Copyright © 2015
by Susan May Warren. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any for or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by My Book Therapy, a division of Susan May Warren Fiction, LLC, 20 Wild Plum Dr., Grand Marais, MN 55604. (218)387-2853. First Edition

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Excerpt
taken
from
Flee the Night
.
Copyright
(c)
2005
by
Susan
May
Warren.
Used
by
permission
of
Tyndale
House
Publishers,
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.

Excerpt
taken
from
Escape to Morning
.
Copyright
(c)
2005
by
Susan
May
Warren.
Used
by
permission
of
Tyndale
House
Publishers,
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.

Excerpt
taken
from
Taming Rafe
.
Copyright
(c)
2007
by
Susan
May
Warren.
Used
by
permission
of
Tyndale
House
Publishers,
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.

Excerpt
taken
from
Tying the Knot
.
Copyright
(c)
2003
by
Susan
May
Warren.
Used
by
permission
of
Tyndale
House
Publishers,
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.

Excerpt
taken
from
Nothing But Trouble
.
Copyright
(c)
2009
by
Susan
May
Warren.
Used
by
permission
of
Tyndale
House
Publishers,
Inc.
All
rights
reserved.

Susan May
Warren

Susan
May Warren
is
the
Christy,
RITA
and
Carol
award-winning
author
of
over
forty-five
novels
with
Tyndale,
Barbour,
Steeple
Hill
and
Summerside
Press.
A
prolific
novelist
with
over
1
million
books
sold, Susan
has
written
contemporary
and
historical
romances,
romantic-suspense,
thrillers,
rom-com
and
Christmas
novellas.
She
loves
to
help
people
launch their writing careers and is the founder
of
www.MyBookTherapy.com
and
www.LearnHowtoWriteaNovel.com
,
a
writing
website
that
helps
authors
get
published
and
stay
published.

She’s also the author of the popular writing method,
The Story Equation.
Find excerpts and reviews of her novels at
www.susanmaywarren.com

Dedication:

For
your
Glory,
Lord…

To everyone who ever attended one of my classes, encouraged me and wanted more from their writing, this is for you.

Acknowledgements

To the
My Book Therapy Voices
for their encouragement and questions that make me into a better writer and teacher.

To
Steve
Laube
for
walking
me
through
the
world
of
self-publishing!
You
rock.

To Beth Vogt, for knowing the Chicago Manual of Style and applying your amazing skills to this worktext. I shudder to think what it would have looked like without you!

To Rachel….
My
Therapist.

You are brilliant.

Finally, to Andrew and my family. You make me feel like a rock star.

Introduction

I love novels. A great book reaches out and pulls me inside, subtly, makes me feel what the characters feel, and helps me experience stories and events beyond myself. I can travel through time and space in books and experience what it is like to jump from a plane, or ride a bull, or fall in love, again and again. There is a magic in a well-written novel. Through it, I can revive lost loves, delight in childhood, become a Scottish warlord . . . and hopefully, in the journey, become a better person. I want to walk away pondering some truth.

But I don’t want to be preached at, don’t want the author to choke their story with their agenda. Don’t want to be told what to think or feel. I want to come to my own conclusions and simply experience the journey with the character in a way that makes me examine my own journey through life.

How, as authors, do we help a reader connect with a character so smoothly that they become a part of the story? How do we make our readers laugh, cry and believe the story?

It’s more than just words. And more than just structure. It’s about creating a believable journey of change for your character, then folding that change into the story. It’s about luring our readers into the story by revealing our characters layer by layer so that the reader longs to know them better. Finally, it’s about wooing our readers with our sentences and words so that they stir their hearts.

I read a lot of good books out there—books that are structurally correct, that have a sound hero’s journey and a sweet romance. But the truth is, as an author, I want more. I want to craft a story that captures a reader’s heart and changes their world in some way. In short, I don’t want good . . . I want breathtaking.

My last book,
How to Write a Brilliant Novel
, covered all the foundational elements of putting together a novel. I wanted to help people realize their dreams. But there is so much more that goes into a novel. If you want to make your book amazing, you have to think deeper with your characters and wider with your plot. You need to go beyond the basics or the structurally correct and reach for more.

That’s why, the moment I finished
How to Write a Brilliant Novel
, and looked at the list of topics I didn’t cover, I knew I needed to write
Advanced Brilliant Writing
.
This book is designed to take your now-completed rough draft (or the outline for your rough draft) and make you take a deeper look at your characterization—from journey to implementation. You’ll learn how to plot a profound character change journey, how to use backstory correctly, and how to reveal your character slowly and for the most impact. Finally, we’ll get specific and I’ll teach you how to apply these changes to create powerful scenes. The questions and/or charts and exercises at the end of the chapters will equip you to build everything you are learning into your story.

The second section of the book will help you examine your plot. Remember those times when you throw a book against the wall? That’s because a story doesn’t make sense, or the characters are too stupid to live. I’ll give you some techniques that will keep
your
books from ever ending up face down in a corner. I’ll teach you how to drive your character through the story with the right balance of stakes and motivation, a way to widen your plot and make your hero more heroic with each plot step. You’ll learn some tricks on making your plot more unique and compelling—and the difference between subplots and layers and how to use each effectively. Finally, you’ll learn how to create the perfect villain, and how doing so widens your plot even more.

As authors, let’s not settle for good. Let’s take our story deeper and wider . . . and breathtaking.

Susan May Warren

Section One: Characters

I believe a great story is driven by great characters.
Pride and Prejudice
wouldn’t be a great story without Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy.
Bravehear
t would just be another war for freedom without William Wallace. Jack Bauer is
24
, and no one but Dr. Richard Kimble could have solved his wife’s murder.

We love a character who takes a hold of us and becomes so real in our minds we can see them walking down the street. A character with whom we can cry, fall in love and charge into battle. We want to change with a character and learn their lessons.

For a while, we want to be them. Or at least be their friend.

But how do you draw characters that seem to breathe and bleed? And how do you connect them with your reader?

BOOK: Advanced Brilliant Writing: Make Your Plots Wider and Your Characters Deeper (Go! Write Something Brilliant)

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