From Chaos to Cadence
The Big Three Beats are what carry your protagonist from A to Z. And it’s how you get started on creating a strong revision plan.
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Writing Tips
Happily Ever After or Happy For Now: Create Reader Satisfaction
Whether “ever after” or “for now,” queer romance readers need their happy ending. Here’s how to give it to them.
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Epilogue or No Epilogue: Does Your Story Need One?
Epilogues get a bad name. They serve a purpose, but they can also detract from a story. Decide carefully on when to use one.
Epilogue or No Epilogue: Does Your Story Need One? Read More »
Climax in Romance (No, Not That Kind)
Your romance’s climax is what the entire story has been leading up to. Make it worth your readers’ time in three ways.
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Emotional Pain, or The Necessity of Rock Bottom
Character growth can’t happen without emotional pain and the rock bottom that comes with it. Here’s a few reasons it’s necessary to your queer romance.
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Story Beats in Your Queer Romance
Story Beats in Your Queer Romance: When “Romancing the Beat” Isn’t Enough Despite being the top-selling genre, romance novels continue to catch a bad name. The word “formulaic” is bandied about as though every story ever written doesn’t follow a formula of one kind or another. Within romance, categories abound, especially
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Plot Points and Turning Points: Doorways to the Unknown
Plot points and turning points make up every major story structure. Here’s a few ways to use them in your queer romance story.
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Story Location is Everything: How I Picked the Perfect Setting
Story locations can be hard to find. Making sure I keep readers immersed internally and externally can be even harder.
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Character Arcs: Picking the Best One
Character arcs are all about change. Pick the arc that best shows the change you want readers to experience.
Character Arcs: Picking the Best One Read More »
Queer Romance Conventions and Tropes
While queer romance is technically a subset of the romance genre, queer romance conventions and tropes allow authors to explore a deeper level of the genre.
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Storyteller or Hobby Writer: A Mindset Shift
It wasn’t until I started to regularly read writing-craft books that I made the switch from queer romance hobby writer to storyteller. It takes some time, but here’s a few questions to ask as you transition between the two.
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How to Create Character Depth Through Inner Monologue
Inner monologue shows who characters are on the inside. Here’s three tips on building more well-rounded characters using their inner thoughts.
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How to Use Dialogue Effectively
Give your readers strong verbal exchanges with this week’s tips on how to effectively use dialogue in your fiction.
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How to Effectively Combine Conflict in Your Story
“How Much Worse Can It Get?!”: How to Effectively Combine Conflict in Your Story Photo by lucas clarysse on Unsplash The first quarter of 2024 has admittedly not been all that kind to me. With my fairly successful rebranding, I set lofty professional and personal goals. Purposefully making the decision to
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Psychoanalyzing Your Novel’s Characters
Psychoanalysis isn’t just for the doctor’s office. Applying Freud’s theories can help you build stronger, more realistic characters.
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How to Write a Story from Start to Finish
This week, I cover the misunderstood title of “pantser” in fiction writing. More importantly, I provide a few tips on how you can “pants” your way to a first draft without the internal panic.
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Create an Impactful Story World
Your protagonist’s internal journey is only as strong as their external one. The environment the story is set in should be built up in conjunction with the character’s arc and the plot’s development.
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Avoid the Dreaded DNF
DNF’ing a book is a part of every reader’s life. There are foundational ideas that lower the chances of an author’s target reader closing their book for good.
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How NaNoWriMo Changed Me as a Writer
The end of 2023’s Camp NaNoWriMo came six weeks ago. It was my first year participating. Check out this week’s article on how that participation affected my approach to fiction writing and the lessons you can think about applying to your own processes!
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Fan Fiction to Original Fiction: Is It Worth the Jump?
Fan fiction has so much more to offer authors than the opportunity to play around with their favorite TV, book, or movie characters. Writing fan fiction offers the chance to hone your craft. This week’s blog article argues why that’s the case.
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Make Writing Prompts Work for You
There’s something special about writing prompts. Even for someone who primarily sticks with the editing side of the book publishing process, I find them vital to stirring up creativity. I provide a few ways to make them work best for authors, no matter their preferred genre.
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