Category: Writing Resources

building characters, Point of View, romance, Writing, Writing Resources, Writing Romance

Getting Inside the Romantic Hero’s Head––Part I

donnalhsmith

Contrary to popular belief, the male is the key to any romance. The female may be the “lead” character, but the male, and we’ve talked about the different types (alpha and beta) is the key to the romance. It’s also well-known that most readers of romance are women. Women identify with the heroine of the story. A woman who just wants to be loved like the hero loves the heroine. Click to Tweet #InsideHerosHead #almostanauthor #writingromance101

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building characters, Plotting, romance, Writing, Writing Ideas, Writing Resources, Writing Romance

Plotting the Romance—Part I

donnalhsmith

We’ve begun to build characters for our contemporary romance between Tovah, a rabbi, and Judah, a CEO of a multi-national corporation. The first thing to do is they must meet. The more unusual the meet, the better. Click to Tweet #amwriting #writingromance #donnalhsmith #PlottingtheRomance

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building characters, romance, Writing, Writing Ideas, Writing Resources, Writing Romance

Crafting the Romantic Hero––Part VI

donnalhsmith

Last time, we interviewed our romantic hero, Judah. This time, we’ll talk to Tovah. Interviews are a great way to learn more about your character and show their thought patterns. Click to Tweet #amwriting #writingromance #donnalhsmith #CraftingtheRomanticHero

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building characters, Writing, Writing Ideas, Writing Resources, Writing Romance

Crafting the Romantic Hero––Part V

donnalhsmith

Character interviews are an interesting way to bring out their personalities. Let’s do a short interview with Judah this time, and Tovah next time, and see what we come up with. Knowing the habits, quirks, and traits, physically and emotionally will bring your characters to life. In romance, your two protagonists must be relatable and likeable. Click to Tweet #amwriting #writingromance #donnalhsmith #CraftingtheRomanticHero

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Dialogue, Writing, Writing Ideas, Writing Resources

Dazzling Dialogue—Part X

donnalhsmith

This week we conclude our series on Dazzling Dialogue. We could probably go on forever, and there are many resources you can look to make your written conversations sparkle and gleam. Six more Tools for Talk will make your dialogue sizzle and shine.  Click to Tweet #DazzlingDialogue #amwriting

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Dialogue, Writing, Writing Ideas, Writing Resources

Dazzling Dialogue—Part IX

donnalhsmith

We’re gearing down our Dazzling Dialogue discussion. Six Tools for Talk will make your dialogue sizzle and shine.  Click to Tweet #DazzlingDialogue #amwriting

Remember that the number one goal of scenes is to move the story along. You do that by creating conflict in your dialogue, as well as using action, and a bit exposition.

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Dialogue, Writing, Writing Ideas, Writing Resources

Dazzling Dialogue—Part VIII

donnalhsmith

Have you ever had two conversations going on at the same time? One surface. One just below. That’s subtext. When done effectively, subtext adds depth with a sparkle to your dialogue, making it dazzle. Click to Tweet #DazzlingDialogue #amwriting

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Dialogue, Writing, Writing Ideas, Writing Resources

Dazzling Dialogue—Part VII

donnalhsmith

Cut it out! Pare it down. Weed out unnecessary words. Instead of a long, flowery sentence, like this one, sometimes the use of shorter sentences can add sizzle and shine to your dialogue and make it dazzle. Click to Tweet #DazzlingDialogue #amwriting

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building characters, Dialogue, Writing, Writing Resources

Dazzling Dialogue—Part V

donnalhsmith

The character’s vocabulary should be unique to each one. What kind of expressions do they use? Do they have an accent? Are there “favorite” words they like to use? Their syntax. All these things come together to create dazzling and sparkling dialogue. Click to Tweet #dazzlingdialogue #amwriting

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Dialogue, Writing, Writing Resources

Dazzling Dialogue—Part IV

donnalhsmith

Conflict in scenes and tension between characters you’ve heard of before in writing. This time, we’ll talk about conflict in dialogue. Dialogue is the greatest way to portray conflict and tension in scenes and between characters. Argument and disagreements between even friends and allies helps to create sparkling dialogue. Click to Tweet #dazzlingdialogue #amwriting

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