Love at First Sight”. Today, we’re getting more specific and studying romantic plot devices: Damsel in Distress, Heroine Captured by Hero, Love Triangle, Trapped in Marriage, and Forbidden Love. Damsel in Distress The heroine is stuck in some…
We all know that there are a variety of subgenres in romance—historical romance, romantic fantasy, contemporary romance, romantic suspense—but today, I’d like to explore the types of romances and—eventually—romantic plot devices used in novels. We’re going to start with types of romances, since it’s the broader of the two categories. Friend Turned Lover For…
Sooner or later, all writers discover editing their manuscript is hard work. When I first began researching editing, I was completely blown away by the amount of work involved. Wait… your novel needs to be edited more than once?! And of course, the amount of material to edit is intimidating. You have to consider the…
Spoiler alert: Since we’re covering endings, there will be a huge spoiler included. Recently, I saw Alice Through the Looking Glass. Though the storyline seemed very random, the ending left you feeling happy and satisfied. Endings are difficult for me to write—even in blog posts. The right ending can make a story or blog…
Paragraphs might sound like an insignificant, nit-picky aspect of writing to focus on. So why would I devote an entire blog post to them? Why not write about plot or characters instead? While they might seem insignificant, paragraphs are the building blocks of your story. If you want to build a beautiful house, you…
foreWe all make judgments based off of first impressions, and this fact is true not only for real life but also in fiction. The first glimpse a reader catches of your character should be engineered to reveal the core of your character’s personality. We’re going to first examine the Fantastic Four (2005) movie to see…
Spoiler alert: Since we are discussing foreshadowing, I’ll have to reveal a few spoilers, especially about the climax. Foreshadowing is a very delicate art. It’s what lends mysteries their “ah ha!” moment, though foreshadowing is used in any good story—regardless of genre. Today, we’ll examine Finding Dory for some foreshadowing examples before seeing…
Of all tasks involved with publishing a novel, editing is one of the hardest. I didn’t think so when I began writing, but now I know better… Your story was new and, well, novel when you first pumped out that terrific story world, concept, character, or plot (depending on what type of writer you are)…
If there’s a song on the radio you want to purchase later, you make note of it. If you want something for Christmas, you remember what it’s called. The first thing someone says when introducing themself is, “Hi, I’m ___.” If something’s important, then its title matters. Your novel’s name is one of the most…
While writing my current manuscript, I came across a problem: Should I use chapter titles or simply number them? A quick search through my bookshelf revealed that many of my books were simply numbered. I personally liked chapter titles, but if so many books excluded them, were chapter titles really worth the extra effort? Today,…