How to Write a Brilliant Romance: The Easy, Step-By-Step Method of Crafting a Powerful Romance (Go! Write Something Brilliant) (31 page)

Both
the
above
organizations
provide
essential
information
about
the
publishing
industry.
RWA focuses
on
the
ABA
(general
market
books)
while
ACFW
focuses
on
CBA
(the
inspirational market).
They
also
offer
online
classes
and
articles
on
writing
on
their
website.

If
you
are
interested
in
more
hands-on
coaching
and
lessons
on
writing,
My
Book
Therapy
(MBT) (
www.mybooktherapy.com
)
offers
a
free
forum
for
writers,
and
added
benefits
(weekly encouragement,
monthly
lessons,
quarterly
seminars)
for
a
small
monthly
membership
fee.

I
highly
recommend
joining
all
three
organizations
in
order
to
stay
on
top
of
your
writing
career. You’ll
network,
discover
new
writing
opportunities,
make
friends
(and
find
craft
partners!)
and expand
your
knowledge
base.
Take
it
a
step
further
and
attend
at
least
one
retreat
or
writers conference.
That’s
where
networking
really
begins.
Making
a
commitment
in
your
writing
by
joining a
professional
organization
is
a
giant
and
beneficial
leap
to
becoming
a
professional
writer.

Q:
There
are
so
many
kinds
of
books
out
there,
and
it
seems
each
publisher
wants
a
different
thing.
Where
do
I
start?

A:
Work
with
publishers
who
are
willing
to
work
with
you.

There
are
many
publishers
out
there
who
are
thrilled
to
work
with
new
writers—and
the
list
is growing.
Harlequin
is
one
of
the
most
popular
ways
authors
get
started
because
they
embrace
new authors,
and
love
to
groom
them.
They
also
publish
a
slew
of
books
every
month
in
their
different ‘category’
romance
lines.
Go
to
Wal-Mart
and
check
out
their
current
releases
to
see
where
you might
fit
in. These books often also go to the “club” readers, or
those who subscribe to their category
line.
This
is
a
great
place
to
begin
because
they
get
your
books
out
to
a
target
market
who loves
to
read
the
genre
they
order.
Not
only
do
you
gain
experience,
but
a
readership.
And
it’s
very fun
to
walk
into
a
Wal-Mart
and
see
your
book
sitting
on
the
shelf.
These
novels
usually
run
55-60K words.

But,
you
say,
my
book
is
much
longer
than
55,000
words!

You
may
want
to
submit
to
a
trade
publisher,
someone
who
publishes
longer
books.
(Most publishers
are
trade).
They
may
still
put
them
out
in
mass
market
size
(the
size
you
see
on
your grocery
store
rack),
but
they
are
not
a
part
of
a
publisher’s
“club”
line.
Trade
sized
books
are
the
size you
might
see
in
a
library,
or
on
a
bookstore
shelf.
Publishers
of
books
are
always
putting
out
their “we’re
looking
for”
lists—and
you
can
keep
up
to
date
on
these
via
RWA,
ACFW,
or
other
industry organizations.
(Attending
a
conference
publishing
panel
is
an
essential
part
of
keeping
track
of
what publishers
are
looking
for.)

Regardless of what kind of book you are writing, there are two main ways to build your career:

Route
1:
Snowball
to
success.
Maybe you
have started
with
a
Heartsong
book,
and
grew a readership.
Maybe
you’re
also
selling
to
Love
Inspired.
(Many,
many
authors
make
a
great
living selling
to
just
those
two
lines.
They
have
devoted
readers
and
are
reaching
people
every
day.)
You could
stop
there.
Or,
because
that
science
fiction
novel
is
still
in
your
heart,
and
because
of
your numbers
and
experience
you
land
an
agent—and
he
finds
a
market
that
publishes
sci-fi.
You
finally sell
the
book
of
your
dreams.

Route
2:
Go
for
the
big
bang.
With
this
route,
you
work
on
that
manuscript
for
years
and
years, submitting
that
sci-fi,
waiting
for
the
market
to
open,
honing
your
work,
winning
contests, submitting
to
agents.
You
finally
get
an
agent
who
sees
the
vision
of
your
story,
and
you
listen
to what
they
say
until
you
get
a
manuscript
they
can
sell.
Then
your
agent
submits
it
around
and— finally!—the
sci-fi
publisher
buys
it.

How To Write a Brilliant Romance
!

So there
you
have
it: the
step
by
step instructions
to
writing
a
powerful
romance
,
from
plotting
to
word-smithing to
secrets.
I
hope
this
book has
been
helpful. Drop me
a
line and tell me about
your
book. And if
you
need some personal one-on-one help, check out My Book Therapy.
We'll
help
you
discover the writer in
you!

I
want
to
le
ave
you
with
one
last
secret.

The
My Book
Therapy Secret
Formula
for
a
Bestselling
Romance-

• Powerful
  Why
  Nots
  to
  keep
  the
  characters
  apart. Compelling Whys
  to why
  they
  belong
  together.
  
• Multifaceted
  characters
  with
  humorous
  and
  endearing quirks,
  revealed layer
  by
  layer.
  
• Realistic
  plot
  with
  make-it-worse
  for
  them
  elements
  on
  all
  levels:
  physical,
  spiritual,
  emotional
  (and
  a
  happy
  endin
  g
  ).
  
• Storyworld
  that
  makes
  you
  feel
  the
  scene and
  sense
  the
  mood. Backstory
  in
  small
  pieces,
  culminating
  to
  the
  final
  scene.
  
• Well-researched
  details
  that
  make
  the
  story
  and
  characters
  realistic.
  Heart-wrenching
  break
  up
  and
  a sweet
  Happily
  Ever
  After.
  
• Truth
  message
  that
  touches
  the
  heart.
  

Now
it's
time for
you
to
.
.
.
Go Write Something Brilliant!

Note:
If
you
are
not
familiar
with
basic
story
structure,
refer
to
Appendix
1.
You
may
also
want
to pick
up
a
copy
of
From
the
Inside
.
.
.
Out:
discover,
create
and
publish
the
novel
in
you
!

THE BASIC
PLOT

Because
I’m
a
gal
who
loves
lists,
I’ve
come
up
with
an
acrostic
to
help
you
keep
your
plot
straight. And,
hey,
let’s
have
a
little
fun
and
dance
our
way
through
the
discovery.

Every
book
has
a
three-act
structure,
with
the
first
being
the
introductory
and
set-up,
the
middle being
the
“guts,”
and
the
final
act
being
the
“glory,”
or
Big
Finale.

Act
1:

Life
or
Normal
World
–
This
is
the
world
in
which
your
character
normally
lives.
Their challenges,
their
status
quo.
Sometimes
this
is
a
chapter
long,
maybe
longer,
although
more and
more,
it’s
shortening
to
the
first
few
pages.
It
gives
us
a
glimpse
of
their
regular
life.

Inciting
Incident
–
Something
happens.
Some
writing
classes
call
it
the
trigger
or
ignition
.
But
it’s the
first
blip
in
their
world,
big
or
small,
that
will
change
it
and
set
them
on
the
course
of their
journey.

Noble
Quest
–
The effect
of
the Inciting
Incident
is
to
start
a
quest.
In
the case of
an unpleasant
Inciting
Incident,
the
quest
is
to
return
to
the
normal
world.
In
a
positive
Inciting Incident,
the
quest
is
to
increase
that
pleasure.
In
either
quest,
the
hero
must
recognize what’s
at
stake.
The
higher
the
stakes
to
person,
family,
community,
country,
or
world,
the bigger
the
story,
the
broader
the
reader
base.

Act
2:

Disappointment
s
–
These
are
the
obstacles
and
conflicts
the
hero
encounters.
Even
positive events
can
rumple
the
advancement
of
the
plot.
It
may
be
caused
by
a
revelation
of information,
or
because
of
a
choice,
or
because
of
outside
forces.
But
the
Disappointment has
to
contain
two
elements: