Romancing the Story: Writing Romance, Storytelling, and Book Structure

"We need to see writer's block in a different way. It's really not the enemy, but...it's a sign. And usually, it's that your body and your mind are telling you something is off..."

Author and writing …

"(Not) to dive into the core fear...that we're unrelatable that people will not communicate with us...and I think that's one of those things you see get demonstrated with monsters in the history of s…

"You know it is such a beloved story but the modern twist...it's really a celebration of queer joy and community...like a true Hallmark-y story nothing truly bad happens."

We're celebrating the most f…

"I think the key is either treat the character (animal) as a sounding board...or you treat this as another character on the same level as a human character."

Writing instructor and multi-genre author,…

"....We need time to think. We need time to research, and we need time to be creative. And so that has to go into our calendar as well."

Back in episode 42, Writer, speaker, and social media consultan…

"...What drives the conflict most are the character's goals and motivations. So you have to ask 'what is the main character's top goal in life and the focus of the story?'..."

Author and Developmenta…

"My book, A Beautiful Game, was...a love story and also, a love story about soccer and playing soccer."

Liz Lincoln and Lainey Davis score goals when it comes to soccer romance. Both ladies write othe…

"Being a pre-published author is to know exactly what your expectations are of yourself and of your writing...Like is this a career for you or do you just have that one story...?"

Danika Bloom, USA T…

"...Dictating helps me get to the emotional level of my characters a little easier than if I was handwriting or typing on my laptop. It's just for me, dictation takes away a little bit of a barrier..…

"...I really wanted all my characters to have this nice arc...They start at point A and then they're sort of figuring their way through it as the book goes on."

Kayla Grosse can't help but write compe…

"...when you can bring your creative brain to marketing, it explodes. There's so much great opportunity to be creative in marketing and think outside the box and try new things."

Author and Speaker Ca…

"We're pretty good at (the podcast)....I have to not be afraid of like stepping out of the intentions of what it looked like....Not being afraid to step out, to do something different. Owning that li…

"We kinda get hit with these overnight success stories, whether it's a writer or anyone...but what I think we don't hear about as much is the actual real toil and grind and rejection that goes into s…

"The city is a beautiful backdrop for (character's) to live their lives in. Whereas in a small town, it's really part of the story."

Romance author E.F. Dodd holds a special place in her heart for rur…

"(For erotica) You have to have an escalation for how the s*x scenes build on each other, in that sense of things getting more and more serious."

Cassandra Rose Clarke knows how to play with genres. S…

"If (writers) have a problem...we want to help you target that and take actionable steps. One step at a time (in) chunks so that you can actually move forward right away."

Megan Haskell keeps author's…

"You can have the emotion, the angst, and the personal intimate details of a romance, but you can also have the cerebral part of a mystery and solving clues..."

Award-winning author Diane Kelly had a …

"Write like a Reader. If you don't wanna read it, don't write it."

USA Today Bestselling Author Lauren Smith has written 75 books in 8 years - spanning multiple sub-genres in romance. She fully unders…

"You can bend the rules, but you need to know what they are first."

USA Today Bestselling author Jennifer Hilt loves a good trope. So much so that she's written several books about it! In working wit…

Author Lark Green might be a nurse during the day, but she writes steamy monster romance at night. To deal with the stress of her job and a global crisis, she started writing her own HEA stories. She…