How do you make your readers believe your characters are falling in love? How do you show that sizzle of attraction? How do you write a good kissing scene? How do you bring in the much-needed tension but still have your characters flirting and getting closer? In this book I take one of my romance novels (Acting Married) and I go through the entire novel with you, basically interrupting myself to tell you what I was thinking as I was writing the novel. It's like watching a movie with commentary. I pull back the curtain so you can see why I started it the way I did, why I decided to put certain scenes in, and what pushes the romance forward in the book. I preface all this with what I consider the essentials of a good romance novel, and I end with my list of well-loved romance tropes that you can draw from in order to write your own bestselling romance novel.

    In this one-of-a-kind guide, award-winning author, essayist, teacher, and editor Lee Gutkind gives you concise, pointed advice on every aspect of writing and selling your work, including:•Guidelines for choosing provocative—and salable—topics•Smart research techniques—including advice on conducting penetrating interviews and using electronic research tools•Tips for focusing and structuring a piece for maximum effectiveness•Advice on working successfully with editors and literary agents

    If your query is weak, unfocused, or uninspired, an editor or agent won't even bother to request your article, novel manuscript, or nonfiction book proposal. But a well-crafted, compelling query sent to the right editor or agent is an essential sales tool for fiction writers and the most effective way for nonfiction writers to pre-sell your idea.In this book, professional freelance writer and magazine editor Wendy Burt-Thomas shares practical advice on how to craft persuasive letters that connect with editors and agents and ultimately generate sales for you. You'll learn how to:Conduct targeted research to find suitable editors and agentsHook an editor with a tantalizing lead and shape a summary that compels editors to buySelect the strongest slant for your book or articleUse research and interview shortcuts that keep your query prep profitableMake your query rejection-proof by weeding out subtle mistakes that can sabotage your projectCommunicate your author platform and sell yourself as the best writer for the subjectComplete with dozens of sample queries–some that landed article assignments, agents, or book deals, and others that never stood a chance–this book offers you a comprehensive strategy for presenting your writing ideas in a way that will increase your chances of publication. Though the title may lead some to believe it's strictly to be shelved as a reference manual, The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters is a smooth read from cover to cover.

    How? By elaborating parts of a story that matter most to you and your readers. By offering an organizational system that keeps your head clutter-free. By taking the fear and frustration out of writing. The Fool Proof Outline is filled with just the right amount of brainstorming prompts, both challenging you to engage readers emotionally and propelling your novel toward completion. Character, plot, and scene questionnaires are also included to keep you focused one step at a time.Even the most seasoned writer will appreciate the Fool Proof Outline, yet it offers an ease-of-use that will benefit writers of every level.The ebook contains a link to the Fool Proof Outline in both Scrivener and Excel. If you’ve been considering Scrivener, this is a wonderful place to start!You'll also get access to the Fool Proof Outline's online site, where you can ask questions and share your success. No registration necessary. The Fool Proof Outline is the result of an incredible evolution far beyond my earlier outline template, The Ultimate Novel Template. Those familiar with that early version will shout with joy at the improvements. I do!

    Make your descriptions fresh and they'll move your story forward, imbue your work with atmosphere, create that tang of feeling that editors cry for and readers crave.Monica Wood helps you squeeze the greatest flavor from the language. She segments description like an orange, separating its slices to let you sample each one.You'll learn about:Detail, and how you can use description to awaken the reader's senses of touch, taste, hearing, smell and sightPlot, from advancing story using only relevant description--and how to edit out sluggish, reader-stopping writingStyle, and the use of description to create a mood that matches your story's contentPoint of view, how selecting omniscient, first person or third person limited narrative influences the descriptive freedom you haveCreating original word depictions of people, animals, places, weather and movementWood teaches by example, developing stories with characters in various situations, to show you how you can apply description techniques.You'll also see samples of work by such noted writers as Mark Helprin, Anne Tyler and Raymond Carver. And you'll find the dos and don'ts, lists and descriptive alternatives to common verbs and nouns, and tips for editing your work.

    This book provides all the information, guidance, and advice you need to write great science fiction to captivate your readers. It will help you understand how the genre works, the big dos and don'ts - as well as giving you the inspiration and motivation you actually need to write. Written by a leading Science Fiction novelist and a Professor in Creative Writing at the University of London - you'll discover how to let your creativity flow, create incredible worlds, and get your novel finished.ABOUT THE SERIESThe Teach Yourself Creative Writing series helps aspiring authors tell their story. Covering a range of genres from science fiction and romantic novels, to illustrated children's books and comedy, this series is packed with advice, exercises and tips for unlocking creativity and improving your writing. And because we know how daunting the blank page can be, we set up the Just Write online community at tyjustwrite, for budding authors and successful writers to connect and share.

    These tales gain their power through plots that connect with the audience on both an emotional and intellectual level.Inside, Ronald B. Tobias details these 20 time-tested plots. Each is discussed and analyzed, illustrating how a successful plot integrates all the elements of a story. Tobias then shows you how to use these plots effectively in your own work.Tobias then goes to the next level, showing you how to choose and develop plot in fiction. He shows you how to craft plot for any subject matter, so that you develop your work evenly and effectively. As a result, your fiction will be more cohesive and convincing, making your story unforgettable for readers everywhere.

    It has been expanded to include simple ways to promote books using newer technology--always considering promotion and marketing techniques that are easy on the pocketbook and frugal of time. It also includes a multitude of ways for authors and publishers to promote the so-called hard-to-promote genres. The award-winning author of poetry and fiction draws on a lifetime of experience in journalism, public relations, retailing, marketing, and the marketing of her own books to give authors the basics they need for do-it-yourself promotion and fun, effective approaches that haven't been stirred and warmed over, techniques that will help rocket their books to bestselling lists. You'll also learn to write media releases, query letters and a knock 'em dead media kit--all tools that help an author find a publisher and sell their book once it's in print.

    In From Where You Dream, Butler reimagines the process of writing as emotional rather than intellectual, and tells writers how to achieve the dreamspace necessary for composing honest, inspired fiction. Proposing that fiction is the exploration of the human condition with yearning as its compass, Butler reinterprets the traditional tools of the craft using the dynamics of desire. Offering a direct view into the mind and craft of a literary master, From Where You Dream is an invaluable tool for the novice and experienced writer alike.

    William Faulkner wrote As I Lay Dying in six weeks. Joyce Carol Oates often cranks out two or three books a year. Stephen King believes first drafts should take no more than three months to complete. So, what's the trick? Novel writing isn't about inspiration. It's about the time, energy, and discipline to see the project to its finish.With 90 Days To Your Novel at your side, now is the time. This inspiring guide will be your push, your deadline, and your spark to finally, without excuses, and in three short months, nail that first draft of your novel.The difference between wanna-be writers and real writers is the difference between talk and work. If you commit to the schedule and the techniques within 90 Days to Your Novel and invest two to three hours a day for twelve weeks, you will complete your book. An outline will appear. Characters will take shape. A plot will emerge. Scenes will come together and form a story worth reading. And then the talking can begin!This helpful guide provides:Instruction that distills the elements of the novel - from crafting your outline to developing intriguing characters and believable plotsStrategies for gaining support from your family and friendsMotivating insights about writing and writers to minimize your inevitable moments of doubtA schedule to keep you in the writing zone and keep you focused, creative, and workingWhether you're writing your first novel or your third, this guide provides the coaching, the planning, and the writerly commiseration to help get your book written.

    As of August 30, 2013, this book has 35 5-star reviews and 8 4-star reviews on Amazon, out of a total of 45 reviews (average 4.7 out of 5 stars).Whether you’re planning your first novel or revising your fourth, you’ll discover lots of concrete ideas here for taking your fiction up a level or two, captivating readers, and gaining fans. Both published and aspiring authors of fast-paced, popular fiction will find these tips indispensable, and the reader-friendly format makes it easy to zoom in on specific advice, with examples, for creating compelling characters, planning a high-stakes plot, writing a riveting opening, ramping up the tension and intrigue, picking up the pace, revising for power, and creating a page-turner that sells.“Finally, someone who understands the thriller! More than ever an author must also be his own best editor and Jodie Renner is there to help. Writing a Killer Thriller should be on every thriller writer’s desk. It breaks down the thriller into its must-have component parts to write a scintillating, edge of the seat novel that will get readers buzzing and sales flowing.” ~ Robert Dugoni, New York Times bestselling author of The Jury Master and Murder One“Writing a Killer Thriller by Jodie Renner is an in-depth journey through each component of the thriller. Renner breaks down the process into key elements, each essential to keeping the reader turning those pages. From character development to building suspense, Writing a Killer Thriller should be on the desk of every thriller author out there. A staple for the beginner, a refresher for the pro.” ~ Joe Moore, #1 Amazon and international bestselling co-author of The Blade and The Phoenix Apostles“Writing is hard, editing harder, and self-editing almost impossible. Writing a Killer Thriller demystifies each of these steps on the road to a published manuscript. Read this book. It will help you now and for many years to come.”~ DP Lyle, Macavity Award winning and Edgar, Agatha, Anthony, Benjamin Franklin, Scribe, and USA Best Books nominated author of the Dub Walker thriller series“A killer of a thriller guide! Jodie Renner lays out, in clear, easy steps and lists, how the best writers craft their works of art – and shows how you can do it, too. A terrific how-to in avoiding the pitfalls and burnishing the gotta-haves of writing a bestselling thriller novel, by an editor who knows her way around action, drama and creating characters so fresh and real you’ll swear they were your friends.”~ Shane Gericke, national bestselling and No. 1 Kindle bestselling author of Torn Apart

    The stories she loves most follow other organic patterns found in nature―spirals, meanders, and explosions, among others. Alison’s manifesto for new modes of narrative will appeal to serious readers and writers alike. As Jane Alison writes in the introduction to her insightful and appealing book about the craft of writing: “For centuries there’s been one path through fiction we’re most likely to travel―one we’re actually told to follow―and that’s the dramatic arc: a situation arises, grows tense, reaches a peak, subsides. . . . But: something that swells and tautens until climax, then collapses? Bit masculo-sexual, no? So many other patterns run through nature, tracing other deep motions in life. Why not draw on them, too?”W. G. Sebald’s The Emigrants was the first novel to show Alison how forward momentum can be created by way of pattern, rather than the traditional arc―or, in nature, wave. Other writers of nonlinear prose considered in her “museum of specimens” include Nicholson Baker, Anne Carson, Marguerite Duras, Jamaica Kincaid, Clarice Lispector, Gabriel García Márquez, Susan Minot, David Mitchell, Caryl Phillips, and Mary Robison.Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let’s leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.

    This volume explores the most common male and female archetypes, provides instructions for using them to create original characters and gives examples of how other authors have brought such archetypes to life in novels, films and television.

    One of the best ways to get around the problem is to surround yourself with ideas. "1,000 Creative Writing Prompts for Seasons: Ideas for Blogs, Scripts, Stories and More" gives you exactly one thousand idea-generating prompts that focus on the coldest, warmest, toughest and funniest days of the four seasons. This book covers many different aspects of spring, summer, fall and winter including weather, nature, holidays, festivals, the five senses, science, literature, entertainment and more! These 1,000 prompts work for blogs, scripts, stories, poems, essays, songs and anything else that requires you to stare down writer's block and put pen to paper anyway. Originally geared for the classroom, these prompts can be used by any writer from 5 to 105 to get the ideas they need when they need them. Author Bryan Cohen has written over a dozen books of writing prompts including "1,000 Character Writing Prompts: Villains, Heroes and Hams for Scripts, Stories and More," "500 Writing Prompts for Kids: First Grade through Fifth Grade" and "The Writing Prompts Workbook Series." His books have sold over 15,000 copies. He lives in Chicago.

    Written for her blog over the years as Victoria's editing business blossomed, this advice is now hard to find and hidden - and now collected just for you, for free.